I’m really thinking time to swap octatrack for digitakt

Why not both?
The DT is superfast at beatmaking - with sidechaining compressor. That’s nice! That’s only approachable with tricks on the OT, and you can spare tracks on the OT. Sample that beats into the OT might be faster than programming on the OT alone. The OT is not a drumcomputer like the DT, it’s a central setup hub (mixer, arranger, fx, sampler, sequenzer, looper…) It’s a dream combo. Bummer is: later on you also want a digitone hahaha

3 Likes

You mean only 1814400 seconds? I would OT time stretch that.

2 Likes

Push? That means introducing lots of more cables a decent audio card and a laptop (better if there’s a monitor which is followed with a mouse and keyboard)

Imo, push is good when you have lots of space and your work is relied on computer. Otherwise it’s too much for everything.

yeah i agree to an extent, was more related to the OP’s preference for Ableton

the DT IS a nice middle ground, still, it’s no more cables than what the Push has

i actually think if Ableton released a Push with an Interface built in that would be damn swell, but thats another discussion

1 Like

DT Ui is beautiful. A joy to use.
I still don’t understand the lack of bandpass filter tho. I was convinced it was due to it being rushed to market, but now 2 years later :confused:
ive made some of my best work with the DT but it sort annoys the sh1t out of me it’s so feature lacking, especially the bandpass.

ui - :+1:t2:
reverb quality - :+1:t2:
Compressor - :+1:t2:
simple gain staging - :+1:t2:

8 Likes

I would say that purpose should decide:

  • If it’s more about sampler as a drum machine --> DT
  • If it’s more about performance sampling, sound mangling, re-mixing --> OT

I wouldn’t part with my OT, because I want to do both things on the same machine.

why not swap the OT for a rytm then? Its like DT only better :smile:

5 Likes

DT is IMO the perfect Elektron box to begin with.
It sounds really good, and can be very powerful despite its limits (resampling good old SP404 way when you want to achieve something bigger).

It took me months to come up with a decent workflow on OT. DT should be mastered in a few days.

3 Likes

Haha… Curveball… :grin:
AR’s the bee’s knee’s. :smile:

3 Likes

Classic situation.
People who get rid of OT fall into two categories.
1 - those who are afraid to look into the abyss of opportunities OT.
2 - those who are not scared, but the device ideologically does not suit him.
The first is much more.
:slight_smile:

1 Like

I agree with this.

the OT is only as complicated as you make it. you can do simple sampling with it, or you can take it to hell and back. it’s up to you. but if you want more basic sampling and forced simplicity/limitation, maybe the DT is more for you. and there’s nothing wrong with that.

but I would agree that you should spend more than ten days with the OT first. force yourself to complete a couple tracks with it. even if they’re crap, you’ll learn something; both about the OT and about whether or not you can gel with the workflow.

2 Likes

I have friends that are wonderful musicians, pretty smart, use computer DAW’s, plugins, and other hardware, and when I explain my OT to them they want nothing to do with one, yet they love that I have one.

They don’t want to preprogram and setup stuff, they just want to rock…

6 Likes

…i’ll never gonna sell one of my octatracks…but i would clearly sell my takt…if i would be forced to make a choice…but i learned with takt…mono has advantages…sometimes…
and with overbridge, the takt becomes a solid little daw that lead to fast results…so, if ur octatrack won’t comfort u to get to truu results, yup, exchange it with a takt…because reasonable results is what a musician needs, end of the day…and for sure there is a danger, that ot is always leading u to endless fooling around nicely but never getting u anywhere for real…it’s so easy to get lost in it…but if u focus, it can bring u anywhere…sonically…even without ob and computers…

2 Likes

You all know I’m die hard Octatrack! I just like to play DT’s advocate… :grin:
My cult tendencies say join us! Probably giving more time is reasonable…

image

3 Likes

quick aside: That image sort of sums up what it’s like using an Octatrack. “Hmm, here’s this octopus… but what if it were this octopus?!

4 Likes

Thing is I’ve got 30 day return policy . Reason I’m getting more hardware is to inspire / have more fun making music .

I could get money back and get a digitakt and a 2nd hand OT MK1

3 Likes

In my own experience, anything I could fall in love with in under 30 days, I was able to fall out of love with it in just as much time. Because of this, I have cycled through a lot of gear that is a bit more limited than what I have decided to keep (or repurchase).
I still have my OT because there is nothing else like it.

YMMV, but 30 days is not enough for the power of the Octatrack.

And if you aren’t getting on with the MK2 at this early stage, you should know that you will probably get on even less with the MK1. I didn’t jive with the MK1 at all.

9 Likes

Hello, I never had an Octatrack, but I had to choose between OT and DT some months ago. I bought a DT for some reasons like theses:

  • I have not many time to play music, so I wanted something quick and fun.
  • I like limited things, it’s improve a lot the creativity to achieve something, and sometime discover a new unexpected mechanic.
  • I don’t have a lot of space on my desktop, the DT fit well.

Now, I use the DT for 4 months, and I always learn new stuff. Yes the DT basic mechanics are mastered in few days, but there is a lot of hidden thing you can do and the learning curve is not so quick.

I think it’s all about time available, setup complexity and money to spend. Remember, having the best, last and most expensive gears won’t necessary make better music or more fun to play.

3 Likes

I feel thats an exaggeration, two years is way too much in order to understand an instrument. Sure the OT may be more complicated to start on but it is not rocket science.

I do think you would be better off with a Push 2 instead of a Digitakt though. If you dont care about the whole dawless thing then nothing will beat Ableton+push as far as functionality, speed and simplicity. The only drawback with Ableton is that you cant sell it if you decide you dont like it, but then again I have not come across many people that regret getting it. The way the sampler works with Push 2 is in my opinion unrivaled.

1 Like

Do it, I think you’ll like it. I prefer calling it deep rather than complicated, you get round the basic concepts pretty quickly then it’s as complicated as you want it to be. you lose SP fx but a lot is attainable with OT fx used creatively, plus you get a shit load of modulation for those FX/every parameter, and you can sequence the FX plus design LFO shapes to modulate them. I keep wanting effect pedals then I try and emulate it in OT and realise I don’t need them. You’re not really at a loss other than OB. That might just push you to do more inside the unit itself though. I like to use OT as an instrument alongside another unit for drums, that way there’s no problem with having 2 stereo outs or 4 mono. Trying to wrap my head around more than that is like trying to play 4 guitars at once

5 Likes