Latest on overbridge with OT

NoiseLab · 2015-04-17T15:21:28.000Z

Sooner or later there will be Overbridge for the Octatrack, it’s inevitable because of the concept!

It’s just like Steve Jobs once told that playing movies on the iPod will never happen!

Rabbitfrog · 2015-04-17T15:23:59.000Z

""diabolik"":

i need to record 8 separate tracks into my computer. OT is the one Elektron machine that needs Overbridge the most.

I’d gladly pay for a new board that i could drop in my current machine that would enable this, i’m sure plenty of others would as well.

If you need it, then why did you buy OT? It never even hinted that it had PC integration. Maschine has more then 8 tracks of sample playback and it will cost you a quarter of the price of an OT (used with transferable license code) or a Maschine Mikro.

Rabbitfrog · 2015-04-17T15:38:12.000Z

""energyovertime"":

MD needs Overbridge twice as much as the OT!

Nonsense! SidStation needs it more because it has a numpad!

Btw, I don’t know what DAW people use but my version of ProTools has …uhm… UNLIMITED audio tracks. It needs Overbridge even more!

GovernorSilver · 2015-04-17T15:44:06.000Z

""Rabbitfrog"":

Guys, sorry. But why everyone wants Overbridge for OT?

Not me. I record to hardware recorder and no need to export each of the OT’s 8 tracks into separate stems.

diabolik · 2015-04-17T17:14:19.000Z

""Rabbitfrog"":

[quote=“diabolik”]i need to record 8 separate tracks into my computer. OT is the one Elektron machine that needs Overbridge the most.

I’d gladly pay for a new board that i could drop in my current machine that would enable this, i’m sure plenty of others would as well.

If you need it, then why did you buy OT? It never even hinted that it had PC integration. Maschine has more then 8 tracks of sample playback and it will cost you a quarter of the price of an OT (used with transferable license code) or a Maschine Mikro. [/quote]
I bought it so i could play live without a computer. I also bought one of the first batch, so I’ve been with the OT through all of its ups and downs and initial growing pains. Since then, I produce entirely with hardware and record everything into logic. I never once thought of getting rid of it, it’s probably the most important piece of gear i own.

I love the OT, but recording it is horrible. I do ALL of my drums on the OT and have to record one track at a time. This sucks. Overbridge is obviously a great idea, why not retrofit the one machine that can most benefit from its use?

I know elektron will say that this isn’t happening until they are blue in the face, but i think its clear that most OT users want this. a user installed circuit board or even some kind of breakout would be a no brainer and make them tons of money. what’s the problem?

Rabbitfrog · 2015-04-17T17:41:44.000Z

""diabolik"":

ups and downs and initial growing pains ???

but recording it is horrible. I do ALL of my drums on the OT and have to record one track at a time.

Why would you do that? If you need individual drum outputs, then you need a drum synth.

What exactly do you do with audio in Logic that you can’t do in OT, you have a mixer, effects, compressor. You can process all drums in OT and then record the stereo track.

I am not sure what you mean by recording drums into OT? You mean live drums? In which case you want to add a computer to your setup? Then why not just record into the computer and skip the middle man that OT is and then transfer recorded audio into OT for playing live.

You have to explain what exactly you do? Do you use OT just for drums? Live drums? Record on how many tracks? Please specify, I am curious.

PeterHanes · 2015-04-17T17:51:36.000Z

""diabolik"":

…

Overbridge is obviously a great idea, why not retrofit the one machine that can most benefit from its use?

I know elektron will say that this isn’t happening until they are blue in the face, but i think its clear that most OT users want this. a user installed circuit board or even some kind of breakout would be a no brainer and make them tons of money. what’s the problem?

The problem is that it wouldn’t be just ‘some kind of breakout board’. The OT chipset is said to not be able to transfer audio over USB. That means a complete redesign (instead of a simple modification), in order to implement Overbridge.

It seems to me that Overbridge is promoted by Elektron as a route to get the analogue signal processing in the AF/AK and AR integrated into a computer-based setup. As others have pointed out, there are already many other ways to do digital processing on a computer.

AdamJay · 2015-04-17T18:26:38.000Z

I reckon an OT Mk2 with 8 assignable stereo outputs would bridge the gap for most.

diabolik · 2015-04-17T18:27:52.000Z

""Rabbitfrog"":

[quote=“diabolik”] ups and downs and initial growing pains ???

but recording it is horrible. I do ALL of my drums on the OT and have to record one track at a time.

Why would you do that? If you need individual drum outputs, then you need a drum synth.

What exactly do you do with audio in Logic that you can’t do in OT, you have a mixer, effects, compressor. You can process all drums in OT and then record the stereo track.

I am not sure what you mean by recording drums into OT? You mean live drums? In which case you want to add a computer to your setup? Then why not just record into the computer and skip the middle man that OT is and then transfer recorded audio into OT for playing live.

You have to explain what exactly you do? Do you use OT just for drums? Live drums? Record on how many tracks? Please specify, I am curious.[/quote]
i have thousands of drum samples in my OT. i build up drum tracks in the box then record into my DAW. I can’t be the only person using an Octatrack that does this, i’ve seen countless people on here use the same method.

I don’t want to use Logic to produce drums. I use the Octatrack because the method of using the machine yields results that would be held back by the typical DAW workflow. Which is the whole point of using a hardware machine like this, no? to be able to use it in any which way it works for you? The paramater locks, crossfader, effects, midi tracks etc are essential to the work I do. I don’t need a drum synth, this does what I want it to do.

But the music can’t live in the box forever. It has to be recorded somehow. And I cant show up to someone’s studio to mix a record with one stereo out for all of my drums. They want everything separated. And if i happen to be mixing this myself, I do too. I don’t understand why this would be such an alien concept and why the constant requests for overbridge integration is met with such disdain.

The Machinedrum never offered sampling initially, but was a MK2 not released a few years later that offered this functionality? I get that the board is not capable of doing overbridge. why not update the board so that it can, and offer it either as a factory upgrade or as a board you can put in yourself? Was this not also offered with the Machinedrum?

The reason why the board continues to be cluttered by people regurgitating the same request over and over is that it obviously in great demand. They’re either going to listen or they’re not. Either way, I’m still going to use the OT the way it works best for me, i’d just much rather not have to do it plunking away one track at a time into my DAW.

Rabbitfrog · 2015-04-17T19:08:23.000Z

""diabolik"":

i have thousands of drum samples in my OT. i build up drum tracks in the box then record into my DAW.

I don’t understand why this would be such an alien concept

It actually is an alien concept for me. I happened to work in a record studio a little bit and we used a ton of mics on drums, which is why they needed so many tracks, they needed ton of work, editing, cutting, noise filtering and buss compressing.

A lot of mics on drums is what most people are used to but some audio engineers can record amazing drums with just 2 really good mics and preamps. I am not one of them though.

I assume the reason why recording engineers want separate tracks is because they are not familiar with OT because almost everything they are going to do in a DAW to those drum tracks can be done internally in OT. A lot of drum mixing is applying EQ, compression, reverb and effects as well as adjusting gain and all of it can be done directly in OT.

Maybe you don’t need a drum synth but you are saying you need more audio outputs and you bought a device that clearly has only 2.

What you are saying now in regards to multiple outputs can all be done with Machinedrum UW+ (it has sample recording as well) or Analog Rytm which will have the Overbridge that you want, sample playback as well. And both of these machines will give you all the Elektron parameter locks and sequencing that you love.

nfim · 2015-04-17T20:54:37.000Z

[quote=““Rabbitfrog””]

diabolik:

i have thousands of drum samples in my OT. i build up drum tracks in the box then record into my DAW.

I don’t understand why this would be such an alien concept

I assume the reason why recording engineers want separate tracks is because they are not familiar with OT because almost everything they are going to do in a DAW to those drum tracks can be done internally in OT. A lot of drum mixing is applying EQ, compression, reverb and effects as well as adjusting gain and all of it can be done directly in OT.[/quote]
So you’re saying that we should be happy mixing with 2 FX on each track, only one of them being delay or reverb? Not to mention mastering - can you imagine sending the mastering engineer just a stereo track?

The Octatrack is amazing at some things. Mixing isn’t one of them. More outs would solve this problem. It’s not satisfactory to respond to this by saying “it’s supposed to be a live tool!” or “you’re supposed to do all your mixing inside it!” or “use a laptop and kontakt if you want a serious sampler”. People who otherwise love the OT are ditching the it because of this issue, even in live situations (read up on why Karenn got rid of theirs).

Multiple outs would turn the OT from a fun groovebox to the serious studio workhorse it aspires to be.

jamrod · 2015-04-17T20:56:48.000Z

""undefined"":

But it already connects to a PC. Want to get your Octatrack-altered samples into your DAW for further processing/effects? Re-sample them and then drag them out over USB! You don’t need Overbridge to do that.

I disagree. While I love making tracks on Octatrack alone, when I go to record a final performance of a track with live crossfader action and tweaks, I want to be able to record every track separately. Then I can use better/more FX than the Octatrack has on board.

For me, the primary appeal of Overbridge for Octatrack would be just that: to make better sounding final recordings via multitrack. I’m not just a complainer; I’ve still made a whole record using just the OT, and I continue to use it. But people have a very good reason for wanting Overbridge.

noisemaker · 2015-04-17T21:45:43.000Z

I agree about tracking out. Once i heard about the ability to record several tracks at once i was really hoping OT would be getting this feature. I don’t think it will ever come, we just have to work around it. Brilliant box though! My favorite so far.

noisemaker · 2015-04-17T21:50:28.000Z

You know what would be cool? If the OT had a feature to export all tracks in a project to stems that you want mixed down. Its lazy i know…

nfim · 2015-04-17T21:57:02.000Z

""noisemaker"":

You know what would be cool? If the OT had a feature to export all tracks in a project to stems that you want mixed down. Its lazy i know…

But it would have no way of knowing when you’re changing patterns, what you’re doing with the xfader, etc… if it had ten times the flex memory you could just use the rec buffers to record each track in realtime, but if you use the buffers in a track for resampling you’re screwed again. 8 dedicated mixdown buffers? Now it’s getting out of hand if the hardware is being upgraded anyway (which it isn’t, this is a fantasy scenario) easier solution to just give the thing 8 outs and be done with it.

noisemaker · 2015-04-17T22:02:48.000Z

hmm what about the static machines, like sending the mixdown to static machines? Lets say it streams straight to your mem card. You would improvise your pattern changes in song mode or arrange mode and record your fader movements. Your basically at a mix down stage right? So your patterns and structure on your loops, sounds, etc are ready to be stemmed.

nfim · 2015-04-17T22:09:46.000Z

""noisemaker"":

hmm what about the static machines, like sending the mixdown to static machines? Lets say it streams straight to your mem card. You would improvise your pattern changes in song mode or arrange mode and record your fader movements. Your basically at a mix down stage right? So your patterns and structure on your loops, sounds, etc are ready to be stemmed.

Static machines/CF card can’t handle the bandwidth of recording 8 audio tracks at once. If it was that easy we wouldn’t be limited to 8 recordbuffers totalling 64MB RAM.

jurassic · 2015-04-22T22:14:06.000Z

""jamrod"":

[quote=“undefined”]But it already connects to a PC. Want to get your Octatrack-altered samples into your DAW for further processing/effects? Re-sample them and then drag them out over USB! You don’t need Overbridge to do that.

I disagree. While I love making tracks on Octatrack alone, when I go to record a final performance of a track with live crossfader action and tweaks, I want to be able to record every track separately. Then I can use better/more FX than the Octatrack has on board.

For me, the primary appeal of Overbridge for Octatrack would be just that: to make better sounding final recordings via multitrack. I’m not just a complainer; I’ve still made a whole record using just the OT, and I continue to use it. But people have a very good reason for wanting Overbridge.[/quote]
Exactly! Just something I guess we have to work around at this point…
Not complaining , just want to get the most out of what the OT can do best by taking its tremendous live capabilities and allowing it to thrive in a studio setting.

speak_onion · 2015-04-23T17:45:45.000Z

I would not hesitate to pay full price for a new OT that is exactly the same as the one I already have, except for being able to stream 8 stereo tracks to a computer via USB (or adat or whatever). Streaming audio from computer into OT would also be welcome, but isn’t critical.

Anyone who can’t see why that is useful should feel free to not purchase it, should it ever become available.

apeirophobe · 2015-04-23T17:49:26.000Z

""speak_onion"":

I would not hesitate to pay full price for a new OT that is exactly the same as the one I already have, except for being able to stream 8 stereo tracks to a computer via USB (or adat or whatever). Streaming audio from computer into OT would also be welcome, but isn’t critical.

Anyone who can’t see why that is useful should feel free to not purchase it, should it ever become available.

+1