I had the same setup than you, OT and A4, and I bought a MDMki-uw. It’s a really nice machine. The combo of the three is really good.
With a midi processor or a little soft the MD become a polysynth.
I was really interested by OP-1 also but MD was a good choice.
Sounds are pretty awesome and It is so imediate crunchy sound…
If you allready know elektron maybe it will become your favorite one of the three.
Personnaly I’m taking a lot of time to make midi presets for my midi translator. I play chords-samples on MD, use A4 as a filter, send samples from OT or use it as a synth (retrig tip chart, comb filter chart). But it’s more experemeting than making music… Today I will try to make some 13th chord for OT/MD, maybe creating an OT project to have a Poly sampler 7 voices.
I need more input on my A4 in fact, using one track as a filter over MD for example is really good sounding …
So no, I kept them, just my English
I hate to recommend something I haven’t tried myself but the Model:Cycles looks like a promising option for drum duty and extra synth tones. It costs quite a bit less than either of the other options too.
If portability for bringing to a cafe, and battery power are among your top requirements, the OP-1 is the leading choice. At the current price though I highly recommend you watch videos of drum beats being made on the OP-1 and make sure you will be comfortable with that - it’s a different workflow from the other machines.
There will supposedly be a battery pack option for the Model:Cycles but nobody knows when that will come out.
As much as I love the MD, the OP1 seems to be the obvious choice. You’ve got most of the MD covered by the Octatrack. Yeah, the MD is drum synthesis but you’ll still get much the same results with the Octatrack. The OP1 brings more varied way of working that will give you different results.
Digitone maybe? Much more versatile as a synth. Portability wise an iPad or Cycles?
I have OT, Op-1, Digitone and Digitakt and except for traveling the Op-1 gets used the least.
Keep in mind you need a usb midi box to sync the OT and the Op-1 AND that the Op-1’s tape just does not keep in sync properly. If you don’t need the tape feature it’s ok.
Also I wouldn’t call Op-1’s sound quality great. Without usb plugged in the noise floor is decent, with usb (which you’ll need for syncing) it’s pretty shit.
For the price you can get 2-4 cheaper synths, too. Sorry for
i will always ride for the machinedrum, i could never get one board with using octatrack for drums, too inflexible for me. 16 tracks of drums/midi will get you pretty far and encourage you to use the OT for other duties. not only that but you can make great melodies with the MD, though without traditional/chromatic pitch assignment (there are charts made for this).
that being said they are going for high prices these days and several other machines could be had for the price of one MD.
Op-1 isn’t for everyone, but it’s my favorite piece of gear. It seems people either LOVE it or can’t handle it’s “limitations”. Personally I think it’s limitless. I love using it a lone & I also use it with an MPC & 404sx sometimes. I don’t midi it, but I sample the Op-1 into the MPC or sp404sx…
I’ve always wanted a Machinedrum tho… I would watch a lot of Op-1 videos to see if you can actually get on with it’s workflow, I think that could help you decide… what workflow you think you’ll like better
OP-1 can be frustrating to use and outside of sampling/playing it into the OT it’s not something that will play well with your gear.
I also didn’t jive well with the AR. The sampling sounds fine but the synth engines aren’t deep and the sound of them weren’t ideal for my music.
That said, the Machinedrum sounds AMAZING you can make any percussive sound out of it.
Something you’ll have to be aware of- there are no track presets- only kits. Musical sounds take some effort to get stuff out of. Playing with a keyboard won’t help
Forget all of this and get yourself an amazing reverb. Eventide Space or Empress Reverb.
That said, A4 and OT is a powerful combo! You need to push it further. Adding another piece might prevent you to explore this duo deeper.
Owning both an OP-1 and a MD, I can state that OP-1 is extremely expensive and doesn’t fit well with other gear. For <600€, it’s ok. Above, I think it’s not that worth it. Although I have a special relationship with mine…
If you think you need something halfway between synth et drum machine, a compact Model:Cycles might suit your needs. Pretty portable as well…
MD is lot of fun, though: my favorite drum machine!
I sold my OP-1 to get a Machinedrum (which I then sold to get an OT).
But now I’m possibly about to get an OP-1 again… I crave looping and the it has one of the most friendly loopers I’ve used. I know I could use the OT for looping but I seemed to be more inspired by the OP-1.
OP1, MD and monomachine are all old objects of desire for me.
First I didn’t have the money, then most used prices went crazy for all three.
Got the OP1 now for a reasonable price. Hope monomachine will be next
One thing I can say, the OP1 is extremely fun sketchpad. Lot‘s of stuff you can do. And I like the sounds as well, but I seem to often favor digital sounds anyway.
That said, it‘s very different from an elektron. No such sequencer, can‘t see it being versatile for live performance. It‘s a song sketchpad in the first place. OPz feels much more elektron with its awesome sequencer