This is the only answer because only the owner of the equipment can answer that question. Not others. Others are just answering what doesn’t spark joy for them. And often times they don’t even own that gear to begin with, so the points are moot.
A studio is a very personal thing. Making sure you have “all your bases covered” ignores the personal relationships people have with musical instruments. This isn’t a ratchet set where you need to make sure you have one of each size ratchet, just in case.
For example, who cares if there is overlap between DT and MS, if those are the two boxes you need to get it done.
My coffeemaker is a $15 ceramic pour over mug. It makes the best coffee. I did make 80% of my last album on iPad, the final 20% was transferring the stems to my DAW and doing more extensive editing, adding effects and mixing down. I have Cubasis on my iPad but I doubt it would match the ease and precision of using Studio One on my 27" iMac - at least for mixing.
Yes at this point I’m leaning toward selling the entire mk1 “dark trinity”, AH, Volcas, and MOTU to start. I already have amazing FX plugins so might add the H9 to the list.
The Marie Kondo approach is a good place to start. Tbh, the OT doesn’t spark joy in me - despite me forcing myself to learn it and make it center piece of my live rig. I like it, but don’t love it.
I know this feeling. I had an OT for almost 3 years and used it a lot but once I moved on from it I realized I was more in love with the idea of it than actually using it. I’ve made way better music and much more of it on my MPC the past few months.
agreed. seems like the OT, AK and RYTM are the Elektrons that you (the OP) love the least. plus they’re all pretty easy to pick up again at fair prices, should you change your mind (and have the funds, obv) later. maybe the D9 and/or AH as well. you don’t seem 100% convinced on them. another point against the OT is lack of Overbridge, as it seems like you’re functioning well with that and it’s not a good time to invest in a new sound card or dongle/dock to interface with your Ultralite.
if you don’t need a new computer immediately, I’d say shelve the stuff you’re on the fence about and work with what’s left for a bit. that will help you decide. also it’s easier if they’re physically out of sight, instead of staring at you, taunting you.
and finally: I’m sorry about your bad fortune with the Covid crisis. I wish you the best in finding employment moving forward. at the very least, if you’re here focusing on this, that means you could be far worse off. and that’s good to hear.
I don’t really think of my mpc live as comparable to my ot. It has some things in common but it feels closer to DT in terms of workflow. OT shines live and jamming. I’ve actually been thinking of saying by to DT and keeping mpc live and OT as a killer pair
I also have an MPC One. The workflow just feels a lot more song-writing oriented, if that make sense. I also enjoy the playability of the pads. The huge thing for me is midi over USB, standard MIDI, and CV all in one box. I now have it as the center piece of my studio controlling soft synths, an analog synth, iPad instruments, and a modular drum machine.
Also, being able to bounce all your tracks to stems and dump them onto your computer is a much more modern workflow than the OT. I always said I didn’t mind recording in 2-4 tracks at a time but now that I don’t have to I do.
It definitely DOES NOT have the breath of experimentation that the Octatrack has. But, from the sound of it, you have been using the OT much in the same way I had. Recording patterns, playing stems, using effects. I think MPCs, in general, excel at those tasks. I’m just waiting for them to update the firmware to stream from disk. Then there will be unlimited stem length.
I don’t really miss the experimentation part of the OT as much as I thought I would. Iris 2 and Boarderlands get me in similar territory.
I sold my OT to fund an MPC and some drum modules and it’s been a great decision for me.
I made the album on iPad during breaks while I had a regular day job. I mixed and mastered it during lockdown. I bought all that gear but wasted too much time and effort focusing on the OT as the first one I attempted to learn. I should have started with the easier ones.