Octatrack MKi vs MKii

It took me a lot more than three months to fully grasp the OT, (shit I don’t know if I’ve fully grasped it but it seems like I have) :wink:

I also invested lots and lots of troubleshooting hours trying to figure out wtf was going on…
All in all it took lots of patience, determination, reading the manual over and over, practice, practice, troubleshoot, troubleshoot, practice, jam, trouble shoot, read manual, practice, etc…
I could see how many people would not deal with that and give up, it wasn’t any easier for me, I just kept going…

All in all it didn’t take as much determination as learning the guitar, and its a quite complicated instrument…
Most people give up learning the guitar when they reach bar chords. Your finger doesn’t naturally bend that way and most people are convinced they can’t do it. What they don’t know is that most of even the best guitar players couldn’t do it either and had to try daily for months on end until their finger could bend that way…
Good things take time!

3 Likes

I m not sure whether the deepness of an instrument should be at the expense of complexity and hard training…we leave a fantastic modern era of technology that can give access to extremely refined, complex and various things to the numbers with a clever design.

I am thinking of the digitakt for example : ok, it doesn’t serve the same purpose as the Octatrack but I felt instantly confortable with it, the first day!
It is not as deep as the Octatrack but it IS deep, and has extremely mature interface design imho…

Anyway i also think The Octatrack is a tough guy, But i am sure this beast can also reward me if i keep on trying!

As a musician I’m by default comparing electronic instruments to natural instruments, probably most folks don’t do that, but in that light it makes them all seem easier as long as your a techy type… :wink:

2 Likes

got to use the mk2 recently… been using the mk1 for 4 yrs… the knobs respond WAAAY better than the mk1 and the fact that every button is illuminated from the bottom makes it a dream to work in the dark! Also i noticed they padded the crossfader underneath… earlier u could see into the machine and i guess things could go in and make the crossfader get stuck… Sound quality couldn’t tell much as i was using it in a jam environment… Though noticed the sticky input LED issue pop up in my brief use! The display looks great! Just wished they included USB midi or atleast throw in a project/set editor/organizer similar to how overbridge works for the analog series… i mean come on its harder to do that sort of thing for analog stuff… The OT is digital! it HAS to be easier! but enough bitching… i want me a mk2 :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

1 Like

Anyone else notice when recording with a preroll, the MK2 does not record the first note if it lands on the 1?

Mine is extremely buggy. From time to time, track 1, 2, or 3 will slowly start to emit a really bad digital noise to the point where the sample just completely goes away and it’s just digital noise.

Also, scenes randomly turn on with no interaction with the crossfader or scene buttons.

Every project I’ve started, I’ve had to change.

I’m on the latest OS 1 oh something B

Is anything plugged into the MIDI IN port?
Scene Select can be changed via MIDI.

1 Like

Strictly midi out

Finally made the plunge and ordered an MKII to pair with my Rytm. Should be here mid December. Now to figure out how to set up a track with a quantized record buffer on the master to replace my KP3… :quirky:

2 Likes

As I have a Digitakt I can understand how great the OT mkII must be in terms of operation.

However I am very impressed that elektron didn’t simply configure all new updates post 1.25 to check if they are being loaded on an Mk II or not and leave the Mk I owners behind. It would have been such a simple commercial decision to urge more sales of and converts to Mk IIs, It is a clear demonstration of a long-term customer care ethic that has made the company what it is today. Kudos to elektron for this decision.

8 Likes

Kp3 I had seemed like an old toy for me after Octatrack. :slight_smile:
Up to 8 quantized buffers, played by any track, any step. :loopy:

1 Like

I’m really excited! Is it possible to dedicate one of the tracks to be a live looper of the master? I used my KP3 mostly for transitions. It’s been the last piece in the master out chain. I used it midi synced and would sample 2 bars of whatever layers I had going so I could kill the audio from the Rytm and other equipment, shift the BPM to the next tracks and get some cool warping as the KP3 loop was tempo shifted, then bring in elements from the next track until I could drop off the KP3 loop(s).

1 Like

It does that just fine, sampling master for transition, and you have a fader for mixing…

I run the Rytm in direct and capture it with a one shot recorder every once in awhile, and always use the fader to mix between live rytm, sampled rytm, and even another sliced rytm flex…
It feels like I have more than one Rytm…

2 Likes

true story about the bar chords. Fortunately I moved on :wink:

1 Like

@sezare56
dude, you missed a meme here

1 Like

So I have had my DT for a bit now and I am loving it and becoming an Elektronaut. So naturally, the logical next step is to work up to an OT to mix, live loop and sample chop a bit more. I am wondering if i can save a few $100 by just going with the MKI OT in lieu of the MKII. In my research, the things I would miss on the MKII, I don’t think I would actually miss all that much. I don’t mind the screen, I don’t mind the lack of backlit buttons and I much prefer the look of the MKI, personally. I am looking for some advice and i guess would like to know from someone who knows both devices if the audio quality is THAT much better or if my MKI buy would be justified. Thanks for the help!

Welcome. But there’s lots of threads on this topic already if you do a quick search. For example:

3 Likes

I’ve got both and while MK2 is slightly more convenient to operate due to the couple of extra buttons, I’d definitely recommend MK1. I think it’s crazy value for money (got it for 600€ vs the 900€ for the MK2). Initially I liked the look of MK2 better but nowadays I prefer MK1 in that regard as well.

Like @craig said, you can find a lot more in-depth comparisons on this forum but here’s my cents.

3 Likes

Having owned a few Mk1’s and a Mk2 I don’t think I’d ever recommend a Mk1 unless you got it very cheap.

The screen is considerably better but it’s the added buttons/shortcuts that make the difference. Some may argue that it is a minor thing but for me they made a gigantic difference in how I got on with the Octatrack.

You’re coming to it fresh though so you don’t have the experience to compare the two. I guess with that in mind you wouldn’t know what you’re missing!

3 Likes

If the general hardware is the same, would it (theoretically) be possible to add the missing buttons yourself (when soldering)?

Would you find the pins into the MK1 UI PCB board, developed before that the MK2 was even conceived? :sweat_smile:

Seriously: functionality wise is the same, UI board not.

1 Like