I probably meant ‘sampling’ more than ‘resampling’ in that context… so my Peak for example, I’ll often start ideas from it, then want to use another poly voice from it, so converting the 1st track to the Peak from midi into audio (in the OT) achieves that.
The AR and A4’s relationship with the OT was/is more clock/transport/pattern change based and bringing them in as Thru machines to do the cross-fader thing.
I didn’t take any of it negatively, I understand and appreciate what you said. 
Reading all the comments, can I ask for a general consensus of your mental approach?
Taking a step back from all the gear, I tend to approach music making melodically first (playing keys/gtr to generate ideas and catch them).
So I’ve found starting on the A4, or my KeyStep into a synth, the best way for me to start things moving quickly.
Am I right in thinking a lot of people start from either a sample or making beats, that is way more conducive to the OctaTrack?
Maybe with a ‘melodic/playing’ approach it’s not the best device to be the central hub in your/my setup?
I see the OT more as a platform or a foundation with different tools where you’re supposed to build the combination you need for the task at hand. Meaning you might just want to use it as a performance mixer, or a looper, or just use 4 tracks for beats and 4 tracks as thru etc. It’s pretty immediate if you know what you want it to do and prepare it for that. Sometimes it’s just fun to go crazy and concentrate on mangling samples, but usually it’s not the way I like to use it.
Nothing else comes even close to the potential & immediacy of the OT though, DT and other simper samplers might be easier to set up but lack the depth and versatility, while more robust workstations like MPC live lack the performative tools of the OT. Unique piece of gear & it’s always the heart of my setup, no matter what that setup is.
What did you hope the OT would do for you when you bought it?
What is it you need from your tools to help you in making music?
If your entire approach is melodic, what do you need that the A4 doesn’t provide to you? Do you need drums? Do you need arps or pads to support the melody?
When I’m feeling melodic, I will live record playing from my MIDI keyboard. With that, I will copy and paste the track to other midi tracks and flesh them out with arps or pads.
I’m on my 2nd OT and I don’t think I’ll ever sell it, but it definitely isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. The whole “live with the limitations” thing is harder and harder to do as technology advances. Unfortunately, there really isn’t anything else out there that is quite like the OT in terms of the combination of features and physical form, so it’s hard to find something to replace it. Drambo, on the iPad, COULD be a pretty good replacement if you had a dedicated controller and template setup, but that then requires you to have multiple pieces of gear (soundcard, MIDI controller, etc.).
Some of the “limitations” like monophonic sampling, individual outs/USB audio, track muting also muting tail FX, FX quality and no reverb/delay on the same track, and FLEX RAM limit make it hard to utilize in certain ways. I used to think that the OT was the “build an entire song in a box” type machine, but once I stopped using it like that and started using it more like an instrument, it became a bit more inspirational. I still struggle with it sometimes, though. I tend to use it more to make parts for songs as opposed to making whole tracks on it (unless I’m just jamming out).
I tend to suggest to people to buy a MKI used if they’re not sure if they’ll dig it. It definitely isn’t for everyone, but if you can find a way to play it that you enjoy, it’s definitely a cool machine.
That timestretch thing caught me out a few times when i first got it. 
Another thing is its as far removed from a DAW as you can get in what it does. To me that is huge. Sometimes you want nothing more than you and your thoughts. No distractions.
It’s all about you workflow, looks like you don’t really need OT at this moment, your other elektron devices can cover most of your needs.
It’s not bad or good.
For example DT is better suited for some tricks and if it work for someone, why should he switch to OT, just because it generally better machine?
Of course you can force yourself to make something more octatrackable (based on my experience thought) or wait until something changed in you music)
I do also think it’s been oversold, with many reviewers selling it as a DAW replacement which it totally isn’t. You can very well make a full song with just samples on the OT, and you can record into it but it’s no DAW, nor do I think was it supposed to be. It’s a swiss army knife, multiple very convenient and often inspiring features in a box that you can mix and match in a way that’s more similar to a modular than a tradional sampler.
I mean it came out before ipads or before touch screens really took over, before the line between computer, hand held device and instrument was blurred. That happened years later. It’s still very much an old school device, although a very unique and beautifully realised one.
Mainly to play samples (acoustic instruments, ambience/field recordings, some oneshots/loops) and as a unit I could collapse all my other gear into and use solo.
Speed and editing functionality… answering myself here slightly, speed for me starts with an instrument I play, so for the OT to be my central hub I think it has to have a midi keyboard at the front of it.
A4 I love for what it does. I use it constantly. But it doesn’t give me poly voices and I can’t control more external synths from it via midi.
I have an AR for drums… I feel that if the AR gave a 4 or 8 channel midi sequencer it could be THE perfect all in one Elektron box for me.
Yes, I like having arps and pads to support things. I have a Novation Peak and a Behr DeepMind 12 on general pad/poly duties… I tend to control them from a KeyStep Pro, and this is what I’m ultimately trying to get done with the OT.
I took a break from music making over the time when the iPad became so powerful and well regarded as a music tool. There were apps, synths, drum machines before I dropped off the radar, but the scene and workflow was finicky and disparate.
However, even though iPads are now a more established part of people’s toolset, I’m currently happy to skip it. I’m happy to trade the limitations of the OT for not having to keep it up to date; for having actual knobs (and the x-fade); for having it all wrapped in one metal tank rather than separate computer/tab, interface, controllers. For now. I reserve the right to feel differently in a couple of years.
Doesn’t have them midi out with one of the latest firmware update?
https://www.elektronauts.com/t/analog-four-keys-1-40-analog-rytm-1-50/108037
Sequencer MIDI Out
With Sequencer MIDI Out you can link up to the rest of your gear with ease. Control velocity, note, and length on every step of the powerful Elektron sequencer, and breathe new life into old machines with conditional trigs. Say hello to one big, happy family of synths and drum machines.
Whelp you’re in luck: it offers 12! Though admittedly pretty rudimentary.
So is the problem that the samples you’ve put in it get boring? If you could do anything to them, what would you do? One of my favorites is to put a Random LFO (Hld) on start and have it retrigger a different place of the sample with each trigger.
So you’re trying to play these instruments with the OT or do you want to program your sequences?
The OT is not a KeyStep Pro for playability. Nowhere even close. So if you’re having a better time controlling your instruments with the KeyStep and not getting anywhere with samples, it may be time to call it a day with the OT.
Hmm… I’ve been using the OT mk2 for about a year. Had the DT for almost a year before it. I can say I’ve mastered the workflow I had gotten into with the DT and am really just feeling stuck lately as getting that comfortable with the OT does for me at times really take away the in the moment inspiration. But I know I need to start experimenting with the features that I thought were worth the switch, like mixing multiple recorded skeletal tracks together and that will get me learning internal sampling. But that has been the kind of weird place I find myself with it. I still have to ‘learn’ what I’m doing to progress and then that takes away from my enjoyment.
I know I won’t sell it. I graffitied it up to make sure I couldn’t. So even if I don’t get to that part soon, I can just enjoy what I have down so far when I can get away from the idea that I have to make a track and get to I just want to mess around with it.
Exactly this. If you are bored of Daws and computers etc there’s not much better for what it can do.
Life is short, listen to your internal voice and follow.
I had one for years. Used it minimally, mostly for routing multiple sources when I ran out of mixer or computer ins.
Started to use the midi a lot a couple of years back and then found value in it as a live looper.
Just bought a second one to use as a DJ tool, essentially hacking up my MD/RYTM loops on the fly. Hell you can almost scratch with it!
It is complex, frustrating and annoying at times. It has its own way thats different from the other Elektrons. It when it clicks it’s just as simple.
Yup. Hardest parts are figuring out what you want to do and gaining an overview of its structure, once you get that it is easy.
Most people who fail don’t grasp the topology (which to be fair can be complex) you definitely have to figure out how to fit it into a given project due to its flexibility and the necessary associated setting up.
They definitely updated the topology on the MkII with the Rec 3 and direct access to the Sample menus.
The button combos on the MkI were like Street Fighter and menu conditional.
Now I have a later version, I can definitely see why the prior version didn’t gel as well for some.