I actually had a Syntakt for a while, but the lack of arp kinda killed it for me. It’s the same with Rytm which has a great DVCO, but no arp, so it’s not exactly super fun for synth sounds. The drum part of Syntakt is already covered for me by the Rytm, and the “synth” part feels like where Syntakt is lacking in terms of sequencing.
I know I could sequence it externally, but at that point maybe not a good idea to get it at all?
I think the AR/A4 combo is the greatest Elektron combo… I find it’s the perfect balance of (huge) capability and limitation that leads to being productive. If I want to make music, they’re my go to… 99/100 I will start something I’m into that can/will turn into tracks.
I never really got that with the Syntakt or the Digitakt. I’m in the process of letting my Digitone go too because I love the Analog boxes and want to deepen my understanding and muscle memory with them.
I’m currently digging sampling into the AR from the A4 too, something I’ve always known was there but not really bothered to do, and it’s really instinctive.
My personal missing ingredient is a further sampler/recorder… the MPC Live 2 can do the job, but it’s bulkier than I want and I feel like it breaks my mental flow. Octatrack is too limited for what I want. I’ve got an SP404mk2, that’s too fussy.
I’m thinking of adding a Maschine+ or 1010 Blackbox to complete the standalone rig.
what about swapping the digitone for a digitone keys? then you will have stereo outputs for each track to send to pedals and 4 midi channels with arp for controlling some rytm tracks + a keyboard + 8 new macro knobs
Wouldn’t that be great… No ARP on the MIDI out I’m afraid. Ask Elektron, I still have a glimmer of hope they’ll add this in a future firmware update.
Does the Digitone compared to A4 feel similarly to Digitakt/Syntakt vs Rytm? I was honestly blown away by how much more I like Rytm compared to Digitakt/Syntakt.
I tried going down the MPC Live 2 route but ended up selling it. The workflow was so annoying/counterintuitive it felt almost like “I might as well use an iPad/DAW”. I also had a Maschine+ and ended up returning it too 
but imo the workflow on it is significantly better than on MPC, at least for the way my brain thinks.
I do have the SP404mk2 for “fun”, but yeah I agree it’s not really that great for recording.
I’m not yet sure how I feel about the OT, on one hand “it’s not enough”, on the other hand, it’s just so damn comfy to use. I wish there was like a 16 input version of it that does almost all the same things but has a bit more ram and inputs.
I thought about this a bit and it is tempting, I’m just not sure if the massive amounts of space it takes won’t turn out to be annoying. A Digitone on its own fits basically anywhere spatially, but seeing how big Digitone Keys is gives me a slight PTSD from how big my Polybrute is and how much I hate its size with passion. I know PB is much bigger, but … hmm
I’ve had all of these machines and the 2 I stuck with are the A4 and AR because they are, in my personal experience, the most fun to play and explore, and they pair with each other beautifully (both playing and aesthetically). I did the same regarding upgrading the DT to the AR and it is what convinced me to upgrade the DN to an A4. Completely changed my workflow and as someone who kind of just used to mess around with sounds not knowing exactly what I was doing, I learned so much from it.
I find when I just play with the A4 I can get lost for hours just coming up with sounds and creating performance macros that can completely change the whole song. With the AR, they complement each other so well it’s ridiculous. It is far from dated. In fact, I’d still say it is very much ahead of its time than a lot of other synths in terms of what you can do with it.
Saying all that though, I may unfortunately have to sell mine due to current circumstances, which breaks my heart, but it is the first thing I will buy back in the future. Honestly, it is my favourite synth of all time and I wholeheartedly recommend it. You can usually find used ones at relatively reasonable prices or if you’re happy with an A4 mk1 they go for an absolute bargain.
i got an a4 to go with my rytm a few weeks ago.
it needs time, at first i couldn’t get anything useful out of it, but the third time i really sat down with it for 3-4 hours it finally clicked.
i had a digione keys once, really liked the interface and also somehow liked the arp more than the one on the a4, but hated the sounds i made with it.
also i very much prefer kits vs sound per pattern + all the performance / macro options on the rytm and a4.
I echo all the “AR + A4 is great” comments. Love that pair. However: I often wish I had one more “proper” poly voice. I also wonder if FM would give me the set of “colours” I’m missing.
So… for the OP’s current situation, I’ll say “get a DN Keys” rather than “get an A4”.
Analog Keys is also middle ground (price-wise and feature-wise) between A4mk1 and A4mk2. It gives you the individual outputs, but not the CV inputs. And, as mentioned, still no arp-over-MIDI. Not as strong as DN for sequencing external gear, but it is there when you need it, and you say you are OK with using internal sequencers.
Yes, it does, and then some IMO… I’m more comfortable with subtractive synthesis than I am with FM, so the A4 lets me create ‘what if I do this’ sounds more efficiently… and I just love the sound of it too. I do like the Digitone but the A4 is sonically closer to what I gravitate to.
Also, with both the Analog boxes, it took me quite a while to get comfortable with and utilise some of the deeper features that just take it to another level, that I don’t think ANYTHING else can compete with… the Quick Perf/Perf and Scenes side, the Trig Mutes, the modulation options, so good… and it’s great that you can switch between the A4/AR and apply the same principals and approach… which largely isn’t there when I switch to a Digi box.
I get that, but I do like the MPC… I just want something less intrusive that lets me stay in the Analogs zone… that’s why I’m leaning towards the Blackbox at this point.
(I’m also thinking about connecting an iPad to the AR and use it’s audio/midi USB… but, you know, it’s the option paralysis world of an iPad then isn’t it…)
Currently I’ve been using ARII, OTII & AK. I’ve owned a DK and DT in the past, and loved them both, but decided to part with them after about a year. My only gripe with the AK is that it can sometimes take a little longer to come up and create a patch that really hits. I think I’m pretty competent with the machine and synthesis in general, but it could be a user thing, YMMV.
I would say since you already have quite a bit of Elektron gear it could be in your interest to try something else, just for the fun of it. For instance right now I’ve been using a Behringer Odyssey (proper piece of kit coming from Behringer, btw) and a Novation Peak. For the price of an A4 mkII you could get quite a bit on the second hand market. But, if you don’t mind the MKI’s the price for an A4 is almost too good to pass up.
Listening to the AK vs. A4MKII there isn’t too much of a difference sound-wise to me, I’ve read some people saying that the A4MKII is a bit more ‘grown up’ sounding, a little bit thicker in the low end and clearer in the highs, but that doesn’t make the MK1’s bad.
For ~$600/700 CAD the A4MKI is a beauty of a machine!
Reading this thread I’m starting to lean towards the A4MKII quite heavily to be honest Initially I thought it was a bit different than what it is, but having watched a lot more videos and looking at the manual after seeing the answers here I feel like it might be exactly what I wanted.
The extra LFOs for vibrato/pwm, extra envelopes, dual LFO targets, so many options for sound design, slide trigs, kits, fx track, “4x DFAM” … I’m not sure if I can resist buying it now.
They are brilliant. Just accept the need for a bit of patience and embrace the “noodling around”.
And Direct Jump. You can get crazy happy accidents with this 
Oh yes I forgot this exists, I LOVE it on the AR. I haven’t really used it that much yet but any time I’m goofing around and think “lemme just try switching a bunch of patterns” it’s a mindblown territory sometimes.
Tho I can’t imagine what this does on the A4, that’s a whole another level of complexity, but I bet it’ll be awesome.
Somehow I thought the A4 is much less capable than what it is, just saw this yesterday
and wow … I had a DFAM some years ago, then sold it because needed $$$, then almost re-bought it recently, but seeing what the A4 can do in a similar territory … I’m just amazed. I know it’s not the same exact sound, but the vibe is 100% there.
Okay, so I ended up buying the A4. First impressions wow, this is very very close to what I’d want in an analog synth, I’m honestly amazed by how easy it is to do things.
Unforunately, some of the buttons on the keyboard are sticky, and the most sticky one is the most important one (lower C). Seems like a common issue based on googling, I guess the only option is to contact Elektron Support?
The ‘stickiness’ is discussed at many places here. It comes from the friction of the side of the button cap with the metal enclosure and is not related to the button mechanism itself. On my A4, I solved this issue by carefully taking off the ‘sticky’ button caps and cleaning/scraping them on the side on which they were touching the metal enclosure. But contacting Elektron support is a good idea, of course.
Indeed, sound creation on the AK/A4 is amazing. You can get all kinds of interesting sounds out of it. I got it to ‘bark’ like a dog once! It can do drums astonishingly well. Lots and lots of sounds you can create.