I had an Octatrack for a year but eventually sold it for an old MPC. Yeah the Octatrack was fun but it was never immediate (in the same way as an MPC), I would end up spending hours messing with LFO’s and cross fading effects on a couple of loops and that was that. The whole sample chain thing was useful but endless menu diving uninspiring. Well each to their own, I just think if your that into Elektron workflow just get an Octatrack.
Sequencers and sequencing is an Elektron staple. I like my OP-1 for sketching out ideas melodies and synth parts but don’t use tape function a ton. I ove endless sequencer and the new arp, can’t wait to feed this into a full fledged step arranger with adjustable parameters LFO start and end points seems like a natural progression. And play the Op-1 over the top!!!
Seems to me that this is targeting the SP-404 market, which is ripe for picking. I wonder about the portability of this, I know it doesn’t run off batteries, but is it easy to lug around? Looking forward to more reviews.
@brianobush I have been looking at portable batteries that can do 9V and 12V for the very reason of portability with non-battery powered devices. Wish everything just had a battery in it nowadays 
Out of interest - what is everyone seeing in this thing to get excited about? I mean if you have an OP-1 your sampling is covered (esp with poly), seems similar in that department. Is it just the looks and the P Lock thing? It does look cool but so does the Volca Sample (ignoring the obvious lack of direct sampling) but for £400 cheaper>what is everyone seeing in this thing to get excited about?
8-channel granular sampler with reverb, delay, distortion, and 8 channels of MIDI sequencing.
I remember the Octatrack being quite ‘granular’…Thats why i asked why everyone is getting so excited. What you just described is an Octatrack - all those effects, 8 channels of midi (plus a load of lfo options etc)
I remember the Octatrack being quite 'granular'...Thats why i asked why everyone is getting so excited. What you just described is an Octatrack - all those effects, 8 channels of midi (plus a load of lfo options etc)
OT is 8 tracks only. Audio or midi. Digitakt is 16 tracks. And half the price. With overbridge and the newer generation of sequencer features that the OT doesn’t do. And BPM per pattern (not sure if the OT does this, rytm doesn’t). Just a few of the reasons I’m getting excited.
Ok thanks for clearing it up. Im not hating on the Digitakt, just side stepping Cenks pretty demo’s for some proper info
Ok thanks for clearing it up. Im not hating on the Digitakt, just side stepping Cenks pretty demo's for some proper info
I feel you! Critical thinking is key! When it was first announced I was very “meh” about it, but all those features I personally wanted added up quick. I think of it more as a next gen SP-404 than an OT lite. People who wanted/expected timestretching, stereo sampling and individual outs are disappointed, but those don’t matter much to me.
I remember the Octatrack being quite 'granular'...Thats why i asked why everyone is getting so excited. What you just described is an Octatrack - all those effects, 8 channels of midi (plus a load of lfo options etc)OT is 8 tracks only. Audio or midi. Digitakt is 16 tracks. And half the price. With overbridge and the newer generation of sequencer features that the OT doesn’t do. And BPM per pattern (not sure if the OT does this, rytm doesn’t). Just a few of the reasons I’m getting excited.
OT is 8 audio + 8 midi too 
16 total… And after you pay for Overbridge DT’s way off being half the price of OT (£999 new in UK atm…)
DT looks a lot of fun but it is missing a TON of stuff from OT… No slices, no timestrech, 1 lfo per track (vs 3 on OT), no insert fx, no parts, no Sceeeeeenes/fader, small memory, no separate outs, mono samples, no USB drag drop sample import… And yet to find out if it has tempo division/multiplier per track (its there on OT but missing on their other ‘new’ sequencers) and arpeggio and a decent song mode alternative in Chains etc.
But yeah, DT does have some nice stuff too that’s missing on OT and probably sounds a little nicer in general. Not enough there for me to grab one but I’m hoping the advances Elektron have made will be added to the old OT depth in an OT2 at some point…
I remember the Octatrack being quite 'granular'...Thats why i asked why everyone is getting so excited. What you just described is an Octatrack - all those effects, 8 channels of midi (plus a load of lfo options etc)OT is 8 tracks only. Audio or midi. Digitakt is 16 tracks. And half the price. With overbridge and the newer generation of sequencer features that the OT doesn’t do. And BPM per pattern (not sure if the OT does this, rytm doesn’t). Just a few of the reasons I’m getting excited.
OT is 8 audio + 8 midi too
DT looks a lot of fun but it is missing a TON of stuff from OT… No slices, no timestrech, 1 lfo per track (vs 3 on OT), no insert fx, no parts, no Sceeeeeenes/fader, small memory, no separate outs, mono samples, no USB drag drop sample import… And yet to find out if it has tempo division/multiplier per track (its there on OT but missing on their other ‘new’ sequencers) and arpeggio and a decent song mode alternative in Chains etc.
But yeah, DT does have some nice stuff too that’s missing on OT and probably sounds a little nicer in general. Not enough there for me to grab one but I’m hoping the advances Elektron have made will be added to the old OT depth in an OT2 at some point…
I did not know that (8+8)! Does the OT have BPM per pattern or is it global?
No bpm per pattern on OT 
Apparently you can kind of workaround with the arranger (where you can save bpm per bars etc) but i’ve never tried it. I remember thinking it sounded like a vibe killer and didn’t seem like something you could be spontaneous with so I haven’t got round to looking at it.
No bpm per pattern on OT :( Apparently you can kind of workaround with the arranger (where you can save bpm per bars etc) but i've never tried it. I remember thinking it sounded like a vibe killer and didn't seem like something you could be spontaneous with so I haven't got round to looking at it.
As dumb as it sounds, the BPM per pattern is a MAJOR deal maker for me. I use a lot of loops sampled from old songs and it’s a huge pain to have to memorize/write down tempos and remember to be at the right tempo in a live set. With the Digitakt I will finally be able to play my live sets on the fly choosing what to play next as I go.
EDIT: Coming from Analog rytm aka no timestretch. I suppose BPM per pattern on the OT wouldn’t be as much of a big deal.
No bpm per pattern on OT :( Apparently you can kind of workaround with the arranger (where you can save bpm per bars etc) but i've never tried it. I remember thinking it sounded like a vibe killer and didn't seem like something you could be spontaneous with so I haven't got round to looking at it.As dumb as it sounds, the BPM per pattern is a MAJOR deal maker for me. I use a lot of loops sampled from old songs and it’s a huge pain to have to memorize/write down tempos and remember to be at the right tempo in a live set. With the Digitakt I will finally be able to play my live sets on the fly choosing what to play next as I go.
Sounds like it’ll work out great for your workflow/needs 
I’m kinda different to you in that I mostly tend to stretch samples/loops to fit tempo, not the other way round. And rarely change tempo in a track, even in Daw. Having the option for bpm per pattern there like on DT would def be nice tho and maybe lead me to do things differently sometimes…
Mpc live is looking kinda sketchy atm but it has bpm per pattern etc so if I end up grabbing one of those I’d maybe use that as master clock feeding my OT. Not quite as convenient as having it inside like DT tho I guess.
DT’s a nice little box with some cool stuff separating it from OT. If I had more ££ and space/patience for project housekeeping etc I’d prob grab one.
@Callofthevoid Is there any indication from Elektron that they would ever do an OT2? Or is that just the same wishful thinking from users (like how people want an OP-2 but TE has never indicated it would ever happen)? Just curious, since I saw many mentions of OT2 on the Elektornauts forum.
@Callofthevoid Is there any indication from Elektron that they would ever do an OT2? Or is that just the same wishful thinking from users (like how people want an OP-2 but TE has never indicated it would ever happen)? Just curious, since I saw many mentions of OT2 on the Elektornauts forum.
Zero official talk of OT2 
I think when people talk about an OT2 they don’t necessarily mean a sequel, just something more comparable to OT than DT is, and something that expands on both of those boxes… Gotta happen some point, if Elektron don’t do it then someone else evetually will…
@sammyjams I believe Rytm + DT could be a pretty cool combo !
Rytm is an ace drum machine, with an incredible sound… Think twice before you sell it.
Are you talking about two or more patterns playing at the same time, each with its own BPM? What machine/software are you using to achieve this?No bpm per pattern on OT :( Apparently you can kind of workaround with the arranger (where you can save bpm per bars etc) but i've never tried it. I remember thinking it sounded like a vibe killer and didn't seem like something you could be spontaneous with so I haven't got round to looking at it.As dumb as it sounds, the BPM per pattern is a MAJOR deal maker for me. I use a lot of loops sampled from old songs and it’s a huge pain to have to memorize/write down tempos and remember to be at the right tempo in a live set. With the Digitakt I will finally be able to play my live sets on the fly choosing what to play next as I go.
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Or are you talking about chained patterns - one pattern playing at a time?
Elektron has not been in the habit of releasing new products that have the same names as the old ones - not since the Machinedrum/Monomachine days anyway. That was the basis of my speculation that there will never be an OT2 - they might release another sampling product of some sort in the future (not the near future, imo) but they’ll call it Sampultakt or some similar nonsense 
I got some flak on the Elektronauts forum for saying that but whatever, haha
Are you talking about two or more patterns playing at the same time, each with its own BPM? What machine/software are you using to achieve this?No bpm per pattern on OT :( Apparently you can kind of workaround with the arranger (where you can save bpm per bars etc) but i've never tried it. I remember thinking it sounded like a vibe killer and didn't seem like something you could be spontaneous with so I haven't got round to looking at it.As dumb as it sounds, the BPM per pattern is a MAJOR deal maker for me. I use a lot of loops sampled from old songs and it’s a huge pain to have to memorize/write down tempos and remember to be at the right tempo in a live set. With the Digitakt I will finally be able to play my live sets on the fly choosing what to play next as I go.
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Or are you talking about chained patterns - one pattern playing at a time?
@GovernorSilver I just meant the tempo being linked to the pattern instead of a global tempo. So I won’t need to think about what tempo I need to be at when switching patterns