The AR can get much weirder than the rather vanilla standard subtractive A4
Hence the reason I like it much more
I’ve never played with an A4 but I had an ARMKI for a couple years and the engines can do far more than just drum sounds. Some of the FM percussion engines work really well for melodic stuff. Plus you can always load up a bunch of one shot stabs and chords. They sounds lovely through the filters and distortion.
I think one of the first things I posted on this forum was asking about which Elektron box to buy as a standalone groove box and my first ever hardware. I’ve ended up buying a Digitakt and I’m having a lot of fun with it but I’ve never got rid of the itch to get an AR. So many different sources have said that it’s the best standalone Elektron device and that it’s capable of all kinds of interesting sound design. I spent months researching various options and I never came across anything else that seems to come close. I reckon I’ll probably end up buying one some day…
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weirder than the “Vanilla standard subtractive A4”
Any examples? A4 seems to have quite a bit more to offer in this area on paper with the dual filters, dual assignable envelopes and note tracking audio rate LFO weirdness.
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Digitone you would be better off. Rytm can’t go deep with multiple (digital) oscillators at the same time doing 4 layered strings for example for the same chords, for your melodic needs. Plus, if you allocate one synth track to beats, the digitone gave me full tracks just using that alone. Deep melodic tracks. Deep melodic tracks not really for rytm.
I have the rytm for the amazing, amazing drumworks. With lots and lots and lots of programming a lot is possible on the rytm, but it would be circumventing it’s main workflow instead of instant melodies
Love my Rytm mk2. Ended up selling the A4 for DSI Rev 2…
But I wouldn’t consider the A4 vanilla. Check out this thread on the filter feedback.
Yeah the ‘pseudo lfo FM’ they introduced in the A4 update is pretty mild and tame by FM standards. Better than a kick in the nuts I guess.
Not a huge fan of the A4 filter either. Sounds like when it’s wide open it’s still slightly filtering and effecting the sound. A bypass option like the heat would be nice.
Everything about the A4 is just nice, but nothing exceptional imo.
The AR has a naturally bigger, rounder sound that I much prefer, and is best at weird and bizarre percussion imo, rather than trying to emulate standard drum tones.
The sample playback takes it to a whole different level as well obviously
I do hear you on the FM being tame. I had an Octave Cat which was just about the most fun I’ve ever had with FM. The FM on the A4 seems like it will sound good at some limited ranges as more of a way to modify the tone than something you’d actually want to manipulate in real time for effect like VCO on VCO fm.
Only one box? Has to be the RYTM.
Digitakt filled with Samples from Microtonic/PO32.
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If you are more into wanting a synth based groove-box, as opposed to drum based, don’t overlook the huge benefit of the A4’s mini keyboard.
IMHO the A4 has the best note input capability of any of the Elektron boxes.
I have both A4 and Ar (both mk2)
I bought mk1 versions about 5 years ago
they are a very good combination
AR: heavy beats, nice compressor… all the mono-synth possibilities are there so you can make pads, leads, etc.
But sound design on A4 is much better for me. better filters for that, better envelopes, nice arp, nice transpose, nice keyboard… Also the beats are very nice. Deep kick, sharp and clear hh and perc. but no compressor
also I like it to make a kick on all 4 voices, then record it to i.e. ableton, and use it in there… then make a next sound. a 4 voice kick is hard to compete for the Ar, imo
didn’t know rytm could do that. wonderful demo!
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There are a number of things the A4 can do that the RYTM cannot, and of course the opposite is also true. They are both good for very different things. But for me the biggest drawback of the RYTM, and the one thing I wish they both did the same, is the External Input.
On the A4 you have this awesome Stereo input with access to the Send FX bus and a sequencer track. On the RYTM it’s just an input with a bit of a compressor. I’ve never used it. It makes connecting other gear to the RYTM a much blander affair than connecting gear to the A4
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Here is a video i posted about a year and half ago, using some premade loops.
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I think I’m just more excited about a deeper synth engine that could be worked into making full tracks with drums.
I know I mentioned the hiphop thing which would pretty much require sampling (at least for the sounds I’d be going for) but this is still far from the main kind of stuff I’d make. Most of what I make probably falls under video game soundtracky kind of stuff and the A4 just seems really awesome for this.
I still have and use ableton and could probably easily sync the A4 up via overbridge and use ableton for sampling. I realize this is not exactly single box standalone territory like I started with, but I do appreciate all of the ideas and advice thus far. I’m still deciding as I go along what I’d want this smaller setup to look like and do.
If I were to settle on non mk2, I’d prob have enough money left to add a digitakt for sampling instead and just run it through a voice of the A4 and use its filters for the bulk of the sound design.
Can anyone speak to how well they would actually sync together? I know they are both capable midi devices but what about as far as saving and loading certain patches/songs/sketches together smoothly?
Leaning towards A4 + Ableton still so I’m just thinking aloud on other possibilities.
Sync wise, there’s no issues. Good pairing.
In answer to the original question -
You can’t go wrong with either. If pushed to choose one over the over, it would be the a4 due to the depth of the thing. Not to say the AR isn’t deep.
The a4 can be anything you want-drum machine, Drone machine, modular interface, 4 x mono synths , analog poly, fx processor.
don’t expect to much rom overbridge
it is not a success (yet
i think a4 mk1 only have overbridge 1
it did work for me with the A4, but not that well
a4 mk2 will use overbridge 2
it will come out one day
if you really want overbridge and a4 (and you hsve the money or you are able to save some more)
go for a4 mk2
really enjoy your music
off topic: i like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHW1oY26kxQ
any tips for this kind of music?
Thanks bud, although you might have confused some random link I posted as something I made, heh. Unless your talking about the Grassy track I posted early on.
Here is another thing I made using nothing but the DSI Rev2 (including the drums again) https://soundcloud.com/pkmood/aitd Honestly tracks like this and Grassy were my favorite to make. Structure wise, these are pretty simple and I feel like the pattern chaining and scenes could be perfect for the way I like to build up random jams like these.
That and Grassy were just audio loops I recorded into Clip View from the Rev2 and slowly built up live while manipulating effects and recording the outcome. The fact that I’d be sequencing on the A4 instead of just playing static loops would allow me to make changes to the sounds themselves over time. I’m really excited about the possibilities and it feels like the way I’ve been making music w my Rev2 will be translate exponentially well over to the A4. I’ve never really gotten used to arranging things in the typical horizontal Daw style view.
Here’s a random single drum patch I made on my Rev2, sequenced by Ableton. https://clyp.it/xpzps55h I’m posting these examples mainly because I’m excited for the A4 and it seems to offer a lot of potential for the kind of stuff I’ve already been doing with the Rev2 and Ableton. I think me and the A4 might be a good fit. 
Regarding tips for lofi:
I had a digitakt for a little and it would be super good for lofi hophop kind of stuff. Although far from my specialty, I think the best thing for that style (in any device or daw) is keeping things un-quantized and loose. Sample some random jazzy stuff and apply some filtering so make it sound less full. Sort of like its coming from an old radio or something.
The biggest thing holding anyone back would be rhythmic chops. Practice getting a good flow going with some finger drumming and incorporate some sampling into the mix.