Elektron-Users

I've been looking for a mixing desk like a Mackie Onyx 1640i.

I realized the benefit of the 16 chan mixer going straight into 16 chans in the DAW is pretty nice... but why not just get a smaller mixer and go back into another OT? That way I can Plock effects and stay out of the computer?

Bascially, the 2nd OT would be a Plock-able sort of mixing unit that midi syncs with the clock of the master OT.
Ultimately, the final stereo outs would go into the computer as just 2 chans that would be mastered and finished.

Anyone else doing anything like this?
If not, do you have 2 OTs and how do you use them?

... I dunno it just seems like a fun and different way to approach mixing...

Spots

I am on the fence too... I was looking to have 16 channels split between samples and hardware. When I am on the road or studio sessions, I will have those 16 channels loaded and also have external gear being controlled by the OT and processed as well. I am kinda stuck myself
I am just not sure if it's overkill or not?

I bought 2 (second hand prices are even better now than when I was shopping around).

The main reason was that I use a lot of outboard effects and with 2 OTs, every output could be running through an effect if desired. With a single OT, you're limited to 4 outputs which can be a hinderance.

Now, after many months with that configuration, I find that I rarely use all 8 outs at the same time. However, I do tend to use one OT as my pick-up machine OT and the other gets a more standard configuration of sampling and looping.

Benefits - I never worry about saving or overwriting works in progress - I just pull up another track on a different OT; I can sample one into the other and experiment with effects settings and internal configurations without wasting a track or changing projects or sets or anything; it's easy to resample with completely different tempos, settings, etc.

Negatives - syncing up a pair with an external sequencer is a bit more work; running more audio/MIDI cabling is a hassle and takes up more points in your audio and MIDI patchbays.

What I would say is -- if you find yourself overwriting things accidentally, running out of tracks a lot, fighting with the tempo/pitch/stretch settings when trying to resample a pickup loop into a regular sample, *and* you have the experience and extra hardware to handle a second OT, pick one up. If you're running directly into an audio card and you are almost maxxed out of inputs, or syncing and routing lots of MIDI gear gives you a headache, then I'd say stick to a single OT.

In genral I think the internal effects of the OT are just OK. I usually stick to the filters/EQs and once in a while mess with the dlays, but I like my outboard better - faster to use, sounds better, more flexible. So using a second OT as a mixer and additional fx machine is not the best IMHO.

I think the french guy who made this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkxpokNJNRw is here around the forum. Maybe he sees this

This guy is doing some interesting stuff with two octatracks ....

http://www.youtube.com/user/MikaelNyte

David