Lack of Individual Outputs or Overbridge on OT

Ahhh, I kinda knew that was coming but I wanted to hear it anyway… :joy:

1 Like

yes this is what i miss in ot
i have no interest of using it with daw other than the possibility to refine each track sound.
i enjoy creating with the ot.

2 Likes

I guess my point is given that the OT is a sampler - a cutdown hardware DAW, that you will be presumably recording samples into, then you want to take those samples into a DAW to presumably do something that the OT does not satisfy you with, why not just record the samples straight into the DAW and use the much more comprehensive editing in the DAW in the first place? Is it that you are not proficient enough in the DAW or is it that you feel the OT offers something that the DAW cannot?

I’m pretty sure one of the reasons that the OT does not support Overbridge because Elektron realise that streaming 8 stereo samples at a time is something that a DAW can do easily without any issues and without an Octatrack connected, I don’t think they are ‘leaving the door open’ for an Octatrack 3 with Overbridge - but I might be wrong.

Besides you can easily take the samples created in the OT direct from the card into the DAW for further mixing, I’m just trying to understand the need for Overbridge in this case.

Edit - Ok, so it seems that the need is for the realtime manipulation that the OT offers - I’m no expert on DAWs as I don’t use them, but this is easily possible on a DAW for years now, with much more power, more cheaply and to be perfectly honest with much more straightforward and hands on playability via a hardware controller of your choice.

Don’t get me wrong I love the Octatrack but only really because I have no wish to use a DAW, if I did then the Octatrack would be redundant, because a DAW can dwarf it in every way, for less money.

Again, I’m genuinely curious about what tangible thing it is that you feel the Octatrack do that the DAW can’t?

1 Like

You seem to have a suggestion. Please let us know :wink:

the workflow of the OT is very inspiring for me so i prefer to play music on it but to edit the sound and do technical things on the daw.
thats the reason i need to record the tracks individuality.
i do not see the OT as sampler but as a musical instrument.

4 Likes

Fair point, but have you tried things like Push, Maschine etc and did they not allow the same kind of experience (I have never used them, but it seems that they can?)

I used most of these controllers. Never the same experience as an OT.
They are very good and can controll many things but they are not at a point where they feel like an instrument to me. OT does.
With push you still have to do many things with the mouse or it is much faster with the mouse.

2 Likes

I tried Push 2 Mpc and few others. but unfortunately non of them gave me the same freedom and easy to use on the fly as the OT.
The thing is that it is very personal and it is not about who is better but which is better and more natural for me.
For me the OT was better then them all to use.

Interesting, in my ignorance I just assumed they would be at least as capable as the Octatrack in regards to feeling like an instrument as this seems to be how they are being marketed, of course it is down to personal preference anyway, I totally get that.

Not to flog a dead horse, but can you tell me what it is about the Octatrack then where you get to the point where the DAW needs to be used, by that I mean can’t you get satisfactory mixing or arrangement or something else in the Octa that the DAW can?

Reminder - I’m not and never have been a DAW user, so there is absolutely the possibility that I am missing the point here.

Same experience? No sir

A couple of suggestions for OP:

1: Bass material to master outs, treble material to cue outs

2: use the OT for single tracks rather than full arrangements, like a sketchpad. Track out to DAW one stereo track at a time, as you write each section, then do the arranging in the computer.

  1. Set up the OT so each track has a neighbour track, making it a 4 track machine instead of 8. Hard pan them so each track has its own mono output. Enjoy your new quadratrack with individual outs and 4 FX blocks per track.
14 Likes

Yes I was thinking studio mode also might be handy here, sure it is a little of a compromise I guess but even with 4 outs maybe a reasonable compromise, and you can do all the performance and capture as linear tracks in the DAW for any edits required.

1 Like

Option 1, buy a second OT. 8 outputs and save stereo effects for ITB

Option 2, buy a digitakt and wait for OB. This covers all your drum needs with individual outs and then some, extra FX and such. You’ll have 4 outs on OT still for whatever else

Option 3, record into your recorder buffers and arrange in DAW. Tedious but it works.

Option 4, slave OT to DAW, set everything up you want to track in OTs arranger and mute all other tracks. Track two stereo pairs at a time, press record and go make a coffee. With a three minute song you can do several runs within 15 minutes. Be patient, it’s really not that long. Optionally you can even use the DAW to record your cross fader performance. Filter everything (notes) out except CC48 and send midi back into OT, now you don’t have to do anything but press record every few minutes.

Option 5, OB interface-wise you can just hook up a decent sized knobby midi controller and map away. Another suggestion would be to use lemur, that way you can add more knobs whenever you like, or link any knobs for performance macros, use XY pads to control things, have more fine control over the cross fader for specific values, even set things to automatically fade to values synced to clock, plus much much more. It’s significantly deeper than OB will ever be for controlling OT, you can set the physics of each individual knob and fader and have that make them interact with each other. It’s deep

Option 6, use something else. Buy an MPC. You could even keep OT, use MPC to produce and polish ITB then once you’ve got your perfect track chop it up and run the stems through OT. Still a great tool beyond initial production, it kind of shines at mashing up finalised content

Option 7, give up and 2 track, OT is good anyway, give up control and just make music

13 Likes

you 're good at explaining things , and you do it for free ! yes we can live without overbridge.i don’t even use it very much on the a4 mk1

1 Like

I really like that idea of separating treble and bass, I’ll try that. Of course there are workarounds, but as users we always want a ‘perfect’ solution that fixes our possibly imperfect workflow. I will probably never sell my octatrack, its too fun. The UI and scenes, crossfader create immediate tacile opportunities a DAW just can’t in my view. I’ve tried both. I hope someday I figure out a way to use the octa in a more effective manner when trying to record. In the meantime, i’ll wish away for things that can’t ever happen like 8 track streaming!

For me it all sums into the working flow of the OT that work with my creativity better.
The push2 is amasing yet I still prefer the OT workflow.
The Daw I use only to record my work and refine it, thats the reason I need each track separate, its easyer to edit and eq if needed.
Because I work a lot while impro I don’t know which sample I will use n how. it creates problems sometimes with volume.
I love the fact I pre send the samples and the track through CUE so I can audition it before combining it into the session.

Would love to hear some of your OT music, sounds wild :yum:

I think your question was really targetting the OP and I’m going a little off piste here but from my experience, in certain use case scenarios, the OT remains unique in both software and hardware realms. Sure there are software solutions for individual components of the OT’s arsenal (and some that cover a few) but for something that brings it all together then I don’t really think there is a real software solution out there.

Would be interesting to hear the thoughts of an experienced vst designer on why the void hasn’t been filled yet - perhaps a pure replication of the OT’s abilities would be a programming nightmare and resource hog!

1 Like

Eventually it will happen. I’m not to stoked on my old recordings and half my stuff is in storage right now…
I think I can do better and would like to make fresh recordings to post. My recordings are all stereo capture jams, I don’t have finished DAW tracks. Usually when I hit record it’s just to capture the idea for later, and some things often go on and on. Need to pretend I’m playing a jam for an audience before hitting record, so it sounds more like a performance. It’ll happen at some point… Stay tuned… :wink:

1 Like

You can also use studio mode to send 2 stereo pairs out. That will cut the multitracking time in half. Usually, though, I send a few tracks together if they are in the same (general) frequency range. Having things summed together isn’t always something to fear in every instance.

1 Like