the watmm GAS thread

lol next level bitching happening right now on elektronauts. 3 posts per second!

Been pretty close to pulling the trigger on an octatrack for a while, probably next month. Can't see too much here that would make me shell out the extra £300 for the MK2 really - is there going to be anything major it can do that you can't do on a MK1?

  On 6/29/2017 at 7:04 PM, sweepstakes said:

Also hi res encoders just means the value is incremented or decremented faster per twist. Everything beyond that is in code.

The more I think about it the more likely it seems that the codebase will be the same as OG which means we get firmware updates finally

good then.

  On 6/29/2017 at 7:01 PM, juiceciuj said:

so what was a good used price on a mk1 and what should i expect to see for them now?

When I was shopping around a few months ago for mine the used ones seemed to only be about $100 less than new, that's why I ended up going for new.

I'm sure there will be a Mr. Dataline video going over the improvements.

  On 6/30/2017 at 12:47 AM, Braintree said:

I'm sure there will be a Mr. Dataline video going over the improvements.

yes! great new things we can do with the lighter color

As far as I can tell, the only non-cosmetic differences are: A few new, dedicated buttons for common functions Balanced inputs with "higher headroom" (no specific specs given) High quality encoders and switches (no idea if that means they're actually an improvement over the old ones or just different parts) OLED display All good things but nothing that makes me regret getting mine right before the change. Anyhow, as I already mentioned earlier, I hear the new version sounds cold and digital, but the Mk I has that warmth and character that you can only get from a vintage instrument.

you're right. i tried the digitakt a few times at switched on audio in austin and it just sounds cold and digital. nothing like the warmth of my OT mk1. everything i put into it just takes on this character, i think this has to do with the filters, but also the inputs which weren't balanced! those old inputs sound so good, the lack of headroom gets everything nice and saturated straight away.

yeah tbh I don't have the problem many people on elektronauts seem to have with the OT's inputs. My nords sound fkn lush through it!

  On 6/30/2017 at 4:38 AM, sheathe said:

you're right. i tried the digitakt a few times at switched on audio in austin and it just sounds cold and digital. nothing like the warmth of my OT mk1. everything i put into it just takes on this character, i think this has to do with the filters, but also the inputs which weren't balanced! those old inputs sound so good, the lack of headroom gets everything nice and saturated straight away.

yeah it gives everything that classic Richard D James Album sound

damn. this is seriously underwhelming.

in terms of looks, there's a fine line between austere & bland, and Elektron have definitely crossed over into bland territory. i get depressed just looking at that thing.

the original Octatrack is way cooler looking. black & red. can't beat that color combo.

i hate the way they shifted the cursor keys over to the left. ruins the nice alignment of the layout & really increases your chances of hitting the 'exit/no' key accidentally when you hit the left arrow.

Digitakt buttons look fugly on this. sorry. those big light up numbers ( with the exact same numbers printed on the case right under them. lol! ) makes this look like a toy.

+bonus lol @ the hi rez OLED screen displaying the old school low rez pixelated interface.

i really don't get the point of going thru all the trouble of updating the casing with a new screen, encoders, and even adding extra buttons (which is no small amount of work) and then NOT updating the internals or the OS. seriously wtf?! this was the perfect time.

good news: i don't have to spend money on this.

bad news: gonna be another 3 or 4 years at least before we see a real OT2 with trig conditions, etc...

here's hoping someone reverse engineers the OS so we can hack the OT JJOS style!

In all seriousness though, the increased headroom on the inputs does seem like a really good thing, definitely the only one that would make me maybe prefer the new one.  Someone on Elektronauts pointed out that the power supply is 12v instead of 6v, and that is definitely a good sign as far as headroom goes (although it could just as easily have to do with the power requirements of the OLED).

OTOH I wouldn't have been ale to afford the new price anyhow.

I agree that it looks kinda ugly, it doesn't really do anything to make me feel bad that I bought a secondhand mk1 OT mere months ago, which is a good thing!

  On 6/30/2017 at 6:48 AM, digit said:

here's hoping someone reverse engineers the OS so we can hack the OT JJOS style!

shiiit, that'd certainly be interesting. I'd love to see something like that on the monomachine tbh. I would swap out a few features in order to have individual pattern lengths, trig conditions, sound locks etc.. with those the monomachine would be fkn unstoppable.

I prefer the new look over the old. I think the round buttons are fugly, OT  and A4 are not attractive. The 4 machines I have are setup together two one top and 2 in a slide shelf underneath so when not using it's hidden for space saving. the beautiful silver machines with square buttons sit on display and the black with round buttons sit hidden like ugly stepchildren.

Not ugly because they are black, don't be hitting me with racist slander ;)

I just had a bit of a splooge and bought:

Analog Four

Minilogue

Strymon Big Sky
Waldorf 2-Pole

Roland Octa-Capture

I still need a couple of small things like a patchbay and whatnot but then I'm pretty close to my ideal setup to go with my Vermona and Red Panda Particle.  Aside from the Minilogue it should be a setup that I can take live as well as use in a studio environment, without too much fuss.  Just got to wait for everything to be delivered now.  Thankfully I'm going on holiday next week for 10 days so when I come back everything should be waiting for me 

  On 6/30/2017 at 3:57 PM, b born droid said:

I just had a bit of a splooge and bought:

 

Analog Four

Minilogue

Strymon Big Sky

Waldorf 2-Pole

Roland Octa-Capture

 

I still need a couple of small things like a patchbay and whatnot but then I'm pretty close to my ideal setup to go with my Vermona and Red Panda Particle.  Aside from the Minilogue it should be a setup that I can take live as well as use in a studio environment, without too much fuss.  Just got to wait for everything to be delivered now.  Thankfully I'm going on holiday next week for 10 days so when I come back everything should be waiting for me 

Looking forward to hearing your feelings about the Octacapture when you get it set up  I had my sights on one a few years ago but had a chance to get a secondhand BLA modded Digi002 for the same price so I ended up with that but I've been curious about the Octacapture ever since.

The inputs on the OT are unbalanced so really the quality of the sound depends a bit on your cables.

  On 6/30/2017 at 3:57 PM, b born droid said:

Analog Four

Minilogue

Strymon Big Sky
Waldorf 2-Pole

Roland Octa-Capture

Wow, lots of fun to be had there, enjoy!

  On 6/30/2017 at 6:48 AM, digit said:

 

Digitakt buttons look fugly on this. sorry. those big light up numbers ( with the exact same numbers printed on the case right under them. lol! ) makes this look like a toy.

 

 

Those numbers printed on the case are not corresponding to the button numbers, those are corresponding to the track numbers and midi track numbers when you are in various modes like the mixer mode where you can mute/unmute tracks and also the sample triggering mode. it's 1-8 and 1-8 . This was also on the MK1.

EDIT: and the scene selection mode.

There's actually a strong case that unbalanced is actually preferable in most home studio contexts (balancing really isn't much of an issue for short cable runs at line level, and balancing require a more complex circuit that has more potential to actually reduce sound quality if it's not well designed or uses substandard components - probably not a concern with Elektron but it's common on budget gear), and I'm sure that's part of the reason they only balanced the outputs in the MK I - your outputs might be patched to 50 feet of cable running to a PA at a small club, but your inputs are almost definitely going to be short cable runs from other line level gear.

I bet the improved headroom on the MK II is all down to upgraded op amps running at higher voltage, and the balancing won't actually make a difference for 99% of users.

hey guyz, i need help. i've bought a pedal (zoom ms70cdr) today. it has 2 unbalanced ins and 2 unbalanced out (TS) and i want to connect my monomachine which has balanced outs (TRS) directly to the pedal.

monomachine (TRS out) => pedal (TS ins/outs)) => usb interface (TSR ins) => computer

now, i have both TS and TRS cables but i don't know which ones to use?

EDIT: also, can putting a TRS cable into an unbalanced socket damage the socket physically and electrically?

no not at all, just means it's only using 2 of the 3 connections. just use unbalanced all the way through.

  On 6/30/2017 at 10:07 PM, Chesney said:

no not at all, just means it's only using 2 of the 3 connections. just use unbalanced all the way through.

thnx, ches! 

  On 6/30/2017 at 3:57 PM, b born droid said:

I just had a bit of a splooge and bought:

 

Analog Four

Minilogue

Strymon Big Sky

Waldorf 2-Pole

Roland Octa-Capture

What the fuck.

  On 7/3/2017 at 6:04 AM, peace 7 said:

 

  On 6/30/2017 at 3:57 PM, b born droid said:

I just had a bit of a splooge and bought:

 

Analog Four

Minilogue

Strymon Big Sky

Waldorf 2-Pole

Roland Octa-Capture

 

 

What the fuck.

 

That's my gear budget for the last two years, and I've been getting way more than usual.

Heh. Finance.