ESX instead of Octatrack?

circuitghost · Post by **circuitghost** » Thu May 14, 2015 8:24 am

sauce wrote:
circuitghost wrote:Actually, I think I'll go for an ESX.
Nice. When you do, my tutorials on YouTube are absolutely *not* like anyone else's, and I can help you get your ESX as close to an Octa in functionality as possible:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 7500B6FCA0

Whoa. Thanks, man. I'll check these out now, as a pre-study for complete awesome.

circuitghost · Post by **circuitghost** » Thu May 14, 2015 8:26 am

sauce wrote:
circuitghost wrote:Actually, I think I'll go for an ESX.
Nice. When you do, my tutorials on YouTube are absolutely *not* like anyone else's, and I can help you get your ESX as close to an Octa in functionality as possible:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 7500B6FCA0

You know, while we're talking, I got a question as well - I've got an ES-1 (only had it for about a week, but still) and I'm using it for its slightly crunchy and older sound, which is what I like about it. But if I could get that character on the ESX, I'd lose the ES-1. I use it now to create loops and record them into the Octatrack for use in tracks.

Would you say the ES-1 becomes redundant if I have an ESX, given that I like the way the ES-1 sounds?

apapdop · Post by **apapdop** » Thu May 14, 2015 8:28 am

I often watch the Elektron Octatrack demo on YouTube with Jenk doing his thing. It blows my mind every time and i come away thinking "I really want one of them"(and any spare talent that Jenk might have left over) and head over to eBay. Then the realist in my pops up and says "You have neither the money or the time for one of them, pull yourself together man!!". So i get my ESX-1 out, usually with a big sigh, load up some samples and mess around a bit. All of a sudden, something just happens and voila... The seed of a new track presents itself. With very little fuss. And it's got the power behind to work that idea into a fully-blown song, again with very little fuss. I'm sure the Octatrack can do much, much more, but i'd be surprised if it is as easy to use as an ESX-1. Noise? Noise schmoise...

circuitghost · Post by **circuitghost** » Thu May 14, 2015 8:35 am

apapdop wrote:I often watch the Elektron Octatrack demo on YouTube with Jenk doing his thing. It blows my mind every time and i come away thinking "I really want one of them"(and any spare talent that Jenk might have left over) and head over to eBay. Then the realist in my pops up and says "You have neither the money or the time for one of them, pull yourself together man!!". So i get my ESX-1 out, usually with a big sigh, load up some samples and mess around a bit. All of a sudden, something just happens and voila... The seed of a new track presents itself. With very little fuss. And it's got the power behind to work that idea into a fully-blown song, again with very little fuss. I'm sure the Octatrack can do much, much more, but i'd be surprised if it is as easy to use as an ESX-1. Noise? Noise schmoise...

It's the schmoise we're after. Am I right? Am I right?

And yep, the Octatrack is amazing, but I'm pretty sure that if Dataline was unleashed on an ESX, he'd do s**t on that which would made everyone want one of those, too. I've seen what he can do with a Volca Sample and I was like "Who needs an Octatrack? I've got a Volca Sample." But I've calmed down now and the meds are actually starting to work.

I'd say that the Octatrack is the closest you can get in hardware in terms of a one stop home studio production unit. Once it's filled with the good stuff, you can do pretty much anything with it. And some of that anything, you just can't pull off with other gear or software. It's unique.

But I don't need all that snowflake beauty. I only need to a funky friend for my groovy Rytm. And actually, one of the few things the Octa doesn't do all that well, is one shots. Compared to what it does when it's awesome. Obviously, you can do lots of crazy one shot stuff with it. But it's more of a slice and loop and arrange and mangle kind of thing.

apapdop · Post by **apapdop** » Thu May 14, 2015 8:53 am

I don't think the ESX-1 has a particular lo-fi grittiness to it that you might be looking for. It tries to be hi-fi but it's audio outputs are a bit noisy, even when nothing is going through them. Once things start playing though, it stops being noticeable. It has the valves too, used sparingly they add a bit of valve "distortion", whatever that is. Crank them up and it sounds bloody awful to my ears. It might float your boat though. People have replaced them with more esoteric ones, but i don't think the ESX-1 draws enough current to fully use and exploit the valves. Give me the Electribe 2's audio outputs any day...

sauce · Post by **sauce** » Thu May 14, 2015 10:29 am

circuitghost wrote:I'd say that the Octatrack is the closest you can get in hardware in terms of a one stop home studio production unit.

I'd say it's a bit more groove-oriented and suited for live use. For a hardware, studio tool there are the Fantom's and Triton's and even the MV8800 and MPC4000 etc.

Anyway, to answer the question, the ESX spanks the ES-1 in functionality, although I have owned multiple incarnations of both and love them independently.

apapdop wrote:i don't think the ESX-1 draws enough current to fully use and exploit the valves.

That's exactly what the problem is.. It's a starved-plate "toob" design, just like so much other crap these days. These starved-plate designs are the reason most people associate tubes with distortion these days when, in reality, high-end (read high-current) tube gear can sound warm and so pristine. Here's a clue.. anytime a 12-ax7 or ecc tube needs LED's to glow they are crap, plain and simple.

On a side note, I suspect the tube-bypass mod will eliminate the "tube-sheen" and approach wav-quality sound on the ESX, but I have a love/hate relationship with mine so I *almost* sell it daily. I don't want to do anything that may decrease its resale value. Of course I have used it basically since I talked a salesman out of the store demo, prior to release in 2004, and I still own one, lol.

To take this further, I think a better mod would be to add power via another transformer and really make those tubes sing. I spent $100 on a pair of RFT ecc-83 tubes for mine and *that* gave me the dirty sound Circuitghost may be searching for.. but it wasn't what I was going for. Instead, I would like to get a pair of Mazda Silver Anode tubes, increase power to the tubes, replace all connections with HQ components and use the ESX for a studio mic pre. In fact, the added power could provide phantom power for a condenser mic and, voila.. around $550 spent to upgrade to $2k-quality mic pre with dual gain settings. One can dream..

sauce · Post by **sauce** » Thu May 14, 2015 10:43 am

Here's a nice pair of Mullard tubes to make the $$ value of your ESX match the Octatrack:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PAIR-NOS-NIB-10 ... 1736746737

thesigma · Post by **thesigma** » Thu May 14, 2015 3:05 pm

I'd rather do the tube bypass mod and run it into a good tube preamp. plenty you can DIY if you still want to build it yourself. Much easier than getting another power supply run into the ESX.

AS for ESX vs ES-1, I still prefer the grit of the ES-1 over The ESX, when I want that Character.. I still own and use both. I have transfered ES-1 patterns to the ESX (it will read and load them), but they don't sound exctly like they do on the ES1, and mayb e its just because thats how they should sound to me, but I prefer the ES-1. That said the ESX has better features and if I had to choose only one to keep it would be the ESX.

sauce · Post by **sauce** » Thu May 14, 2015 4:34 pm

thesigma wrote:Much easier than getting another power supply run into the ESX.

You would know. =)

circuitghost · Post by **circuitghost** » Fri May 15, 2015 8:53 am

Thanks for the good advise and insights on most of everything.

With all said and done, if I just take a step back and look at what the ESX can do and what it is, I can't find a reason why I shouldn't give it a go.

One can twist and turn and ponder and wonder and make things into much larger problems than they really are, or one can simply act and see what happens. I'm thinking the resell value and the general desire of this item makes it a low risk affair.

I'll keep the ES-1, because I love the way it sounds. And it looks great. Like vintage champagne. I'll never lose the Octatrack, it's very useful for lots of things, just not for my live rig (so shoot me for thinking so). And I will see if the ESX is the friend my Rytm is looking for. If not, the Octatrack is still great, so I know I'm spoiled for saying that it's not what I'm looking for. It's just that I think the ESX will be better.

I base this on what I'm hearing here, and on my so far short love affair with the ES-1. If that instrument had more features, I'd simply pair it with the Rytm and be done with it.