Looks like theres a new firmware released for MK1 that has a midi skip back feature, chord recognition like the Hapax has and step record in chord mode
Pretty decent update even for the older machine.
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What I use is Ableton, Oxi One, and ‘an instrument’ (for instance being an Elektron device). Not sure if this is a really efficient setup when it comes to pro music production, but it sorta works for me for now 
I use the Oxi to create the tunes and record the notes in Ableton…tweaking parameters is still a bit hybrid (either live on the Elektron, or CCs via Oxi or Ableton), and as I can’t play a lot of instruments at the same time, record each instrument’s audio in Ableton and later merge them. Mind you, haven’t been at the point of actually merging a complete track yet 
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That’s crazy, I thought they said last year that they were done. I got one in December and instantly fell in love with it. I’ll definitely get the Mk ii at some point (maybe this year) but it will feel like a luxury gift considering how powerful the mk i still is, and how much there remains to explore, eg I haven’t touched the arranger yet.
I’ve been writing everything on mine since I got it and recording MIDI into an
MPC live and/or driving some analog gear via CV. It’s everything I like about the Elektron sequencer but more generalized. I still like using the Elektron sequencer eg for drums on the Analog Rytm, but vastly prefer the Oxi for anything melodic. Also the Matriceal mode feels like it was made for me.
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Yes, the OXI dev team is very busy. After the release of FW 0.19.7 we’ve got already 1.0.6 Beta FW with further relevant improvements and fixes, available via their Discord server.
EDIT: Now 1.0.7 Beta FW as per 2026-02-14
Very happy that the Mk1 got an update. Mine hasn’t been updated in yonks, need to get to it!
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Looked around and managed to find a bstock unit from Thomann, will be here on Tuesday, excited AF
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Would someone kindly set my mind at ease about the capabilities/navigztion of the MK1? I bought just before release of MK2 and still havent devoted the time to learn it. Mainly because of life circumstances. But with that is some buyers remorse and sense of not wanting to devote myself to learning it, knowing theres a more flushed out version. It’s strange, in a way the MK2 sapped my motivation somehow.
Any thoughts and support would be helpful 
It’s kinda hard for me to sum up the Mk1’s capabilities in a single post, it’s just brilliant. Been a constant companion since I backed it. Manu has been amazing with releasing iterative, innovative updates and supporting when things have (rarely) gone wrong.
Want to make Elektron-style, chance-based, glitchy IDM drums with eight independent lanes on a single sequencer, with another three sequencers capable of doing the same thing, or other things? You’ve got it.
Want to quickly create hi-hat patterns with unique velocity for each step? You’ve got it.
Want to create endlessly evolving bass and lead patterns, maybe having those patterns slaved to the notes being played by a chord track, which is itself being modulated so the notes are always a little different in terms of pitch? You’ve got it.
Want to control Ableton Live with it one minute, your hardware synths the next, and maybe dabble in Eurorack sequencing? How about all at once? Yep, you’ve got it.
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I am personally also still wondering about mk2 vs mk1 - I have mk1. For me I’m specifically curious if the mk2 offers better project/pattern management in any way?
I don’t really like in the Oxi One (at least the mk1), how all patterns are just one step/squere in a grid of 4 lanes x 16 rows. Like I don’t want the admin of keeping track of which sequence of which song is on row x by lane y. Did Mk2 add any possibilities of naming sequences/patterns or some other solution?
As it is now I only use it for jamming one offs; for which it is great. As long as I don’t want to save and recall multiple at the same time in a live set or something. (Hence I have to use Hapax for live)
You can perform Elektron p-locks?
This is great, thanks. So after being a long time user, have you not found yourself wanting the MK2?
I keep telling myself there’s PLENTY (as you’ve pointed out) to be explored, and that there may even be something valuable in its ‘simplicity’ compared to the newer version.
It’s funny, I don’t tend to have this problem with other MK1 devices. Frankly I just need to get familiar with the Oxi and forget there’s a newer option.
Rant trigger warning…
Following up on an old question of mine. I asked about options for entering chords on a step. Apparently, there are two modes available: 1. Chord mode, with predefined chords and their inversions, and 2. Poly mode.
I have a background in piano and music theory. I know how to form and spell chords. Unless there is a “third” mode of entry for polyphony on a trig, that I’m not aware of, I have issues with both the existing modes.
My use of chords typically includes non-chord tones, suspensions, appoggiaturas, resolving notes. Think of a melody composed of the top note of each chord in a progression. This is not compatible with predefined chords in Chord Mode, particularly the nomenclature used to describe them.
And then there is Poly Mode, where the chord choices, by default, seem to be fixed within a major scale. This schema, which is more modal than tonal, has no connection with my approach to harmony.
I would appreciate a simple mode, where chord members can be stacked, manually, upward or downward, on a starting note. My Elektron Digitone has a crude implementation of this.
Not to pick on Oxi, alone, but the implementation of chords/harmony, across many manufacturers, seems to be designed around users’ lack of understanding of harmony (e.g. not being able to spell chords).
The description of Chord Mode in the Oxi One manual includes:
This offers a fast
way to build progressions while at the same time learning about chord theory in practice.
I have to disagree with the second part of this statement. In a typical chord mode, a chord is given a label. For example, Csus4. (C-F-G) That label, doesn’t tell us much, however, about how the chord functions, which can be different in different contexts. If the F resolves to an E, then, yes, it’s a Csus4. But what if the G resolves to an A? Different chord, then. Using labels that are frequently devoid of context, seems like a recipe for a flawed or incomplete, vertical, sum-of-the-parts understanding of chord theory.
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Oh yes, the Oxi One MK1 gets really Elektron-y. 
Wall of text incoming.
The basic stuff like per-step Elektron-y chance trigger percentage and the usual 1/4, 3/8 etc conditions are easy to set up - there’s also the ‘Plays First’ condition and I think a ‘Fill’ condition. There’s also a cool trig logic which makes a step always play regardless of the sequencer track’s master chance % setting.
The Mk1 is amazing to have around as a portable, physical alternative to a software piano roll, great for say, controlling racks of samples in Ableton Live - like with the Octatrack you can do a lot with a single ‘track’ of a Multitrack mode sequencer, as each trig is capable of playing any scale on any MIDI channel at any time.
The melodic/harmonic stuff is top-tier in the Oxi One as well, and even just for this I couldn’t part with it. The pattern generator in Mono or Poly mode is fantastic for basslines, leads and riffs, and the Chord mode is so much fun. You can use one of the Oxi One’s LFOs to modulate which note plays with each trigger, which can be locked to a scale/mode, or locked to the chords playing on a Chord for scale-aware, semi-generative noodles.
It’s built really well too. Plus internal battery, loads of modular connectivity as well as MIDI.
I could go on, but really I’ve barely scratched the surface. This is why I’ve not even considered a Mk2. For my use, the OG Oxi One is endlessly awesome!
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Word! Thanks!
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Not intending to create any specific GAS but I had the mk1 and was incredibly satisfied with it. Even the track count isn’t really limited like it sounds on paper because with the Oxi split and multitracks you can still sequence literally dozens of monosynths or drums. I sold it and my digitakt to buy a Tonverk and eventually wanted Oxi again so I got the mk2 just because I could.
Mk2 is amazing and I’m happy I have it but the mk1 is still a better sequencer than just about anything out there that isn’t the mk2 or hapax. There’s nothing obsolete about it and it’s a fantastic machine. The only differences I’m really aware of besides track count are the accumulators, but I do like having so many tracks because I can literally sequence every synth I own at once with the mk2.
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I would not worry about this. I hesitated on buying it for the same reasons, but since the mkii is about twice the price I went forward.
I am certainly interested to try the accumulator function on the mk ii, which can do different things by tracking the number of pattern/note repetitions as a parameter. However, I have some similar functionality on my MPC, which has note counters as modulation destinations on the sampling engines and an FM synth plugin. On the Mk ii, there’s also a neat ‘flow’ mode which is kind of like an advanced fill, and some other cool features that they are adding. And then it does 8 sequencer tracks vs 4. I look forward to trying all this.
However, the bulk of the sequencing functions between the two models is the same. And I figured I could sell the mk i for about the same price I paid. Having only 4 sequencer tracks is not a big limitation to me, I am not trying to program orchestral pieces and the existing tracks are very flexible, eg the multi mode can address 8 different midi channels. For the music I make, there are enough tracks already. And there is a massive amount of sequencing power/modulation functionality; I have to say it is more advanced than the Elektron sequencers, which is a big admission after using Elektron gear for ~15 years. Of course it is not fully integrated with the sound engine like Elektron sequencers with the p-locks, but there are other rhythmic/melodic/harmonic tools available instead. I feel I could go for a few years before I would fully explore the possibilities for both composition and performance.
It is very much a performance instrument. The pads feel very natural to use and you can operate fast. It is a big deal to be able to see a piano-roll or multiple tracks of drums at once. The user interface becomes intuitive after a few days of use and you can experiment with musical ideas very quickly. The convenience that you lose (from having to manually configure MIDI CC or CV assignments for sound design parameters) is offset by the freedom to explore musical shapes more freely. It is like the MIDI sequencer on the Octatrack (still the best and most flexible MIDI on any Elektron gear) but many times more powerful.
My experience has been that it takes some time to learn the features (and I have still not completed this), but more important than the features is that you will have to work harder on your musical ideas. That is, you will find yourself doing a bit less sound design but more compositional design.
You will not lose anything by learning on the mk i and then moving to the mk ii later. If I could compare it to other instruments, I’d say it’s like a standard 4 string bass vs a 6 string, you will be able to do some extra things with the later model but this doesn’t diminish the capability of the original model at all. I have absolutely no regrets about getting it.
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I agree that it is a bit more modal than tonal. This happens to work for me because I do not love western harmony that much but like modal/diatonic scales because I’m aiming to make music that’s danceable, even if it’s weird dancing. I sometimes modulate into other keys in the ‘standard’ way but it’s not my main objective. if that’s important to you it might be better to leverage software tools like Scaler 3 which are designed around that tonal paradigm from the ground up.
However it’s easy on Oxi One to just switch a polyphonic track to chromatic mode for accidentals, leading tones etc. Also you can throw together some ideas quickly in a chord track and then copy the contents of the chord track to a poly sequencer, which allows some more advanced editing.
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Question; I’ll try to keep it short first.
I want to sequence into my Hapax from Oxi One mk1. But I get midi loop back glitches.
So I need to engage the One to listen to incoming clock over midi from Hapax (my master clock), but DISengage listening to incoming notes from Hapax (I need to use a midi out from Hapax that’s also sending notes to other gear).
How do I disengage listening to incoming midi notes? I have already set “midi trs thru” to off.
(Added: when it gets clock from Hapax, even when Midi trs thru is off, it seems to start to glitch by wanting to start Pick and Place notes. How do I disangage Pick and Place?)
I’m grateful for your post, this is honestly music to my ears. I have to acknowledge the peculiar psychology of regret around this. And, that it is truly problem of perspective.
I recognize the commitment it will take to learn the Oxi, which has been unintuitive so far. Though I got it with a surety that I WANTED to learn it, and inspired by the challenge. Then somehow, the soon after release of the MK2 threw cold water on that motivation. But as you stated, and I know this deep down, the newer features literally do not change what’s available on the older version. If there was never a new release, Oxi lovers would still be discussing the in/outs of the sequencer praising it’s attributes. I went through this a little with the DT2 and DN2 after having the og’s for years. But with those, I almost felt a rekindled love with the ‘simplicity’ of the originals. I’m going to channel a similar sentiment with the Oxi. I look forward to cracking the code a bit, to where I start to understand it’s potential in my workflow. I know it’s a special sequencer and can’t wait to have those moments with it.
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For me, the MkI packs enough for my needs. The MkII is a wonderful device that throws the kitchen sink in with the rest of the existing MkI goodies, but so far these are functions I don’t really need at this stage of my experience level. Very happy that the MkI is not forgotten and still receiving love via updates. That’s caring about your products and userbase.