come on now 
I would imagine that the lack of sequencing external midi gear is what’s considered crippled here.
Yes, the Polar with a sequencer would be something, wouldn’t it?
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Per a thread on GS there are no more 56k DSP chips available so they’re speculation of the TI3 coming soon.
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I want to believe.
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I hope not because their keyboard was the only new one with a joystick. I don’t know why so few synths have these. All the ones I have used with a joystick whether it’s a prophet vs, wave station or d-50, are some of my most favourite synths. I had a chance to try them out at my friends house and I love the control over the sound with the joystick. I know roland has something called d-beam, which I’ve never used. But I’m really interesting in new controllers and modern ideas, modulation wheels are very boring in comparison to a joystick but if you have both it’s even better : )
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Yeah. I kinda get that. Just don’t think it’s fair to go from “I wish there was something that was never advertised” to “lack of industry standard midi connections”.
The midi specs are pretty well speced and versatile for a keyboard. But no, it’s not a midi sequencer.
Aaaaarrrggghhh. Why do I let myself get dragged into this sh#t? 
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Indeed. Now that I think of it, my two other favorite instruments I’ve owned - the VCS3 and the Wavestation - both have joysticks. It’s simple and seemingly limited as a control source, but so intuitive!
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I agree : ) I got a chance to use a Touché controller at the store. And while I really like it, I would pick joystick control over it anytime. The idea of having 4 different zones for effects, layers of sound, that’s what I want. And the visual cue of seeing where the stick is in comparison to the invisible control of a Touché is important, for me anyway.
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I haven’t tried the Touché, but only because I already have a Continuum (which is the only control tool I like more than a joystick, although they serve very different purposes in my setup). I sold my A4 and bought the AK for many reasons, but the joystick was near the top of the list. It gives some of the flexibility of the VCS3 but with the stability of the A4. Plus, I figured I could probably use it with the virtual Wavestation. That, the size and the aftertouch sealed the deal for me. (I’d love to see a MkII AK, but I fear it would be bigger - the AK fits perfectly in the space I have on my desk)
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this “if they put their minds to it” is exactly what will probably NOT happen. why should Elektron try to fill a niche that is crowded with M1s, Fantoms, FA-08s, Tyros’s … the list is basically endless if they would do that they probably wouldnt sell that much units. i can only speak for myself but i wouldnt want a Workstation that does everything - but without a soul!
no no. let Elektron do their thing. i rather spend money on lots of small, fun and charismatic units as saving for an uber expensive Preset thrower that takes ages to get into (and i probably never get into it 
)
just my 2 cents though …
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It’s not crowded at all. The big bad workstation market, that’s crowded. The neat, compact and focused one, hardly even has a venue. Perhaps for a reason, though.
But the only options out there are the JD-Xi, the Analog Keys, the MiniAK (though arguably, out of production for years), and that’s about it.
But again, the workstation people tend to be keyboardists and they usually don’t favour 37 keys. I’m an exception, and more by need than choice. If you’re tight on space, it is what it is and perhaps not a problem designed to be solved a manufacturer of sorts.
Though if I had the space, I wouldn’t get a Krome or Kronos or whatnot. They still feel like products from the 90’s, that just survived through the ages. The Elektron stuff, that’s something else. Pour that genius into a workstation, you might get golden.
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Agreed. I don’t think it’s crowded for the particular niche the AK found itself in.
I also think there’s a market out there for an 8 voice digital keyboard in similar vein to the AK with the bells and whistles. Think an MnM+ with the modern Elektron sequencer.
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I’m thinking it and liking it, a lot.
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except AK is not just a keyboard and never sold as simply a keyboard. It’s something else and maybe not very successful one, because of this particular design. It’s not ageing well and it’s not holding well its value in aftermarket. The fact that it’s ‘by design’ seem not really helping here 
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