Hi!
I have an OT, DT, and a DN but I’m just not sure what to do with the OT. I have the Ezbot templates (which are amazing and fun) but I’m not really sure what to do with it other than just transitioning between songs or parts of songs. I’m fairly new to the OT but I can get around with basic functionality like recording stuff and chopping it up, changing the slice order and such, but the DT can do that now so I’m wondering what I can do with it that I can’t do on the DT. Thanks for any suggestions you might have!
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The DT cant touch the power of the OT.
To suggest as much is comedy.
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Stereo playback
Playback from card, 2GB files max per track (3h30m)
8 recorders with their sequencer
8m28s max recording time (stereo)
Direct playback of recordings
Looper
Realtime resampling with feedback
Lock up to 250 parameters to scenes/crossfader
Insert external fx
Precise audio editing, slices
More fx
More lfos
More machines
Cue routing
Slides
Midi arp
Midi retrig (Trig Counts)
…
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But if the DT looks like it’s enough and the OT is just overflow, then the DT is all that’s needed, and the OT can be turned to extra cash.
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Thanks! I’m still at the phase where I have to spend 60% of my time on it figuring out why a track stopped making sounds so I’ve got a lot to learn.
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take the OT into the middle of a lake, at midnight on a full moon in a row boat, then tell it why it has disappointed you and ask it if it has any last words, then chuck it in the lake
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Me too, after 10 years with OT 
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Fan boy posts are comedy.
The OP didn’t say the DT can’t touch the power of the OT. They just want to know the overlap in functionality so they can make an informed decision as to how to work it into the workflow with the DT and DN, or not.
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With DT&DN, you only need OT for recording, looping, transitions, backup loops and for longer (stereo) samples.
And some fun: Filters, envelope controlled by an LFO on everything and such.
Perhaps use send and return for another effects unit.
The tasks that DT&OT can perform, the DT can do way better. (Except for slicing, but with good preparation, that doesn’t matter. And the DT sounds great!11)
Consider what is missing in your set. That’s exactly what you can do with the OT. It might not be much, perhaps no more than what a Kaoss Pad does. However, you might also live-reconstruct your loops and crash the club under certain circumstances
Check Youtube: Mark Broom - Octatrack
For me, the fundamental difference is:
With the DT, I ask myself, “What can I do with this one possibility? How do I navigate the path?”
With the Octatrack, I ask myself, "What do I want to accomplish, and how do I need to program it? What avenues can I explore?
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Slide trigs are probably the biggest thing on the big boxes that I wish were on the Digis. It makes adding modulation so easy and without having to waste an LFO or fiddle with recording knob movements.
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Thanks for the responses, these have been helpful! I’m about to sit down and learn about slide trigs! 
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“You can do everything you want with the ot”. I do nothing or only weak things. “The DT is far more limited”. I’m much more creative with DT.
Don’t listen specs. If you enjoy DT&DN, don’t add complexity with OT. The best result I have with OT is when I use it standalone.
Try to use either DT or OT. OT in a setup works great as a performance mixer, otherwise the digi box are far more creative I think.
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I’m sure everyone uses the instrument differently, based on their needs and taste. After some years, for me, the OT has become very much about recording buffers. It’s kind of like having 8 Digitakts running concurrently, that don’t need to have the sequencer stopped or started to be used. I like the modular nature of them: you can assign te buffers to any track, and I think that’s super powerful. I use the other features too, but those buffers are at the heart of everything in my projects.
Do you ever set up any of your own configuration, or build your own templates? I’m sure those are very nice, but I wonder if it could be guiding you towards someone else’s workflow, rather than your own thing. Like, for example, what I was saying above about using recording buffers heavily: I don’t know if those templates would work for me personally, unless Ezbot also uses all the recording buffers like I do – maybe he does, I don’t know the templates and this is just an example.
But maybe the templates are perfect for you. That was just a thought that popped in my head when reading the post.
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So my suggestion as a good starting point would be to start out only using two channels. Both as thru machines for the two external devices. Use the DT for drums, and the DN for voices, then put a filter and a lofi effect on the drums(DT), and a filter and reverb/delay on the voices (DN). Then set scenes for those effects to create different sounds for your mixes. For instance have one scene where the drums are low passed to get the sound of standing outside a loud club. Or lower the volume of the drums and add reverb to the voices for a more floaty feeling. Or high pass the drums for a build up to a drop. I love using the Octatrack like this to make some specific sonic spaces for my sounds to live in, and with the crossfader, you can quickly and smoothly move around those spaces at a whim.
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“I have an Abrams tank and a minivan and I only drive my kid to school. What additional things can the Abrams do that my minivan can’t?”
I think if the person has gone out and bought them both and needs to come here to ask for advice, it means they haven’t really spent enough time with either instrument and are looking for a shortcut to an informed decision. They don’t understand the workflow, the use-cases, and how they fit with their own genre or workflow.
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That’s definitely a more thoughtful response than a glib fanboy jab.
Most of the time my OT is a very simple mixer, but I like keeping it in the rig, because when it occurs to me to do something the OT shines on, it’s already sync’d and set up to go. Had a DT very early on and absolutely loved it, but the OT’s possibilities and functionality was more up my street at the time. The DT’s OS has come a long way since then. I have a modular case that I utilize even less than the OT, but it’s great to know it’s there waiting when I want the hassle of dealing with it
Main home rig is to have my OT, ST and EssenceFM always hooked up together. I’ve enjoyed this combo for awhile. But when I’m honest, I write more music on an M8 all by itself than with all the other, much more expensive options I have at my disposal.
Rambling aside, I try not to get sentimental about gear. Go with what gives you the most enjoyment and productivity
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100% this. EZBOT is very good at teaching the OT, but you will always be working from his pov and musical taste if you use his templates (which from what I’ve seen are aimed at using the OT as a mixer/looper)
There is nothing bad about using the template if it’s all you want to do, however I recommend spending some time reading OT related content here for more deep diving into OT.
As a bonus you’ll end up having your own sound instead of that of EZBOT which is a good or bad thing depending on your musical taste.
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Completely agree!
I was just looking for some ideas I might not have thought of from people with more experience with the machines than I have. I don’t understand why you felt the need to respond with a negative comment, but maybe just stay out of it next time if you don’t have anything constructive to add?
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