AR through A4 - OR - A4 through AR

Hey all - I am interested in your thoughts about this question. I am working with an A4 and an AR, and I would like to route one through the other.

Which way do you prefer? AR through A4 or A4 through AR?

Here are the advantages that I can think of for running the A4 through the AR:

  • A4 goes through AR’s compressor so the whole mix is processed (could this also be a bad thing?)
  • No additional amplification of the A4 - a clean signal

Advantages of running the AR through the A4:

  • The A4’s filters can apply to the entire drum mix e.g. you can do a filter sweep on all of the drums
  • Ability to parameter lock FX and filter settings etc. on the full drum mix

What do you all think?

Thanks in advance for the input!

I actually prefer right now to run the AR to the A4 because I can more carefully adjust the input level of the AR on the A4. I do not like that the AR does not have a built in gain/input function on an Amp/FX page somewhere. I also prefer the reverb sound on the A4 and don’t mind adding it’s qualities to the AR drum mix.

I found it useful to route the A4 main out through the AR for compression, while at the same time running individual voices from the ar through the a4, like clap for instance. This way i can make use of the A4s effects on clap or pad/chord sounds from the AR.

I uploaded major and minor chords with a set of permutations of the chord notes to my AR (for minor e.g. c, e flat, g; e flat, g, c; etc… within a sample, selectible by start and end points) and that for pulse waves, sawtooth and so on. Works even on 4 note chords, effectively yielding results otherwise only possible with higher polyphony.