I think for myself and a lot of people, the Octatrack is pretty complex, especially as a first serious sampler. I was a songwriter focused mostly on electric and acoustic instruments in a band context, then went deep into synthesis and recording. While some of that certainly helped prepare me for aspects of how the Octatrack worked, there were still plenty of blind spots. I had an MPC for a bit too but really used it in a pretty elementary fashion in a live performance context for the most part.
Eventually getting my hands on a Digitakt for a while changed my perception of the Octatrack. Once I understood the workflow and concepts of Elektron generally, it made it way easier to approach the Octatrack with a lot less frustration. Now I’m having a blast, but I think the biggest frustration at this point and for a lot of people is it’s easy to lose focus because it does so much. Starting with the Digitakt is a much better move for most people I would imagine, though at this point I’m all in on the Octa.
I also think that some people are better with menus on electronic instruments than others. It took a long time for my mind to adjust to being open to that approach with synthesizers for example. The Octa was no different, and I think the Digitakt is much more accessible in that regard with its layout. Of course that also makes sense considering how much more the Octa can do.
