yeah, its moreso a lack of quality in the oscillators than anything else on the a4… very generic sounding oscillators in my opinion. whatever, though, still an amazing instrument that paints elektron style: modulation…
can’t wait for ar… I’m stripping down my studio to almost nothing…
AR + a7x + mixer + minitaur + dx7
all i need
alex[/quote]
Love the sound of that stripped down studio. I have almost gone that far but still more to go. What mixer are you using and are you happy with it?
I think with a few pieces of gear and a mixer the AR should serve you far better than the Jomox 999 given the drum synths, samples plus Elektron sequencer/Parameters locks. I personally think AR is going to be huge, monumental piece. Time will tell.
Im also curious about compressors but I want a stereo compressor (I love the sound of the DBX 160a and x but too limited in scope, even with 2x of them with no release etc). On the super cheap side Ive heard that the DBX166xl is good for dirty drums (for that kind of dirty techno vibe) and OS FET compressor is a good midrange unit for drums. Would like more info as well
If post-processing is an option for you, throw the Slate FG-Red on there:
Compressors can do more than take dynamics out.
In fact, one of the most useful ways to use a compressor in dance music creates more dynamics.
IE: using a moderate ratio, slow attack (10ms+ – long enough for the transient thump of the kick to make it through unsquashed), and a musically-timed release that “sucks” the beat back in over the course of the 1/4 note (150ms+ – but really depends on the release characteristics of your comp etc). Take off about 3-10db. Mix it with some dry signal if you want NY parallel compression.
If you do that your mixes will be much punchier and more dynamic with the compressor than without.
Incidentally, I have a dumb example of a simple MD house beat with and without this kind of processing (and a few other mix tricks) that I made last night:
-jdn
hopefully this won’t upset you but I like the dry mix better than the wet mix 
…but that’s music for you, likes/dislikes are personal and opinions on what sounds better is subjective
@subq: yeah it’s funny. i like both for their own merits. the dry is definitely more “raw” and 90s. it’s what you get “out of the can” with the MachineDrum for sure.
there’s a certain “breath” or animation that you can get with buss compression that’s hard to program into the beats. its a micro-variation envelope on the amplitude of the parts as a whole, which can’t necessarily be p-locked in stepwise.
i work in visual fx. the analogy there is rendering with and without global illumination / irradiance. there’s something to those techniques that “seats” and “glues” the elements of a scene together.
but at the same time, if you just set a fast attack and squash your kicks, then you’re mainly just reducing your dynamics overall.
</end of compression nerd-out>
-jdn
yeah, I actually liked both, just liked the dry better…funny thing is, if I listen to both of them next week, I may like the wet one better 
nothing wrong with being a nerd around here…in good company
in isolation… the dry one sounds more plain & natural with emphasis on the clap
in a mix the wet one might sound better, ads some groove flavour and highlights the hats
im listening on a 10 year old laptop sitting on a pillow so please ignore me
good stuff with the examples, u sure know what u r talking about!