Those coming into my mind instantly are …
… if we don’t consider the modular world or plug-ins and, if versatility of oscillators, filters, and the modulation depth is what makes up the “surgicality” …
… and I’m sure that there are more to add
Tokyo disco is showing a new strength of the a4 - vintage sounds that almost sound aoustic, and has done amazing job getting vintage warmth out of the a4
I have purchased a lot of the Tokyo sounds
I Have whipped up a couple of buchla fm patches myself but Tokyo disco - could I set you a challenge of adding some buchla easel style patches
Also some ems synthi style stuff ?
The os update makes the a4 my favourite synth on the market, well next to my old pal the monomachine
I had the a4 tracking an arp 2006 and 2 ems synthis the other day - pretty deep experience
Shows the a4 can at least sit next to the greats - well in my opinion anyway.
Quoted for truth!
Especially when comparing with big monosynths.
Solid bit of analysis, @soundrider & @TokyoDisco.
Here’s one way to put this argument to bed: can anybody post a video of side-by-side oscilloscope waveform image, spectral analysis, and audio comparing a Moog, DSI synth, and the A4, all playing a 2-osc sawtooth @ 44Hz, with the filter wide open & no resonance? Then we can really dissect where the “character” comes from. I’d do it, except no oscilloscope + lazy.
have a gander at this post if you’re into comparisons, but I think it’s much easier to audition 1- Osc sounds
Use thy ears, we don’t need no visual education
Last of my summer gigs
complete with youtube link too!
I would say this qualifies as getting outside the ‘dull’ sound.
Not trying to sound like an arsehole but I found that a little boring tbh. Just a personal taste thing 
Not really my kind of thing but didn’t hear anything special while flicking through, mostly the kind of sounds I’d normally associate with A4?
Definitely a personal taste thing then. That set gave me goosebumps. That’s fine though 
don’t forget lem use xpressor compressor with it elektron gear
Yeah for sure, no right or wrong in music
Yeah what we need is Obie 4 voice jammed into an elektron box, with all the seq and effects
Rip your fooking head off and stuff it it where the sun dont shine, it would, but lets be real.
Each synth is what it is and its up to YOU to make it work.
i bought Analog keys just for its sound. Not using its sequencer. call me idiot
i expected that AK would be my main instrument for all bread and butter synth sounds but after few months with it, it does not seem to be. AK can’t be Juno or Moog and for that sound even Diva plugin would be better choice IMHO. AK has certain character and it’s not that ‘sweet’. I mean i’ve always tried to make pleasant a little bit boring typical sweet synth sound and failed. its inherent character is rather melancholy, weird, out of space floating feeling and it’s a good thing. So i gave up using AK for every synth sounds and just using this for what it does well now.
Same story here. In terms of half of what I ‘wanted’ it to do I kind of hate it, i can get ballpark but generally takes me too long to dial in those kind of sounds with the AK oscs/filter/drive/gain staging/UI etc. A lot of better synthesists will probably have had better luck than me there tho.
Like you I still use Diva for a lot of the sounds that I’d kinda naively hoped to squeeze out of AK. But it’s great for its own thing, which turned out to be something that I end up using on most songs so all good! And it does ‘wonky/weird’ very well, which was the other reason I grabbed one.
I just got a dominion 1. My first ‘knob per function’ ui synth. It sounds incredible throughout but it also makes a huge difference for someone like me that has only basic knowledge and mostly just likes to fiddle around and find new sounds by ear/instinct. Shame Elektron didn’t add more to the UI on the AK. All that wasted space to the right of the hardware bugs me every time I see it…
A4/AK has its own sound. It’s not a Moog or Juno and I think that’s good, there are plenty of options for those sounds already. It works very well for “Boards of Canada” type music IMO. I can’t wait to hear demos of how it sounds with added warmth from Analog Heat.
Still my favourite Analog Keys related video. These two units seem to compliment each other surprisingly well. I have my volca keys almost permanently on AK midi out. Love the sound of Volca Keys. Instant lo-fi vintage.
Exactly how I felt. Yes, AK got me, I surrendered.
Another live set , to accompany a video using sci-fi / Space Imagery
A4 and Nord micro