Considering an Analog Four MK2

[Jeronan]

Hi,

Since I am going to return the ASM Hydrasynth today (due to QA issues).

I am currently in a deadlock with myself as to either:

• Go with a Digitone and Moog Grandmother
• Go with an Analog Four MK2

I have a Behringer Crave and a Digitakt already (also Novation Circuit, which I consider selling at this point when I get either of the above).

I know the Moog Grandmother would pair well with the Crave (since its similar to Moog Mother32), but I read/seen that the Analog Four MK2 will pair with it really well too.

Since I own Ableton Live 10 Suite and starting to get the hang of Operator, I am just a bit in doubt with the usefulness of the Digitone.
I know a lot of people say it pairs well with the Digitakt and so does the Analog Four MK2.

So yeah…difficult decision. Out of the box, the Digitone can do complex chord patterns due to it having 8 voices as opposed to just 4 on the Analog Four MK2 and then the Moog Grandmother together with the Crave I already own can fix my Analog needs.

But… I am also intrigued by the Analog Four MK2. It also sounds incredible and you can do funky stuff with the 2 OSC+2 sub OSC to make chord patterns as well to get more out of the voice limitations.
Just wondering then what the possibilities are via the CV in/out and Ext. Audio In when hooking up other analog gear like the Behringer Crave? Can you bring it in as an extra Oscilator into the Analog Four for example? to create even fatter sounds.
I know you can hook up the Audio out of the Crave to the Ext. Audio in and use the Analog’s Chorus, Reverb, Delay on the signal. That is great at least.
The Moog Grandmother allows this too, to feed ext. Audio through the Spring reverb for example.

It’s a tough choice. I like the Analog Four, but also like the prospect of a broader sound pallet with the Digitone+Moog Grandmother.

[tnussb]

@Jeronan

Audio In when hooking up other analog gear like the Behringer Crave?

Audio IN on the A4 is very versatile. Either you route it “only” through the effects or you use it as oscillator source utilizing all sound shaping possibilities of the synth. But, of course, that’s not an extra oscillator. You need to decide either to use one of the builtin oscillator waveforms or an external signal (IN-L or IN-R).

[Jeronan]

Yes it’s just really suprising there isn’t much out there showcasing these posibilities with the Analog Four MK2.

BoBeats has one video where he hooked up his Noise O-Cast to the Analog Four, but that’s it really.

Rest of the videos out there is just the Analog Four being either hooked up to other Elektron gear or at most just in a standard MIDI setup with other gear.
All in all, there aren’t even a lot of Analog Four MK2 videos out there at all, compared to the Digitakt and Digitone videos you swamped with. Mostly just initial impression videos of influencers from 2 years ago and not using it anymore today.
Guess the price of the Analog Four MK2 and the fact that we are swamped with other Analog gear on the market, might have something to do with it, but it worries me a bit.

[tnussb]

It’s a much too niche feature to be covered by one of the Youtubers like BoBeats (or even be covered in tutorial video at all).

IMHO it’s better to look around here on the forum in the “A4 category” threads.

A quite recent example from @sezare56 using a guitar signal as oscillator source:

Analog 4 as fx processor

Test with 8 strings guitar straight in A4 ! Only guitar + A4 as an fx. https://www.elektronauts.com/uploads/default/original/3X/e/9/e94e29a156867223c36464149e7ea8885c40c2fd.mp3 Osc 1 = Input L, Osc 2 = Ground (no osc). Set AM1 on, so Osc 2 can modulate Input L (as a square wave ring modulator). AM1 (Osc1 AM) engages Amplitude Modulation on Oscillator 1, which means that its signal is switched on/off (multiplied) by the pulse wave of Oscillator 2. This introduces new harmonics with frequenc…

There is nothing to be worried about. Just because it is not hyped into nirvana doesn’t mean anything. The A4 is one of the most versatile analog synths around.

Not directly related to the ext audio stuff, but I would suggest to check out the jam tutorial sessions from Gary Hayes using the A4:

Gary P Hayes

[Jeronan]

I have seen some of his videos and it’s one of the reasons among some other videos as to why the Analog Four MK2 ended up on my radar in the first place.

Just that most just seem to use the Analog Four for just leads, basslines and drum/perc.

That is also why I am in a deadlock with myself. Since the Crave together with a Moog Grandmother can do leads and basslines well too and I have the Digitakt already as a center piece to sequence everything Out of the Box and/or as Drum machine if I want to.
This would mean the Digitone can fullflil a possible Polysynth role, as it has 8 voices.

The Analog Four MK2 seems a fantastic Analog synth, just trying to see what kind of advantages it has over the other combination.
It’s a big investment… 1400 bucks for just the Analog Four MK2 alone.

[tallrobphilp]

I’ve been thinking about getting an A4 myself for at least a year. It’s much more than I would ordinarily spend on music gear (just a casual hobby for me) but I’ve done LOADS of research and it seems like one of very few premium “groovebox” type machines around, although they seem to be having a bit of a comeback.

I know I’m preaching the converted on this forum, but I’m endlessly looking at other products and wondering why they don’t have parameter locks because it just seems to open up the possibilities so much. I was considering a Minilogue XD because it has the ability to do step parameter changes for 4 tracks i.e. 4 different parameters. But, that said, it’s still basically mono-timbral for £500. Spend £1000 for an A4 and you get a 4-track multi-timbral groovebox, or a 4-track analog drum machine, or a 4-voice poly synth, or anything in between.

As far as I can tell, there’s very little out there that can compare in terms of features and value for money. It sounds like you (the OP) already have a lot of other gear so it depends on what you’re after but all the videos on Youtube (and I’ve watched about 90% of them) make me think that you could spend years with this thing and never dig into every possibility. The “one box” demos I’ve seen are just amazing, people making entire pieces of music with “just” those 4 tracks, or even doing entire hour-long techno performances with no other gear at all.

[Unifono]

Just wondering then what the possibilities are via the CV in/out and Ext. Audio In when hooking up other analog gear like the Behringer Crave? Can you bring it in as an extra Oscilator into the Analog Four for example? to create even fatter sounds.
I know you can hook up the Audio out of the Crave to the Ext. Audio in and use the Analog’s Chorus, Reverb, Delay on the signal. That is great at least.
The Moog Grandmother allows this too, to feed ext. Audio through the Spring reverb for example.

The A4 obviously has more effects than the grandmother for incoming audio. Digitone as well. However, on the A4 these effects can be heavly modulated with parameter locks and lfo’s, which is very powerful. The A4 has separated sends for both audio inputs while the digitone sends both inputs equally to the effects.

The A4 can not only sequence the crave but also modulate and p-lock parameters via cv. I don’t know by heart how many modulation sources the Grandmother has, but the A4 has an extra cv track for that tasks, so you don’t steal modulation sources for the A4 itself.

Digitone: you should enjoy fm sounds
Grandmother: if you are after creamy moogy analog sounds and knob per function interface…this is the one. Don’t go for elektron
A4: you have to check if you like the sound. Some want moog and the likes and complain that this sounds less “fast”. Other than that, I would say it’s the most versatile and deep of these three

[Jeronan]

Thanks for your detailed response. That is quite interesting and one of the answers I was looking for. Thanks.

It seems I am slightly more leaning towards the A4 now… problem when having so many choices these days lol.

[Unifono]

problem when having so many choices these days

for sure. All three choices are pretty awesome. But can‘t (shouldn‘t) have everything

[Jeronan]

Exactly since space is definitely limited too. Moog Grandmother isn’t exactly a small box either.

Buying physical hardware, I also feel that Analog just makes more sense as well. Especially since when it comes to FM, you have very powerful VSTs already like NI FM8 and Ableton’s Operator.

[tallrobphilp]

I’m not 100% but I think you can do rudimentary FM with the A4 using audio rate LFO. I think I saw that on a Loopop video. Found it - this video was a big one for me in terms of showing how sophisticated the synthesis is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDRBtQ7owbo

[Unifono]

Buying physical hardware, I also feel that Analog just makes more sense as well. Especially since when it comes to FM, you have very powerful VSTs already like NI FM8 and Ableton’s Operator.

I see where you coming from, but imo these days va plugin synths are so good that this argument doesn’t really count for me anymore.
U-he repro sounds better than an analog four for my taste. I go hardware for the fun and tactile interfaces not really for the sound.

[Unifono]

I’m not 100% but I think you can do rudimentary FM with the A4 using audio rate LFO

you can, but it sounds nothing like a digitone or any other fm synth

[Jeronan]

You make a good point about VA. I was really impressed with the Roland Cloud plugins, just not so impressed with the insane CPU usage lol. They still haven’t fixed it.
I have a brand new watercooled overclocked PC with all CPU cores running at 4,25 GHz constantly and still a single Roland Plugin instance eats up over 30% CPU. So I canceled my subscription.

[hallucigenia]

You might consider an A4 MKI–I just picked up a used one for less than half the price of a new MKII. Aside from some occasional complaints about the low end (and lack of separate outs), it sounds like there’s not a whole lot of difference…

[Jeronan]

I went with the Analog Four Mk2

@hallucigenia Yes would have been an option to go for the Mk1, but I was returning the Hydrasynth and he didn’t have Mk1’s anymore. I had to trade it in for something else.

[Meriphew]

My A4 is a very important songwriting tool for me. At this point it’s the central hub of my music. It has a lot of great features - a great sequencer, trigs, nice onboard sounds, 4 tracks, and now with the added ability to sequence external midi gear, it’s hard to not love this machine. When I sit down to write with my A4, the music just flows. I find that to be a great way to judge a musical instrument.

[Jeronan]

Gonna be a steep learning curve for me. The Analog Four Mk2 is whole different beast than the Digitakt. That’s for sure.

[tnussb]

I went with the Analog Four Mk2

That was a fast one … welcome to the club!

[Jeronan]

Haha yes. Well had to make a fast decision, since I returned the Hydrasynth today.

Can always buy the Digitone or Grandmother at a later date… or Behringer’s upcoming modular stuff. Now that is exciting. Good times!

But for now I will have my hands full with the Analog Four and get to grips with it first.