OT limitations, is it worth it in 2020

I don’t know the DT FX but probably not.

BIG BUT

The DT is one send. The OT offers the possibility of 8 (16 with a hack!) unique reverbs, all modulate and plockable.

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I was talking more about the algorithms. Would it benefits from more modern algorithms?

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It would. Absolutely. But my point is that having 8 decent-to-really good algorithms for your tracks far out weighs one really good send.

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What limitations?

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The OT is still totally worth it. Had it for 8 years and it’s in all my tracks. I would rather buy a second one than part with it. Really. And I have enough terrific other gear.

It’s just so flexible and has so many ways to work with. It can be what you want it to be, almost.

I had so much fun with just my OT and a flashcard of ableton stems of other tracks. Sounds that i wouldn’t recognize anymore.

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This :

I don’t like the title of the video but I think you get a better picture of the OT. Regardless of that video, I still think the OT is an absolute must.

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As for the OT effects being out dated, i owned the DT first and I sort of understand where you are coming from. The DT reverb does sound more “modern” i suppose…But there is a “clarity” (maybe another objective term) that the OT brings to the table. When you have two effects (many times a filter before delay, or reverb) on each track, individually, I find each track becomes very clear and lives alone… On the DT, you have send effects, which sort of glue things together, making the whole track itself. Basically, for me 2007 is modern enough and having individual effects is just what I’ve become used to and couldn’t live without.
I did buy a M:S recently, and have a hard time working with send effects after these years with the OT. It’s “fun”, well kinda, but I like the specificity that can achieve with frequencies and sound on the OT…Insert my love for the OT filters (search Octatrack filters)

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It’s really unique and tons of fun. A new release would benefit from upgraded fx and timestretching.

Don’t buy into that old chestnut “any daw and a midi controller can do it” trust me, the people saying that are sat in their bedroom with some janky bit of plastic, downloading cracked plug in after cracked plug in, spending hours upon hours coming nowhere near close to what good hardware can do every time, in 5 mins.

If you’re really really quiet, when the moon is full and the right wind blows, you can hear them weeping onto their janky bits of plastic…

To be fair, Push is pretty good in some ways, but saying you can do x with a midi controller is like saying you don’t need to go to restaurants because you can cook.

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None here really sticks to the title of the thread :wink: The OT is really an instrument apart and still well worth it, however if I remember well, a few things bothered me when I had one:

  • 4 parts per bank. Why this limit on sample assignement while there are 16 patterns in a bank ? Yes, there are ways to bypass this limit, but it’s still a pita.
  • Pointless (or rather “technical”) difference between flex & static machines that serves no other purpose than accomodating hardware limitations. These two need to be merged, maybe for mk3 ?
  • If I remember, no xfader transitions for midi scenes.

This instrument is special enough to remain relevant for years if not decades. However I think there’s room for improvement. Looking forward for mk3 :grin:

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I have to agree with that sentiment… I think… wait… HAHA.

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I just bought my third OT after selling the others reluctantly. Been doing the transition trick with input from my modular. Its incredible what it comes up with. I heard the A/D is better on MkII.
I want to buy a field recorder and fill the OT with my own samples. I’m going to keep this one.

You have to know yourself before you know whether you want an Octatrack.
Do you enjoy steep learning curves?
Do you like limitations?
How many bad experiences have you had with laptop setups, such that you don’t want to rely on one for music ever again? Or maybe you’ve never had such issues.

There are a few reasons why I’m unlikely to sell it unless I give up on music completely. One is that it is very flexible, as others have said. That’s because it combines sampler/FX/mixer/MIDI capabilities, and also because it has (proper) inputs and outputs. That’s huge for me. I will pay more for real 1/4 jacks and 5-pin midi, because I know the alternatives are inferior and won’t have long-term compatibility with whatever else I’m using at a given time. The other reason is build quality. I have absolute confidence in my MK1. I don’t want to spend years getting dependent on something that isn’t robust and repairable.

Those things might be less important to you.

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This forum is held together by “should I buy a OT” threads, kinda like pictures/video’s of cats hold the internet together.
Seriously tho, my actual answer to the OP would be NO. The OT is not outdated, much like the Nord Modular G2, even out of production, still can do things Reaktor (or all the other software modular enviornments) will never accomplish…Because workflow.

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I think the date is irrelavant. A good tool is timeless.

Ive got two bikes, a fixed gear road bike with hard skinny tyres. And a mountain bike with fat squishy tyres and I dunno 18 gears? Different tools for different occasions.

I wouldnt ride the fixie around the farm, and I wouldnt ride the mountain bike on the road.

If you look at functions in terms of limits, then by that view will you be limited.
The more I use the octatrack the more I realise its unlimited potential.

Words like ‘shit screen’ , man I just dont understand that. Its an LCD screen, it does the job it is supposed to do.

Is it worth it to buy an octatrack just for cross fader scenes? No probably not.

Is it worth it to buy an octatrack as a long term peice of gear that you will invest time and learning into? That will evolve with you over years?

Hell yes.

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I’m playing with my OT daily (well, almost daily^^) and it feels very much like the Octatrack felt years ago. I don’t look at it like an older piece of hardware in any way.

OT is not for everybody, though. Some people just don’t gel with it, while others totally fall in love with it.

Edit; If you get one, it’s always possible to sell it without losing money. So worst case after that you’ll know that you don’t like the OT way, best case you’ll get an instrument that you can discover and learn to play for the next years. :upside_down_face:

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Thanks everyone.
As someone who used Ableton for yeeeeears, everytime I open it I feel the drain of not having really made a full track in years.
When I bought Digitakt, I did “Jamuary” and made what I’d consider ~8 full tracks over the course of a month without ever opening Ableton.
Since then I’ve bought the Digitone too, I then thought I’d jump back into Ableton with a push2 and try working with OB and actually be able to multitrack my recordings for easier mixing etc, but I’ve just not had as much fun as I thought I would and end up in the nitty gritty with hours on EQs etc.

I think I need to get away from the DAW, but I guess I need to make peace with what I’d be losing by leaving the DAW again. Maybe use a DAW for recording and that’s about it.

Hmm this has suddenly turned into another “should I buy an OT” thread. I think I’m leaning to YES now :smiley: maybe I’ll get one as a Christmas present.

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A couple things I will add…

the timestrech on the OT is like the beats algorithm in ableton,
it just does not sound good on melodic stuff especially bass loops even by minimal bpm change… so if you are buying it for the timestrech you might be disappointed…
this is what I like least about the Octatrack

There is no multiple trig editing it’s one at a time which does make it feel old compared to
DT, DN
The effects are older algorithms and not as nice as DT, DN but they are not that bad.
No overbridge so if you are using DT, DN with overbridge and ableton
you could easily use things in ableton to achieve the same thing as the Octatrack…

The Octatrack is a performance sampler so it’s like a djing system for samples
The scenes have to be done by hand, no automation it’s meant for live performance.
The screen may not last forever as the burn in is the worst on the Octatrack…
No playing of slices from external keyboard.
No updates…

The good stuff is it’s a 8 tracks of stereo samples that can be used with the elektron sequencer in the Elektron way… it has a few good things/options the newer elektron gear doesn’t have…

its still good, but feels older than other current Elektron gear…
If they updated the Octatrack to a 2.0 version I would be upgrading but it may not happen.

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Yes

both.

I’ll never sell mine. It does slices, scenes, and sequencing so well that I don’t see much room for improvements. I think it shows its age in the small amount of memory you get for buffers and the memory allocation scheme being generally convoluted as a consequence. But that’s the sort of thing you learn to work around and then it isn’t an issue.

I try and stay in the same mindset as trying to speedrun a video game. I try to get muscle memory through practice and pretty soon I’m gliding through menus and optimizing the set-up of a project, etc.

Right, so are we all. Until then, and even afterwards the OT will still be fun to play, and the fun is the most important part.

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There are certainly things that could be improved. How do you like the timestrech for example?

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