How did you make out with this? Did Elektron provide a cause? Mine does the same thing. It’s faint but there. Almost sounds like my tinnitus but it’s a different pitch. Seems to be power related though. Curious if they fixed and advised what the issue was.
It might be handy to record it to determine the frequency, if it is above about 14.5khz there is a good chance that a lot of people simply can’t hear it, which might explain why some units are shipped if it is missed during testing?
Edit: I’d guess that it is HF oscillation from a voltage regulator, possibly due to a part out of tolerance or a bad decoupling capacitor.
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Mine, mk1, is silent. I’m very sensitive to those noises as well. My working laptop makes a lot of noise without the fan working. I hate it. So do some music machines. I had a virus that suffered from it. I had a part fixed better and it was gone. Currently my ferrofish converter has a huge whine. I opened it, but was unable to locate it to a part, the noise is too high pitched.
So, I wouldn’t accept this.
For my case they simply replaced my unit. In my situation there wasn’t too much troubleshooting because it was occurring on a new replacement machine for a separate issue, so they pretty much jumped straight to replacing it again due to the inconvenience. Therefore I never really got a diagnosis of the problem.
I’d say if you have concerns it’s worth contacting support, they might be able to advise if they found the issue with my unit or others that may have had the problem. It always sounded like it was coming from the display so it may have just needed a screen replacement in normal circumstances. Elektron support we’re great with me on this though, good response time, super polite and just wanted to help me out. Simple things but goes a long way.
Also what @darenager says about trying to record it is a good idea, I did this before sending off the ticket to Elektron so they knew exactly how annoying it was straight away!
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On my mk2 I had my volume knob replaced under warranty and on receiving it a high pitch whine was present . Don’t know how or if this helps you at all . But if it’s a concern I’d return it and buy another one.
My OT is less than a year old with low use and does also have this high pitched whine. I don’t like it, but usually have headphones on. I only hope it’s not the sign of a failing part. I could live with it, so long as it does not signal a diminished lifespan of the machine.
Hi, did you solve the problem?
So let me share my story…
I’m experiencing high pitch whine in my Octatrack MK2 as well.
I’ve already send the unit twice for repair regarding the noise. Each time coming back with the noise still present. Even though the issue is not fixed I try not to be salty at Elektron support because they are really communicative, nice, and respond quick.
First time I’ve sent it they replaced the CPU PCB.
Second time they replaced UI PCB.
I honestly don’t know what to do… Its obvious to me that technician fixing the hardware couldn’t hear the noise and just replaced the internals anyways just to be sure.
The most irritating thing I still have no idea whether thats is normal for Octatrack MK2 or not,
because the noise certainly isn’t present in Digitone and Syntakt that I also own.
My MKII OT produces no noise whatsoever - if nothings going in or playing from a track it’s dead silent (that’s looking at an EQ with the gain cranked, not a bump in sight).
If they’re repairing and sending it back seemingly without the issue then it would be easy to assume that it’s either something happening during shipping (something coming loose?) or it’s environmental.
To rule out the latter I’d try it in a different building. If you didn’t send back the power supply I’d use a different one of those too.
The only time I’ve had a device make an annoying noise that wasn’t USB related it was the power supply that came with the device (an Orange head), they sent me a new supply and it was the same. A third party one I had completely eliminated the problem, but they had no idea why I was having the issue, from their perspective the power supplies were fine. I put it down to some some strangely specific issue with my power - but it’s never been an issue with anything else 
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Did you compare with same psu, audio routing ?
I experienced helium and wine, but I never mixed them together…
Guys I appreciate the responses but you are completely missing the point, its not the noise from audio outs. This thread is about noise from the box itself. Easiest way to hear it is to get the ear close to the casing.
I know the thread is long but without the context you are just muddying the water.
I tried different psu’s and outlets. I would not be sending Octa for the lengthy repair twice if I wasnt sure the issue is not with the box itself.
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Ah yea that’s on me 
I’ve just stuck my ear right next to my OT and actually I do hear a bit of a whine. I wish you hadn’t brought my attention to it 
But I have to literally put my ear next to it - I’m quite sensitive to these noises and can hear those ultrasonic cat deterrents used to ward off teenagers even though I’m twice their age - so I don’t see it ever being something that could be an issue for me personally, as I can’t hear it from any kind of distance.
So I guess it maybe is normal?
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Those are good ideas to rule out power. Also different power strips, conditioners, extensions, etc.
Just as another data point: my mk2 is also totally silent. I use Furman power conditioners.
The key ingredient to hearing this is just to live in an apartment that is really silent and well isolated sonically, like I do… Then it becomes a stupid problem. Do you also have Octatrack MK2?
I already have. I would give 50 bucks just to have a chance to take a look at another unit. Maybe its a universal problem but not everyone can hear this.
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Yep MKII, my office/studio is dead silent, i definitely can’t hear it ambiently - I have to get my face close enough to the OT that it could claim I’m assaulting it, that’s with nothing else on and no music, sounds etc. If I were actually using it then there’d be no chance I could hear probably even close up. So it’s definitely making the noise but I don’t think it could ever bother me.
I can also confirm that it’s not a noise coming from my Digitakt, digitone or mki AR.
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Unfortunately I can hear it ambiently, im probably just really sensitive to high pitched sounds.
Thanks for confirmation about other Electron boxes… Octatrack is the only one from 3 that I own that emits that noise.
Give it a few years, you won’t be able to hear it anymore.
When I was a teenager (in the late 90s) I could hear the difference between a CD and a burned copy (if the burn was done at 4x or faster), because the higher error rate smoothed the transients out a tiny bit. That doesn’t last very long.
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