Introducing Analog Four & Analog Rytm MKII

News
#650

It’s pretty telling of how important elektron machines to so many of us by the way in which this announcement set the hearts a flutter. I mean, who hear can honestly say that seeing the “news” this morning, didn’t instantly raise your heartbeat - whether a current owner or not?

There are winners and losers in these new moves. If you invested in say a Rytm and A4 and some sort of racking device for full retail price 30 days ago, I can’t fault you for feeling like your money invested took a bit of a hit - it did. If you sold off a mark 1 Rytm or A4 recently and got a good price and are waiting to decide whether to purchase a Digitakt or Octatrack mark2, then you’re probably feeling pretty lucky right now. Regardless of all that and when emotions settle, I don’t think anyone can fault Elektron for doing what they do - selling great machines. And in the end of the day, there are now more options, including options people have been asking for for years. This can only be a good thing! And of course those pointing out that if you were happy making music with what you had yesterday, not being happy today is illogical are completely correct.

I find these mark 2s exciting. I own an AK and AR at the moment. The AK is going nowhere, but I may well be compelled by the AR to get the sampling, full USB bandwidth, display and new layout. But I will certainly wait….

Which brings me to my one concern that I can’t shake. I’m pretty worried about the pace with which Elektron is embarking on new projects, what this means for current and older boxes, and where their style of communication intersects with all this. As in, we know good and well at this point that we can’t count on getting solid answers to any questions that we might deem pertinent to planning future purchases. And how well (and quickly) will all devices be supported? The case in point for me that really speaks to this concern is with the Heat. I purchased it (and loved it!!!) but there were a few OB related issues that affected the functionality as I had planned on using it. I emailed Elektron support and was told that they’d have fixes for the bugs. I had a sense that perhaps this wouldn’t happen quickly, so I returned the Heat within my 30 days fully planning on purchasing another when the bug was squashed. That was well over 6 months ago and to my knowledge the bug is still alive. This is worrisome to me.

Another area of concern is OB. I’m a heavy user of it and have a system that works 100% as it should. And I love the FUCK out of it - it’s incredible! But I have a nagging worry that I’m going to be trapped in a situation where I’ll be afraid to make updates on my Mac as doing so may brick OB. And how aggressively will Elektron work on the free OB six months from now? 2 years? For this reason, I’m actually beginning to feel like this OB premium thing may be good in that it will commit them to making sure it works for each upcoming OS update in a more aggressive and timely manner. One would certain hope…

Who knows? I will certainly wait and see. But in the larger picture…damn, congrats Elektron…you have officially never made or announced a product that I don’t in some manner fundamentally desire :slight_smile:

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#651

You missed my point. I love niche expensive products - and yes they are expensive. You don’t have to give OB away free (I never thought they did actually). But you can roll the dev cost into selling the product or other products. Its just strange we went several years being beta testers and now its a separate product. That kind of sucks man. Just my opinion.

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#652

Ok good things come in 3’s. Where’s the AK mk II?
Looking forward to seeing that

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#653

I was thinking the exact same thing, and I had commented on this before in one of the DT threads - I am not fond of companies that sell hardware which is artificially limited by software. A few people argued that this is ok for a machine like the Digitakt (“entry level”, “only pay for what you use”), but the AR and A4 are flagship synths that cost a pretty penny. I will be majorly pissed off if Elektron decides to apply the same charge model to the legacy AR & A4 (I haven’t finished reading the whole thread, so perhaps someone has already dug up an official statement).

#654

The proof is in the pudding. Have expanded sample management for Digitakt, etc. already arrived? There were also rumours that this would result in better sample management for the AR MKI. I have a sneaking suspicion that this might now only be available for the premium OB.

#655

Yeah Elektron’s OB premium plan seems pretty ‘grey’ at the moment :wink:

(I know I know…I am working on new material)

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#656

I now really like even more my AR and A4 MKI

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#657

My only “problem” is that now instead of the DT I’m thinking about the Rytm…
A4 and OT MKIs are staying.

#658

I hate the design… Looks really good, except for the “wings”, but it’s like they’re making shit up as they go along. Why don’t they just sit down a settle on a design and then build all their boxes in the same basic format. Heat and Digitakt are one format. Heat has different buttons. New OT is a brick and its counterparts has this new slanted design. Why not make OT slanted too? Different colours. Charging for overbridge… ay ay ay… Meanwhile they’re already pressed in producing these boxes. They’re sold out 6 months at a time… Why make it more difficult to build products? Someone call Gordon Ramsay. The Elektron menu needs a revamp by a pro… Something funny in the water in Gothenburg no doubt.

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#659

The way I see it, everyone who bought an Analog MK1 was paying for OB, whether they used it or not.

Now, those who don’t need or want OB, don’t have to pay for it.

Sure, it was a selling point on the MK1s. But I never use it, and don’t plan on selling my MK1 to recover that value.

I didn’t spring for the turbo on my Subaru either. Glad it came in two flavors. With and without turbo.
Pay for what you want.

Explications that it is a scam (as you did earlier) is problematic. All the information is available to consumers.

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#660

Even though the OT gets the MKii tag, it’s got the MKi chassis, which is telling…

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#661

Doesn’t the AK already have the upgraded sound for the bass? I wonder if this just brings the A4 sound up to the same as the AK as far as the bass.
The A4 mk2 does have a new distortion that the AK does not I think.

#662

I need demos.

#663

LOVE this even though I’m not a fan of chip tune :sounds :smile:

#664

It’s the miles, not the years. Hard being in the leader of the resistance

#665

I know jokes aren’t allowed so I will try and be more serious in future
Let’s hug it out :male_couplekiss:
And by the way a lot of people are questioning OB premium, also how it will effect mk I owners. Do they get the premium version of OB, indefinitely? And if so it seems a strange move by Elektron to charge for OB premium for the same, but revised flagship products? I can understand for the cheaper DT

#666

They promised us this transfer app that digitakt uses

#667

I’ve got no problem at all with Elektron’s strategy or timing. And I love my mk1 AR, don’t get me wrong. The issue for me is my own purchase timing. Another user put it well that there is a camp that benefits, and another that takes a financial hit. I’m in the latter camp. I stand by the statement that a trade in program would be nice, but I by no means expect it. It’s all first world problems anyway :slight_smile:

#668

Thank you finally! That was always my the main reason why i sold me an A4 three times. Guess what… because of the sound i want it a fourth time…:wink:

#669

Well, I beg to differ. Overbridge was not part of the Analog MK1, it was rolled out a long time after customers were able to buy the hardware, wasn’t it? (http://www.musicradar.com/reviews/tech/elektron-overbridge-1-0-629874)

Your analogy about buying a turbo model is also wrong, as you didn’t buy a Subaru with an installed turbo, which can be activated upon paying ~6-8% of the original purchase price of the car. You made a clear choice about which model you wanted, and now you are essentially stuck with it.

My personal concern is not so much in regards to the MKII models, as I am not planning to buy one, it is rather about how their new OB business model will affect OB capabilities for the MKIs. Will there be continued development of the non-premium but yet full-featured OB, or are MKI owners stuck with 1.15.0? How good is Elektron’s software engineering? Forking software into two major branches is not easy to manage, forks can quickly evolve into very different code bases making code maintenance and bug hunting twice as difficult!

What I really hope for is that Elektron will simply make OB Premium available for download to everyone, and that the software can recognise if a A4/AR/AK MKI is connected and automatically unlock itself.

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