Is OT still a good buy in 2024? (Upgrading from DT)

[berlin]

I heard OT’s sound is crap and it stopped being relevant in 2021 for some reason.

[reeloy]

…no worries… @berlin 's comment …he’s referring to an internal joke and just missed the to clarify…

and sure the ot has a bunch of fx, also including a compressor… wait until the next one tells u, that they’re not that good and kind of outdated…

which only tells u…the ot is defenitly not for everbody…those who mastered it, will never let it go again, those who lost the plot along the way, will always dismiss it…

not to forget those, who are never happy, no matter what they get…they’ll always find something to blame…

[Mistercharlie]

Sorry, but I have to:

Preparing for the “Octatrack in 2022” thread

I can’t lie—I’m getting pretty excited about the inevitable “is the Octatrack still worth it in 2022” thread. Mostly I’m looking forward to the greatest hits: aren’t those old effects terrible? Isn’t the sound quality just awful? Should I wait for Octatrack mk3? Can you even buy a CF card any more? And then there’s the opportunity to relive @sezare56 showing us how to do literally anything with a flex machine Good times! I have an alert set for 12:01 on Jan 1st.

[christianlukegates]

@mitya33

I understand the OT is probably better for that

Not necessarily, no. DT you have Overbridge, so can record your tracks individually to a DAW for mixdown, which you probably will want to do at some point when you start finishing tracks. OT has no facility for this (ie doesn’t use overbridge), so you’d be doing all your mixing inside the OT (and bear in mind that you have limited amount of FX per track, so you may not be wanting to use those FX up on EQ and compression etc), before recording the stereo output. This is totally feasible, but is something that many people seem to come up against as a barrier/obstacle, as you lose that element of fine control over your mix that multitracking to a DAW gives you. The OT is better viewed as an instrument and not an all in one production centre, in my opinion. It’s definitely more enjoyable when viewed that way. As a full-on production solution it can be a bit of a headache and you will need to make compromises

[Humanprogram]

I went through a version of the wait-til-Superbooth-to-upgrade-from-DT-to-OT dilemma last year, decided to learn DT better and I … still haven’t upgraded.

The big update helped I’m sure, but it’s time I’m really glad I’ve spent digging deeper with the Digitakt. That said, I’m still interested in what happens at SuperBooth 24…

[mitya33]

Thanks for the replies, everyone, super helpful.

@christianlukegates that clarifies what the OT is good/not so good at, thank you. Seems I was wrong to consider it a workstation a la the MC 707, MPC etc. With that in mind I’ll probably stick on the DT. Exporting to a DAW for mixdown is something I’m procrastinating on simply because I haven’t yet learned what’s involved in any of that. (In a separate thread I’m trying to ascertain to what extent the “export to and mix down on a DAW” step is necessary, vs. doing everything on the DT/OT itself.

Continued thanks.

[Mister_Wood]

Have you looked into an iPad as DT companion? Solves all the issues you mentioned, adds a lot of functionality and is relatively low-cost, while also being a handy general-purpose thing to have anyway. Drambo in particular would cover a lot of OT territory and provide synth voices and whatever else you might want.

[mitya33]

I haven’t, simply because I’m trying to stay hardware only; I work at a PC for my day job and would rather avoid screens/DAWs/tablets where possible. I get that an iPad is hardware just like an external box is, but it’s just preference.

[Mister_Wood]

Fair enough. I also held off iPads for the same reason but found I didn’t look at the screen very much cos I sequence everything from the DT

[lowph]

I know there’s a lot of talk of a DT mk2, but it’s all pure speculation. I personally think it’s a bit silly to make purchasing decisions based on what might be available in the future. When I purchase something, I decide to get it based on which features it has, not based on which features other hypothetical things might have in the future or which features a device might get in firmware updates.

Can the OT be used successfully in 2024? Yes, of course it can — there are thousands of us making music on the OT right now.

@mitya33

Yes it’s the same amazing machine it ever was, but is it showing its age (if so, how?), and are there other (non-Elektron) devices you might buy instead these days for the same function?

I’m yet to find something that has the same functionality as the OT’s 8 independent recording buffers. I don’t think there is such a product on the market. Granted, maybe that’s not what you’re looking for… if it’s just something that can timestretch you’re looking for, there are plenty of other choices.

Long story short: the OT is unique and I don’t think there’s a true “OT replacement” out there, but there are other products that can do a subset of what the OT can do (and then probably other things). Which features do you want in the OT? I think that’s the real question.

[nirun]

they complement rather than replace, IMO the octatrack FX and crossfader scene warping is irreplaceable and the best and most efficient implementation i’ve experienced in any software or hardware

[KingDuppy]

If what you’re looking for is specifically stereo samples, time-stretching and performance effects, I’d suggest getting an SP404 MKII and pairing it with your DT, rather than ditching the DT for an OT, which is twice the price of a (used or b-stock) SP and has the famously steep learning curve.

The DT and 404 II complement each other’s limitations very well.

But then, I’m biased. I’ve tried learning the OT twice and each time I was barely able to figure it out, beyond using it like “a really big digitakt.”

[OldmanChompski]

Nah, it absolutely can be used as a workstation like an MPC. You can record all the internal tracks (8 recorders going at once) and export those to a DAW. You still have to work within limitations of the RAM but just to export out patterns it’s absolutely capable of doing that, just takes a bit of time to set up.

That said, Digitakt and Octatrack are both samplers but their core philosophies are so different it’s hard to call the Octrack a straight upgrade. Digitakt is more akin to the Rytm without the analog drum engines. Octatrack can wear many hats including being a DJ mixer, sampling workstation, recorder, effects board, what have you.

Using the Digitakt with the Octatrack is a great setup. I find working with individual one shots is far more flexible on the Digitakt than Octatrack while Octatrack is the king at longer loops and slicing.

[KingDuppy]

@OldmanChompski

Digitakt is more akin to the Rytm without the analog drum engines.

EDIT: Oy, I totally misread your post.

Summary

This is interesting, because I just bought a RYTM I, and I’d say it’s more like a Digitakt with a drum machine strapped to it… but then, I’m still new to it.

In what ways do you think it’s more like an Octatrack? What tricks am I missing?

[mitya33]

@Mister_Wood

but found I didn’t look at the [iPad] screen very much cos I sequence everything from the DT

…ah that’s a good point to be fair. Hadn’t thought of that.

[mitya33]

@lowph

Which features do you want in the OT? I think that’s the real question.

Thanks for your thoughts on this. As for this question, I covered that in my original post - time stretch, performance effects and stereo sampling.

[nfim]

@OldmanChompski

Nah, it absolutely can be used as a workstation like an MPC. You can record all the internal tracks (8 recorders going at once) and export those to a DAW.

8 minutes recording time, assuming you’re not using any flex machines. So 1 minute per track. Not exactly song length. If all your tracks are mono you can also do a bounce in 2 passes using the 4 outs, or split into drums+melody stereo tracks. In my experience these workarounds are clumsy and work against the strengths of the machine - it’s better to prep samples itb, mix in the OT and just grab the stereo out. Or use it as an ideas generator and assemble the track elsewhere.

[mitya33]

@KingDuppy

I’d suggest getting an SP404 MKII and pairing it with your DT

Yeah that’s a good shout, actually, a gestalt mega-sampler. Effects and finger drumming from the SP, killer sequencer, compressor, LFOs etc. from the DT. And you’re right, the SP isn’t a lot of money at all.

[mitya33]

@OldmanChompski

Using the Digitakt with the Octatrack is a great setup. I find working with individual one shots is far more flexible on the Digitakt than Octatrack while Octatrack is the king at longer loops and slicing.

Ah nice - hadn’t even thought of having both of them (not that my budget could support that). Before this thread I would have thought there was too much crossover to justify both rather than just one, but I’m learning the OT is a many-headed hydra and essentially all things to all people, in some sense.

[Ulysses]

This why you will never get one answer about its workflow. You only need to deal with one Hydra head at a time, the one you need. That’s it. Forget the other options.
It’s a multiple workflow machine, but not a complex machine created just to annoy people.
My suggestion is to stop this thread and go buy an OT MKII