If you are going to combine with the OT, consider the TR6s instead of the 8s. Functionally identical, but with fewer tracks and front panel controls - which may matter less since you can record tons of percussion hits in the OT itself. And you get to save a few bucks which is always a nice thing.
Edit: also consider a MC-101 in addition to the 6s or instead.
Ive had digitakt, ARmk1 and TR8-S.
I Sold the elektrons. TR8-S is total Boss.
Works for me, and the music I want to make.
nothing listed here can replace your mpc one as a main hub, chose to replace it for another reason
I love using my Octatrack as a drum bass machine! I do not feel a need to get a Rytm at this point. Plus sampler and fx are killer combo on it.
I have both the 101 and an TR8S which as stated is the the full version of a 6s.
They are opposite twins of each other.
The MC101 has the zen core engine. It has every synth sound Roland made their name from. Plus FX and impacts and choirs and vocodersā¦. But the drums are good, not great.
The 8S/6s is the flip of that. Great drums from most legacy Roland drum machines. A great FM engine. It also has synths and fx and impacts, just not very robust. Still good, but not great.
You can see this in the character in the hi hats and the decay of the 808ās. On the 8S/6S, you get wonderful sonic variation from the analog emulation.
On the MC101, itās static samples.
Between Octatrack, Digitakt, and Syntakt Iād pick the OT any day of the week. Itās the best Elektron device. Syntakt and Digitakt are both dope. You can do basic synthesis with the Digitakt, I love making my own drum sounds out of single cycle waveforms. But the Syntakt has the Fx Track which can really take performing to a new level.
I think feature set wise you get more from the Digitakt and Syntakt combo than a Rytm but ultimately nothing is 1:1, of course.
Agree! OT is the most difficult to master but rewarding.
Good advice thanks
Yeah pretty sold on octatrack to replace mpc asy main hub
I agree with everything @BLKrbbt added. TR8s/6s for the best Roland drums. MC-101/707 for all the classic Roland samples.
Why not? I mean Iāve got a USB hub plugged into it then ableton is slaved to it, another larger USB hub into pc and Iāve got blokas midi hub into the pc USB hub so can bounce midi around. I hardly use the mpc and itās because the sequencer is weak. I like it but in my studio setting itās not seeing much action at all, thinking the things plugged into the usb hub just plug into the pcs midi hub. Seriously considering just selling it and getting digitakt then when I have the money probably octatrack as a hardware hub.
One thing to bear in mind is the difference between midi sequencing of MPC & Octatrack if that matters, the MPC records what you play & plays that back exactly like a DAW whereas the Octatrack is a step sequencer capable of poly notes. I went the other way myself a few years ago & moved from Octatrack as a hub to the MPC. Iād been using the OT for a few years & used an MPC 1000 purely for midi sequencing before that.
I still have a DN for Elektron style midi sequencing but really like having standard midi too. The Octatrack midi sequencing was not as sophisticated as the digiās back then although I think there was an update since to bring them inline although the OT canāt do Program/Bank Changes per step which is a great feature of the DN/DT.
As for drum machine, I love the Rytm & it plays well against the MPC drum instrument. I had a TR-6S for a time & whilst it sounded great, I didnāt reach for it very much. I sampled it & sold it on.
sounds like you might have a particular skint on the situation of course replacing it with something more useful for your needs makes sense, I was speaking from more of an objective viewpoint, as itās go cv, can hook up to class compliant mixers , very flexible I/O, Ableton export, no other sampling beat machine can bounce sequences to audio faster, and the sequencer though deceptively simple is easy to access which is why itās used to control modular systems, and outboard fx/ synths more than any other hardware sampling beatmachine, the one groovebox that you really donāt even need to use your computer with to take a project quite far but that you can hook up to the puter to polish up anywayā¦ Imo the mpc really helps to simplify external setupsā¦
on the other hand, the digitakt is only god
Came here to recommend the Digitakt. I bought and sold a Tr6s after hating the menu system. It was my first synth/drum machine experience. Picked up the DT and while it took me a while to get the workflow, this machine will stay with me for life. The more you get to know it, the more it unlocks. Sure, thereās an element of getting some sounds on it but time makes you realise that itās not about loading 100gb of samples, itās about short samples, creative constraints and deep dives. I have a DN and OT but the DT remains my favourite.
Sample layering on the mpc has a lot of random controls, you could make elaborate beats with lots of fine tuning, rytm is a lot better in the performance aspekt, but you need to curate your samples before, or have a mk2 which can sample, not sure if it does resampling.
It just makes sense to make your own kits, which work well together. Layer your hits with familar tones, that could play on each other, tune every element possible, then any drum maschine shines.
Itās not weak by any means, itās different to Elektron, but itās actually way more powerful when you dig into itā¦ trouble with the MPC is itās so powerful, and it can do so much, that people miss it.
It takes some effort/knowhow to set it up for your personal requirements, but itās all thereā¦ for example, there are 16 q-link knobs for performance macros which can be set up similar to the 10 you get on the Rytm/Analog Fourā¦ then thereās the unlimited tracks, the unlimited steps, the polyphony, the randomisation, the probability, the ratcheting, etc, etcā¦
Donāt get me wrong, I really like the Elektron seqs, and love my Rytm mk2ā¦ it just irks me hearing people be dismissive of the MPC, because it is immense.
Thatās how I feel about the MPC, I just wish it had conditional sequencing which is the thing I love most about Elektron Sequencing which is far more interesting than probability for me. I really like the internal instruments on the MPC, initially I was just mostly using it for Midi Sequencing but the internal instruments have become something I love about it. The Drum instrument is really good.