Review: Octatrack at year 8 - Is it still worth it?

Elektron Gear Octatrack
#43

Yeah it’s a nice thought. Technology in the music industry doesn’t seem to quite follow the same path as most other modern technology. We haven’t reached a point where it’s so common that it’s designed practically disposable within a couple of years like phones and such. plus there’s the expectation of retaining some retail value. we’re fortunate to have a hobby that hasn’t quite fell into the planned obsolescence trap yet. Something to be aware of when companies bring out these “mid generation” products with very little changes. Think iPhone X, Xs, Xr. I don’t like that at all

@darenager I can barely stand the load times on my mpc1k so the dudes using 3000/60s have my respect. I wonder if my kids in 30 years will bust out my dusty old octatrack and sit there shaking their heads at how slow and clunky it seems to them

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#44

Probably, although there is probably also some kid who is about 15 now who in 30 years time will cherish these old vintage instruments in his midlife crisis :slight_smile:

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#45

It’s kind of fun to wax on what will be vintage…What’s the “most recent” vintage item? A DX7? An old MPC?

#46

There was a time when anything ‘digital’ was going to have a short shelf life and you fully expected it’s resale value to go down to nothing in a couple years. The first time I decided to get into recording on a computer I needed a much faster hard drive and a SCSI accelerator board…I think it cost $1,400 for 4 gig and I was thrilled to have it at my home studio since it was a fraction of the cost of a good 2” tape deck and mixer. Within 5 years it was in the trash, replaced by something way better for less dough.
In 1997 I bought a decked out Korg Trinity for about $5k. Built in sequencer and 4 track hard disk recording! Today they resale for about $500, assuming you could find anyone to take it off your hands. It’s very unlikely to make a nostalgia driven comeback :slight_smile:
Maybe that’s why so many describe the OT as being “a bit long in the tooth…” we just expect electronic music gear to be dead in the water within 5 years. Maybe? I dunno. The only sort of ‘competition’ I see currently for the OT (besides a DAW) is possibly the MPC X. Great sound quality, more ins and outs in every way (CV, audio, digital), more tracks, etc. I’d still personally take the OT for the instrument like character it provides. The dark horse contender could be the Gotharman LD3. Smaller, more ins and outs and seriously cool effects. I was about to send off my deposit for one, had second thoughts and bought an OT. Maybe I’ll be able to justify an LD3 down the line. Maybe in ten years I’ll be content with my Megatrack and A4mkV|| :slight_smile:

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#47

Great video as usual from Loopop. For me the Octa is the best gear i’ve got in the last years. There are space for improvements in the future but so far, it’s an awesome machine !

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#48

I wonder how gear opinions would differ if nobody knew when any device was created, there were simply devices to use and you can compare against each other without any manufacturing date getting into the equation? :thinking:

On another note, the OT is very unique in its sampling capacities. 8 tracks of recorder trigs, per step sampling of different lengths and source/sources, playback of all recorders freely assignable to all tracks per step, different track length/scale, ability of the play tracks to playback the sample(s) instantly warped in many ways(slices, pitch shift, rate, fx, etc…) and all of the recorder buffer placeholders update while sampling… Not to mention scenes and stuff helping to control all this…

I’m pretty sure it stands alone as an insane alternative sampler and I doubt any company is considering making something along those lines, yet alone outdoing it in that regard…

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#49

Mnm/MD :slight_smile: Very vintage this silver

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#50

Me too.

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#52

Also the ability to sample upto 8 samples from upto 6 inputs simultaneously in any combination is unique - certainly in a hardware device. #beastmode

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#53

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#54

octatrack at year 8. Still not figured what to do with that thing!!!

I feel I am asking an instrument to give me a frame of work, constrained by it’s clever design choices.
I need it to suggest me a workflow, I am musically growing through that workflow.
I am not creative/experienced enough to design my own instrument/workflow (or not willing?) … frankly if I was I would design my Reaktor patches, build my own tools within the maxmsp environment, and use ableton with custom midi controllers…

Also I am not confident to loose myself into unpredictable madness that could lead to happy accidents.
This thing sounds so messy and complex that it still hasn’t given me inspiration, even though i feel it is powerful.:cry:

Is it too complex, unfocused and disavowed by the new Digi-simplified workflow?
or is it just not for everyone (me?).

This octa-thing is really challenging me :exploding_head:

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#55

I don’t have an OT, but imma respond anyway.

Your complaints about it are oft repeated. There is so much you COULD do and so many ways to do it, how on earth are you supposed to even get anything done? It’s a sort of abundance anxiety–like a kid in a Blockbuster circa late 1990s. Or like that study done with the people who chose a painting, and half of them had a choice to reconsider but the other half didn’t.

Anyway, it seems to me it’s a piece of equipment where you need to sit down and say “I want to accomplish this thing” and then go about doing it. Then maybe along the way some happy accidents will occur. Say you want to record your guitar…So you do it. Well once the sound is in the box, there are near-infinite ways you can manipulate and play with your guitar recording. So maybe at some point you flip a switch that goes from “This is my task” to “let’s play and experiment”.

Ask yourself (and I’m sure we can help you, too) what is it you want to do with an Octatrack? Why did you buy it in the first place?

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#56

I was stucked in my daw looking for inspiration and alternative. This thing just lead me to more questions!
:joy:

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#57

Maybe you should make a thread if you haven’t already! The folks around here are very helpful and afaik that machine is quite a beast to learn…As others have pointed out in this thread: There are ideas from that video some hadn’t considered, but they chose their own sort of individual workarounds that basically get the same job done.

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#58

I have poor vision and I find the OT MK2 lacks accessibility for me due to the old UI and the relatively crappy screen. After a whole day of staring at the screen at work, my eyes are too tired to focus on the tiny screen. In comparison, I find the Digitakt way better with all the icons and the better, brighter OLED.

In case Elektron announces an update at NAMM with a redesigned UI to match the style of the Digis/MK2s, I’ll instantly buy it again.

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#59

Maybe this new akai APC live could be a decent alternative? Does it have sampling capabilities? It certainly looks good live jamming and mangling

If it is definitely a standalone machine

#60

don’t torture yourself mate just get one, they are brilliant and the whole myth of a massive learning curve is bloated by the internet.
it is NO harder than maschine or any other SW that has depth, if anything less so.

jamie

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#61

I like the OT very much and just bought OT MK 2. But one think I do not understand: Why is the MK 2 mostly the same as the OT MK 1?
black/white Display, Same Software OS, some more direct buttons. That’s all.
No real OS improvement after 8 years?

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#62

Because they don’t need to (see above video / thread) :wink:

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#63

Don’t fix it if it ain’t broken as the saying goes

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