Im wondering especially toward the people who have had the Octatrack and then sold it and why? I am so close to buying it I was thinking of the Electribe esx 1 but I was thinking I like doing things realtime, but somewhere I read the Octatrack is “too expensive for it’s gimmicks” and “you can go too quickly no-going-back to the point of going nowhere”, it was rather a discouraging comment and started making me think of getting a Electribe again…
I really like the fact that you can record and cut/assign the recording but maybe he was right…, MAybe it will just end up being messy? Hmm
There are no objective cons about the Octatrack, in my opinion. It comes down to what you expect a sampler to be, and to be able to do.
For example, I’d say it doesn’t compare with the ESX. They’re so fundamentally different in features and workflow that their roles would be different. But I can definitely see the ESX being the better choice, all depending on your need.
I’ve had an Octatrack for about a year and a half, and love it for what it is. With that said, my use has shifted.
For building tracks with samples, I now use the Analog Rytm exclusively. For sampling, I’m going to try a SP404SX instead now. Portability, sound and immediacy are the needs that has led me to this decision.
So the Octatrack is not only a matter of learning it or not, and once you learn it, it’s always the best option. It really comes down to how you wanna use your sampler and for what.
As already said, the problem with the Octatrack for a lot of people is how you intend to use it. The Octatrack is many things, but is also not a lot of things.
It can be a sampling drum machine, but you are better off using a machine that is made for that electribe/mpc/machinedrum/analog rytm/etc.
It can do granular synthesis type effects, but it cannot me a polyphonic granular synth.
It can play pitched and sliced samples, but it’s not suited to being a rompler.
I love it as a sequencer for external gear, but it’s far from a perfect sequencer in the traditional sense. Works more like a groovebox than a midi recorder/player.
It is quite excellent as a live looper. It’s a solid hub for live setups. It’s also great for sound design. It’s one of those weird devices that has lots of abilities that you just don’t get on any other hardware.
As an octatrack owner, i am considering getting another sampler such as the new electribe or sp-404sx, just because the octatrack doesn’t quite fill those needs for me. However, I love it more than any of bit of gear I own.
I used to own and love an mpc1000 jjosxl and have also owned an sp404sx. After about a year of owning the OT, I can do everything I used to and a shit ton more. I did miss the mpc pads for a while but I’m well and truly over that. Everything that has pissed me off about the OT I have so far worked out.
To say it’s overpriced and gimmicky is BS. What a joke.
It’s getting repetitive but I agree with the others who say it depends on what you are trying to accomplish. If you want to work with loops the ESX1 has very little space to work with, especially if you want stereo samples. It was good enough to use as a sample-based drum machine, if that is all you need. If you are trying to work with loops or want to resample things a lot, the Octatrack is much better for that in my experience.
Trying to use either one as an analog modeling synth with single cycle waveforms seems like a waste of money to me, because there are so many things you cannot do with a single cycle: detuned osc’s, and sub osc’s, for example. Instead of that, I make melodic loops with a more capable soft synth and then make resampled variations of them on the Octatrack. Of course, the ESX1 can’t do this either without running out of space very quickly.
It’s good that you are doing your research though, I’ve bought several pieces of gear that turned out to be wrong for me because I did not do enough homework.
One thing worth mentioning with the Octatrack, is that it’s usually a game changer for your workflow. It’s not just a version of something else - another sampler, rompler, synth, fx unit or whatnot. It’s unique.
While I might be trading mine for an SP sampler now, I never would’ve found my way to my current flow without the Octatrack, bless its digital soul.
So you’re not just getting a version of something you’re already familiar with, although more or less complex depending on what you’re used to. You’re getting something new, and to make the most of it, it will affect everything else in your rig, whether it’s a bunch of records, loops, an armada of synths or modular stuff or whatever.
So learning it is only part of the experience. You must in a way relearn your way of approaching your other gear as well.
And this, I’d like to say, is one of the most rewarding experiences in music making I’ve ever had.
You will never get anywhere if you can be so swayed by some random assertion that you read on the internet. (And your scepticism should extend to what I’m writing in this post, too.)
But people giving you advice in this thread would really be helped if you gave any details at all about the context for your possible Octatrack purchase, like:
what musical experience you have
what gear you want to use with the OT
your ambitions and preferences for music making
your budget
what benefit you think you might get from using an OT
Do you have the time and inclination to learn a new instrument? This is key - the OT isn’t just another sampler. If you’re looking for immediate results and have too much on elsewhere in your life then I’d suggest avoiding the OT.But if you have time and desire to learn something new then by all means give it a try.
Be patient and pick one up 2nd hand a good price. Give it 6 months then look back on how things have gone. Sell if you think its shit, continue to blow your load continuously if you get on with it. Be prepared to go through The Steps of the Octatrack (ie: What is this? What the hell am I doing? Ah, midi is cool! How do you sample? P-locks rock! I want to love/hate the OT, etc etc).
Ultimately you’ll never know if it’s for you or not until you try one out. Forums can help but only so much, as each person approaches things differently.
It’s the sort of instrument that needs a good grace period though. It may not give you immediate gratification unless it’s loaded with sound packs all ready to jam on. If not, get ready to spend some hours with a manual and choosing/loading samples to get what you are after, and then more time to navigate the menus and learn the instrument.
Worth it though…
I find I am actually holding back now due to the price. Not because I cannot afford it but just due to everytime i look it seems to go up. Its price point seems strange to me. when i got the sub 37 I want thinking twice about the money was a lot of synth but the octatrak I hesitate, i wonder how many others have this feeling apart from that I do think its an ace product but not for the 1400 euros.
Well, it’s expensive for sure. Mine was second hand and that really helped, but I’d still say it’s the best money I’ve spent on gear, and if all my equipment was crushed by a comet tomorrow the OT is the first thing I’d be pursuing the insurance company to replace. If my OT up and died, I’d sell other gear to fund a new one. I will do whatever it takes, don’t test me.
Personally, I bought multiple pieces of more affordable gear and then found myself frustrated by their limitations. Eventually I decided to just save up and buy one really capable piece of gear, and the Octatrack has not let me down. Also the warranty was worth some money to me, so I factored that into my decision.
You can save a little money by getting a floor model, one which a store has had on the floor for customers to play with. You still get the warranty.
Yes I really hate spain for this. They very rarely have floor equipment unless its a tr-8 or something mainstream. The crisis has put shops in the position where they wont hold any.
Maybe Elektron will send me one and I can show my music technology friends.
It is a tricky questions, because it really depends on what are your expectations and workflow.
I have a kind of love & hate relationship with the OT and I often wonder if I should replace it by a littledeformer … Anyway, I think there are a few limitations that you should be aware of before buying one :
Audio track are optimized for loop & drum, but not for melody : you cannot enter note but only pitch sequence. Audio track are not transposable, there is no arppegiator like on the midi track , …
The OT is really good at beat slicing, but not so good for sound synthesis : there are only two FX per track. If some FX are good (filter, equalizer), most of them are average or even really bad (phaser/chorus/flanger). And there is no “advanced” sound synthesis feature like FM, ring mod, granulator,…
There are some workflow issues with it : tempo cannot be save per-pattern. Each pattern cannot have their own sound setting (i.e they are only 4 “parts” in term of elektron terminology ),…
But on the other hands, the OT provides things that no other hardware can do (scene, plock, real time sampling & mangling of midi sequenced melody,…).
It is also possible to do non conventional stuff with it like making drone by constantly sampling its output and this kind of things,…
So it all depends on your workflow & expectations !
hallo i agree with zite909,i had an octatrack for a year and half and i had also for some years an electribe sx 1.with octatrack you can do many things but you cant concetrate to something specific as for my opinion,electribe sx has more channels ,has better and more effects for sure but its sound isn t so good as octatrack.Electribe sx has very little memory and the samples you put in doesn t sound as good as they are.Octatrack is great for controlling other synths its midi is powerful the best in the market and slices is another strong point of this machine but you cant preview slices in real time : - ( .Octatrack is great with loops and big samples but very dificult for sound design and another problem for me was the chromatic mode only two octaves for audio track octa is very good for record external audio so many options.so for me octatrack strong points was midi ,slices and record modes and of course its sound with samples ; - ) electribe esx is a lot cheaper but its sound is not so good as octatrack and if you want to import many samples to one machine this is the octatrack for sure (24 bit samples) i love octatrack for samples but audio manipulation to limited
octa is very good for record external audio so many options.so for me octatrack strong points was midi ,slices and record modes and of course its sound with samples ; - ) electribe esx is a lot cheaper but its sound is not so good as octatrack and if you want to import many samples to one machine this is the octatrack for sure (24 bit samples) i love octatrack for samples but audio manipulation to limited