I did enough research before buying an OT to know I wouldn’t be blown away by the OT effects. But now I have it I’m already finding them very uninspiring/limited even after only a week. Very little character or mojo. They remind me a little of effects on Ipad apps years ago like Beatmaker. I might even prefer those effects as far as them feeling ‘fun’. I like Lo-Fi (needs an internal eq tho) & spring reverb, but the rest are quite cheap/lifeless/sterile sounding to my ears?
The roland Sp series absolutely destroys tho OT for effects even on way cheaper machines. Really confused why elektron haven’t paid more attention to this aspect of the unit. For the price the effects should be way more varied and have more vibe. It’s missing modern day staple effects like amp sims, tape sim, vinyl sim, lo-fi compressors, grittier delays with wow flutter options etc, pitch + feedback + wet/dry (great effect on roland sp, can get close on OT but is way more complicated than needs to be…), noise/click/pop reduction etc etc…
Seems to me like elektron think that all the lfo/p-lock/fader stuff makes up for such weak effects, but all that modulation etc can sound pretty gimmicky/non-musical if over-used on every track etc. and is the same vibe every time as there aren’t enough options for changing the actual ‘sound’, beyond pitch stuff.
Really hoping they’re going to sort the effects out with an update. For now I’ll have to experiment with figuring out Pedals etc effects send and returns and see how that goes…
I do think that a number of the effects are passable but not stellar, but I’d also say that a lot of it comes down to the user and their application of them.
I’m also a big fan of using midi tracks for sequencing external effects. You can get pretty weird this way.
Yhea, the fx on the Octatrack are quite characterless and bland. Except for the Spring reverb , bit crusher and filter i really hate them.
The Monomachine delay is very nice, the reverb/delay on the MD was not bad too. A4 and Rytm = great FX !
I understand the fx from A4 /Rytm are maybe too cpu intensive but even the FX from the MD and Monomachine where so much better imo
Hope one day we gonna have more choice.
I personally like the effects, especially Lo-Fi, Dark Reverb, RingMod, and the filter is also okay. I could imagine more possibilities, for sure. But I could imagine worse sound. For example, I absolutely hate the Blofeld’s effects, all of them. (okay, it costs around 1/4 the OT, but still…)
You mentioned the Roland SP series. I own an SP-808(EX), but it’s of no use to me. The effects are really fantastic, agreed, but I just can’t integrate the box into my workflow, so it’s just lying sadly on the shelf. That’s (workflow) where the OT shines.
Yeah a couple of the effects are ok. Just a very limited palette for colouring stuff and I’m surprised that they haven’t been further developed considering the price tag. If it’s a case of cpu kind of limit then I’d rather have one good effect than two bad ones. And then just resample and repeat to add more if needed. Or at least that kind of choice. My sp404 and 555 Kill the OT on effects and from memory so does my microsampler. And I never really liked the microsampler effects. The OT effects are about on par with my mininova, which are so bland/flat/thin that I rarely use anything internal. Definitely going to have to use fx send/return a lot or forget about most effects until I export to daw. My own fault though, I kind of knew from videos and forums that the OT effects probably sucked, think I talked myself in to thinking people must have been using them badly or just in conjunction with bad samples. Sadly wrong…
I think the Mininova FX arent that bad. I really like the reverb on it.[/quote]
Just a personal taste thing I guess. The mininova reverb ok for some stuff if you want that sound but it’s not a reverb I’d reach for if given a choice of a few.
I actually really like the fx! To my ears they sound similar to my Eventide. Being able to assign different scenes and crossfade/morph them is amazing. I do wish it had more slots available and that you could compress AFTER a reverb without taking up another track though.
I’ve never had an eventide box but all my strymon stuff kills the OT effects and I often hear strymon/eventide being compared. Like I said tho, I like lo-fi, spring and dark reverb. But nothing else really colours the sound in an interesting way. Tons of modulation options etc. But very little to add/change colour or vibe once a sample is inside the box. And the phaser etc are borderline awful…
I like the effects for what they are. The remind me of Eurorack effects in that they probably don’t sound the most amazing (they sound just fine if used tastefully), but the modulation possibilities really open them up.
Yes more/better effects would be most welcome, but if we could just parameter lock the CUE output level then outboard effects could really be used creatively.
We can’t do that, right?
(I have some (less fun) workarounds - doing the plocked levels on the thru track that’s taking the effect return, or using a midi track to control (some) outboard effects boxes…)
I’d say get to know them better. It’s all about the motion of the ocean, you gotta really work them with the plocking and LFOs.
I find they sound clean and I appreciate that, kind of fits the machine’s ability to suck in any sound and then spit it back out in the shape you want it. It’s got a sound designer vibe to it that doesn’t stamp an octatrack sound all over the place.
You can kind of design your own delay effects on the thing, by adding pitch modulations to recorder tracks and so on, you can really go wild.
They can definitely get you places, especially with modulation, but as most have said; they’re pretty bland, and it’s a big omission. In particular, the lack of better and more varied distortion is a bummer to me, though Lofi is ok.
Also would have loved a dedicated EQ or filter slot per track in addition to the two main effects. There are lots of times where I feel one effect short and I don’t want to have to mess around with neighbor tracks. I’m generally of the mind that limitations breed creativity, but I still regularly feel stymied by the current effects lineup
Really ?
It’s one of the most obvious in my opinion : very interesting when you want to detach a bass line from the kick.
Hear a continuous sound with and without, with headphones.
Of course you HAVE to have a good stereo to really hear it.
But I feel like this FX is really well done. Totally deserves its name.
