Sure. That’s the case with Arranger Mutes. They mute trigs and keep tails.
It can be used live, but you have to be in Arranger Edit mode > Mutes.
6 Likes
Sorry but I disagree. I rather think that the delay and reverb, when use in “send " mode” run parrallel to the track’s main signal (and eventually any insert effect, need to check that) , but as a whole it remains a track insert from my point of view. Unlike the Digi’s, or Analog4/Keys for example, that have a fx bus/track and fx are thus shared between tracks in a very conventional way. Ok, if we consider each audio track as a submixer that has 1 input, 1 or 2 aux sends (depending on settings) plus an insert and 1 or 2 fx returns, and that then all 8 submixers are summed in the main mixer, yes, from a submixer point of view delays and reverb’s are send fx. But in the end, on the OT when you mute the track or cut the level, the tails are cut off, and that was the point.
2 Likes
Ooh, yeah, this things shines with the drums. Very competent in that aspect. But it’s jenky with synths.
Good points. I will really have to begin loading samples instead. I believe that will get me good sound. It’d begun to prepare some tasty samples in my MPC… great with the capture, rendering and reproduction! Then I just got depressed when I tried to sample them into the Octa. Yes, they sound bad! They sound like cardboard.
When i first connected my Microfreak to the Octa, i was so disappointed i wanted to throw the freak in the garbage. It sounds workable in the MPC. So I’m running midi from 8 to control Freak with the audio in to the Live.
The Microfreak is actually a great critic piece.
Using it for the comparison is very telling.
I’ve compared the Octatrack against the MPC Live. The octatrack is quite poor. Neither is it capable of sampling the freak competent, nor are the fx able to apply the necessary processing to give a satisfactory media.
My next steps for improvement will be the addition of a couple integrated peripherals to pick up the slack so that my expectations in what I need to hear will be met.
I´m using thru machines and sample synths into my OT all the time, drums from the Analog Keys, Pads from the Micromonsta, I sample my Shruthi and I also work with the transition trick and never noticed problems. Also had Nord Racks, Minilogue, Volcas and what not going into OT.
6 Likes
This is definitely weird. It should not be. If your samples sound like cardboard compared to the MPC, either the MPC has some fx (EQ, or other sorts of enhancements) active, or there’s a filter in the OT’s track path, or you have an issue with physical connectors (audio jacks). As I mentioned in a earlier reply, I cannot tell the difference between direct sound from my mixer and the same source once sampled in the OT and I do this all the time, sampling my mixers main stereo out in the OT than swiching to play the sample back , it’s seamless, you can’t hear any difference. I did tests using the transfer function in SMAART (professional audio analyser) and there’s a very slight roll-off (like 0.5 dB/octave starting at 10k which is neglectible). Harmonic content is perfectly transcribed, no artifacts were measured. I didn’t measure intermodulation distortion, but my trained ears tell me that is not something to worry about, especially in this context.
9 Likes
If you think the OT makes your samples bad, that is totally ok. If you feel you need more stuff to process and get the results you want, go for it. If you think the MPC makes your samples good, that’s cool too.
Each to their own.
I have a great time sampling with my octatrack. I am happy with my results. Thats what counts.
4 Likes
what do those three things mean? And are there some samplers which underperform on one or two of those… ‘stages’? genuine question - want to become a sampling connoisseur!
reading your post again - like the micro freak experience - it sounds like you’re saying this comparatively garbage sound can be heard even running something through the OT as mixer?
I definitely noticed a small change between direct signals and signals routed through the OT when I first got mine, not a big difference but noticeable (comparable to the differencce between dithered and undithered audio) and for a while it kept me from running analog synths through the OT other than the occasional live show. But over the last year or so I’ve started to notice that the minimal, on the fly mixes I do when I’m routing everything through the OT are kind of nicer sounding than the “better” full mixes I’d do in a DAW. At this point I’ve been pretty much mixing live on the OT and/or inside fo multitimbral modules if I’m using them, and the only reason I sometimes record samples to the DAW and then transfer them over to the OT is convenience (even though it does sound modestly better, which shouldn’t be surprising because if I hadn’t gotten it a a really good used price, four channels of i/o on it would have cost as much as an entire OT MKII - if it didn’t sound better that would be a problem).
Anyway, I have no issue with recording an entire track straight from the main outs now. It sounds like an Octatrack but is that actually a problem?
4 Likes
This means 20kHz is attenuated by 0.5dB?
There is a degradation while sampling internally at least, you can try it out by having two recorders take turns recording and playing back each other. But saying it sounds like cardboard is just plain bullshit. I offered to present a blind test to see if anyone can tell any difference (and had no takers) but seems like it has been done already.
4 Likes
Great questions!
1 Like
Delay is a send fx, reverbs can be toggled between send and inserts.
I‘d prefer if the mutes were trigger mutes and not audio mutes, so when you mute a track, it just mutes the next trig and doesn’t cut the audio off abruptly.
Possible workarounds aren’t really doing it for me. Mapping amp vol to a midi controller works great, but you lose the ability to p-lock amp vol.
Using scenes (xvol) for mutes does work, well kinda, it‘s pretty confusing to me actually^^What scene mutes which track again and which one solos the kick?
Great that it‘s possible to mute groups of tracks, though.
In the pattern menu could be an option to select audio mute or trig mute per track, I´m sure this lack is a reason for lot of people not using OT live.
My problem with scenes is that they don´t behave like a ctrl-all, I´d like to kill the bass of whatever scene but the reality is that I fade from that scene to a different one, that had the low end cut.
Also, bear in mind that the FX in the signal path, even if theoretically inactive (depth/mix etc set to zero) alter the sound slightly. This has been confirmed by Elektron, IIRC. To compare correctly in/out one must remove all effects (track + master track). Still not a cardboard generating symptom though.
3 Likes
How would you expect to do that? A scene isn’t something in the main audio path. That’s what the master track is for (the DJ EQ works great for this)
1 Like
I mean having a DJ EQ on the master T8.
Imagine the typical scene with only this parameter “locked”, low gain to -63. Let´s say scene 9. Scene 1 is blank.
If I fade from scene 1 to scene 9, ok. If I try to fade from scene 2 to scene 9 it doesn´t become scene 2 without the low end, it fades from scene 2 to the blank scene without low end.
I´d like them to only change that parameter.
I use a filter on the master track for that.
Scene A is muted or blank, Scene B has one scene (Scene 10) which has width locked to 0 and another scene (Scene 11) which has base locked to 127.
Filter values are set to 0 for base and 127 for width which means the filter has no effect on the signal.
When I want to use a low pass filter, I select scene 10 and move the crossfader to the right, when I want high pass, I select scene 11 and move the crossfader to the right.
Also works with DJ EQ, Delay, Reverb and all other parameters ofc.
Filter just gives the opportunity to use more scenes for resonance, envelope, lfo modulation and stuff.
If you want to use the crossfader to sweep any parameter, just leave one scene blank or muted (or lock other parameters, just not the one you want to sweep) and lock the parameter to the target value.
What you want to do definitely works 
4 Likes
I´ll take a look. Of course the problem was me doing things the way there weren´t meant.
Re: OT effects quality - I think it depends on what your goals are. I see the OT as an instrument designed for performance (it’s in the name). In that regard, the effects sound perfectly usable for live situations and work really well when really pushed as a sound design tool where the OT is part of a larger mix. When it comes to recording and mixing a proper album I would definitely use plugins for everything. That’s not a critique of the OT, though. That’s literally how any high end recording is made. Your favorite band probably used an insane amount of snare drums, mics, and outboard effects. That doesn’t mean their snare drum is trash. If you’re wanting to create an entire mix in a single hardware box that doesn’t have some lo fi quality I would be inclined to ask when that has ever been achieved.
6 Likes
Ah, another thing:
When I connect my Digitone to the Octatrack (I use a Thru machine) it´s sound is very very different to the Digitone direct to the monitors, for example. Of course it´s “worse”, more boring (boringer?), but it´s what it is.
regarding the way OT might “smear” the input:
a fellow member of this forum (max marco) has made a brilliant video on how various param’s and FX manipulate the inputs:
back to topic: OT’s FX should be seen as sculpting options, not as top-notch FX. and for mangling sound this is an immense ammount of possibilities you get…
btw: this question feels like nietzsche’s eternal return, like every year someone asks this question again and again…
7 Likes