This is probably the best description of the Rytm I‘ve heard so far! I‘ve owned almost every modern Elektron, and the Rytm is the only one that I‘d say this about. You can experience this for yourself if you compare the machines that are available on both AR and ST. They sound wilder on AR out of the gate, even before you‘ve started to mess with filters, drive, compressor or performance mode.
It’s AR‘s biggest strength but can also be to its detriment, depending on the user. I‘m not good at mixing and I‘ve noticed that while I love how things sounded on my AR, I had trouble mixing these songs later because there’s so much character that can conflict and muddy the mix.
I‘d still be tempted to get it back because it’s my favorite drum machine and groovebox, but it lacks note range and MIDI sequencing for me personally to justify taking up so much space on my desk. Also: performance mode is fantastic, but I hate that it’s tied to these stiff pads. Whenever I used it a bit more extensively, my hands literally hurt badly for several days. Maybe this is better on newer Rytms, but it was true for both of the grey MK IIs that I‘ve owned.
Because the price has been mentioned: I also used to think it’s way too expensive new these days. But looking at TR-1000 prices and comparing features puts AR‘s price into perspective imo.
I don’t know if I‘d call it underappreciated. I’d don’t hear many people complain about it these days, especially since 1.70. Anecdotally, I get the sense that older posts often say „I didn’t like the analog engines and only used it as sampler“, but that seems to have changed. There’s a dedicated thread for it that’s decently popular, only beloved Elektrons get a „that … sound“ thread: