Digitone. Its amazing.
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You wonāt go wrong with either. Personally Iād go for the digitone but I like wild digital sounds. in my experience you can go further āout thereā with digital synths rather than analog and I like exploring the unusual territory. I had an AK which is the same as the A4 and I sold it for ergonomic reasons. I would certainly be interested in getting an A4 but Iād choose to try something new first. Thatās just me though, it depends what you want to do with it. Theyāll both have elektron vibes because the sequencer makes them inclined to go a certain way. Iād say go with the digitone. Newer box, more updates to come, longer lifespan.
I would think a big determining factor would be how you feel about Kits.
So, how do you feel about Kits?
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haha, i like the kits-question. it took a while before i stopped to somehow manage to ruin a whole bank of patterns because i simply forgot to load and save a new kit.
Wanted to write that you should go for the A4, but then i wanted to make sure and connected the DN again. well, A4 is boxed for the momentā¦
again, as always, it comes down to what you want to sound like. A4 is well capable of all the ordinary subtractive synthesis-stuff, mix in the effects and you are good to go.
DN sounds very digital to my ears, and it is proud of it. you can somehow emulate analog subtractives with the DN, but you canāt get the A4 to sound like a DN.
So, bottom line from my pov: go for the DN. As jb also said: newer box, likely more updates, smaller form factor. little more menu dive but thatās just the price for more functionality.
just my 2 Cents, keep us posted on what you decided.
Digitone is easier, from saving to sweet spots I would say. But you can get delightfully weird on the A4 in ways you just canāt really do on the digitone. If you like programming chords out of oscillators the A4 also ends up giving you a little more spead across the voices but I would say they are even in raw track filling power. Even though DN is 8 voice vs 4 on the A4. A4 just has a different sort of flexibility. Note slide is great on the A4. It had yet to exist on the DN
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I rarely post in such threads, butā¦
Both.
These are the best things Iāve ever owned.
The key is to really immerse yourself in whatever you get. Youāve gotta give em more than a couple weeks to grow on you.
āSimple, intuitive, but deepā is how Iād describe them. Youāll have some instant gratification, but youāll need to delve a bit deeper if you really want to connect with these instruments.
In case youāre not into sound-design so much, there are several soundpacks for A4 (I made one called ā1991ā); the Digitone library is growing, too (check out ā(d)Tones.ā)
(d)
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I currently use the Digitone and absolutely love it! However Iāve been eyeballing the A4 mk1 due to the positive reviews, built in sequencer, fx automation track and the cost. Iām actually thinking of getting rid of my Access Virus C to fund it. Reason is, I never really use the Virus C to itās fullest capability as far as modulation, polyphony, or itās multi-timbral nature. I vibe way more with the Elektron workflow and I think having the Digitone and A4 sequencers running in sync would lead to some awesome happy accidents. I currently have no Analog Poly synth, only a Bass Station 2 (analog mono) Iāve seen A4 go as cheap as $450 - $500 , seems like an awesome deal.
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Hey there folks,
Iāve quickly been turned into an Elektron fan in the past year. My Octatrack serves as my sequencer, and I was able to get a secondhand Machinedrum UW MKI.
These two do their job wonderfully, and pair with my other two synths:
Korg Minilogue XD
Dreadbox Nyx V2
However, I find myself lacking a particular āxā factor when Iām creating music.
The nyx serves itās purpose as a wonderful bass, atmospheric drone, or an occasional really low-fi plucky lead, so it always has a place in my setup. I find issue with my Minilogue.
The lack of band and high pass filter really put a damper on jam sessions, so I really want to expand by adding one new piece of Elektron gear. The first two that come to mind are the Analog Four and the Digitone.
What draws me to synthesizers is having what feels like a near endless playground to experiment sonically, so I heard the Analog Keys is the kind of gear that grow into, much like the Octatrack. Iām intrigued by steep learning curves, but only if it increases potential creative options.
On the other hand, I feel that having an Fm synth may feel a niche slot for when I like stream and create something with a classic sound, so I was thinking Digitone might fit nicely into my collection.
I was concerned that the Digitone may offer considerable less growth than the A4.
I was hoping to be able to hear other Elektronauts experiences with these units, and feel free to chime in with your own feedback.
I have both of these units, and find myself using the Analog Four MkII far more. The Digitone is good, itās compact, and it has a different flavour from my other gear, but the A4MkII just sounds very, very pleasing to my ear. The Digitone offers more voices, which is super useful, but I find I always want to effect the master out in order to warm up the sound. I think it will simply come down to your preference for the sound of one versus the other. Best of luck!
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I love the A4 itās my favorite synth, but i get what you mean. I didnāt feel I was necessary lacking anything before getting a digitone, but after i canāt see myself without it. But I also donāt own a MD which to be fair can get pretty good FM going. Seeing as you have (and even then probably arenāt entirely satisfied with) two analog synths, Iād recommend the digi, but thatās a really tough choice. Analog 4 + machinedrum sound soooo good together plus how deep and unconventional the A4 is as a synth, thatās probably the better option in terms of endless experimentation. Very tough call OP. Analog keys is absolutely the best option in terms of the three A4ās so itās good youāve decided on that. Joystick!
Edit: V what mokomo said. Akeys is still the powerhouse of them all i think
A second hand A4 + Volca FM (6 operator) costs quite close to a new Digitone.
Insert the Volca through the A4 filters & FX
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This is something I hadnāt considered before.
Iād love for one of my end goals is to pack this nice neat and safe, and then have and impromptu jam out with some friends camping, so the Volca FM sounds like it could pair wonderfully with external drums (PO32, or Volca drum) or utilizing A4.
Thanks for the food for thought!
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- Volca FM is a great plug-in to the Octatrack too ā¦ as is nearly any sound source!
- A4 comes with its CV sequencing & modulation capabilities - opening up the (trap) door to adding esoteric eurorack sound sources at some point to blow your sound palette wide open ā¦ but you are looking at significant $$$ to add a mini case, power and say, plonk, elements, braids, plaits, qubit surface, morphagene or even a 0Coast
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Sorry to disagree but I had the volca fm used it twice and sold it, you can get free vst plugins that are better in every wayā¦ It doesnāt really compare to a digitone.
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A s/h A4 is a lot of bang for the bucks and will last you.
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I have both as well.
I use the Digitone a lot. But lately, I have mostly used it for effects and midi-clock/sync.
If you consider it an effects-unit with a really good synth you are in for a treat 
I have both, and somewhat in the same boat: relatively new to electronic music since a year, and having limited gear / room for gear, so thinking lots about each bit of kits place in the setup.
Just some thoughts that pop into my head when reading your question:
Both are versatile, but Digitone might be most versatile soundwise, being an FM synth.
Both are fairly doable to get nice sounds from, but to me the A4 is a bit easier to knowingly dial in. With the Digitone I havenāt mastered my understanding of the FM synth engines yet; so either Iād lean more often on presets, or tweak randomly to āfindā nice sounds. With A4 Iām currently enjoying more that I can try and patch a sound that I have in mind.
Are you already somewhat good in synthesis / sound design? Otherwise A4 might be a nice one to start with to learn classic subtractive synthesis.
My biggest reason for trying A4 after DN was that to my taste both the DN and the DT (my main machines then) were both so hifi / clean / pristine sounding. You can make them sound nasty but I wouldnāt call it their base characters. For the techno Iām making I was interested in a proper analog box/sound. What are you looking for soundwise?
Finally: Iām very happy having the A4 MK2. If you read the recent thread here on Elektronauts about why people like/dislike the A4 sound, you can find many people that actually prefer the MK2 above MK1. So if getting A4 instead it DN, consider the MK2. I found one for ā¬800, whilst MK1 units were going for 600. I think that extra 200 was a good choice.
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The DN is made to make FM easy for musicians and it does. But this is done at the cost of making it special and less versatile. A typical FM synth like a DX7 or its descendants give us much more freedom to work with FM, but at the cost of beeing more complex and demanding some time to get oneās head around.
If you are interested to complement your setup, which is built around analogue subtractive synthesis, with something ānewā or ādifferentā, FM would be an option. The A4 would extend your subtractive synthesis options, but not that much as FM would do.
My suggestion would be, listen to both carefully. They donāt compare sound-wise. Get the one, you like the most for your music. Both are great. Maybe you might decide to get both 
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PS are you working mostly in the studio or orienting towards live? The A4 performance knobs are really nice for live.
PS2 Are you looking for proper poly? To me, but people might disagree, the polyphony of the Digitone comes more easily. I never run out of voices on the DN, because I donāt use it that often.
For example one tracks with poly chords, and then a synth track with bass, and one for leads, for which the 8 voices of the DN are more then enough to automatically allocate themselves automatically. Whilst on the A4 it needs some more moderation/thinking to set up / allocate the voices before running out.
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