Check out the Max Marco videos too, and most importantly remember to have fun!
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I agree, the manual is awsome, Merlins guide I couldnāt get through it, didnāt find it very helpfullā¦ if Iām having issues, youtube usually has all my answersā¦ iām more visual any way so one manual is good enough
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Learn what 85mb actually is. This is overlooked amd most people are shocked at the limitation. But it makes you more creative.
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AR has 64 MB. 
Also learn what 2GB is : max file size you can read from CF card : 3h30m !
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I was fortunate to be born when 48KB was huge or 16KB. I learnt to be creative much earlier. I even programmed a 8KB chess computer. 
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New OT (MK2) owner here! Have it for about 5 days now. Fully agree with this statement!
Iāve been dreaming to get my very first OT for about half a year. But the learning curve that gets mentioned so much made me postpone it until now. In the meantime I got acqueinted with DT and DN, so the sequencer and the Elektron menu structure I already had gotten familiar with. And only making electronic music now for about a year, but have been putting in a lot of hours:)
Now, having the OT, in my personal experience I can say I feel itās actually not too bad, how difficult it is. Itās not to be compared with DT and DN, which will have you set up and grooving vĆ©ry quickly, But if you put in the effort in advance to read up on the OT, read the manual, watch a bunch of Youtube, and get familiar with the basic terminology of the core components and architecture, I found it was quite doable to enjoy the experience quickly:)
I already had thought about what I wĆ”nted from it. Or, at least, what I wanted to try it for in the beginning (Iām sure itāll change in time with all its functionality). That helped. And, to come back to the comment by @cold_fashioned, it helps to focus on one thing at a time. Hereās the first things Iāve got down for now. More functionality Iāll learn along the way, but with these I feel Iāve got my first bases covered and can happily start making music already.
First I tried to make a Static and Flex machine play some samples. Check! Now thatās in the bag, and on ice for now. Second was setting up two Thru machines for my DT and DN. As Iām really curious to use it as a live mixer (which I didnāt have yet). And wĆ³w, itās sĆŗch a treat to finally be able to use Cue to hear the next song you want to mix in!
Third was setting up two flex track, to sample loops from DT and DN. One for transitions, recording a loop, playing it, and in the meantime advance DT&DN to the next track that I can preview via Cue. Awesome! And the second flex track to sample bits and pieces from DT and/or DN to bring back in the mix in a later song - just for fun (again: Iāve never had a mixer and this is just sĆ³ enjoyable, to have this new flexibility to improvise with, on top of the more pre-made DT&DN tracks that I tend to improvise less easy with).
Fourth was setting up the Cue-Out to send to external effects pedals and back into C+D (Iāve got DT and DN in mono in A+B), to use the crossfader for. Which automatically makes you learn how to set up scenes.
Iām sĆŗre there are a million things Iām not aware of yet, but all this above already got me really excited, and all within the first three days of getting it. Now in my fifth day and Iāve started making my first nĆ©w music with it, after these first days of setting up, learning, and mixing previous material.
Hope this helps people thinking about getting one. In short, Iād say: Know what youāre getting into, get some knowledge in advance, read up etc., and set your expectations to not being able to immediately make music directly after unboxing. Make sure to minimalise your setup for a while to keep things focussed. And keep the manual close. But then itās actually quite doable in my experience! (I really was a bit afraid in advance hahaha)
And I havenāt even read Merlinās guide yet (BLASPHEMY!)* *(Will start with that soon I promise:)
New to contributing here on Elektronauts, as also that is a bit scary, with so many knwoledgeable people around. But now I had something to share - about my beginner experience haha - hope it helps someone!
Cheers:)
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Merlins guide is definitely worth checking outā¦
itās more about the OT concepts rather than an instruction manual from what I rememberā¦
Might have another read myself
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Regarding Youtube, opposed to other gear thatās a bit more limited/simple, I actually found that Youtube tutorials donāt work for me as starting points as well. To me, they can go a bit too fast, using terminology that youāre still familiarizing yourself with, and leaning on prior knowledge of related elements of OT to make the thing that youāre trying to set up work (which is very OT I think, as so many things are interrelated). I personally actually find the manual quite clear but concise, going through each thing thing step by step. So, to echo what everyone says: read the manual! (More so then with other gear, I find)
Any then Youtube is great for specific new tricks and inspiration :))
the manual is clear as day i think and was all i used, merlin guide i read but got nothing from it i didnāt already have, all are different and for that we should be happy eh
the elektron 1 minute vids were brilliant for me upon takeup i admit and i always advise people to go see them, even though i didnāt in my initial reply 
myself
so i am doing it now OP go watch the 1 minute E vids, great stuff, easy to follow and sooooooo short you can just rewind if you miss something, play the OT at the same time
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oooh the heady days of less available memory than a text page
i remember it well
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I have to add another one: the OT is an awesome kick machine, definitely try that out although you have an AR!
Itās probably the best kick machine I ever had, and I used to be thinking (for yearsā¦) that it wouldnāt even be a good idea to route a kick through the OTā¦
Lofi+Filter, dist 50, srr 5, filter pretty closed, 3 exponential envelopes (LFO): pitch, dist, width, woaah.
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Yeah. From any sample, even from inputs with nothing plugged. I usually use an exp Lfo on RATE (higher pitch range), pitch +12.
Kick example from a cowbell sound. 
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Watchin through the videos now, im more of a visual learner, so these are fantastic! Thanks for the tip
The more manuals/videos i check out, the more shit im stoked to try out! Gotta figure out the basics first though
Donāt read most of Merlins guide, read all of it. The very last paragraph was the most revelatory thing in it for me.
Merlinās guide is cool because it draws a clear map of the basic concepts behind the OT.
The manual is where itās at, but itās an abrupt read when you first switch on your OT.
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