I’m wondering whether the knowledge on here can inform me to alternatives to sampling other than the OT MKII which I’ve been thinking of purchasing for the passed couple of years.
I’ve had the DT. Which was great but like the DN everything is so immediate I feel like I’m cheating.
What I like about the OT is it’s flexibility.
I have a DN which I love, FM!, so something to plug into this perhaps??
also A4 mkii which is fab but I’ll sell on.
Been looking at tape players, portastudios, I’m open to suggestions.
Prefer digital to analogue!
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what kinda sampling do you want?
real time re-sampling?
one shots?
drum loops?
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I think of the OT as Elektron’s take on their sequencer with sampling added: part infuriating, part inspirational.
So, kind of hard to compare it to anything else.
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OT MKI. 
OT is unique.
8 audio tracks, 8 midi tracks, 8 independant recorders you can sequence, quantize.
Pickups with overdub.
Samples can be played / mangled on the fly while recording.
Resampling can be used as crasy fx.
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he’s right you know
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…samplers have been my main instrument since day one…
i had emu, yamaha and akai samplers…back in the days…
while still in use here…and always will be…akai mpc 2500 and 1000 with jjos, digitakt AND ot mk1 and mk2…and some tc helicon and electro harmonix looper pedals…
well, and the exs in logic…there u go…
but to be honest…u sound more like a roland mc 707 or sp 404 guy. to me…
1010 Music Black Box.
I also used MPCs, Roland MC909 and other MCs. The MC707 seems interesting, with some limitations :
Available total time for User Sample: 12 minutes in mono, 6 minutes in stereo (44.1 kHz)
OT, stereo : 8m28s for Flex, 3h30m files for Statics > 128 in a project, more than 18 days of music!
Available total time for Looper Sample: Approx. 60 sec (44.1 kHz)
OT > 8m28s max
I really didn’t like Roland SPs. Almost inexistant sequencer, no midi control except notes for samples. Bye.
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I second these questions! Need to know more to recommend something.
If you are looking for something powerful but less immediate (in the mangling sense), the MPC Live is a good sampler and to me better than my MPC 1000 with JJOSXL.
Real time sampling
Field recordings to put into a machine to mix
That kind of thing
Bernard Parmegiani wannabe…etc
Tbh I’m no really turned on by Roland, I’ve had them and sold them on, a lot of Japanese stuff leaves me cold
Sounds like either the Blackbox (limited fx/modulation) or Octatrack (more complex but flexible) would suit what you’re looking to do.
The Blackbox doesn’t turn me on at all.
Aesthetically it looks a jumble and reminds me of a thought I have now and then of why hardware manufacturers haven’t applied the iOS app technology but give it a metal case applied with some knobs and buttons, this is what the Blackbox makes me think of. An iOS app with buttons.
The OT has been top of my wish list for a few years now so I reckon it’ll be that I go for once I sell the A4
Oh. I guess the MPC live is basically a daw/app in a box with knobs…
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The forthcoming SP2400.
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A pair of Kaosspad 3s.
(But dont expect to mid sync those 8 loops with a separate hardware sequencer ).
Very fun,immediate and tactile.
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how about Gotharman LD3?
I am surprised it gets so few attention.
Not a cheap alternative but powerful.
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I wasn’t interested in Blackbox at first but after periodically checking in on the Blackbox thread here, it’s gradually evolved into a viable candidate.
I don’t think I’d go as far as selling my Octatrack but it does look like a good complementary sampler.
that clarifies things! what an ear on that guy!
OT or MPC Live for this kind of thing in ‘standalone’: OT gives you the modulation & variation possibilities (you could use the ‘plays free’ and independent track-lengths here too) and MPC a decent tape-cutting environment and sequences with arbitrary sequence lengths…
Otherwise, software… the choices here are kinda ridiculous these days.
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When you say Bernard Parmegiani - I think Octatrack.
Sure, a lot of people use it for techno, but what it wants to be is a musique concrete machine.
It’s like having 8 reel-to-reel tape recorders and some assistants to manipulate them for you.
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That’s musique concrete to my ears…
As much as I love techno (hard, industrial, dub) I also love musique concrete/soundart/noise…etc., and it is this kind of sound that I always seem to have more pleasure creating. Though saying that it’s maybe coz ‘I ain’t got the swing’ for techno…
The MPC live does look like it could be an enjoyable machine for me and presently for my own uses and aesthetic sensibility looks like the only challenger (other than DAW) for the OT (or MD +uw?)
I think I’ve said above that I’m using the A4 mkii and DN at the moment. I got the A4 at a relatively bargain price (it wasn’t a machine that I was wanting but at the price I thought I’d give it a go) than I acquired the DN - and the DN is now my preferred machine to work with, that FM sound just pleases me more than analogue. And I’ve found playing around with the LFO can generate some very interesting generative sound textures. BUT I do want that sampling input capability hence the attractiveness of the OT (mkii)
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Take a look at IOS app Samplr, offers touch controls over the samples, real time effects and an unquantized sequencer.
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