Noob questions

Elektron Gear Octatrack
#952

Inputs AB of my Octa receives the Rytm and Inputs CD, the Digitone.

I’m in the process of recording complete songs. Ableton receives Octa master in one channel and some other synths in another channels. I noticed noise coming from the Octatrack even when nothing is playing. It’s like a very low level ‘brown noise’, but constant. If i mute the Thru machines that host the inputs, most of this noise goes away.

The main problem in my case is a track that starts very quiet, only with a smooth pad. In this situation the noise is pretty noticeable, specially on the final mastered (and louder) track.

In what extent this can be considered ‘normal’ ?

#953

I noticed some noise on tracks where I use the compressor on the OT. Could that be the culprit in your situation?

1 Like
#954

By removing the compressor the noise decreases but actually the overall output level too because the compressor had a bit of make up gain ; so it seems it’s not the guilty.

Could this problem be caused by using unbalanced cables on the main out ?

#955

All my Elektron gear is dead silent :thinking:
Never noticed any noise with thru machines, or comp on OT…
Lol, I’ll usually have a vinyl plugin or an old noisy delay emulation in my daw to get rid of that damn silence^^

I have everything balanced though.
I’ll change to unbalanced for easier use of the patchbay.
Although it’s possible to use balanced and unbalanced cables with a balanced patchbay, making it unbalanced will make things much easier.

How long are your cables?
How’s your cable management (power, usb, midi and audio seperated)?

Hows your gear connected? Straight to an audio interface, mixer then audio interface?

#956

I’ve had noise with DN on max volume into OctaMK2. Nothing was playing. When I lowered the volume on DN the noise degraded. Output Octa directly in speakers.

#957

Just updating, i found out the culprit of the noise floor is not Octatrack, but the Rytm…

I posted about it on RYTM Noise Floor

#958

Noob question here.

Can I have a samples folder on the Compact Flash card I can load samples from, or do I have to pre-select and copy them via PC into the audio folder of the project?

On Digitakt you have a universal pool of samples, you can preview before choosing to load into the project. Is this possible on OT?

#959

The Audio Pool in each Set is exactly that: a folder from which any Project in the Set can load samples.

2 Likes
#960

Ok. So it’s ok to dump a shed ton of samples each one?

#961

Sure you can fill the cf card with samples, if you like.
Try to stick to a folder structure, makes it easier to find stuff in the future.
OT has a menu command that collects samples from the audio pool and copies them all into the project folder, which makes the project self contained.
Best to be used after the purge samples command, which throws all samples not loaded into machines out of the sample slot list.

If the chaos in the audio pool reaches critical levels, you can collect samples in all your projects and re-arrange your audio pool.

4 Likes
#962

This thing is going to take a long time to understand :slight_smile:

#964

So even with all inputs OFF my Ocatrack has a considerable noise floor. It’s a constant noise , like a brown noise. It’s not noticeable when several elements are playing, but i can notice it when nothing is playing. So when a song starts without many elements for instance, i can hear this background noise :thinking:

Is this normal ? Besides the inputs, what else should i check ?

Even i put the volume on -50 on lthe MIX page, i can still hear this noise.

#965

DIR enabled?
Did you try the CONTROL INPUT noise gate to check if it cuts that noise?
Gain staging is ok?
If you record Main with other sounds, how is the signal? (waveform amplitude)

1 Like
#966

The mixer page shows these values :thinking:
MAIN +63
CUE +0
DIR 0
DIR 0
GAIN AB +0
GAIN CD +0

I’ve measured the noise with anything playing and it’s about -69db on both channels, as you can see below.

Because i’m currently rendering mixdowns of my tracks to send to mastering, i’m worried about this noise floor could harm my tracks overalll sound quality, because the mastered version will be a lot louder, and so will be the noise floor :woozy_face:

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551920×647 180 KB

#967

Any OT filter (drive page 2), lofi, or compression FX getting used on the way to the OT outputs?

Master track FX?

#968

No FX on the master (T8). I was using the compressor, but it makes the noise worst.

I’m really confused because if there is no thru machine enabled, no sound playing , why there is a constant noise floor from the Octa ? :confounded:

#969

Did you unplug the USB cable?

Is the headphone out also noisy?

Maybe try a different power socket?

#970

I don’t have an OT yet, but have been watching lots of videos.
In this Max Marco video, he is using slots trig mode to record a performance to 1 track. After recording the performance, is it possible to change the sample on a particular step? If so, how? By p-locking a step and using the up/down arrow buttons to select a different sample in the list? Thanks. :slight_smile:

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#971

Yep, you got it right. You can hold a trig and turn the level encoder or use up/down buttons + yes.

2 Likes
#972

Thank you! After watching so many videos over the past 10 years, I think I finally ‘get it’. :happy:
Looks like the perfect box with an iPad+AUM/apeMatrix for sample fodder.

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