A4 vs Matriarch + Octatrack vs Digitakt

Elektron Gear
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Hi Elektronauts :slight_smile:

I recently got Octotrack mkII to compliment Novation Peak.
Purpose: DAWless ambient synthwave with orchestral elements.

The thing is that since I can upload massive samples into the OT, the neutral sound of the Peak feels a bit redundant - I can simply replace Peak’s distorted soft noisy patches with ambient sounds and synth melodies.

I’ve been thinking about replacing Peak with the A4 mkII because of its 4 analogue OSCs and massive sequencing capabilities, but that creates the following questions:

  1. If the A4 has such a powerful sequencer, isn’t the OT overkill? Wouldn’t a Digitakt be enough? OT’s main edge over DT in my case seems to be the slider, longer stereo samples and machines which don’t feel very useful since the A4 sequences itself (therefore no need for live sampling).

  2. If point 1. is valid, it occurs to me I could go all the way and get Matriarch instead of A4. Both are 4 osc paraphonic monsters from totally different worlds. The Moog is a knob-per-func atmospheric mammoth, the A4 is a tiny menu-driven universal machine. Does anyone have both to compare if they have any similarities?
    I recently sold my Grandmother (that sentence sounds great, doesn’t it) because I needed something with >1 voice, but still miss its character and filter.
    I’ve been trying to listen in to A4 videos but the vast majority of them is just dance and techno.

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Why don’t you just make the kind of patches you’re looking for on the Peak? It can do almost anything. Does lovely soft distorted parches but everything else too.

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Some of my favourite things to do with OT are mess with samples from sequenced A4 lines. Last night I sampled a kind of cheesy sounding arp’d chord progression into OT and then reversed it, sliced it up and retrigged some of the slices and made something unusual and beautiful.

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^this. I’d have thought you could get a vast array of wild sounds from the peak.

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Two reasons:
One, lack of low-end/range (given I’m using Arturia Keystep). If I wanted a larger keyboard I would immediately become financially more logical to upgrade to Summit. One of the reasons I’m considering the A4 is that it can fully focus on the entire frequency range independently.
Also a larger keybed would go against the small form factor of the setup. Upgrade the size and we’re back in Matriarch territory.

Second, yes, I could use OT’s machines to loop and layer similar sounds from the Peak in a similar fashion. I’ll try it, but it sounds like a slower version of the same process I could prepare on the A4 in advance.

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Surely you don’t mean bass? And doesn’t your keyboard have an octave switch?

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The OT has a very capable sequencer. You can sequence the Peak’s MIDI cc’s per step and do some pretty amazing stuff (maybe not exactly the same as the A4, but give it a try), it has a ton of MIDI LFOs too – and then once you have something going you can sample it into the OT and mangle it to your heart’s content.

You have a very capable setup. I’d really recommend playing with what you have more before reaching for new gear.

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I mean low end when I’m playing typical analog-like poly synth sounds. I’m spoiled by Moog ladder filters, I keep looking for that low-note growl to carry the chords. But I guess that could be solved by sampling the bass separately on the OT.

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I have both Analog Four and Matriarch and they are two different beasts. Although I love the sound and playability of the Moog, the A4 is not paraphonic but a real polyphonic synth so sometimes it’s really nice to have a full articulation.

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Which one couldn’t you do without? For creativity and live performance, especially when considering them in near-isolation?

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i guess it’s a good point that I fear like I’m missing out or that I’m being limited by using the Peak instead of a more specialized analog monster.

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Ha! As an Elektron fanboy it hurts to say that, but the Matriarch :smiley:
But anyway it’s in good company

IMG_5856
IMG_58564032Ă—3024 2.07 MB

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Nah the Peak has gigantic amounts of bass and growl, spend more time programming it and getting to know it, I’ve spent many hours with mine and you are lacking for nothing with the Peak. It IS an analog monster.

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I agree, the Peak can do monstrous low end, but I think perhaps @nivviri means that on a small keyboard it’s difficult to play low down bass notes while playing chords further up (like maybe an octaved or root+5th bass low down with the left hand with chords in your right). But an A4 wouldn’t fix that either – you need a bigger keybed (or just program all of the chords in a sequencer, which you could do on OT or A4)

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As a former owner of the Peak and a current owner of the A4, I would argue that the A4 will not solve your bass problems. IMO the Peak is a bass monster and I only sold it due to lack of space, choosing to keep my Virus blah blah. I love the A4 (well it’s complicated) but bass is not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of its strengths. Yes, it can make basses with heft but it takes some finagling. From my experience the Peak was all sweet spots and deep basses oozed out of it.

My Roland SE-02 is the only VCO synth I have and it’s a beast at subby basses. I never thought the Peak had any less to offer in the bass department other than sounding “cleaner” and a bit more stable; A4 not so much.

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I can get some cool, heavy, deep bass out of an A4, but it’s a specific kind of sweet spot, and absolutely nothing like the Moog sound.
Getting an A4 to try and sound like a Moog has been a fruitless effort in my attempts.
Then there’s playing one vs the other. TOTALLY different.
Sound to me like what you’re after is mainly the Moog, but all those bells and whistles of the A4 are calling you.
I definitely don’t find the having an OT&A4 redundant when it comes to the sequencers. I like exploring the subtle differences.
For me point one is not valid so 2 is null, and not completely informed.

Also, the OT is much more than a sampler

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I think @JuanSOLO hit the nail on the head - I miss Moog’s full sound, but, having tasted the power of OT, the A4’s sequencing abilites etc. are “calling me” as you put it so elonquently.

@Hawk I actually know Peak pretty well by now, the amount of mod destinations combined with noise and distortion are super powerful and expressive.

The big question, if we look aside from being an eternal irrational Moog fanboy (thank God there’s a synth library in my city, I can at least cheat and sample the heck out of everything), would then be whether A4’s incredible sequencing is creatively more powerful than having an 8-voice mono-timbral knob-per-function polysynth.
I know I can get amazing results with both, but it feels like one should be superior…

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Tried the Matriarch in person and I totally understand how seductive it can be.

However, the MIDI implementation isn’t quite there, if MIDI is important to you. For example, the keyboard does not transmit velocity values lower than 45. To me that’s a a pretty big omission in the MIDI implementation - gotta wonder what else is missing in the Matriarch.

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If I were to add something to accompany my A4 (eventually I will) , an extra voice through the inputs, it’s DEFINITELY be a Moog.
It’s a classic spectrum I love, and I just can’t get on my A4.
I actually get much closer using the RYTM’s dual VCO, which is what has held me back from getting a slimPhatty back in my rig, or something close.

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Had a Peak, loved a lot about it (esp. that reverb), but let it go because I kept finding myself making sounds I wasn’t in love with.

Have an A4 MkII, absolutely love it, and with the HP filter trick, you can get tons of bass out of it. I also love using its sequencer to vary the pitch of oscillator 2, so you can generate major and minor intervals (or sevenths or whatever you want) that are in-key. Plus, the chorus, delay, and reverb are great. Plus it’s one of the few synths I have where the presets are valuable starting places. Plus it’s got that great Elektron arpeggiator. And on and on. It’s the unit I’d bring if I need to do a lot in a little space. When I use it with other Elektron devices (e.g. the Octatrack), I still use the A4’s sequencer, and then run the A4 into the OT as a Thru machine and use the OT’s scenes to vary the sound. Plus, with the multiple outs of the A4, you could really take advantage of this technique into the OT. I think the A4 MkII is superb and solves so many problems.

Also have the Matriarch, and am in love with it for very different reasons. The layout is beautiful and inspiring and immediate, the sound is absolutely phenomenal, the patching allows for really interesting explorations, the sequencer and arpeggio always gives you a starting point for noodling, the delay is strange and dark and unlike anything else I have. But most of all, it’s the four oscillators and two filters I love. Sublime sound. The Matriarch does a lot less than the A4 MkII, but its sound is singular and beautiful, and its layout makes tinkering with it creative and inspiring.

So if you need to solve a lot of problems in real-time, I’d consider the A4 MkII. If you’re looking for that sound, get the Matriarch (or the Grandmother again, and sample it into the OT).

Between the stereo samples, the scenes, the fader, and the master-level control, I’d stick with the OT as the centre of your setup. The Digitakt (and similarly, the Analog Rytm MkII) is super great for making beats and wonky sampled weirdness, but it’s less of a centrepiece and more of an instrument. The OT really can tie the room together.

Hope this was useful. Best of luck!

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