I agree. The DN is more lush, thick, warm, round. And can do glitchy nasty stuff. A4 sounds a bit more clinical harsh? Especcially if you’re already good on the subtractive analog area, then DN would be more of an addition to what you already have.
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The init-sound may be like this, indeed. It’s very neutral and a little dead, if this makes sense.
But we can get much warmth and dirt as well, if we make use of the many modulation options of the A4. This synth is very deep. It’s like a plain white sheet we see at first, which needs to be coloured to escape that clinical sound of the DCOs.
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I have both. If I had to choose one it would be the Digitone. It’s such a beautiful sounding blend of FM and subtractive and can sound sooo “full, lush, deep, aggressive etc.” Love my A4 too but the DN is just a pleasure to work with (compared to an A4 mk1), has more polyphony, and can take you to realms hard to achieve with analog/pure subtractive.
Nevertheless, the type of music you make is possibly relevant. What type of sounds/ genres do you work in?
Personally, I tend towards atmospheric electronic music, usually low BPM interspersed with the occasional chimes or pad sound.
When I break out, I usually like crunchy and harsh sounds. One of my favorite patches on my Machinedrum are the bitreduced sets that are snappy with some sounds that retrigger.
A lot of blended square/saw based bass sounds, but my favorite leads are definitely layered subtractive sine and saw patches.
Would love to have a machine that is analogue and can emulate choral sounds, but more a fascination than necessity.
I purchased a sound pack for my A4 that has some surprisingly good vocal emulations but I wouldn’t say it’s a specialty of the machine.
I still think the A4 can be a gamble depending on your expectations (many don’t gel with it’s supposed sound/tone, there’s a whole thread about it right now). I have read very few unhappy campers regarding the Digitone though. Again, the DN is a pleasure to use and sounds amazing. Since you don’t have FM in your arsenal I vote for the DN. I don’t think it will ever run out of possibilities or is a piece to be outgrown; basses, pads, percussion, weird ambiences, it does it all…
Hi Jay, I sold my A4-MKII and OT-II a few weeks ago as I needed the $$, I bought Ableton Suite+Push2 a few months ago, but had been in the hospital a few weeks; haven’t been able to use them much yet, but looking forward to learning Live finally. After much time to think, I missed having the A4 for variety, as a standalone unit, so just rebought the A4-II. (I might also get the OT again someday, but gonna wait)… had a Digitone and Digitakt before also, would consider rebuying Digitone.
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Hmmmm another user with an A4mkii and a DN here…i love them equally for different reasons and will not be parting ways with either unit…but if Jules put a gun to a bunnys head and screamed “choose”… with white knuckle fever, “DN” would reluctantly be the word muttered while crying and shaking in fear for the bunnys life…
It just has that mystical “something” and the moments of joy are more frequent, also the midi control over other gear brings something to the table that gets many quicker happy accidents than I get from the cv out to my small euro rack…
But it would have to be a dramatic grand gesture like a hostage situation or saving the world to make me choose…
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Thanks for all the posts, and I feel like I am leaning towards the Digitone right now after listening to various patches and jams of both the DN and A4.
I feel that eventually I will most likely own both, so it’s a matter of what is going to make it first in my set up, and I feel that DN may be that little ‘x’ factor that I’m looking for in my set up.
Have some time to think, but love the feedback, and gosh I really hope nobody ever harms that bunny.
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Both.
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With the initial DN OS I’d have said A4(and I did) the FX are deeper, there are a plethora of ways to twist the sound.
The one thing that the A4 has- parameter wise(internally) is its envelopes. If the DN has the same envelope modulation abilities as the A4- then it would be a powerhouse(also Trig slides: Feature Request)
I just recently sold an A4 mk1, while it’s a very capable synth, it’s hard to jive with unless you’re an expert. I find subtractive synthesis boring and predictable. Unless you have the sound that you’re looking for in mind, then you’re treading through the swamp if the synth doesn’t have a lot of sweet spots- which the A4 doesn’t have a lot of compared to other synths I’ve tried.
The DN’s recent update In regards to off tuning the operators was a massive extention to the sonic palette of the machine- made it more free to make complex ugly sounds instead of being stuck in a mostly pretty world. FM also makes thing unpredictable, along with the two mixes going on. Plenty of opportunity to find yourself in a pleasurable territory.
That’s been my experience with it, anyway
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true and I would love a modular Eurorack case with Akamie’s Castle a 4 FM operator synth.
Sold my A4-MK2 a few months ago, along with OT-MK2… needed to take a break away from stuff and needed the $$ for medical bills.
Just rebought an A4-Mk2 and got it today, plugged 'er in, and now I know why I missed it.
It is a very beautiful unique synth, it is full of inspiration and exploration. Love the thick sound. Even if it sits from time to time, I think its worth the investment to own this thing. I will get a Digitone again and OT-2 I am sure. The Elektron engineers are genius and original in their designs and thinking in my opinion.
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If you’d like to trade the MD for either one shoot me a PM.
You can get hpf and bpf for your minilogue xd. They are really nice additions…for 10$ You get 5 more filters. Have you looked at adding a few user osc’s and fx to the xd?
I’ve added a few user OSC’s for the XD, but seems like development of them have slowed down. It’s definitely a nifty machine, and I think these filters are going to help.
Thank you.
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I tried the Digitone, Digitakt and Analog 4 MK2. Bought the A4 MK2 and love it. The larger keys, better sound to my ears and feature to manage older gear and modular via CV was a winner for me. I have the FM packs for my A4 if I want FM synthesis.
Thanks for the offer,
the MD is definitely one of the staples in my setup though.
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I’d def go for the A4 over the DN.
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Nothing wrong with its fm feature, but it‘s really not comparable at all to digitone‘s phase modulation. Sounds completely different
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I agree but with space and cost budget had to pick one synth at the time and since I was planning to go with a future modular setup, wanted the CV functions of the A4. No regrets, A4 has great sound and will let me add modular synths to the equation for a full live setup. I did shows just with the A4 and sounds awesome live. Digitone is fun and good choice for FM but I would get the Digitone Keys to have a keyboard controller.
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