Ok I ran another test and noticed lights come on for AB when I record and press the REC1 and Trig keys. Also I notice the bottom of trigs have it divided in first half as Track Trigs and second half as Sample/MIDI trigs. The trigs light up as red or yellow during the recording. and some flash red. Here is what I just tried out:
The sample appears to get recorded based on the flashing AB lights and information but I cannot find it to playback and mixer settings are fine.
I donāt think the MKII has much different menus than the MKI. Itās just that the videos are probably quite old and the OS has changed over time ā¦
BTW: The video above looks to me that recording gets retriggered over and over again (AFAIK the bar on the bottom of the screen is a visualization of the recording process going on and this jumps back to the beginning frequently). You need a oneshot record trigger ā¦
Gosh darn it! I am still stuck oh well guess it goes back next week as I cannot get it to record anything!
it. Sorry guys but this is very frustrating even the Moog, Nocoast and A4 are not this difficult to learn and use.
If you cannot grasp the different ways to record on the octatrack (manual sampling, recorder trig, oneshot recorder trig) and refuse to RTFM, yeh, you need to send it back. OT is one diva of an instrument, if you will not let yourself to be dominated you will never have fun with it. You need to man up and be a good sub - itāll be worth it in the end.
But if you cannot he arsed, send it back
just my 2 markkas
Just forget about the outdated videos for a moment and follow
Chapter 17.1 TRACK RECORDER SAMPLING
of the manual step by step. Doesnāt sound that complicated ā¦
thank you I will review that. I tried to use THRU machine and record again. Funny it saves the file but wonāt play it back.
As I already written above: recording gets retriggered over and over again (see the bar on the bottom of the screen!). And when you stop the A4 it will record silence into the buffer.
Yea dude at this point unless I can record and sample anything it goes back. Sorry Elektron but you need to hire someone to rewrite your documentation and quick guide so the normal person can figure it out. I have worked as a tech writer in the past and know how complex stuff can get.
Hey there @stutech
I also do not appreciate personal attacks that violates the TOS here as well. The moderator should let you know that is not cool man. I am sure you had trouble learning some piece of gear at one point and reached out to folks for help and guidance.
This took me a while to get the hang of too 
Hereās an old video showing the MK1, though menus are different, the overall process and button presses should be exactly the same: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcHmnysMgRE The video is almost exactly the same as the steps in section 17.1.2 of the MK2 manual.
Couple tips:
Hope this helps!
hereās a great perspective on the Octatrack by Merlin.
it really, really helps to sort out how to view the instrument.
ot.pdf (281.0 KB)
to monitor the incoming audio, please donāt confuse yourself at this early stage by using a Thru machine.
Instead, just use the Mix button and set Direct level (āDirā) for the AB and CD inputs to about the level of 100 or so.
there are two Dir level settings in the mix screen, one below the other, the top is for AB inputs, the lower is for CD inputs. The āGainā setting next to both is neutral when it is zero, neither increasing nor decreasing the audio input strength for the AB or CD input.
then go set Track 1 to be a Flex machine, and rather than set it to Slot 1, set it to Recording Slot 1. Doubleclick in the T1 Track 1 button and actually scroll upwards so that it is set to Recording Slot 1.
Then itās just simply a matter of ensuring everything is playing, then a double keypress of Function and Rec1 to access Recording Screen.
Hint: this Recording Screen allows settings to be made for recordings-about-to-be-made, and in fact also allows a recording to be made by setting a Trig. If this Trig is then not removed after the recording is Trigged, it will keep on doing it, even if the screen is closed, so that isnāt necessarily desirable.
Not only but also, whatever Track button is active, that is what the Recording Screen is working with. Tap a different Track button whilst the Screen is open? The Recording Screen and Trig scenario is then working for that track selected.
Set the InAB to A/B i guess, set the RLen to ā16ā for one bar.
then set one single temporary trig whilst in this screen on Trig 1.
when the playback passes over this, recording will begin. so take the Trig off after the recording is triggered.
after the bar or so has elapsed, the recording should safely be available in Recording Slot 1.
to listen to it, close the Recording Screen by pressing No.
then set a regular Trig on Trig 1 of Track 1 (that has already been set to playback anything from Recording Slot 1 by your good self five minutes ago).
Enjoy and profit ā¦
I beg your pardon? Please point out any personal attacks I might have made towards you please?
It might be possible that some things that non-native english speakers (as in, most europeans) say trig extraneous feelings in natively english speaking people, but I can assure you I feel no need whatsoever to personally attack you. For all I know, you might not even existā¦
Look, we all know it feels like shit staring down at the diva bitch known as the octatrack, and it not doing what we want. Like, at all. In times like that, cracking the manual and merlins guide, going over the sections about track recorder setup, sampling and recorder trigs, over and over, until things click. Or maybe take a lil break and come back to it when youāre no longer frustrated and try againā¦
Okay - we all need a bit of patience (those learning, those helping) - we can all recall those early days with the OT, noob questions are to be expected.
But itās true that the OT needs a bit of commitment/patience/reading from the user and itās important not to cut corners. (nor, hint hint op, try to learn too many new gadgets at the same time) 
When I first tried to sample in the OT after having read the corresponding manual section, it still took me a few tries. If it doesnāt work, read again then try again. Rinse & repeat until you obtain results. The OT is a beast that needs a lot of time & effort to be tamed, but when thatās done, it can become your best friend.
I think my best advice is to slow down and understand nothing is broken your just trying to learn a very complex machine. If you think you might figure something out in a day, change that expectation to a week. If you think your going to figure out something in a week, change that expectation to a monthā¦ Expect things to not make sense and try to learn less at one time, start off slow and easy, if your in a rush, itās not going to work outā¦
I imagine your OT is working just fine, it just requires a lot of effort and patience to understandā¦
I do wish you good luck on your journey, but is is a journey that you must be up forā¦
Nothing is brokenā¦
The effort pays off, but imagine your learning some super techy lab equipment that doctors or scientists use, instead of something thatās quick and easy. The quick and easy device doesnāt yield the advanced results of the lab equipment, but the lab equipment requires a lot of research and effort to use properlyā¦
Itās not really as complex as lab equipment, but the analogy is similarā¦
Try not to get frustrated when things donāt make sense, but rather slow down more and focus on one specific function until it makes sense, instead of trying to learn a process of functionsā¦
The big part is to not let yourself get frustrated and think itās buggy, just understand it takes time, effort, research, and practice to useā¦ Frustration and jumping to conclusions that it doesnāt work right, ruins the whole learning processā¦ Itās not as hard as I make it sound, but itās certainly not easyā¦ Once you do learn all the functions and ways it works, it does become easy, just not at firstā¦
Good luck, hang in there!
You said you were a systems engineering guy that builds computer systems for clients with hardware and software, is it really harder than that, or you just expected it wouldnāt be that hard?
And definitely read the manual manual, not the quick guideā¦ I just said in another thread you can download the PDF and search for what function your learning. Iāve searched that sucker like 1000 times and read the same thing over and over. It also really helps to read the entire thing from to back, Iāve done that like a dozen times. Also have read certain sections over and over and overā¦
But again for some hopeā¦ Once things click they click, and itās easy at that point. Leaning the OT is complex and difficult. Using the OT after youāve learned it is quick and easyā¦
Making progress I can get the signal from the synth to communicate with the OT. I tried new setup here with Flex machine:
I set one trig and one MIDI sample trig as well and hit FUNC+REC1+T1 to record and see a Plus sign and the lights flash green on AB inputs. The Volca only has a MIDI IN jack but this should not affect recording.
I also set Flex machine track to RECORDING1 on the SRC setup menu for T1.
I play the Volca beats and set Mixer settings to hear the Volca thru the OT. I will review manual again and see what I can figure out as well on my own. Ok so I enable one track trig T1 and enable one MIDI trig T1 and then disable them after starting the recording.
totally agree thank you man! I noticed Elektron has not updated their tutorials for MKII OT, why?
no doubt it is the most complex piece of hardware I have ever used for music production.
ok let us clear up any ill will then dude
