So what is the role of an OT in combination with DT and DN? Is it more a live performance tool that allows you to play longer tracks / mixes?
I just hate the whole recording via ableton part now. I make a cool track and I want to share it that’s all 
Thanks for the reply.
@Skurdd The OP already nailed the main usages:
When you search this forum you will find many threads with tips, tricks and experience reports how people use the OT, like for example, this one:
Yeah if the OT is strong enough to basically replace Ableton (except for the recording) than that would be sufficient for sure. Not even to speak about the live performance possibilities!
If you can make a track sound good on the OT + DT + DN then multitrack recording wouldn’t matter as much since you can mix it a bit on the devices.
Thats my current gripe; DN and DT sound great but once I involve Ableton I cannot use Delay/reverb etc and it all sounds flat and shit really quick.
Thanks bro!
Max recording time with free RAM : 8m28s
You can record 8 tracks at the same time (1m04s max).
So you can record tracks / loops inside OT, mix them with on other patterns with Arranger, make premixes with resampling, etc…
Nah, including recording. More limited, but definitely doable.
…sounds as if you’re looking for permission to buy an Octatrack. 
On behalf of the Elektronauts forum, I hereby authorize you to purchase one Octatrack.
thanks now I am officially granted 
OT is always overkill, that is why we love it haha.
Actually I have the same setup on a separate table in my studio.
DT+DN+OT.
OT is the glue that sticks everything together.
OT for live looping, live mangling, live FX on whatever comes out of the DT/DN combo, everything synced in midi.
OT for the win 
The OT can totally do metal, btw.
Winged skulls with laser eyes flying through sewers, yeah it takes about 15 seconds to make that sound with scenes.
Nah… Get whatever you want. Once you acquire more than a couple pieces you might feel you have to use them all the time (I did…). But I’ve realized that though I absolutely love my setup, it doesn’t have to be used all at once. Doing so would likely crowd my tracks. The main aspect of improvement I’ve been focusing on this year is “less is more”.
You can easily produce entire tracks on the DT and DN separately, let alone combined. Octatrack just gives you more options and different routes.
I now have the luxury to pick and choose the gear I want on a track, it’s not a lot of gear like some collectors, but it’s quite nice to get an idea and choose from a few sets of colors on my palette.
After recently getting the OT, I don’t see much crossover with the Digitakt aside from the fact that it samples, but the sampling workflow is completely different. The DT and Rytm have the most crossover in my mind. I am just astounded at how good the OT is, and I’m learning more every single day.
If I had just a DT/DN/OT combo, I would see myself using the OT to time-stretch and slice DT beats, act as a mixer/compressor, apply scenes for transitions (things that are actually a bit challenging on the Digi-devices), and add all kinds of MIDI LFO craziness to add more modulation and side chain-like effects.
I’m not sure how you’d get something similar without spending a lot of time and/or money. No matter what, it would end up looking like a Rube Goldberg machine, so the fact the OT manages to do all of that in a neat form factor and without having a lot of bugs or being completely impossible to learn is impressive. As far as learning curve goes, if you like the Elektron workflow, OT is definitely MORE of it.
well I don’t want to do complete tracks, just patches, patterns, Parts and scenes and Go.
I think with OT you can jam for an half hour on a few patterns ?
Yes you can. I’ve done it live using just patterns, no need for song mode.
this is so true for performing dawless.
I once had like 5 grooveboxes and synths doing each of their unique things, And if I needed another function that the previous 5 didn’t have, I had to buy another gear to compliment that.
But nowadays you have to really be careful and research before you buy, there is a lot of gear out there that are the jack off all trades, but actually the master of none. And you end of with gear that tick all the boxes but doing it half right.
So sometimes I rather have gear that do 1 thing right.
For example, I have the Moog Minitaur, it’s not versatile, but it does one thing right and that is the classic moog sound. I could also acquire the SE-2 or the Boog (with lot of other sounds), but then I know and feel that I don’t have that authentic Moog sound.
Back to OT, I have researched it as a mad scientist, and I always come back to the OT, because there is really no other gear that can do with the OT can performance wise.
Checkout the Digitakt Experience on YouTube by Dataline (Cenk)
You can jam on a couple patterns for 16 minutes apparently if you’re willing to create them live and are fluent enough.
thanks !! I will do that …
wow, seeing/hearing this, I must be on 25% of the capacity what I can do with a digitakt. And I have it for almost a year
The funny part about the OT is that it is not really a master of one, but a master of everything else that other devices ignore or handle poorly. And I think that can be very divisive… some people fall in love with it, others sell it immediately. I can say it really simplified my workflow, but I am empathetic to the variety of ways it wouldn’t work for someone.
My experience with OT + DN + Rytm/DT, just in case it could be useful.
I´m not an expert nor a good techno producer, my music is still shit LOL:
I enjoyed a lot more composing, jamming and arranging with OT and DN (a lot of time without a drum machine so using OT as a drum machine as well) than using Ableton, but the main problem is that you have to reach a decent mix and this is not easy, at least for me. Sometimes things can go beyond expected and start not sounding right. In my case I don´t get a good sound result for my taste from the whole mix, but this is totally my fault I´m afraid.
I normally use T1 for DN and T5 for Rytm/DT, sometimes T3 for bass (if I use DN´s control all the bass can escape the safe space), T4 for the kick, T7 for resampling and T8 as master. The rest of tracks are almost always for percussion, with a sample chain. This is when I want to record the stereo output.
Sometimes I use T2, T3 and maybe T4 as neighbours or even copy the T1 (thru) but filtered or with a DJ eq to control a specific frequency ranges.
If you use T8 as master I reccomend having a recorder pointing to it to use the REC3 leds as a vumeter.
I have used the arranger even synced with Ableton, very useful but requires work.
Even with a drum machine I still use the OT as a complementary drum machine, mostly for percussion and more HH/cymbals.
I recommend heavily the OT with DN and DT but I´d pay attention to pattern changes (keep an eye on their lenght) and the kick, I think is better to have it separate from the other perc.
At this moment I´m trying to use the three machines with Ableton to have them multitracked for proper rearranging and mixing. I have T1-4 sent to MAIN and T5-8 to CUE. And the DN and Rytm connected via Overbridge. The problem is that you can´t multitrack OT, you know, my main complain about OT is that it doesn´t have more ins and outs (and maybe sidechain and envelope follower) but nobody is perfect.
I normally use the OT to sequence the DN to have a sound consistency between patterns, but you lose the DN´s p-locks so sometimes I mix the two ways of sequencing.
As said before, mixing and gain staging in OT is not easy, at least for me.
Or you maybe do
^this
I would actually add an Analog Heat to the equation.
I say this over and over:if you work with sample you need an OT. It’s not even a question it’s necessity!
The OT is fun to use as a live mixer for DT/DN/whatever you want to run through it, but I especially like using it to quickly record samples of whatever I’m jamming on — with the intent of later stripping away the additional instruments and only focusing on the OT.
I started doing this because I was traveling to jam with friends and didn’t want to deal with bringing multiple machines along. With the OT acting as a repository for whatever I’d been sketching recently, I could basically bring a whole studio’s worth of gear in one box.
Just throwing this out there because, if you’re like me, you’re often looking for ways to slim down your setup. The OT is a rad mixer but it’s also perfect for grabbing snapshots of ideas and moving along with a ton of power in one machine.
