I recently decided to invest in a ‘serious’ analog synth. I am a professional musician, I write film music and also perform live (here is my website for anyone interested: http://aswefallintostatic.tumblr.com )
Anyway, i do a lot of improvising and speed ease of workflow is important to me for coming up with ideas on the fly. Normally i would tend towards something ‘knobby’, however the complete package of the Elektron sequencer, fx and synth is attractive. I have in the past owned an Octatrack and yes it was amazing but it just took too long to do anything with it, every function required several button presses and in general it was too fiddly for on the fly creative work (for me, anyway, i dont really pre prepare whole tracks, i prefer to come up with them on the spot). I have an MD (tho i am selling it to fund an A4/AK) and i like its workflow, so the Elektron way of doing things is not alien to me. Anyway,i was wondering if you guys could help me with a few things?
the main one, does the A4 of the AK have a faster workflow? I would use the A4 with a keyboard but im talking about things like ease of changing patch and making sequences. I know that the AK is aimed as a ‘performance’ keyboard, but aside from actually having an keyboard and a joystick (not necessary for me) i am having a hard time working out what (if any) the difference in workflow is.
MIDI sync, both units appear to have a MIDI out, i would want to use it to send clock data to a looper, but i read a few things about how it couldn’t trigger MIDI, is this just external notes or is the whole unit not capable of acting as a master clock etc…?
Build quality. a few of my MD encoders are a bit past it and the whole thing is less than 10 years old. I want a synth that will be reliable for the next 20+ years, not just for the next 3…
Arp - easy to use? or is it too feature rich?
Alternatives? I have been looking at a Juno, DSI Prophet and also some 80’s synths. Im more looking for making pads and atmospheres than writing a vangelis soundtrack…
I’d say the A4/AK/AR all have a faster and more immediate workflow than the OT (sold mine, used to have a MD, now own an A4 and a AR).
The analog boxes have the same dedicated A-H bank select buttons as the MD which were missing from the OT, and feature very well implemented Chain/Song modes that are way better than what’s available on the MD and OT, especially in a live/improvisational context.
I don’t think there’s really a difference between the A4 and AK in terms of workflow except that the AK gives you a proper keyboard built-in. If you have a good MIDI master keyboard (which I assume you do), the there’s not really a difference except that you miss out on the fancy per-key LEDs on the A4.
MIDI sync (start/stop and clock) works fine, both in and out. The analog boxes have pretty complete MIDI support when you want to use the “expander style”, but there’s absolutely no way to get anything from the internal sequencer out as MIDI. The A4 is a great master clock.
Build quality is as good as it gets. The encoders should be better than a first-generation MD, but I don’t know if they’ll last 20 years if you use then really heavily.
The arp is easy to use. It has some nice features, but they won’t get in the way.
I don’t think there’s any real alternative on the market right now. Keep in mind that the A4/AK makes the most sense when you use it as 4 mono analog voices in a single box with a great step sequencer and an integrated mixer and excellent effects.
If you want a big analog poly for pad and string chords, then you might want to look somewhere else.
Hi, ive not tried the AK, but i do want to replace my A4 with an AK (47!)
Since the polyphony has been released ive found some amazing sounds on the a4 which i play with my Nord keyboard
But its a pain to set up in the midi chain, and it would be far more simple for me to just have the AK and ditch the Nord, plus id have the joystick, and be much closer to the knobs to beable to fiddle the nobs whilst im playing with myself.
(ok i formulated that part on purpose :))
In my set up the A4 is slaved to the OT, so the midi IN is taken, so i have to put my keyboard into the OT in, and set up a midi channel, which is all a massive hassle
So the keys would be better for me
However if your not interested in playing the keyboard (just programming) or the joystick expression,
Then id reckon the A4 is a better bet, cos its more compact, lightweight, transportable,
There is apparently not any technical difference between the 2 models
I have spent the afternoon trawling forums and am finding people who are pro and agains both of them for more or less the same reasons so it seems to largely be persona preference!
Im leaning towards the A4 due to portability and price. @rael, i want it to be the master clock module so sound like adding i might avoid your MIDI woes!
Out of interest, does anyone know if:
The A4 has got multimap? The demos of the AK make this look like a really useful tool for laying down drums. I cant see a button on the front of the A4 that has it.
how do you do sound selection on the A4? Seems like live thats going to be useful to change sounds between tracks etc…
how comprehensively can i access functions on the A4 via midi (for example if the above two functions are buried deep in the A4 but i could just assign a controller to do them…)
The A4 has got multimap? The demos of the AK make this look like a really useful tool for laying down drums. I cant see a button on the front of the A4 that has it
It does, in a menu.
how do you do sound selection on the A4? Seems like live thats going to be useful to change sounds between tracks etc…
A couple of ways, the fastest being a double tap on the track button to
how comprehensively can i access functions on the A4 via midi (for example if the above two functions are buried deep in the A4 but i could just assign a controller to do them…)
You can set program changes to change patches. Not sure if you can change multimaped stuff via midi…
I sold my my A4 for an AK and I’m very happy with it. Having everything in one unit is great. Super fast and a nice ergonomic layout. I didn’t have a controller I was fond of so it works great for me. I find the individual outs a major plus in the studio. Being able to separate kick and bass elements form the main stereo outs really helps.
If the price difference isn’t an issue you should get the Analog Keys over the Analog 4.
As far as workflow goes, having a real keyboard obviously helps. You also get the mappable joystick for adding more expression to your performances, and a jog wheel for easier menu navigation (important for quickly scrolling through your sounds!).
In the studio, the individual outputs will give you more flexible recording options, and the Analog Keys supposedly has a better low end over the Analog 4. However, from reading people’s experiences on the forum, the difference is unnoticeable.
The only real advantage I can think of for the Analog 4 is its portability, but in person the analog Keys really isn’t that big at all.
IMO, advantages of AK over A4 are: outs and keys (joystick if you don’t have a good controller). As for scrolling of presets, push-turn the encoder for fast scrolling on the A4.
