I’d watch those videos in a heartbeat :))
Just saw The octa MkII for the first time, in a shop around my house . MAMAMYA ! it’s a beauty ! i’ll go for this one for sure
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mk1 looks better during the day, mk2 looks better during the night
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Mk 2 looks much better but that’s about it. Buttons shortcut is nice but not exactly essential to me. Oh yeah I forgot the screen would be one of the reasons but then again not enough for me to fork out for since I use crappier displays than the ot mk1
Since i do not have the mk1, i will chew on the mk2 
Screen and the extra buttons on the MK2 look nice, but apart from that, I don’t personally see the point of an MKII. Personally, I think the MKI looks much, much better. Just scored an MKI after having had one four years ago - surprised at how much of the muscle memory still is in tact, everything just seems to be in the fingers, super happy about that. 
So with a bit of practise, the MKI isn’t really as complicated as people would have you think, and probably half the price of an MKII, which really doesn’t offer a substantial enough upgrade for the price (in my opinion).
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I have the dark trinity, the MKI Rytm and Four, and the MK II Octatrack.
I found, to my surprise, that I instantly geled with the Octa MK II. The better UI seems to make a lot of difference at least to me.
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hehe, you nailed it !
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I only live at night 
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I always thought the OT mk I looked the goofiest out of the mk I trinity. Its a weird look, on photos it looks better than IRL IMO. The UI layout doesn’t look as refined as on the A4 or the rytm. The OT mk II UI layout looks much more rrefined to my eyes, on par with the rytm mk I, which I always considered the best looking out of the mk I trinity.
But do looks really matter that much?
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obviously not but the looks was to only major upgrade from mk1 to mk2, no?
With UI do you mean the knobs and buttons or the GUI?
As an engineer I will note:
- New OLED displays burn out (there are already precedents).
- cheaper encoders are used (The MK1 encoders are much better in quality).
In general, the manufacturing quality is noticeably lower (I think someones remembers the embarrassment with the buttons and fingerprints on the back of the display glass).
Since the moment of purchase in 2011, I have been striving to install OLED display in my OT (I am a fanatic of OLED and install this types of displays in all devices). But I didn’t find a high-quality option. What was available didn’t meet my requests for reliability and quality of workmanship. Therefore, I had to leave this venture so far. At the moment I am working on the built-in battery for OT (the place in the case allows) with charge-control and protection. Also decided to make an inverted display with a redesign of the backlight and partial toning to enhance the contrast. So it will look more like a MK2 display. Also I had to install a more reliable power connector (with fixation on the rotating nut).
A lot of things can be improved in the OT. If I ever get to its program code, I’ll add just two very simple functions that will bring this device to a whole new level. Just two functions. And star in the hands.
Frankly speaking, all this is due to my desire to customize everything.
My whole setup has undergone modifications. All devices. By the way, if someone owns KORG KAOSS PAD 3, I can share my modification scheme for the device to completely remove noise. Just the noise, because of which this device could not be used in the studio.
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What are these functions ?
I’d be interested in inverted display and power socket mods.
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Sounds like a great project, @SHS . Please share the modifications on Elektronauts at some point. I’m learning everything I can about lithium battery charge and protection circuits so I’d be really grateful to know know more about that aspect of your OT mod.
umm no? For me the only reason I flipped my OT mk I to an mk II was the improved input section. I coulda lived with the mk I UI and button combos, coulda lived with the encoders, but the input section felt unsatisfactory to me. And I was happy to find out that the new input section was indeed an improvement, although I must admit that back then I didn’t know how to gainstage the OT as optimally as I do now…
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I mean the way the front panel looks (positions of encoders and buttons, text legending, that slightly tacky bezel on the LCD). It looked much more ”DIY” to me than the mk II.
If I used a MK1 every day of my life I probably wouldn’t own a MK2.
But I don’t.
Some weeks I am all over the OT, sometimes I won’t use it for a week or three because life demands that I pay attention to other things.
Because of this, just about all of the things that were changed from MK1 to MK2 are why I own the MK2, instead.
The buttons and their text both on and near the button actually give you more information, all while taking up less space (compare the track buttons for example, “T1” with the light inside the button plus “Cue/Mute” text tightly underneath on the MK2, vs on the MK1 you have “T1 Mute” next to the button, and a light on the other side of the button).
Additional buttons / function buttons / button text cues that speed up my workflow and/or make things more intuitive when I haven’t touched the thing in two or three weeks: Rec3, AED, Trig mode, all the cursor navigation text around the encoders, Save Project, Part Edit.
YMMV. Workflow was a big gripe on the MK1 and I’d say they did a solid job addressing those concerns and making such a vast, powerful, and deep instrument more inviting for many users.
Of course, also, the input section sounds great.
The viewing angle on the OLED display is unreal and after hours it is much easier on the eyes.
I don’t think it is perfect, though. Pattern Banks are still titled A-P but the space under the trigs are no longer labeled as such. This annoys me as I get up past bank E and have to count letters on my fingers. But with this being my only gripe, I’d say they did a good job making the MK2 a smoother device to use.
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Could you elaborate on gain staging? How do you do it best?
By redlining the inputs
Another thing that helped me work the OT was the realization that the summing bus is not floating point, its fixed point. So be careful not to hit the summing bus too hard, it will clip easily.
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