A4 vs MnM

tasmansea · 2013-10-09T02:43:18.000Z

I know this a bit of a long shot and I’m not meaning to compare the 2 in regards to their sound at all. But I’d like to hear peoples opinions in regards to the ‘playability’ (if that makes sense)

My mind has been orbiting around a MnM for a long while and then elektron did a great job confusing me more by releasing the A4… so it’d be nice to hear opinions which one you’d prefer to ‘play’… I wonder if it just comes down to the timbre or if there are other aspects to it? cheers

Tarekith · 2013-10-09T21:56:05.000Z

From everything I can see about the A4, it looks like it has a lot more functionality in terms of peformance features. A dedicted page of knobs, the FUNC+Kit trick, etc. I liked the MnM a lot, but ultimately sold it because it just wasn’t was performance friendly as the MD and OT were.

kirlian · 2013-10-09T22:18:26.000Z

""Tarekith"":

I liked the MnM a lot, but ultimately sold it because it just wasn’t was performance friendly as the MD and OT were.

After having built a live set and doing some performances over the last few weeks, I am half tempted to do the same. I want to perform with it badly but it is not immediate without some serious muscle memory built up. I’m curious about how performance friendly A4 is compared. Just by the nature of so many synth perameters, it makes sense that they are more complicated to perform with than OT or MD

OSCar · 2013-10-09T22:34:23.000Z

I love mine - really not a fair comparison as they are both so different sonically but they do really complement one another rather well. That said, of all the Elektron Machines the MnM is my favourite but it’s a quirky little beast (much like myself) so we seem to share sympathetic idiosyncrasies .
Look at it this way, I owned all 4 Elektron machines but find the OT + MnM + A4 to be the best combination for my own personal needs.
It seems I have no problems jamming away on mine for hours on end unlike other people here so your mileage may well vary.

tasmansea · 2013-10-09T23:52:40.000Z

yea I didn’t mean to compare them sonically at all. I have yet to find a rig I can just “play” with… sound wise I find them both attractive from what I heard so far and am aware of the differences (I think) in that regards

so the MnM doesn’t have a feature where you just quickly reset it to the previously saved state after messing things up like the MD for instance?.. thanks for your input so far

OSCar · 2013-10-10T00:57:57.000Z

No it doesn’t, but I will quite often create a duplicate track that i can jam on and freak out and then just go back to the original version of it afterwards…or simply reload the same kit whilst the pattern is playing.
That said very small tweaks on the MnM yield radically different results so you quite often don’t need to be as extreme on the knob control front to yield musically interesting results that aren’t a nightmare.

tasmansea · 2013-10-10T02:13:21.000Z

thanks for the insight! I currently use an OT to sequence an OP1 and the mopho desktop… how does the sequencing compare on either machine to the OT and how do the arps compare (can I transpose the arps without using the transpose knob (like using the a4 keyboard or any kind of chromatic mode maybe?)

I couldn’t be further away from a shop which had them both on display so sorry for the obtrusive questions. ta!

Tarekith · 2013-10-10T03:00:18.000Z

""VennDiagram"":

That said very small tweaks on the MnM yield radically different results so you quite often don’t need to be as extreme on the knob control front to yield musically interesting results that aren’t a nightmare.

I think for me this was one of the issues I ran into the most. It’s fine in the studio, I loved having to much range of sound out of so few controls. But live that meant that sometimes the tiniest tweaks to a knob would radically change the sound, and not always in a good way.
I know it sounds like I’m knocking on the MnM, but that’s not it at all, I REALLY liked it. For me it just was something that required very minute changes to the parameters to really dial in awesome sounds. And as a result, there was just a lot less room for tweaking those sounds for my needs.

xmit · 2013-10-10T09:17:55.000Z

this is so personally subjective that I’m not sure one can really give a worthwhile response…?

so, just for the sake of brevity, I’ll say I bought an A4 from the pre-order & parted with it this summer. I bought my MnM mKII when they were first launched & you’ll have to prise it out of my cold, dead hands… Greatest single all-in one electronic music production instrument. ever.

tasmansea · 2013-10-10T10:19:17.000Z

""xmit"":

this is so personally subjective that I’m not sure one can really give a worthwhile response…?

'spose since we’re talking music here anything has to be personally subjective and that’s what I am after. thanks for your input

xmit · 2013-10-10T10:43:53.000Z

^
fair point.

Well in that case - the A4’s perf mode is great for tweaking ( as discussed in another thread I think ) & in that regard for ‘performance’ it probably wins out vs the MnM. The sequencer of the A4 is better - micro-timing, individual track lengths…& the note slide is nice.

But, sonically I much prefer the MnM … it’ sound design potential seems much deeper to me…the ability to use tracks in FX chains … the fact that every track has it’s own delay…the ARP works better… & if we’re talking purely subjectively, then I just ultimately didn’t like the sound of the A4 that much.
The filter is to my mind a bit …well .meh…& overall the whole sound is a bit woolly & ill-defined. And there was something about the control via that interface : the MnM, as a digital synth, responds to the encoders just how you’d expect …now maybe I’ve spent too many years using analogues with, well, analogue controls. but I just found it hard to ‘communicate’ with the A4 via it’s interface.
Now this could be me : I had the same problem with my DSI mono evolver keyboard - hated the endless encoders : I just coudn’t get the accuracy & precision or that fast response that I expected from a pot.
Don’t get me wrong - the A4 is a great instrument…& when you see what you’re getting for the money it’s incredible : hell, in an ideal world I would’ve kept it for the CV sequencing alone, but I just couldn’t justify it.
But the MnM is still my ultimate ‘desert island’ synth -I can just get lost in that sucker for days with just a pair of headphones. I’ve often contemplated getting another… I just love the sound & the interface.

Steevyhead · 2013-10-10T11:25:01.000Z

I started with the A4 first, and got the MnM last, out of all four boxes, the MnM is my favorite to create on. I can sit with it can just make a glitchy beat and go from there… or I can make an evolving Pad and just go from there. To me its an endless idea box… But like everyone said its really subjective and down to your workflow.

If anything though, dont worry about it… they compliment each other really well… And if you buy from a place like sweetwater, do the three payment option, and they have free shipping. That way you get the machine for like 400 with free shipping, you try it out, and if you want to send it back the shipping isnt very expensive for elektron machines (not like my DSI poly evolver or something) and you buy the other.

Or you get hooked because Elektron gear is like crack ( at least to me) and you end up with all four.

FreeFall · 2013-10-10T19:19:06.000Z

I went through the same dilemma several months ago - MnM, or A4?

While I don’t own an A4, I do a Monomachine and a Machinedrum. I bought my MnM about four months ago and haven’t so much as booted up a DAW since. It also inspired me to buy the MD which is great (very great) but the MnM is something else entirely. It is sooooo deep it will take you months if not years to completely master everything it can do. The learning curve is steep, but once you’ve got a grip on it, it’s like having a Super Weapon in your studio!

A couple of things that made me go with the MnM instead of the A4 was the fact that the MnM has 6 tracks, unique internal sound machines, an internal drum machine (though very simple, it can be tweaked beyond recognition and it is boss for making glitchy textures), and also the awesome FX chaining/processing on the MnM that gives it the ability to act as an effects unit for external gear, or extreme sound mangling.

I agree with Xmit. This is my all time favourite “desert island” synth. Endless fun. And like Steevyhead said, once you get one box, you’ll be hooked and want them all!

Sorry for the long post. I just know how hard it is to decide. Truth be told, I doubt you would regret going with either machine. But the Mononmachine is probably the most unique.

LaughingAnimal · 2013-10-10T22:12:07.000Z

I got a MNM shortly after the A4 was announced, knowing that I could have had an analog Elektron synth if I wanted, but I already had several analog synths and wanted something different. I’m sure the A4 is great and perhaps it wouldn’t be the case if I had one, but I have considered selling all of my analog synths at one point whereas the MNM has been nothing but love since I got it.

tasmansea · 2013-10-11T03:15:48.000Z

cheers everyone for their 2 cent. I have almost a dollar together now!
maybe I can find a shop on my next trip to europe which has both on display so i can have a dabble . I’m leaning towards the MnM as the A4 sonically reminds me on a DSI tetra and there is something I dislike about about that DSI sound - but can’t quite put my finger on. but maybe that’s just BS
cheers all!

zfigz · 2013-10-11T10:39:30.000Z

""FreeFall"":

It is sooooo deep it will take you months if not years to completely master everything it can do.

Word

guga · 2013-10-17T12:38:09.000Z

i don’t think there’s something like the MnM out there, even after so many years of new machines. having said that, i wish i had an A4 (as well)

Daisuk · 2013-10-20T02:12:21.000Z

Get both, man, they are just incredible, both of them. Every time I turn on my Monomachine without any specific musical goal, just mucking about, experimenting, it will reward me. It’s a treasure trove.

Same with the A4, really, except it’s analog, and only have 4 tracks. Get them both, they’re worth it!

nedavine · 2013-10-20T02:50:27.000Z

I’ve been thinking over the same question and sorry to go off topic but I ahve a question. Is it possible to sequence some of the tracks (for example MnM track4) from the OT’s midi sequencer? say if I desperatly neede microtiming or something?

Veets · 2013-10-20T05:11:06.000Z

[quote=“” guga""]
i don’t think there’s something like the MnM out there, even after so many years of new machines. having said that, i wish i had an A4 (as well)
[/quote]

+1, there’s nothing else like it.

I always wanted an SFX-6. Even more unique, like the DeLorean of synths!