Quoted for truth.
And after the purchase, It actually takes less time to learn the gear in the end, when you consider time spent searching for something specific, either by scouring a manual you haven’t read, or asking questions on forums.
I like how Elektron and Korg manuals are organized.
Roland manuals are… uhhh, torture.
Indeed.
PDF manuals are great because there is a search function.
manuals, all day everyday.
and ^ yes, pdfs are great with the search feature.
I think this is the result of over stimulated minds that come to expect instant gratification. I also think the manufacturers that produce the quick start guide as an accompaniment to the full manual are on the right path.
“Oh noes, I haz to read 300 pages to figure out what I’m doing? This XYZ gear sucks, I’m selling it on ebay after I go online and complain about it first.”
I actually read manuals too. The most recent Octatrack manual is particularly good in my opinion. I felt the Kurzweil K series manuals were very well written, educational in fact. Funny thing is, the K-2000 actually came with a VHS cassette tape that had videos that walked users through useful tips and tricks, etc. It’s as if they foresaw the youtube video tutorial craze 14+ years in the future. Does anyone else remember that? Now please excuse this old man while he goes and looks for his cane… 
Me.
I also read every word on a vinyl record cover and CDs, maybe I like to get my moneys worth.
I used to say RTFM to noobs here but now try to be more helpfull and happy 
Idiocracy is a documentary about the recent past
I read manuals for fun. my friends read novels n biographies, I read manuals.
they think I’m nuts 
i also have loads of em on my phone for reference 
As for printed vs pdf I’m in an unusual position of not being able to read paper very well, I have a condition where it strains my eyes to the point I go cross-eyed when I read print. pdfs have been a godsend to my reading due to the backlight and zoom function, though I still do love to have a printed manual for my shelf
I read the manuals for any piece of equipment which has more than one function assigned per switch/knob/dial/etc. I have no idea how you would even scratch the surface of what is possible with Elektron gear in particular. It is a bit of a pity that the A4 & AR did not come with printed copies, but $15 at the local copy shop for a nicely spiral bound hardcopy is hardly too much money if you have already dropped $1.5-$2k (AUD) on an instrument…
Printed manuals are essential.
That said, I learned the Octatrack without reading the manual, paper nor pdf. I didn’t enjoy the tonality in the way it was written. It didn’t remind me of the Machinedrum manual, nor of the Monomachine manual, in its tonality and resonance, if that makes any sense?
But it was my love and total reading of the hardcopy manuals for Machinedrum and Monomachine that gave me the foundation of knowledge to grock the Octatrack almost immediately.
yes pdf manuals have their benefits.
but i prefer printed, for musical gear such as that from Elektron or Akai.
Not only but also, i prefer to have that printed manual supplied with the gear at purchase,
and not offered as an optional adornment, for it is not that, it is core to the experience of the gear.
Sometimes, “the medium is the message”, and sometimes, the medium merely adds to the enjoyment of reading, as with a quality paper manual. And sometimes, the medium assists with researching, such as with a searchable .pdf manual. But always, the tonality and friendliness of the manual should be first and foremost in the mind of the writers and the translators also.
That’s a pretty good effort - I don’t think that I would be able to get my head around most of the OT’s functions without the manual. I guess it is an Elektron instrument, so the basic workflow would be familiar, but I know that it would have too many machine-speficic idiosyncrasies for me personally.
i didn’t grock the OT’s realtime sampling section.
although, that said, i never learned properly how to use the Record Play machines with my original Machinedrum. The knowledge of how to use those machines underpins the essential character and nature of the Octatrack’s Record and Play functionalities, as that is directly what the concept for the Octatrack was based on … years ago now, an interview with Elektron describes how they wondered what it would be like if the Machinedrum’s Ram Machines were enabled and empowered with a more modern technology.
ironically enough, my excuse for not learning the Machinedrum’s Ram Machines was that i was waiting for an Octatrack.
edit: i should mention that i did not watch tutorials on how to use the Octatrack either. I just used it. Went walkabout with Octatrack, called her Diva, adorned her with artwork, sold her, and now she is the prototype workhorse for the development team working on OctaEdit.
Anyone who browses this forum is probably an avid manual reader but I may be wrong.
TBH I treat this forum as a manual because it loads quickly on my work phone. I browse the recent and most viewed posts and dig for tips and tricks. The electron manuals are not perfect, I read them cover to cover but get clearer instructions from here, the elektronusers forum or youtube vids.
For ex. Sampling on the MD: I had to watch a few videos.
For ex. Trig conditions on the A4. I had to watch a video because I could not find the trig button on the A4. (You access trig conditions with the note button on the A4)
What I don’t understand is that some users seem to think that videos should replace or supplant manuals. I find videos to be a terribly inefficient way to learn about a device because, among other things, you can’t skip around or see the big picture. Videos are great for tutorials, etc., but IMO they can never replace looking something up in a manual. It’s just so easy, especially with electronic versions of manuals.
I always smiled when I remembered that the “Getting Started Guide” for the K2661 was only 286 pages long, so that you could quickly flip through it instead of reading the 610-page “Musician’s Guide” and 500-page “Musician’s Reference” books.
But they are VERY well written, in line with the incredibly well thought out configuration of the instrument. Mackie did/does write good manuals, too.
The MD and MM manual are good. The AF/AK manual is a particular mess of material and we should be glad that Elektron has a new member of staff to write the manuals for AH and newer units.
@DoS This is me as well.
@papertiger wow - a tiger sighting, heya!! I agree with you, tutorials and manuals are two very different things.
Some thoughts on less favorite manuals I have read. DX200 manual - trying so hard to be hip with the kids, ugh. Virus manual - hey we got this really complex instrument but we are going to summarize it in 3 pages and then give you a very long appendix where we define obscure terms like volume and arpeggio.
A lol manual for me is the DX21 manual. Here is a budget synth and they talk about calculus or something in the description of FM synthesis. Way too technical section but kind of curiously cute.
The manual for Reaper is kind of like the Lord of the Rings trilogy. If you can make it through a lot of it, it is pretty amazing what you will get out of it. But you need to pace yourself and really read it.
I LOVE reading manuals. I love highlighting, taking notes, making a rudimentary index and quick reference to cool stuff inside the cover. And I equally dislike equipment manufacturers not shipping manuals for a piece of equipment I paid $1000 - $2000 for. Ugggh… it drives me nuts. The worst are sequencers…even after using these things for 25 years there are so many features I dont even know about because I HATE reading online manuals especially when they’re in the thousands of pages.
Great topic!
Page 39 of the manual 
anyone seen Elvis recently?
Never ever saw him…guess my machine is not ok 
Yeah, they call it the “note page”. As a new user fresh to elektron machines “note button” would be clearer. (I did read the manual 1st) I searched for the trig button because I was looking for trig conditions. Anyway it only made sense after I saw another human being on youtube press the note button on the A4. If I were using the Rytm, it would have been easier to find the trig button.