A4 stability

Elektron Gear Analog Keys/Four
1

How stable do you find the latest software of A4? I bought mine a few weeks ago and have already experienced a couple of random freezes, during ~10-15 hours of use. The machine hasn’t been connected anywhere usb/midi during the crashes and I don’t think I did anything special to cause them. In all the cases the sound has kept on playing, but none of the buttons work.

Since most of the time the machine works perfectly, does this kind of crash frequency sound normal? I would imagine that people who use A4 for live performances would find these kind of crashes a bit of an issue…

2

I don’t think this is normal behavior. I never had my a4 freeze. Maybe you should contact elektron support.

3

I’ve had mine freeze on me when it was being mutilated with too much midi.
What is it connected to?

4

[quote=“” mickeyziggyk""]

[quote=“Snowbird”]How stable do you find the latest software of A4? I bought mine a few weeks ago and have already experienced a couple of random freezes, during ~10-15 hours of use. The machine hasn’t been connected anywhere usb/midi during the crashes and I don’t think I did anything special to cause them. In all the cases the sound has kept on playing, but none of the buttons work.

Since most of the time the machine works perfectly, does this kind of crash frequency sound normal? I would imagine that people who use A4 for live performances would find these kind of crashes a bit of an issue…
[/quote]

I’ve had mine freeze on me when it was being mutilated with too much midi.
What is it connected to?[/quote]
Not connected anywhere, just power and headphones.

5

Got it, apologies, you did say already.

I’d raise a support ticket at elektron.se or just return it for a different unit (if you can).

Not to gloat but FYI, my A4 is very stable and I’ve had it since it first came out.

I’m sure most folks on the forum would agree with that too.

6

Thanks for the reply. I’ll probably contact the support first and see what they have to say. While the crashes are not acceptable, they are on the other hand so random that testing the unit takes time. I had one today, and the previous one was ~2 weeks ago, with usage of ~1 hr/day.

7

freezing means the OS crashed…

but it could be hardware related… for example if it overheats or something shorts out or something like that, it will definitely cause the OS to crash

8

[quote=““invisible acropolis””]
freezing means the OS crashed…

but it could be hardware related… for example if it overheats or something shorts out or something like that, it will definitely cause the OS to crash
[/quote]

Yea, this happened to me once.
Right in the middle of a sofa jam, all lights and buttons stopped responding, and it was just frozen. The sequencer was still playing the pattern, though.
.
Pretty sure it was heat related, as it had been powered up and on the flat, cushioned arm of my sofa for some time before I began using it.
Well, I hope it was heat related

1 Like
9

i had a freeze up like that happening to me where the sequence continued playing but no knobs responded anymore.

i can’t imagine it is heat or hardware. there’s no heat vents on the bottom is there? heat rather rises up. i think elektron just didn’t do enough long run testing on their firmware.

10

Heat rises, but can dissipate in multiple directions.
Notice how a laptop gets very warm on your lap, or if left on a cushion.
The underside of my A4 and Rytm get very hot if they’re on the arm of my sofa. They do not get hot when sitting on my desk, with space underneath due to the feet holding them up a 1/4 inch.