Is there finally an option to back up samples and stuff to say a computer?
P-Locking is the killer feature for me on the OT, how rich is it on the Digitakt. What exactly would I be missing out?
As much as I love the OT, I am wanting something smaller and last less fussy and complicated just to sample and make beats, and warp sounds.
Thanks
Backup as been available for a while now. Samples through the transfer software and projects through c6 as sysex files.
The manual says this about p-locks:
Up to 72 different parameters can be locked in a pattern. A parameter counts as one (1) locked parameter no matter how many trigs that lock it. If for example the cutoff parame- ter of the filter is locked on every sequencer step, there are still 71 other parameters that can be locked.
Thanks, howevver can anyone confirm who has owned both is there a less parameters I can change?. I’m not sure if there’s less changes I can make or if its the same as the OT which I have numerous p-locks.
From what I’ve heard & read (don’t own one myself), if you want less fussy, more immediate / less complex the Digitakt would be a good choice for you. You’ll lose tracks, which is probably the biggest downside IMO.
Someone did a test here on the forum. Every parameter can be locked to a step on the OT it was a ridiculously high amount. No other elektron box can do that.
There are more than 72 parameters on the dt so the limit is not just the amount of parameters between boxes but the memory for p-locks.
So how does that work then without tracks, isn’t that really limiting?.
You’ll be fine for plocks, 71 parameters is tons.
Not sure what @earth2j means about losing tracks, they both have 8 audio and 8 midi.
Biggest differences are:
No fader
No midi arp
Mono tracks
No thru machines or thru fx
No arranger
No extra set of outs
Only 1 LFO per track
No plocking fx
Stream large samples from card
Timestretch
Slicing
But you gain:
Ease of use
Tempo per pattern
LFO to sample position (realtime)
Arguably better sound q and fx
Overbridge (eventually)
Interesting, basically all I want is to mangle my chords, loops and not sure if I be missing that if I sell my OT.
The OT is better at mangling, it has more effects, and, time stretching, and slicing. More lfo per track and customizable lfo.
I can actually live with that, the fader is nice but I hardly use scenes and the fader to morph stuff. Its cool I guess if you’re doing a show but its useless for me when composing stuff.
Midi art - never used it
Mono tracks - could be an issue, I guess it be a case of importing into a daw and converting to sterero?
Thru machines will be missed:(
OT has no parameter lock limit. All other Elektron instruments have a limit.
Once a stereo sample is bounced to mono there’s no way of recovering the lost information. Unless you’re working with things like heavily chorused pads or binaural field recordings this isn’t that big an issue IMO.
I switched from an OT to a DT myself and am pretty happy. The OT was great for embarking on insane sound design experiments but I really struggled to keep track of everything it was doing, to the point where the thought of arranging and playing a full live set on it was positively panic-inducing, even after 2 years of learning. The DT is far less deep but miles better in terms or usability.
Some things to note regarding what has already been mentioned:
“No plocking fx” - true in that you cannot plock MASTER fx settings, but you can plock fx send levels on tracks
“only mono” - the tracks are mono but the device itself is stereo, with panning of tracks, and stereo effects. however it sounds like if you are taking in stereo stuff like you would on the OT, and this could be a big factor for you. You could split your files into separate left and right tracks in DAW then put them in the DT and use 2 tracks panned left and right, but they would be separate entities and you would have to control their settings individually as well. Probably not what you’re wanting but still is an option.
The DT is best suited for mono one-shot stuff (it is ultimately a drum machine after all!)
As far as wanting something “less fussy and complicated just to sample and make beats, and warp sounds” - I have never used an OT, only have DT, but can say it is pretty simple, in a good way. Streamlined and efficient, doesn’t take all that long to learn most of the ins & outs, is very no fuss to use and pump stuff out. Especially if you are doing “beats”, which is what it excels at. Its sound warping capabilities probably pale in comparison to the OT, but, there is still a lot you can do with it!
Ugh, you’re right. I thought there was only 4 track on the Digitakt. Sorry about that @monsterism 
Now the Digitone / Digitakt seem a bit more desirable to me now. …
Not mentioned yet. The OT mutes kill the sound. No release, reverb, or delay tails. The DT does not do this.
Also. The DT saves the mute configuration per pattern. If you’re into that sort of thing.
They have different sonic characteristics.
This makes no sense to me. Because: Octatrack > DT
Start using the scene feature, thank me later.
The Octatrack can do much more as the DT. Therefore it’s more „complicated“. But sometimes i think the learning curve is general exaggerated. As soon you get the structure and intern rules, you will be able to rock it hard.
I took me not even a week to be able to use all the functions. (I learn those things be writing my own notes, for things that aren’t logical in the beginning).
The easiest and fastest way to take samples, is probably using a flex track, set a record trig. Press BANK plus REC1 to get the new sample into the editor, if needed.
You don’t even need to know all shortcuts. Once you understand how to copy and past, you will be able to use this function in every possible context.
IMHO: OT (mk1+2) is perfect. DT is on the way to getting better, but still far away from perfect.
They really are two different machines. The digitakt is built geared toward use similar to that of a machinedrum or an analog rytm. Drum machine usage. Yes, one can stretch the abilities of the digitakt to do more than drums. But, The fact that the digitakt uses samples is really the only true connector between the octatrack and the digitakt. And they don’t even have the same sample handling capabilities.
Honestly it’s always puzzled me that the two see so much comparison. The octatrack is an incredibly unique instrument, a digitakt is ultimately not an octatrack mini. More like a rytm or machine drum without the synth engines.
Scratch the Machinedrum from the comparison. MDUW vs DT is wildly more different than OT vs DT is.
Analog RYTM is on point though(except that granular abilities in the DT is vastly superior-for some reason)
I half agree, the machine drum really is something unmatched, but the machine drum was built to be well a drum machine, as was the digitakt. The octatrack isn’t meant to be simply a drum machine, and to use it only for drum duties is a tragedy. Elektron makes 3 different types of instruments: Synths, drum machines, and the octatrack 
. MD, AR, DT are definitely in the drum machine category.
Yeah I agree, the OT is in a world of its own. It works as a sampler, midi sequencer, mixer, looper and so much more. While the Digitakt is really a drum machine with the ability of playing other samples but the fact it samples in mono really cements it as a sampling drum machine. Going from an OT to a Digitakt is a big downgrade. Spend more time with the OT, make it more familiar. Its worth it!