Octatrack: Is buying this a mistake in 2021?

Elektron Gear Octatrack
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I guess you’re kidding but just in case…
https://www.elektronauts.com/search?q=ot%20sound%20quality

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63

I was hinting at the one you closed recently

64

Holy duck a stylus is such a good idea lmao

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65

Can’t take credit for it, I got the idea from seeing some clip of Junkie XL using a Wacom Cintiq with a stylus as his main DAW interface.

EDIT: that and using Sunvox on an old HP TC1100 for a couple years before the hard drive died and I never got around t replacing it.

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66

Holkenborg is to a studio to what Jay Leno is to cars.
Its what doesnt the guy have…

67

Honestly the style of soundtrack work he does is a big part of why I find a lot of modern movies emotionally empty (hell, the soundtrack ALMOST ruined Fury Road for me) but I can’t help liking his Youtube channel.

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Ill counter a bit, but not trying to disuade you.
Im a heavy ios user and i find using a stylus a pain the the *ick.
YMMV

Edit: and i mainly use ipad minis
Edit 2: and i probably qualify as having sausage fingers

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69

Now I’m thinking iPad? They have pens. Reading about Xequence 2 | MIDI Workstation now. This stylus thing…

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70

I’ve been looking into color e-paper displays. They aren’t ther eyet but once they get to the level of resolution, responsiveness and color depth where they’d work for a dedicated audio machine I think I’ll spend a couple hundred building something around a Pi 4 with e-paper display, since IME it’s the closest a display can get to not being a display at all.

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71

I could see that being the case on something like iOS where the displays and OS itself aren’t really designed for stylus use. I’m thinking of it more as an interface for Linux or even Windows in a mouseless/keyboardless setting. And more generally for making fine adjustments in a busy piano roll, timeline or mixer panel.

I use Android a lot and I’ve never felt any need for a stylus there. Windows XP on the old HP tablet was great with a stylus.

Also display size makes a difference. On a phone or small (8" or less) tablet I’ve found most music apps essentially unusable. On something bigger they can be nice, and if I had the space and money to get a giant touchscreen monitor to use flat on a desktop like a mixer I think I’d like that more than a dedicated hardware mix controller (unless it was a huge, fader-per-channel thing).

But in general, using a stylus on a smooth glass screen feels kind of bad, like trying to write on a whiteboard with a ballpoint pen. Using one on something designed for stylus that has a little more texture to it feels great, but unfortunately I can’t afford to go that way right now.

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72

It wasnt even the tactile feel. Its the constant picking it up and putting it down, and picking it up, and hold it with my teeth, then pick it up, then put it down. Its tough to play an instrument or move a bunch of knobs faders when youre constantly holding a pencil.

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73

I like the idea of a machine that is dedicated to that one task: midi sequencing. The MPC et al all seem to be everything machines. Which is going to make them complex.

Thanks for introducing Non. Going to have a think about what I’d want from a dedicated midi machine.

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In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive
They may find…

Summary

An Octatrack MK3

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75

I’ve one too. 64 voice polyphonic (can be upgraded to 128), multilayer/multisplit, multi output, multi midiports, fantastic converters… wow!

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77

thats very interesting - im willing to bet the technology has something to do with the old ROMpler style of sound fx for 8-bit video games like nintendo and so forth - where they had to embed audio files in the game chip for each game, (if it had real sound samples - but most didnt)

since the old 8-bit consoles only had wave oscillators - they would use some method to “decode” the audio from the chip and “stream” it through the wave registers

78

Somebody nailed the Elektron Experience, trademark it quick

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79

What kind of music are you into? That might help your decision.

80

Not a mistake here, well at least owning two at the same time isn’t.

I’m sure plenty of folks have bought two over time, but only own one currently, or don’t own one anymore. hehe

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81

I propose that every year at 12:00:01 on Jan 1st the site’s software auto-generates a “Is buying the Octatrack a mistake in the year N?” thread. where N starts at 2022 and goes to infinity.

such thread should also then be immediately followed up with one auto-generated reply: “no.” before the thread is then locked.

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