Who here is using two octas at the same time. Pros and cons. Thinking about getting another one to increase my power 10fold.
This has been discussed lots of times on the old forum
for example here…
http://elektron-users.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=2&func=view&catid=9&id=190882
or read all the google answers :
https://www.google.co.uk/#psj=1&q=2+octatracks+site:elektron-users.com
I stick with one… but hmm yeah, i can see some fun in having two.
Thanks for the info.
I use two and love the setup. One is for drums, the other instruments. OT1 is the clock master and also midi controls some cc’s of OT2 such as volume for sidechain compression imitation.
What’s great about the side chain setup is - no matter what drum pattern you are on, the effect will always work - whereas on a single OT, each pattern is programmed precisely. Eg: I am playing drum groove one. Baseline one is being sidechained via midi, so reacting to drum groove one. Say I decide decide to switch to drumloop 2 for some variation - because it’s all midi, baseline 1 will be sidechained correctly to the new drum pattern.
Having 2 crossfaders for even more control is great too - I can use crossfader scenes on my instruments while leaving my drums alone, which on a single OT is possible, but only with the creation or more scenes. 2 OT’s frees you a bit in this way.
It’s an incredibly powerful setup, especially if your music is (like mine) pre written on a pc, and highly specific with instruments and variation. The first day I got my octatrack. I knew I needed a second one.
It’s definitely not for everyone though, I think it really depends on your music and performance style. If you are using one OT and find yourself hitting walls. Needing more tracks - take the plunge.
I’d recommend writing up some track plan sheets, and keep your instrument/drum assignment consistent between projects oryou’ll be pulling your hair out!l
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can you explain little bit more how to sidechain with midi, I also use 2 OT and want to sidechain as well !
Yes! So Octatrack 1 is drums and the clock master.It transmits transport/sync signals, as well.
On OT1 audio CC out is set to INT, which means the audio track encoders won’t transmit CC’s externally. On OT2 audio CC IN is set to on.
For example - if OT1’s CC out setting was set to INT-EXT or just EXT, every knob movement, crossfader movement and parameter change would be transmitted externally to OT2’s tracks, which we obviously don’t want.
OT1 needs to now transmit a volume CC to OT2. On track 1 of the MIDI page double click on the playback/note page and select “Chan 1” and then press down the encoder to save it. After this, head to the Effect 1/CTRL 1 page, and hold function and encoder 3 to activate CC1 for control, which is Main volume. It’s a good idea to turn this up full for a more controllable sidechain effect (if you want to alter the track volume on OT2, use the AMP setting instead).
So what this has done so far is activated OT1 to control the volume of MIDI channel 1 on OT2.
Let’s assume you have a kick on track 1. Once you’ve entered all your kick trigs, switch to the MIDI page and re-enter them there.
Still in MIDI mode on track 1, select your LFO menu and assign PMTR CTL1 CC1 to LFO1. Choose your LFO settings as suited. Saw waves work well for side-chaining.
Now change the TRIG to ONE. This will only trigger a single cycle of the LFO.
That’s it! Now when you press play on OT1 you’ll hear your Kick pattern, and track 1 on OT2 will duck according to the LFO you’ve set. The best part about this is that it’s fully automated and you don’t have to meticulously program trigs or lfo’s on a single OT, or match patterns on both machines to be identical. It allows your drums to have more variation with less programming hassle!
Hope this all makes sense, it’s pretty complicated to explain 
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Great, thanks.
Work to do, you will hear my result.
Pierre
I understand the appeal of 2 OT’s, but with regard to sidechaining: wouldn’t it be much easier/more straight-forward to just plug in a small comp (RNLA, RNC) and cue the kick to trigger side-chaining? I also think that it sounds much more defined with a real comp, but might also be mislead by the optical feedback of those nicely grooving led’s.
The OT has two outputs. One is always going to the PA while the other output is used by most people to prelisten via headphones. So there’s no output left to cue a kickdrum only to a compressor’s sidechain.
Except when you have two octatracks 
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Does anyone know if it’s possible to record the crossfader movements from my 2nd OT using CCs from my 1st OT?
Edit: Sorted.
So I have an original and mkII. I want to use the original as a mixer/FX unit for my other gear, but was there something about the inputs being better on the mkII? Hope it isn’t very noticeable, as I’d rather use the updated mkII as my actual sampler and the original as the mixer. Thoughts?
so if you have both units why don´t you listen and decide for yourself ?
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I don’t have ears. They’re out for repair.
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so i´d go as you said. i´ve got a mk-1 for years and think about buying a mk2. the mk 1 gets a bit old now and soon i´ll have to open it and replace the battery and clean (replace?) some buttons. i´d use the mk2 as main sampler and the mk1 one as mixer. wouldn´t care about sound differences
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MK1:
MK2:
MK2 has hotter (louder) outputs and the inputs can accept pretty decently hotter signals than the MK1. The inputs are also balanced which is better for noise rejection if connecting gear that has balanced outputs and using TRS cables which are 1/4 in cables with 2 lines around the plug instead of TS cables which can be identified by having only 1 line around the plug. MK2 also has better signal to noise ratio but I doubt you’ll notice.
I’m happily running a MK1 for mixing and all things Octatrack and am getting along just fine. MK2 will just be louder and accept louder signals, if Mk1 works for you just go for it. You can really squeeze a lot out of an Octatrack if you go deep, I’d also consider trying to do everything on MK2, just throwing that out there… Cheers…
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Is anyone still using two octatracks? Want two use one as a drummachine and one as recorder and other instruments sampler. Maybe sync the banks and patterns if possible. Maybe in other ways too.
Octatrack is my favorite machine ever, really and I have and had lots of stuff.
I just have read about problems with that kind of setup like some bugs or only record on the master machine and other stuff, but no further explanation or what its really about.
I had an ar but always liked the octatrack more even for drums so I sold it and ordered a second octatrack. I mostly jam around and drumsamples are just faster for me. If the ar would have the bottom row flexibility on all pads… but thats another story.
So who uses or used two octatracks and has something to tell about problems? Or a bug list?
I haven’t used two Octatracks, but I do know that I’ve never had my Octatrack behave reliably (mostly on the recording side) with ANY external clock source, no matter how stable it is, so that might be the source of some issues with a two Octatrack setup. If you’re trying to record/play seamless loops on both machines there could definitely be inconsistencies with the one that was clocked externally, and I wouldn’t even try to use pickup machines with external clock, in all the years I’ve had mine that has never worked once. Recording and playing the same buffer simultaneously with external clock works but it’s prone to pops and clicks at the loop point.
Rather than starting a new thread, I think my question makes sense here.
Has anyone used two Octatracks sync’d for the goal of them behaving more
like a 16 track Octatrack? Not looking for complex ideas, just a simple doubling of tracks.
Thinking of using one with 8 tracks worth of drums and samples and getting a second one to run synth sounds and various non drum tracks. Probably overkill, but I am really considering this option. Seems great on the surface because I always max out my tracks quickly.
Ive considered it. A few people here still do so will prob chime in.
Ive been meaning to give it a go running it in Studio mode to use CUE outs as separate pair of mono outputs or additional stereo.
I guess you could also run as separate synced Octatracks or feed one into the other