Upgrade from a boss RC-505?

Elektron Gear Octatrack
#21

…one thing’s for sure…

coming from a traditional looper like this one, you will be a bit disapointed with the ot in first place…

it’s NOT a looper as you might imagine at all!

and forget about all that promo talk about the pick up machines…they’re nothing but a funny mess at this point…

but…
…once overbridge is finally done, we have a good chance that this will have an happy end…

and to end this comment as i will end all my comments in the future here…

ot has, like all the other ones, no inividual tempi for individual patterns/parts…it only knows a pretty limited arranger workaround or an overall mastertempo you have to twiddle on the fly…
as a looping realtime perfomrer you might know, that this ends up somewhere between impossible and a pain in the ass…

#22

I got rid of my OT and now have an RC-505. Different but it turns out the 505 does more of the things I want than the OT. If its ‘record x measures’ worked properly it’d be wonderful.

#23

That’s why I picked it up… I was close to getting the OT, because I was unsure of the tempo sync on the RC-505… but it works very well. Regarding one of the posts above, do you know if it’s possible to use the RC-505 as an audio through machine (to be effected by the master reverb & master comp)? I didn’t think this was possible, but it sounds like I might be missing something. If this works, it would totally change my workflow :slight_smile:
Cheers,
Mike

#24

You mean just using the input effects on the incoming signal, or something else? I have mine on a mixer bus so can send as many or few tracks to it as I want. It’s possible to add the input effects to this and record them, but perhaps you need something more subtle?

#25

Hey Smokyfrog,
Thanks for the response.
I’m not sure if what I’m saying is clear. When I owned the SP404SX, I could use this machine as the very last machine in my audio signal chain and be able to use the SP404SX effects on the entire mix. This functioned much the same way as the input machine worked on the A4, where you could use the Reverb & Delay on the incoming signal, and the output would be a sum of the A4’s audio and the external audio.
On the RC-505 I didn’t think this is possible. I have not been able to create a “THRU” machine - - so to speak… just to let the audio signal pass through the machine and be affected by the various effect algorithms such as delay etc…
If this is possible with the RC-505, I might find a way to drop my mixer for live sets and have the RC-505 as the last machine in the signal chain for summing the signals.
L8r man,
Mike

#26

The RC-505 Input FX applies to everything going through it and it’s just one effect at once. I doubt it’d be great to have the whole mix through it but I suppose that depends on your mix. IIRC you can specify whether the input passes through or just in to recorded.
The effects aren’t too special… you can set up 3 (ABC) for quick selection but only one works at once.

The second available effect is called Track FX and this can be applied to any (or all) of the 5 tracks (i.e,. your loops). If you have the input set to pass thru and also use the input FX, the whole thing is mixed as the composite output so in that sense you get the input effect and track effect, tracks and input all mixed.

#27

Hey man,
Thanks for the information, I use the RC-505 for loops at the moment, I didn’t know it was possible to set the input to pass through.
The only reason I would want to do this is to sum the signal of my two TB-3 with the vocal loops and then feed that signal (two tb-3s & boss RC-505 vocal loops) into the TR-8, so I can apply scatter effects to all the signals :slight_smile:
L8r man,
Mike

#28

Hope it was of some help, have fun with it.

#29

Hi. I wanted a Rc505, after Rc2, Rc50, Rc300. Finally I had enough money for an Octatrack wich is the best good surprise for me, talking about musical machines.
I saw a cheap and “as new” Rc505 in a second-hand shop, sold a keyboard, and bought it !

Very easy to use, so much quicker to record and overdub than the Ot. I think they will be a really good couple for me, BUT…

When I use the Rc505 as a slave (auto), with the Ot as the master, the Rc505 don’t stop when I stop the Ot. The tempo and the start work fine, so I really send midi clock ans transport with the Ot.
Same problem with a Mc307.

Any explanation ?

#30

The rc-505 is the problem. Its not a very good slave, its an awesome looper but has some limitations on that

#31

Hi. Actually I found the explanation in the manual :

Playback will not stop when FC is received. If you want playback to stop when FC is received, set “Specifying
the Controller (Assign Source)” (p. 17) to “SYNC START/STOP” and set “Specifying the Assignment Target
(Assign Target)” (p. 17) to “ALL START/STOP.”

I read that IT IS a good slave, compared to RC300 and RC50. Why do you say so ?

With the setting above, it works perfectly for me ! And the advantage compared to master mode is that when I stop all the tracks individually, It doesn’t stop the internal BAR, and it doesn’t make an ALL STOP.
When I play again a track (or several tracks or all tracks with All Start), it waits to be in sync with the beginning of next measure before playing, which is great for me !

#32

The rc-505 is the problem. Its not a very good slave, its an awesome looper but has some limitations on that[/quote]
I disagree, it’s a brilliant slave. What, specifically, are your issues?

#33

Hmm, never slaved the rc-505 to an elektron machine so maybe thats my problem then, I thought because of that its not a really good slave and its all over the internet that there are problems with slaving 505… I slave my 505 to a rc-50… It’s stays in sync but thats it. The other way around is working perfect. If I have time I will check the 505 out with my rytm.

The cool thing about being the 505 as master is that you can set the tempo with the first loop and everything on it is folowing this tempo. But you will probably now that. It’s also a good timestretcher…

#34

The bad thing, when Rc505 is the master is that if you stop the last track, everything stops. It should be an option. For the moment I think the Ot should be the master if I want to record audio with it. Midi sync can fluctuate, it’s not very good for recording.
That should be true for the Rc505, but, the first point is boring for me.

Where did you see slave problems ? With wich Master ?

#35

Now I found its timestretching terrible so maybe I’m still in a parallel universe. But I never slaved it to an Ekektron machine. I use a source of clock that’s good at remembering tempo.
As for the internet…
The internet is a source of speculation, misinformation, misdirection and misunderstanding. There’s also a down side.
(to misquote St Hunter)
:slight_smile:

#36

Big upgrade for the Rc 505 !

Version 2.0: Newly Added Features

[ul]
[li]Up to three effects can be used simultaneously in both the Input FX and Track FX sections[/li]
[li]New effects types, including Ring Modulator, Slow Gear, Pitch Bend, and others[/li]
[li]Extended parameters added to previous effects, including dotted and triplet note values for tempo syncing[/li]
[li]New targets for external foot control, ideal for musicians who play guitar, keyboards, and other instruments[/li]
[li]Assign functions have been increased from 8 to 16, providing expanded performance control via the front panel, external footswitches, expression pedal, and MIDI[/li]
[li]Enhanced Phrase Memory functions such as individual track monitoring via headphones, quantized loop recording, and more[/li]
[li]Added system functions, including loop indicator status settings and more[/li]
[/ul]

#37

Sezare56 thanks for mentioning this…Version 2.0 sounds great… where can you get the update just had a quick look can only see 1.12. The 505 is a quick and easy tool. Bought one before I bought my octatrack… keeping both.

#38

It is anounced in may (MusikMESS, anouncing the Rc 202)


Keeping both too :wink:

#39

I’ve been eyeing the RC-505 and the new 2 track version. Looks like it offers a certain immediacy that I haven’t quite grokked from the OT. I bet they work well together though.