The sticky truth about the Octatrack MKII 

"clicky" and "loud" buttons are actually a big plus - very classy I should say :) btw. awesome video, thanks for putting it together, one of the most informative review of OT online right now !

About the stick buttons. I just opened my octa for the first time today after 3 1/2 years. After cleaning it and trying to repair one of the encoders, I screwed the faceplate back on. When screwing the faceplate back on, to stop the buttons from sticking, you need to push it a bit so the buttons align properly. For me that solved the problem. The button was just to close to the faceplate and got stuck on the frame. If that doesn’t work, maybe just use some DeOxit or something similar. That solved the sticky buttons problem for my A4 MK1

The OT is like the one friend of yours from highschool who was awesome and cool and fun to hang out with, but had a lot of deep emotional issues that kept coming up and made them their own worse enemy.

I wonder if this issue with sticking buttons is common for all mk2 revisions or just for made in Poland black one?

I appreciate this review. this made me realize what i would be getting into if i purchase this device. good job sir

It’s really not hard to learn in my opinion. The pickup machines can be a bit confounding due to the button configuration. They would be much easier to use with pedal controls like a Boss Looper.

I think once you figure what you really want to do with the OT it becomes simpler, I tried building beats from the ground up on it and hated the process, but then I started chopping up samples and drums and exporting loop stems from the MPC Live or Bitwig and love it that way as it takes the ''beat' in a whole new direction I wouldnt have thought of otherwise.

I’ve heard a lot of people struggle to “get” the Octatrack, it’s easier if you think and approach it like a tracker, some things are just a matter of style for example pickup tracks and parts which are tools but not an integral part of it, you can do a lot with flex tracks and resampling from a master track

Hi Mattias, I appreciate your videos. I follow several artists who praise Octatrack for its workflow (techno) and the ability to get results quickly. I prefer to stay in the box and use Bitwig/Reason plugins/Maschine MK3. What I miss is the workflow (I really like the knobs on the Maschine), the sound is no problem. Being able to work effectively with sequencers and sample mangling. Do you have any suggestions, maybe a tip for the next tutorial? Cheers.

Excellent piece 👍

I've had mine for about five years now, using it pretty much all the time and never had any issues with sticky buttons.

It could have been such an amazing device. Almost bought one. Thank You for this.

Hello, what great videos of yours, thank you for your content. I am from Colombia and I come to your channel to learn. I wanted to ask you if you could suddenly recommend a 61-key Midi Controller that fits well with Logic pro X. Your suggestions would be very helpful to me. Thank you!!!

Cool video. I have the Digitakt, but have watched alot of Octatrak videos. It does look more complicated, plus it’s expensive too. I like that it has 4 inputs. I wish the Digitakt had four inputs so it could be used as a mixer too.

I look at the Octatrack how I look at the Roland MC-707, it's a performance based studio in a box, with loads of capability and quite a bit of learning to go along with it. Great bit of kit for those who are more sample based in their approach to beat/song creation. You did a wonderful job of highlighting and demonstrating its major strengths. All the best to you, Mattias.

I could probably talk for hours about the OT. That's not to say "wow I'm so smart" but more like "geez, you can't break this thing down and you have to put the time in". My friend asked me about it and I just let him borrow it for a month. :D 8:25 overbridge: What's the future going to be? I only have an old Elektron job post to base this on and wild speculation with a bit of context. I think the next device won't be an OT MKIII. I think it will be a Monomachine type evolution. The original OT authors are not around (in a variety of sometimes sad versions of this word, I'm sorry) and available to work on it. They've hired for Rust. They are probably overhauling the firmware. They need more compute power in the thing which probably means an overhaul if not re-invention. So, I think they will reinvent it, hopefully keeping the spirit of it but renaming it. There are plenty of wishlists and speculation about what this would be so I won't repeat people's dreams here. The current platform is super old and limited, obvious in the CF card, lack of overbridge but also impressively still updated with conditional trigs essentially coming many years after it was invented if you count the MKII as essentially a case and chassis update. I think I have faith in Elektron at the moment. I hope whatever they make replaces the OT in spirit and in function.

Maschine has indeed a nice and quick workflow. And you can put a lot of effects on it.

I think you're just barely scratching the surface.. The midi sequencing, live resampling and using it like a mixer with the sounds you're creating live is what makes it special and a live performance sampler. It can sequence 8 seperate pieces of gear at the same time whilst recording everything seperatlely, you can flick between the live sounds of your gear and recordings without stopping the sequencer...i.e completely mangle a recording/ then flick back to the live sounds... It's actually incredible

I have never bought Elektron before but it surprises me that their are issues with the buttons as the machine looks well made.. Nice info and vid..

I am a beginner that is hoping to get an Octatrack at some point in the future once I have mastered all the gear that I have now ;-) I find the Digitakt to be relatively easy to use but then everyone keeps telling me that the Octatrack is completely different. Great video!

the sticky truth about Octatrack is that Octatrack is not for everyone.

Never had a problem with my analog rytm buttons sticking, and if your digitakts fine, I think it may just be bad luck, hopefully it just needs that button cleaning like you said 👍

I have been in attracted to this instrument for years, but never taking the plunge, because I feel like it seems tedious, even though it’s so appealing in a lot of ways

my digitakt buttons are getting sticky now! syntkat it getting tacky but not sticking yet.... annoying

Nice job, in the preparation of this video, Mattias. Besides the purchase price, .. this device does seem like quite the investment of time, to become functional, with .. just lock all the doors, disconnect your phone, .. and what? come out in 3 months? .. :)

Elektron's workflow is NOT complicated. It just requires a "tweeker" state of mind. If you like sculpting sounds and appreciate to have multiple ways to achieve what you aim, then you'll love it. They are very rewarding instruments. Thanks to the quality of the curcuits, their sound is beautiful. It's the same difference as working with sound banks or creating your own sounds. It's much more complex but not difficult. It's a logical path that requires an effort, just like any other real instrument. And yes the clicky buttons are part of the pleasure too. But in fact, they dislike crumbs and dust.

I don't know what they going to put out to replace the Octatrack.....but , with so much time that has passed and seeing what other companies have put on the market as well as request from customers, I believe the next device is going to be a killer..... only time will tell.

I spent a few months trying to get decent at the jaw harp a couple years ago. It is a lt harder than the Octatrack, that's for sure.

I love the Octatrack MKII but have 4 hang ups in addition to yours: 1. Limited RAM memory: it should be expanded, or possibly replaced with a solid-state drive for recording, which would allow for longer recording times without worrying about time limits, per track. 2. Use of Compact Flash cards: Previous experiences with a Roland Br600 damaged by a missed notch in Compact Flash card breaking one of the receiver forks makes this a point of concern; so there's a fear of costly repairs if Octatrack experiences the same issue. I'd prefer SD cards as they're more robust and much safer to enter and eject, ideally with capacities like 128GB or 256GB. 3. Audio track limitations: Currently, one audio track must be sacrificed for the master track. I'd like it to allow flexibility in track usage, such as converting MIDI tracks to audio tracks, possibly with options to create up to four master track variations. 4. The octatrack 16bit sound recording, could do with expanding perhaps to the 32bit. I have a Tascam Portacapture x8, if i feed those recordings into the Octatrack it renders them down from 32bit to 16bit.

Had similar experiences with Elektron gear so far regarding the sticky buttons or glitchy encoders…

The crossfader is def what still makes it stand out compared to anything else on the market. This is the most powerful macro control in any hardware device?

I love these videos full of critical points. No machine is perfect. Its important know negativities.

Rumor has the octatrack m3 comes out next year ....

Beat mangling matters

100% agree that Maschine has a much better workflow. I've owned the octatrack and currently have Digitone and Digitakt which are fun together but there are a lot of hiccups in the workflow that sometimes kills my inspiration. Both Maschine and Synthstrom Deluge is much better in this regard. One thought about the premium Elektron gear.. It looks absolutely awesome in the studio, on the thumbnail or whatever. I really want to make music when I look at these boxes but I would never even consider buying them if they all look like Model Cycles.

Eyyyyy, MKI Gang Gang. My buttons work good 🤷‍♂️

I miss my mk1 deeply

OT button sound is a big plus, not a downside.

How can you compare a Maschine plus and an Octa?! Doesn't make any sense to me...

Nice feature set. Not so nice ergonomics. Even so, the interface looks fairly intuitive once apprised of the multi function nature of the buttons.

Thank you VERY much for this! As someone who loves the Digitakt, I've been trying to find a clear overview of the Octatrack like this for a long time. Also, fuck you, because now I want one 🤣

I went back to the Digitakt after owning this for a while. It does less but does it well. That's currently back with Elektron because.. Yes, the buttons, several which just stopped working after 14 months of light use. As for the Octa, learning a complicated machine is fine and it can do some great things but it's mainly complicated thanks to a perverse workflow and too many things just aren't that good. FX with way more parameters than you need and unimpressive end results. Horrible reverb. The FX tail cutoff issue is a total pain. There are workarounds but you shouldn't need them when you're spending that much. If they were to bring out a properly reconsidered Mk3 that did things well, then what is a unique instrument would be truly worth the effort.

I've given up on Eletkron. Their machines are creative but unnecessarily nerfed compared to what's coming out. With global parts issues I don't think will get stereo sampler to replace this anytime soon.

i would even accept 2 channel class compliant audio instead of full blown overbridge

The real problem will arise with the encoders. No longevity, some still do the job (some value jumping) after 5 years but the most used encoders are now so loose that it feels like they could fall off at any time. Seems to be the case with all MK1 and MK2 models.

Use it more, than ist's gone 😀

Never happened to me

😆 i got the same shitty button on mine

The Octatrack benefits from that old thing where people think the harder something is to use the more powerful it must be. And because the Octatrack is a travesty of user interface design, almost nobody actually learns how to truly use it. And really, when you find the edges with this device, does it really shows its age I believe. Sure, those P locks are cool, but most every other device shits all over the Octatrack when it comes down to raw capability. And one can talk highly about the cross fader, but in the end, it’s just a fader turned on its side. You could map any knob or fader to any parameter on any device and end up with the same control capabilities.

Powerful, but rubbish buttons and menu navigating is shit, other than that if you have tons of time you can make really good music.

Seems if you don't get college hands on experience with it youd never buy one

Obnoxious daw in a hardware case. Could not have said it better myself. I hate the octatrack. I love my octatrack. It's my main groovebox.

Give me clicky button any day, you hipster.

Overpriced

For short, it's a disastrous machine, way too expensive and ridiculously fed to our brains through marketing. I'm gonna stay away from the brand in general, because lets not even talk about their UI.