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I think it’s time I experimented with making sample-based music. The catch, though, is I don’t want to use a PC at all for any part of the process. What I want is:


-something fun to use
-ability to sample material directly
-can play samples melodically
-can play samples as percussion
-battery power preferred
-No PC, or phone, required to use its basic functions

It seems like my options are:

OP-1
Digitakt (there are other more expensive elektrons that would work too but they add additional complexity)
MPC One (again other more expensive MPCs would work too but the also add additional complexity (maybe))
SP-404

The issue that I have with most of this is that they’re highly unintuitive and most of them have extremely steep learning curves. It seems like samplers are stuck in the menu-diving 90’s while the rest of the music industry has moved slowly away from that kind of thing? Am I missing something? Is this a situation where I have to learn to live with the reality of the un-fun interface in order to play with music like this?

Maybe your opinion on what constitutes "menu diving" is different to mine but I find the Digitakt very intuitive and easy to use?

All the things you need to do to record, play and alter samples are only accessed by one or two clearly labelled buttons, not selecting sub-menus etc. I found the learning curve wasn't steep at all. But YMMV

No direct experience with most of the rest of these, except OP-1 which is very cool overall but limited as a sampler if that's all you want it for.

I actually owned the Digitakt at one point. I got frustrated because it had the most menu diving of any of my gear. But after looking at the competition, it really seems like it might be the best option. So, I’m sort of wondering if I just need to get over it?

What was lacking in the OP-1 sampler? It seems like a really popular choice for dicing and splicing samples on the go?

The sampler I’ve used that’s been my favorite so far is the Volca Sample. But it’s extremely difficult to make anything melodic with, and it can’t record any incoming audio. So, it doesn’t really live up to what I need.

Oh right haha. Maybe we just have a different level of tolerance for this stuff! I find the Digitakt very fun and spontaneous to use.

Yeah the volca is very fun but I sold it (in favour of the digitakt) for the same reason. Not enough features and too teeny.

I haven't owned an OP-1 just tried friends' so bear that in mind. It's actually great! But compared to something like the digitakt or MPCs or SP404 it's pretty lofi I think. And personally, I find the interface less good than something like the digitakt. I really like that sort of grid sequencer though.

Paging fcknoise though he is sampler man.

It is really a shame that the model:samples requires a computer because I really feel like that is the machine you'd enjoy working with the most. That said, the digitakt is the advanced version of the model:Samples.

I am in the position where I have the octatrack (in essence the same as the digitakt) and the op-1 which I guess means I can compare their two sampling capabilities.

OP-1: I don't think it is limited as a sampler overall, but it def works in a different way from most other samplers. The recording time is only 8 seconds on both the drum mode (slice and play slices mode) and the synth mode (chromatic mode, that is). You can easily switch between the two modes by lifting the sample and dropping it in the other machine, but it feels like a weird process sometimes. But, it is really easy to sample into it, it has a bunch of sequencing modes, easy fx per track etc etc. I think it would be a dece choice, you only need to hook up to a computer if you wanna save stuff.

Octatrack: requires a bit of setting up before you are ready to go (which the digitakt/OP-1 doesn't). I really feel like the advancedness of this machine was oversold to me. I am dumb with this, but I can definitely use it smoothly once I set it up to go. None smoother for live recording audio and instantly playing it back, which I expect the Digitakt to work similar. I feel like I can be more precise on the octatrack, and what really, really shines is the Elektron sequencing. Changing each step and adding randomness and chance to the track feels great man, and given what I have heard from your music I would say you'd like that too. My results come out way different on the octatrack than on the op-1 because of these things.

Looking at your list of criteria though, I can definitely see you enjoying the op-1 a lot. No doubt it is fun to use.

Maybe you could consider that new Polyend Tracker thing? It looks a bit intimidating from a menu-diving perspective but it honestly doesn't look too bad.

Also the Elektribe Sampler fills most of your criteria on the list I believe, but i have never used one

Thanks for educating on the OP-1 from someone who actually has one I did not mean to misinform. I would call that limited. Buuut the limits still allow you to do a lot of stuff. So maybe it's a good choice.

I used to have one of the electribes (v2 but not sampler I think) years ago. I never owned both at the same time but at the time I found it more annoying and menu dive-y than I find the Digitakt. However, at the time I was a lot less used to using synths in general so perhaps it's more that my tolerance has changed? The sample recording and editing was definitely more annoying than the digitakt, and the screen is less good. But I don't think it was the dedicated sampler model, so maybe that one has better implementation

Still looking at the layouts now I wouldn't go back, from the Digitakt - it just seems a lot deeper and I prefer the sequencer. Personal preference I guess on the control layouts and stuff. But I had a lot of fun with the electribe while I had it, it's definitely a cool instrument.

On reflection I think the only reason I'm ok with how the digitakt works compared to other samplers I've used is because the display is so great, and because it does so much. I can see why people would want a smaller set of functions but all or nearly all knob-per-function (like the volca - I was happy with this for aaaaages because you can edit a good selection of paramaters right on the face)

Oh, to clarify

That is 8 second per sample, if you want to use it in the synth/drum modes. You can "sample" straight to the recording tracks as well and do those "sound-on-sound" style looping over tracks and stuff as well, which is really fun. Then the sample time is technically 6 minutes, but if you really want to record things you can slow down the tape which would be... 20 minutes or so.

For fun and easy to use with lots of different ways to record, OP-1 is a boss.

On my bandcamp there are three recent "albums" mainly using the OP-1 as a sampler, using the built in mic. I think it showcases some use of the OP-1 straight-to-tape style sampling: https://fcknoise.bandcamp.com/album/sto ... -stillness

I’ll check that out

I actually owned the Electribe Sampler too (I guess I‘ve owned a lot of samplers). It was super menu-divey. But I really enjoyed the music I made with it, hated the process it required, though.

The limitations around the sampler on the OP-1 really aren’t as concerning for me. The part that concerns me is that it falls into a category of gear that I’ve never particularly enjoyed: the Groovebox. It, like the electribe sampler, are completely self-contained systems. My hope with the electribe was that it could be used as a control hub/grab and go scratchpad. The menu diving on it really pulled me out of the flow and made it hard to enjoy making music with it (this could also be said of the digitakt as well because I had the same hopes for it). Though, the OP-1 is exciting because a lot of the design elements really seem to be focused on having fun.

The model samples would be perfect if it didn’t need a pc to load samples, and it was battery powered. I think I need to watch a walkthrough/review of the Polyend Tracker. It seems promising for a lot of the same reasons the electribe/digitakt were promising, but it also seems like it’s significantly more complicated than those two.

fcknoise wrote:It is really a shame that the model:samples requires a computer because I really feel like that is the machine you'd enjoy working with the most. That said, the digitakt is the advanced version of the model:Samples.

Based on what you wrote, I agree. However I would also say that the playability between all four of your choices (MPC, OP-1, Digi, and SP) are massively different, and while you can do the same thing with each the way you get there is going to be very different. Elektron stuff is more suited to groovebox style compositions than the SPs, which I find to be much more useful when I don't want things to be quantized or locked to a grid. Not that the SP can't do rhythm-based shit, of course, but it's much easier to get away from that compared to stuff that's more sequencer-heavy.

Re the Model S and computers: loading samples onto the Models:S is beyond easy (it's the same as the Digitakt): it's faster for me than recording to the SP 303 when you consider the end to end process (no RCA cables!).
But! You have to already have an idea of the sample that you want to use, which can kill it for some people.

Also, you can power it with a battery, it's just that the proprietary power for the Models isn't out yet:
https://www.elektronauts.com/t/battery- ... s/81326/23

01010111 wrote:I’ll check that out

I actually owned the Electribe Sampler too (I guess I‘ve owned a lot of samplers). It was super menu-divey. But I really enjoyed the music I made with it, hated the process it required, though.

The limitations around the sampler on the OP-1 really aren’t as concerning for me. The part that concerns me is that it falls into a category of gear that I’ve never particularly enjoyed: the Groovebox. It, like the electribe sampler, are completely self-contained systems. My hope with the electribe was that it could be used as a control hub/grab and go scratchpad. The menu diving on it really pulled me out of the flow and made it hard to enjoy making music with it (this could also be said of the digitakt as well because I had the same hopes for it). Though, the OP-1 is exciting because a lot of the design elements really seem to be focused on having fun.

The model samples would be perfect if it didn’t need a pc to load samples, and it was battery powered. I think I need to watch a walkthrough/review of the Polyend Tracker. It seems promising for a lot of the same reasons the electribe/digitakt were promising, but it also seems like it’s significantly more complicated than those two.

I felt exactly the same about the Electribe as you do. Loved the stuff I could do but hated setting it up.

Like dos said loading samples onto the Elektron gear is VERY easy. But yes it is a different workflow to recording stuff 'live' and that isn't for everyone. Personally I couldn't deal with the model:samples because I like the flexibility to do both.

Ease of loading samples is nice, but recording straight into the thing is quite important to me I feel. I would even say having an onboard mic for acoustic recording is something I want to have, like ideally.

Ah for me that's super overrated because I very rarely find something I want to sample on the fly.

you never go "AAAAAAAA" into a mic in order to make it sound like a sigur ros synth????

No but I think it has just become part of my workflow.

Make some loops on guitar -> sample it

(i miss my guitar gear )

fcknoise wrote:you never go "AAAAAAAA" into a mic in order to make it sound like a sigur ros synth????

No but I think it has just become part of my workflow.

Make some loops on guitar -> sample it

(i miss my guitar gear )

I have the microgranny for that dude.