So… I hear ya. And you know what? The logical action from all that should be: Let’s get together 10 billion and do it. Elektron 1 billion, Behringer, A&H, UAD, Yamaha, Waldorf etc. pp. all 1 billion 
In the end this would of course only be realistic if you already put in a lot of money for the pitch to win any company and investor over to invest / be part of the development.
The entire pro audio market, globally, only does about $4.5B in gross revenue a year. Available capital for R&D is going to be 10% of that if you’re insanely lucky, and a chip isn’t a product, it’s the very earliest stage of product development. So, no, there’s no world where the entire global pro audio market puts 100% of their R&D budget for a decade into designing a new processor, nor would you want them to.
More on-topic, I’m looking forward to seeing where we end up with actually-existing technology in a few more years. It seems like what’s (in very relative terms) cheap and easy these days has made a qualitative jump in what small teams can ship. I’d love to see a couple more takes on the generative chord sequencer concept, with the same kind of emphasis on playability and polish that’s clearly gone into the T1.
A question to those with more experience: what would be the smartest way to plug the NDLR into a setup that is entirely controlled by the OT? I could use the OT to control some parameters of the NDLR as well but that is not top priority, ideally the NDLR would sit right inbetween the OT and the rest of the setup (OT is going into a MIDI Through splitter and from there to rest). Did I understand correctly that one of NDLR‘s MIDI ports is also usable as a MIDI Through? Only had limited time to check the manual yet and on first glimpse I didn’t find an answer to this (might have heard it being mentioned in a video instead).
Thanks in advance.
I suppose that you are using the OT MIDI Tracks for your Synths.
NDLR MIDI Out > OT MIDI In
Splitter > NDLR MIDI In B (Clock)
Yes, only the other Elektron gear is sequenced by itself and only receives clock and transport from the OT.
Thank you for the suggestion, will give it a try and see if it works as I imagine.
When using the NDLR as a MIDI receiving device, you can arm the Parts individually or all at once. If you double-press Stop on the OT, you will have to re-arm the Part(s).
Don’t have OT but DT:
DT out > NDLR in
NDLR out to synths through MIDI splitter/merger
This way you can sequence key change in NDLR from OT and also use OT to sequence your synths.
Edit: use of MIDI port B will also give you sync (or am I mistaken @Tchu?)
Can you sequence your gear both from the DT as well as the NDLR in your scenario?
Yes I had it set up this way.
Was sequencing my synths from NDLR and TR8 and Tanzmaus from DT.
Yes.
So many different possibilities to use the NDLR. It depends on the complexity and/or the use of your setup.
If I’m not mistaken, the NDLR has this feature?
True.
At some stage I had it poly chaining 3 synths on 1 part as well as some VSTi.
Yes it does but sequencing the part changes from DT/OT is pretty nice, especially using trig condition on the Elektron sequencer 
Broke out the NDLR again to explore some sound and feelings. I definitely don’t utilize this thing to its fullest, but I love using it every time. It’s just such an easy way to make ambient music I like without losing the spark during the nuts-and-bolts construction of the song. Definitely a great palate cleanser to keep around!
Looking to those who are using the OT / Elektron device with NDLR for some assistance. I’m struggling with some issues when using CC’s to change scale/mode/key etc.
First, when placing a trigless midi trig and setting a CC to control one of those parameters the NDLR updates the Pad and notes are triggered. That’s cool and it makes sense.
However, there seems to be some crazy latency when using CCs and so if I lock multiple CCs to change a multiple parameters (like scale and key) then I the NDLR borks out multiple notes all triggering the new note values in a messed up way (like it will play the new scale and then the key in rapid succession).
Using CC’s in general feels really sluggish. If I place 4x trigs on a 16 step pattern and use CC to play notes they rarely play on time. The alternative is to lay down actual notes (which play bang on time) but then the same problem happens if I try to add a CC value to that, then it’s a noisy mess.
What I would want to do is have 1 midi channel playing the notes and another channel changing scale/mode at a slower pace creating progression. It does not seem to handle any of that.
I love the potential of this device but it feels very rough round the edges. I also read on the NDLR forum that they’ve maxed out the memory but then I see features in NDLR that are half baked (chord sequencer) and others that are kinda pointless (controlling a synths filter and panning etc.)
I just want it to do music theory really well, and that’s it.
Really disappointed with this piece of kit. I hope someone who has an Elektron can help me realise that I’m using it wrong or something.
THX
I haven‘t tried it myself yet but did you check this video? He might be doing something similar as you‘d like to achieve.
Thanks I’ll check it out.
I did a deep dive with the NDLR the other night to really get my head around it. Going in I couldn’t understand why notes were triggering when I was using trigless locks on the OT setting things like Key (CC73). This is not mentioned in the manual at all.
The problem is worse when placing a trig (which will play a new chord degree) and then CC locking a parameter like Key on the same trig. What is heard is an out of sync double chord change (the chord from the trig, and one from the CC lock).
The reason why the two notes are off is that CC control on the NDLR is completely out of sync and not on the money at all. I tried via the OT, via a DAW and via a Pyramid. The CC processing is a good 1/16th note out at 120bpm. Additionally, using CCs to sequence the NDLR chords means it runs out of sync with itself(!) Pad changes (which is what the CCs are ultimately controlling) run out of sync with the Drone and Motif parts.
There are 2 other major issues that I found within my first 2 days of using it; the Chord Sequencer has sync issues it’s first step length does not match the programmed length by a 1/16th note and the Pattern Editor does not play nicely when the NDLR is synced because any incoming notes will change the pattern values and there’s no way to turn that off. So if you’re sequencing notes from an external device, DO NOT go into the Pattern Editor because your pattern will be overwritten by the notes your sequencer is playing. You must stop your sequencer before going into that menu. The problem there is, you can’t hear the changes you make to the values as to hear the changes, you the sequencer needs to be playing.
It’s a mess to be honest.
(I’ve left feedback on the NDLR forum about all of this.)
Thanks for this. What he’s doing is relatively simple and is a similar to where I landed after several days of figuring out what works best.
He’s not doing anything with CCs that require a change on beat (like changing Key) instead he’s just playing notes (which changes Chord Degree) and using LFOs to modulate the position of each part, and the NDLR works well for that. Anything beyond that and you hit NDLRs wall of limitations and it’s best to move midi/audio to elsewhere to make deeper changes.
And that works for me. I’m seeing the NDLR as a secret weapon for a very specific task which can then be worked on from elsewhere. I did try to see if I could recreate what NDLR does in another box (Pyramid) but it’s just not possible, what NDLR does is very special (I just wish is wasn’t so buggy… ah well).
One thing I haven’t tried is to use Program Changes to switch Presets. This might be a good way to change Key on beat… I will try that this weekend and report back.
I‘ve only used the NDLR with just the basic features so far but also want to try sequencing it from the OT so I‘m glad you’re taking such an in depth approach and report what you find. 
I returned the NDLR in the end. I wasn’t happy with its quirks and unfinished feel.