True, octatrack looks like a very versatile machine. Difficult to use it completely, but the theme is that it has a very serious limitation. Although it can handle long files in playback, OT cannot record them. This implies that the dawless honeymoon is abruptly ended. Of course, it is true that his is a live vocation and not a studio one, and it is true that if you want you can edit a long file capturing the recording tracks minute by minute, but it is unthinkable that this is a system that can be preferred in the studio. So not being able to create long files we are forced to integrate with Ableton. It would seem a little thing but OT is the only one not to have Overbridge and therefore is an half-dawless that does not communicate and does not give space to integrate with the computer. This condemns it in perspective to disappear to make way for a more modern architecture whose dawn could just be brought to a Full Optional Octo/Digitakt. We’ll see. Too bad, so little technology was enough to transform it into an eternal machine, the true all-in-one dream of every musician.
The octatrack CAN record long samples. Look into the track multiplier section of the machine. You will need to change some record buffer settings to give you the required max record time, but it can be done.
Depends what “long” means in this context of course 
but I agree, the Octatrack is a lot more flexible and resourceful than one might think at first looking at the specs.
The issue with samplers is, if you want to record samples like on a computer, you’re probably best off with a computer for that task.
Alternatively you can use a field recorder and record longer sessions onto that, then transfer it over to the OT and use it in a STATIC machine.
But yeah, hardware will most often be inherently more limited and focussed in terms of specs & functionality than a computer + DAW would be.
It’s a choice to make.
To me the OT is a unique dream machine, nonetheless, I don’t think anything compares to its playability & immediacy — it’s the first sampler that feels like a true instrument to me, not just a playback machine.
But yeah, I wouldn’t use it as DAW replacement, I use it as an instrument.
…the truu all in one musician dream became true, when daws entered laptops…
when simulations of all kind of instruments, studio gear and tape recording started to fit in one machine that fits ur pocket…
a full fledged studio on the go…
ot never promised that…and if it would…it would be essentially a daw again…
all otb dreams are for making/experementing/creating/jamming music and sound…
once it comes to producing/finishing all that…otb becomes itb in some way or the other…
while there’s still only one music instrument that makes me feel from guitarhero to sounddesigner to kid that fools around to serious music producer AND let’s me hit stages with no daw struggle at all…it’s a decade old, a timeless classic and does NOT speak ob…while speaking everything else…
Isn’t that why it’s called a Dynamic Performance Sampler?
Because it’s a Dynamic Performance Sampler, not a Digital Audio Workstation.
I don’t think the Octatrack was ever conceived as a replacement for a DAW in the studio, but more as a solution for those who would like to perform without one.
My Octatrack is very much a replacement for a DAW in my workflow (in tandem with a Zoom H4n pro), but then my workflow is based around live performance, so it suits my needs perfectly. But it won’t suit the needs of those who would use a DAW more comprehensively, as it isn’t a DAW, and should not be judged as such.
thank you very much I needed to clarify my ideas and I would say that your reflections have helped me a lot.
No worries, happy to help.
8m28s max recording time (16 bit).
A mono mode would double it!
OT is my main and favorite DAW. 
When I had an OT, I’d record my jams on the OT, right back into the SD card in the OT. It’ll record itself. I’d jam for a few minutes.
I’ll echo what @Fin25 said. The last few EPs and album I did were all done on the octatrack, no computer used. My recording device was a Tascam DR05. I didnt use a computer because I didnt need to.
So the OPs comments regarding the necessity for a computer with octatrack is not true at all, at least from my point of view.
DAWs are one thing, Octatracks are another. And yes, OT can record 8 minute stereo tracks if you want it to, negating the need for am outboard recorder.
Not condemned to disappear at all, I mean Elektron literally pulled the lamest trick in the marketing book ( release it in black… again) just to prove the point!
Yep, you hit the nail on the head. I remember that brief window of time when computers/audio software were considered as much of an instrument as the rest of the setup.. or they were the setup. These days the DAW acronym seems to make people screw their face up in disgust.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my gear, but there are some things that are made so much easier by using a DAW instead of, or alongside gear.
Could you record all 8 tracks to the SD card simultaneously to capture a performance and remix in a DAW or in the OT?
Yes and no. It’s possible but extremely limited for this. You only have 8m28s for recording all 8 tracks simultaneously to the RAM, so that’s just over a minute per stereo track. Which obviously isn’t enough recording time for most genres. Also, that’s the max time if no RAM is being used at all. Have a couple of flex tracks in use? Then you have even less recording time available. So, yeah, it’s technically possible to record then save all 8 tracks to the CF card but it’s in no way practical for most real life scenarios. The OT is just not a DAW.
If I want to record the output of the OT without a computer present I use a Zoom H6. Any of those handy recorders with two inputs (or four, depending on how the OT is set up, I guess) will allow you to record as much as you like.
Those tracks ultimately get plopped into a DAW at some point, but horses for courses.
Lots of anti-daw rhetoric here. I never understand why.
It’s simply a tool. It can be used in myriad ways, and human beings capable of making their own decisions get to decide exactly how to utilize the tool.
A simple MIDI router, a sequencer, an LFO machine, a 2 track stereo recorder. It doesn’t have to be used for 99% of the creative process. You don’t have to be chained to it like a typewriter at a desk.
It’s not a death knell for a hardware tool if it can also get some utility from being used in conjunction with this tool. Because they’re just tools.
This the problem with hasthag-dawless. It glamorizes the use of some tools over the others and ignores the result, which is all that really matters: actual music. It’s a symptom of our obsession with the material world and ultimately a distraction. It accomplishes nothing for the sake of creativity and could be considered a mild form of gate-keeping.
And this is directed at no one specific, but I’ve never heard a carpenter say they prefer to only use pliers at home because they use a hammer all day.
it is a handy way for me to know what content to ignore immediately though 
Good one.
Although 8h in front of a screen has physiological impacts that differ from hitting your fingers ^^
The rest of your text rings like truth to my mind
For sure, but the point is you don’t have to spend another hour in front of the screen to use a daw.
Only 10 seconds to open your template and hit record, (or play, or allow the midi routing to do its thing, however you decide to use the tool). But for some folks, apparently you lose cool points if you do this, so 
. The hoops that are jumped through, the MPC Ones, and Machine Pluses… all to use the hashtag, when they’re all just digital audio workstations, with screens, at the end of the day.
Wouldn’t it be more like, the carpenter doesn’t want to do woodworking projects at home as a hobby, because that’s what he has to do all day to get by?
I’m not part of the #dawless crowd, but I understand the sentiment: sitting at a computer for 8+ hours a day is draining. For a hobbyist, making actual music matters, but not as much as enjoying the process. That’s how I think about it anyway.