I’m looking to buy my first sampler and I’m torn between two: the SP404 and the Octatrack (probably Mk2) but I can’t seem to find a clear answer to a question about max sample length.
Can anyone tell me with certainty what the maximum length of a sample (for playback) can be on the OT? By this I mean sample playback loaded from the SD card and not resampling or re-recorded back into the OT. Many posts seem to suggest that the max length is whatever you can fit on the 85mb of RAM but one poster claimed that the max sample length can be whatever will fit on the SD/or Compact Flash Card.
What I would like to do is have 1 to 5 minute tracks as samples that have synth solos, bass lines, or drum tracks for songs that will trigger and play as backing tracks that will leave me to manipulate other machines in my rig as part of my live set.
Does that make sense? Any help gratefully appreciated.
Theoretically, with Octatrack STATIC machines ou can play 2Go files from CF card. About 3.5 hours for 16 bit, 7 hours in mono. Enough ?
FLEX machines let you play samples or recordings directly in RAM, for faster mangling with pitch and slices.
Max recording, without samples in 85.5MB Ram :
16 bits : 8m28s (508s)
24 bits : 5m39s (339s)
Up to 1m04s per track for 8 tracks in 16bits.
I think SP things are ridiculous toys compared to OT. Sequencer is more than poor, no step edit.
No midi implementation except notes to trigger samples. Some people like its fx, I don’t.
Aha! This is excellent news. I was not aware of the difference between static and flex. The tracks I’d be playing back I wouldn’t be that bothered about manipulating as I’ll be focused on other instruments.
I like the SP404 for certain things, esp the original vinyl sim and comp but that’s waaaay down the priority list.
How many static machines can one have loaded for a song? Do you know what the main drawbacks for Static over Flex machines are in terms of manipulation?
Thanks so much for that answer, that has very much steered the ship towards the OT for me!
There are 128 Static sample slots, and 128 Flex, you can play 8 stereo samples at the same time.
In theory, you can do same things with Flex and Static but fast slices / pitch changes on long samples can make the sample start later…I can’t tell the real limits. Tests needed.
With a normal use of samples you can also use Start points or Slices if you want to increase the number of sounds.
Max sounds available : 128x128 + 128x128 if you use start points, 128x64 + 128x64 if you use slices.
Great question, neat replies. Trying to follow up on the spirit of this thread, I need a hardware machine that will play sample tracks to go with my live playing. Based on what I’m reading, using a static machine to play a long sample (3-5 min) should do the trick without any sync issues, right? Consider I don’t want to mess at all with the long samples (no slices, plocking, nothing), I just need the sample to play in sync (no drift) from start to finish and I also need some timestrech bandwith (I have a tempo for each sample, but I could want to speed things up by 5-10 bpm)
Well, the sample itself just has a length, if the sampler playing the sample doesn’t drift it should start and finish in time. What Im trying to found out is if the Octatrack doesn’t introduce drifting
Could you elaborate on the tempo calculation attribute?
Also, any input on timestreching?
I can only say that whenever I have tried it that it worked fine, but the thing to bear in mind is that the Octatrack tempo is what the sample will be played at, and the tempo set in attributes in the audio editor needs to be accurate, and the song must not have tempo deviations. If these are not correct then it will drift, so it might be a good idea to prepare the song in advance using an audio editor, to ensure exact length in bars is known, and if necessary use warp markers and re-render to a precise tempo.
For me I do not use a DAW, most of my statics are produced using the Octatrack or devices slaved to it, so I know in advance the length in bars and accurate tempo. I have used tempo +/- 5-10 bpm and aside from some artifacts from timestetching (which is material dependent to an extent) it works ok.
The tempo discerning algorithm analyzes the sample filename for tempo figures, checking if the initial estimation is off by a factor 0.5 or 2.0. The ”normal” BPM range the Octatrack uses to make its initial BPM guess is 85 BPM-170 BPM. If you have loops with tempos outside this range, it might be a good idea to put the BPM value in the filename. Typically, a 70 BPM loop is initially loaded as 140 BPM loop, but if the number 70 is found anywhere in the filename, the octatrack will use 70 BPM instead. Similarly, if 280 is found in the filename, the BPM of the sample will be 280.
In one of my bands, I use the OT for backing tracks on static machines. I use 3-6 minute backing tracks rendered from my DAW. You use a one shot trig on step one, and it’s literally like hitting “play” on the backing track. Turn all time stretch off, loop off, and have no other trigs in that track, and it’ll continue to play until you stop the OT. It does not matter what tempo is set on the OT for this scenario unless you have other sequences and effects that need to be timelocked on the OT. In that case, just set your BPM before you start the song.
You can also start and stop individual tracks either independent or whilst sequencer is running by holding track button and pressing start or stop, comes in handy with large statics, plays free tracks etc.
A good example of sync statics longer than 4 bars, but apparently played with sample trigs (trigger tracks default sample, no sequence needed), maybe easier than plays free tracks ?
AFAIK samples are prepared with Live.
