[Mod Edit] Topic title rephrased to encourage a positive user/contribution rather than to serve as a vehicle for reaffirming concerns. [Note: OP subsequently changed it back!]
The concerns are valid, your ears are the ones that matter. Let’s look for possible solutions rather than confirm fears.
If I attach a neck to a block of wood and throw strings on it, I don’t expect it’ll sound like a telecaster, even with single coil pickups. Let’s not set about this without a bit of perspective (as some have done above) … the A4 is very different under the hood to other synths … .for starters the oscillators are all 'pulse’width variable
That’s hugely unusual, I often wonder if the sparkle and life you hear from a VCO is electrically engineered out by adopting that method on a DCO
I think the filter of an instrument is capable of shaping the perception of the sound the most, but that open deep bottom of a LPF specialist makes me think that the oscillator is king in that respect
fwiw - I’ve a lifelong crush on the whole prophet 5 legacy, a seminal synth of my early listening adventures - I bought a p08 and I have owned it far far longer than the A4, yet I have used it far far far less - it lays out a big spread on the speakers that nothing else does, though the Waldorf pulse+ is huge on bass too - the point is, I actually find the architecture/filter/mod range all a bit safe and uninspiring - I don’t want a synth to sound like another one, I want to find new sounds, I guess certain interfaces and certain typical sounds talk differently to different owners and it’s a matter of finding what’s right for you … but judging a synth on the presets is folly when it’s as deep as the A4 … it’s hard to deny it has a vanilla characteristic ‘range’, but it has so many off-piste sounds and is incredibly versatile … you can’t look at it without factoring in the sequencer
anyway, I can see this thread had the potential to become one of those polarising threads, let’s look for ways forward in helping OP find their solution; that might not mean the A4 is for them, it’s a synth that benefits from exploring, with so many variables the sweet spots are all over the place
I guess selfishly, i’d rather see a stimulating debate(and forum) full of spectrograms and techie talk and counter theories than uninspired complaining, it’s impossible that we’ll all agree btw … go to it