Thanks @sezare56.
So, what should one do? I see two options:
Option 1 can be tedious. And, would those fades not be the same linearity as FIN and FOUT?
Option 2 can get weird with sample locking, since you might want separate settings per sample. But, I suppose that would only be a problem if you are sample locking full loops. Sample locking parts of loops, well, all bets are off I suppose.
Quoting the OT manual below for convenience.
I know you are an OT maestro (mad respect), but I am trying to reconcile what you are saying with what the manual says.
The way I read the manual is that the OT, when using FIN and FOUT, is indeed creating a fade, with a length specified in sequencer steps. It is not simply adding silence.
FOUT does, indeed, add time at the end of the sample, but I do not see why that is a problem, since the sample will be looping and not playing that portion. And, I reckon it makes sense to start the fade at the end of the recorded audio and add the time. I mean, why start the fade inside the recorded audio if you donāt need to? The way they implemented FOUT seems to make sense to me, but I am not an audio expert.
They are just crap. Minimum value for FIN eventually. Increasing value (in steps) just add silence and doesnāt change the fade to a progressive curve.
FOUT is even worse because it changes recording length. Increasing values add silence too. Maybe usable with minimum value with Pickups in overdub mode.
Elektron manual:
FIN applies a fade in when starting the recording. The value is expressed in sequencer steps. Applying
a very short fade in can be used to avoid clicks that otherwise might occur when a recorded sample
loops.
FOUT applies a fade out to the recording. The value is expressed in sequencer steps. The fade out is
added after the recording stops. If for example recording occurs for 16 steps and FOUT is set to 2, the
total length of the sample will be 18 sequencer steps. This parameter behaves differently for Pickup
machines. In this scenario the fade out will be applied to the beginning of the captured loop.
Whatever says the manual, you can check by yourself what OT does with fin / fout.
Record noise, add fin / fout and watch the curve in the audio editor. Crap curves.
Increase to 4 steps and realise it delays the same fade, without changing the curve, adding silence. Not my definition of a fade.
Eventually a minimum value of finā¦
I use AMP ATK to 1, eventually more to taste, min value for HOLD, REL to taste.
For realtime rec / mangling, using start / slices can be clicky, less clicky using several rec trigs instead.
Donāt remember who posted this, but real fades curves are inverted (log / exp).
Anyway itās case by case, no theory works for every thing from what I experienced.
I think the best and simpliest solution is to add an hihat to cover clics! 
Wow! That picture is quite illustrative and edifying! Iām going to try it later, but yeah, Iām not using FIN and FOUT if that is the case.
Thank you for taking the time to respond.
I think the best and simpliest solution is to add an hihat to cover clics!
LOL - someone else said they use a crash cymbal lol.
More radical!
A little hihat suffice hopefully.
Actually when I use my guitar fir realtime mangling I make a kick / snare / hihat from it, so I donāt care about clicksā¦
For soft pads overdub itās more complicated but doable.
I just went digging in the Abelton manual, and it seems what theyāve done is quite brilliant. No wonder why Ableton - to me - always felt like it ājust works.ā It helps my understanding to compare Ableton and OT thus.
Ableton manual, for session view clips, emphasis mine:
The Clip Fade switch, when enabled, applies a short fade to the clip start and end to avoid clicks at the clip edges. The length of the fade is signal-dependent and ranges from 0-4 milliseconds.
Ableton manual, for arrangement view clips:
Selecting a fade handle and pressing the Delete deletes the fade, unless the Create Fades on Clip Edges option is enabled in the Record/Warp/Launch Preferences. In this case, pressing Deletereturns the fade handle to a default length of 4 ms. With this option enabled, new clips in the Arrangement View will have these short ādeclickingā fades by default.
Talk about it at Elektron. Iād compare Ableton with other DAWs only. I use Samplitude only for samples editings and finalizing.
Fed up with computers.
I feel you. For some, myself included, it is a useful comparison to make.
Indeed, there are tradeoffs with every piece of gear. I am just trying to educate myself on what those are, not because I am bored, but because I have experienced these issues with the OT, and I want to understand what I can do about it.
If it becomes to much of a pain, then perhaps the ācostsā of using OT might not be worth its benefits, for me personally.
Of course we compare with what we know.
Boss Rc loopers I know donāt click, they have an efficient fade in / out.
Good reading!
And thanks to @wolfgangschaltung and others for curvesā¦
Iāve also enjoyed the OTs raw clickiness at times, thatās why I suggested that auto-declick should only happen in the specific situations mentioned. Itās not possible to prevent clicks via amp envelope when voice stealing occurs or another (plocked) sample starts playing on the same track.
I just read through that thread, and with respect to the delayed FIN, it seems like that happens when using PUP machines, because of how the FOUTs of PUP machines overlap the beginning of the loop, which is by design. But, someone reported that on regular recorders, the FOUT is applied at the end.
In your experience, are regular recorders delaying the placement of the fade in by the amount you specify in the FIN parameter?
Yes. I mostly used track recorders instead of Pickups. With Pickups, the fade out is hearable at the beginning of the recording, using overdub. With track recorders the fade out is at the end of the sample, increasing its length, hence wrong loop. 
I use PUMs all the time to create clickless loops of drones. You do need to let them overdub at least once. You can then loop them clickless by playing the buffers in a flex (and then pitch shifting with trigless trigs), but only with a one-shot trigger and infinite hold (and loop of course). Without one-shot, so triggering at the beginning of the loop every time, clicks.
It seems the triggers are not sample-accurate.
@sezare56 I see what you mean, but extending the length of the sample does not seem to be the same as delaying the fade in, assuming the sample endpoint is at the end of the recorded audio not the end of the sample. I.e., the sample is set to loop without the extra time at the end. I need to try it later.
@yrn1 Interesting. I wonder if this could help normal recorders. I normally do not use loop mode on my samples; I just place trigs to retrigger the loop. I wonder if loop mode would help.
AKAIK it extends length with FOUT, adding silence after the fade, and delay FIN adding silence before the fade, without extending the length.
Iāve left fin and fout at lowest levels for both PU and flex recordings. I record 4 bar AR loops with flex and live instruments with puās. I donāt really ever get clicks but I feel Iām the odd one out. I donāt even trim my samples as theyāre set up to instantly loop in real time.
For slices I sometimes get clicks but I just use the general amp settings on the track (no plocks) and raise the amp attack to 1 or 2, hold at 1 or 2, and release in the 40āsā¦
The Elektrodork part of me is strangely tempted to try different fin/fout or maybe just fin and no fout, make observations, analyze, yada yada yada, but from where Iām sitting itās kind of an āif it aināt brokeā situation on my end right nowā¦
I used to add rides to cover tape hiss. Now I add tape hiss to cover pure digital silence
Oh daaamn, this might explain a lot of my frustrationsā¦ I remember all sorts of timing issues with loops when using fin/foutā¦
Like @Open_Mike I tend to use the minimum fade settings with no timing issues, for ambient type sounds like say a sustained chord drone then I set attack a little higher to get rid of any obvious bump on the loop, I will add though that I rarely use pickups other than for capturing overdubs then grabbing stuff from the buffer to use in a flex slot, so far.
