Are you going for a hardware-only setup or working with a computer? The octatrack is great for having a non-pc setup since it allows to play longer samples without loosing the flexibility compared to a simple backing track. The two stereo-inputs can transform it into a centerpiece and make a mixer obsolete. Scenes are a powerful tool for long livesets.
But if you are in a DAW-based situation overbridege and a faster sample import speak for the Digitakt.
DT, OT, mpc liveā¦imagine owning any of them 10 years agoā¦sings>āEvery oneās a winner babyā.
Budget is main concern? get a DT.
Midi sequencer is main concern? get a DT (depending on whether there are big trade-offs against OTās midi sequencer).
Super weird modulation and performance hands on mangling is highest priority, get an OT.
Polyphonic tracks/linear sequencing/portability etc important to you? Get an MPC.
Happy days all round tbh tho
Edit - I forget what the OT midi sequencer feature is thatās missing on AK? Is it tempo division per track? Length per track? Been a while since I used that stuff on either box. Also curious to see if theres an arpeggiator on the DT? Elektron would prob be wise to throw ALL prior midi sequencer features in to the DT if poss. Gonna look kinda shady if they leave out midi stuff that OT can doā¦
If I didnāt have to eat, sleep, or take care of worldly things, I could come up with endless experiments to try. But yeah, for every couple steps forward you get pushed one step sideways and are left scratching your head to figure out how to move forward againā¦ Good news is once you start going forward it does let you keep going further, until the next sidestep headscratcherā¦ Itās like a game and you have to beat levels to make better music
I will keep my OT. Since I prefer control over my music, step probability isnāt a priority for me. And I use the gear to avoid using a keyboard or mouse, so OB isnāt important for me. However, Scenes, Timestretch, lots of different effects, arpeggiator, slices are.
I suspect Elektron will release more miniboxes, so I will wait to another that actually synths to pair it with the OT.
what will happen is @Dataline will put out a youtube video blowing our minds with the Digitakt, and then we will all get one and spend a year trying to figure out how in the world he got those sounds out of it, and forget our OT for a while.
Yeah, I bought one last week, and while I havenāt had much time to play with it, it really seems like something that will nicely slot into my various live setups, either as an effects unit/master tempo for my gameboy/volca setup, as a drum machine/sampler/effects with monomachine, or perhaps even for live loop mangling/backing track playback with my guitar setupā¦ thus eliminating the need to bring mixers, additional effects units, or a laptop to live shows.
On the other hand, the Digitakt seems like itād be a cute device that has the kind of limitations I love, and something for couch jams much akin to the Circuit. I can imagine Iād end up with one at some point
I hate this octatrack. I mean sampling should be easy. Itās a sampler. Some engineer said of course this is simple because an engineer made it so if the creator understands it so should a musician. I can sample and then try to assign to a trig and it records silence over itself after I spent all this time editing the sample. Dumb and frustrating. I now remember why I sold it. Not user friendly.
One shot recorder trig, maybe? If itās a regular recorder trig, itāll keep sampling every time the sequencer comes around (recording silence in your case if youāve removed/neutralized the sound source).
No worries at all. Hope itās workingā¦ Iāve lost work on the OT as many have. But the OT is too cool to relinquish for me.
On topic:
Iād vote for having both the OT and DT. I love the percussion/melodic sequencing capacity of the OT mixed with live sampling. However, my imagination sees/hears the benefit of having a dedicated drum box paired with it, freeing it for other things. The DTās size, form factor and layout interest me in this way.
I just want to point out that @ReidAdon was the Original Poster of this thread wondering about getting an OT or a dt and has been frustrated by OT before. I just think his venting is while not tip top etiquette almost on topic because this thread helped lead him back to OTā¦ Sorry Buddy, I think I said somewhere up there that you either love the OT or want to throw it out the window, you might be the later type, but that could changeā¦