im relatively new in the elektron world but i loved the worklflow right away. I own a digitone and a digitakt, which i both “master” quite good, after practicing a lot and after studying the manuals in every detail. As i’m not much of a sampling guy and as i wanted something analog i decided to relplace the Digitakt with a Analog4mk2. Mainly because it was very cheap and because i wanted one of the “big elektron machines”
It’s a great peace of gear, but frankly i’m a little bit disappointed, giving the fact that in my opinion it’s almost twice the price of the digitakt/digitone, but not twice that “cool”, …with those 4 tracks and 4 voices.
My question: do you think that i got this feeling just because i’m new to the A4 and i have to give it (and me) some time to learn it, or should i go back to something like Digitakt plus some analog synth ?
oh, and i’m about to get some eurorack stuff, for which the A4’s cv outs would be great.
Apologize my crappy english and btw… I LOVE THIS FORUM 
Before you bought the A4, didn’t you know that it only has 4 voices/channels?
Either you accept this fact and enjoy your machine, or sell it and get whatever. It’s not magically going to become “twice as cool”.
Or is it’s sound not what you expected?
I am kinda in the same boat. The DT is my first Elektron machine and I got the A4 mk2 when it first came out (still waiting for the DN argh!!) I think in comparison the A4 workflow is less ‘immediate’ but much more elaborate and that’s why it might seem a bit underwhelming coming from the DT. But I still like my A4, the sound is superb! (I love analog!) It’s just needs a bit more attention to get used to at least in my case.
Yeah- the A4 workflow is not as streamlined as the DT also it’s just completely different. But it’s a great sounding analog synth- you just gotta invest the time into it- program the performance macros
If you want to get in to eurorack and want an analog synth to compliment it or to have a basis, I’d suggest getting something like a Dominion 1 for about the same money as an analog4. But you have to know before hand what you want to do with such a synth. I started a series on getting into modular and released a third video in that series yesterday showing off the dominion a bit. It’s about why getting an analog synth first is actually a great idea. However, I’d buy a Neutron or a Dominion 1 rather than an analog4, but that’s my personal opinion Hope this video is of any help.
Cheers,
Dave
I think the 4 voices of the A4 should not be u derestimated
Sound locks (now with a screen display bug, But still damn good)
Massive kicks, snares, hh, etc
I love the parameters, prefer this over all engines
Less immediate, but deeper
But a lot to learn
I feel new to synthesis, for a few years already
The A4 is a great synth, I bought it as my first ‘serious synth’… Honestly it’s very versatile, you can use it as a polyphonic 4 voice synth or can use each track, or enable unison for a tougher deeper sound.
I wasn’t able to get nice things out of it until I got really familiar with it’s capabilities and workflow, it took me about a year to be very comfortable with it, to be honest when I first purchased it the thing I felt is that the original patches don’t show all of its might, they tend to be a little focused on a few genres, but once I got familiar I was able to use them in much more ways than I imagined.
I wouldn’t replace this synth at all, first for it’s live capability, and second for the sounds it’s able to make and the ways you can manipulate them, and it’s really easy to make sounds from scratch on it, way easier than other advanced synths like Prophets or moogs for example, it can teach you how to dig deeper into synthesis in a simpler way.
I first felt as some other people have mentioned online that it makes you kind of stick to a few styles sound wise, but that turned out to be totally untrue, I have now finished a 40 minute live set of kindof ‘techno’ music that I couldn’t have imagined this machine can make, I’ve watched plenty of demos and performances by people on it, but none of it resembled the sound that I was making, the point is, you can get your unique sound out of this, you just have to get familiar with it. (that’s if we’re thinking about the live-aspect) if you want to use it as a desktop synth to record tracks from, this makes the possibilities way wider, especially with overbridge.
I have a Digitakt as well, this does not compare, A4 has a different workflow, and waaaay more capabilities as a synth, not mentioning the deeper, nicer sound. You can even use the drums on it, I honestly think its drums are comparable to the Rytm, as everything is analog, it sounds way better than anything I used on the Digitakt, I used to lay down just a kick, snare and hihat, and it would sound like its coming from an expensive analog drum-machine. I’m just saying all of these things to give you an idea of the things it can do.
Don’t forget about the p-locks, these make wonders, and are rarely found on other synths.
For examples, you can check out my instagram, around 90% of the stuff there are done with the A4 (synth-wise). check it out
I think you would have been happier with a RYTM. I prefer the Digitone over the A4, but then I’ve never been into ‘analog’ synths. I mean I just don’t hear the analog difference in mono or poly synths, whilst I do feel there is a difference between analog drums and samples/vsts. So I would keep the A4 only because it does drums really well but still get the RYTM because it does drums better plus samples.
You exchanged an 8 voice sampler for a 4 voice analog poly synth and you’re surprised things are different? Both machines are very capable… …of very different things. The A4MK2 has way more features, playing samples not being one of them. I think you have this feeling, because you didn’t research what to expect from the A4MK2. Also, it takes a long time to make it shine, as it’s a very deep machine. You’ll find plenty of help getting there on these forums. You’ll find equally many different opinions ranging from Digitakt is 13.765 times as cool as A4MK2 to A4MK2 is 76.174 times as cool as Digitakt and guess what - all of them are right.
might have been better to switch to the rytm
i knew it it had only 4 voices. I just expected it to be more “immediate”. I am going to keep it - i love how it sounds!
yeah maybe… but i didn’t NEED it. It’s just… i found it for 780 bucks (sightly used) so i got it right away, as “investment” without thinking too much… the rytm ist 1600 euros over here…
yeah, you proably nailed it. as said, i WAS informed about it’s features, abd i just got it because i was able to find it that cheap.
it just didn’t have that first wow-effect like dn dt had. I’m going to keep and learn it
thanks a lot for your long reply, very useful thoughts !
well i used the digitakt mainly as a drum-machine with loads of drum samples that i’ve transfered to it. would have made more sense getting a rytm, but it was too expensive. Just got the A4 right away 'cos of the cheap price i was fortunate to find. im not HATING it i was just a little disappointed.
i guess right now i’m in the same situtation like all these people which are getting gear, without any knowlege - they make me very angry usually, and now i’m the same stupid ass****
but as said: it was a great deal, so i got it right away
thanks a lot man, will watch the vid asap !!
oh… so IT IS a bug ?! i was confused ! thnx
Ive had kind of the opposite- OT2 is my first elektron and I am constantly surprised by how deep it can go - I find the architecture of it very clever provided you have ideas about how to use it. So many amazing ideas on this forum from different starting points. This week I got a digitone and it’s a cool little machine but already I am trying OT functionality which it doesnt have. Not disappointed because DN is fine but when you see how deep elektron can go its an adjustment to a more limited system. Your experience is opposite but similar, A4 stick with it I say.
i will !
Find the sweet spots.
The A4 is an amazing synth!