But the menus…shudders
Haha yeah it’s the opposite of a wysiwyg synth. The hardest part initially was memorizing what parameters are in which location. Some aren’t where you think where they would be. I have a lot of history with grooveboxes so submenus and hidden parameters isn’t a problem though. A simply laid out, knob per function synth is a good companion to AK imo, but if you’re only getting one synth and that’s what you’re after, you won’t be happy with AK.
1 Like
I bought my A4 two weeks ago. I have spent about a week with it. I have never owned Elektron gear before.
I was browsing the forum while working on a track entirely made with the A4, had to create an account to say, no definitely not. Sounds like you just bought the wrong piece of gear, I think you meant to buy a 8+ voice poly synth. A few friends said the same thing, then they came over and were totally blown away by its capabilities.
Here’s my view.
There is nothing on the market like it.
A single voice can play a 3 note chord with ease, with sound locks you can have an entire drum track on one of the four tracks, so there’s your pads and drums on two of the four tracks and we haven’t touched parameter locks yet. This is just a 4 voice synth yet you have a drum track, a 3 note pad track, two tracks left, it grooveboxes better then some grooveboxes.
Wack in an ext in, sequence some cv gear, add some long delays/reverb and then change patterns to completely different sounds instantly, that’s a hell of a lot more then 4 notes playing at the same time, even just from the a4. The workflow is inspiring.
I’ve used/owned a pretty long list of hardware and synths and know of most things on the market, there is still nothing that supersedes this or makes it dated in any way. Take away the sequencer/Overbridge other synths come close, but can still do things that no new synth can really do (pwm on all waveforms is just one example). There are a handful of synths on the market (Virus $$$) that offer something similar to Overbridge. There isn’t anything that lets you; Stream all individual voices + separate FX over USB while still using another soundcard as your main interface, route your DAW tracks straight through the entire analog signal path, or send your daw tracks through the reverb/delay/chorus with the push of a button. In effect your getting an outboard analog filterbank, analog overdrive, a nice reverb, delay, chorus for free, all via usb or real connections, all pretty much a click away with no setup, totally integrated with your DAW.
Imo this is the future, not out of date.
No regrets over here, I just want to get more Elektron gear. It incorporates seamlessly with a modern studio.
I’m getting more music done and songs sketched out then ever. Ableton is infinite voices and FX yet all that choice really slows things down and personally I find it very hard to stop working on projects and finish them. Now I can compose most or all of a tune on the A4 then still pipe it all straight into ableton in individual tracks over USB. Add some stuff from ableton, keep using it as a 4 voice analog poly plugin vst with all the perks that gives (1 click midi mapping, daw automation).
It’s all about how you use whats available, then the on paper limitations fade away, even still for me those limitations are a bonus. Look at the 909, jeff mills can hold a crowd of thousands in 2017 for half an hour with that one 30 year old box. Instruments don’t get dated imo. All are valuable and unique tools, some more useful to some then others.
My two cents.
12 Likes
Just for your curiosity listen lingouf quatuor solitaire
here : https://ant-zen.bandcamp.com/album/quatuor-solitaire
This man use only analog for this album .
6 Likes
I can tell you that by today it is still up to date 
5 Likes
I would encourage everyone to remove “out of date” from their synth vocabulary.
The only people who believe that synths can become outdated are the sales people ready to sell you a new synth.
Meanwhile, used Arp 2600s, TB-303s, Minimoogs, Synthis, Monomachines and more go for absolutely crazy prices. All of them could be considered “outdated” by some definition, yet people are outbidding each other to buy them.
It is valid to consider the A4/AK a bad fit for your setup, to dislike its workflow or not love its sound. Each of those are personal choices that no one but you can make. In the general case, the A4/AK are great synths with amazing features and some clear limitations. They are still supported by Elektron and still integrate nicely with a DAW unlike my “outdated” Virus, which is still very useful despite the abandonware TI software.
On my desk right now:
- Virus TI: outdated - TI software is no longer supported
- Analog Keys: “only” 4-voice poly
- Syntrx: a new interpretation of a very outdated synth
- Octatrack Mk2: maybe not outdated, but the sound is “terrible”
16 Likes
Out of date??
Name me something good thats in date. Its all just dust in the end.
4 Likes
The brie cheese I folded into my omelet this morning was definitely in-date. 
3 Likes
I’d love to see Elektron do an updated Analog Eight. I’d likely buy one.
1 Like
How can less be more? More is more!
more voices, more choices
1 Like
more choices, more faffing
To paraphrase Ronseal:
“It does exactly what it says on the tin”
The clue is in the name Analog Four, if you want a polysynth with more voices this ain’t the droid you’re looking for, pretty simple.
6 Likes
Prophet 08 was released in 2007. A4 5 years later. People still bought the A4
I have an A4. Also have an MC-707 and Jupiter Xm. That takes the pressure off and lets me really enjoy the A4 for what it does best, multiple interesting monophonic lines. I suggest pairing it with the MC-101, the best value in cheap polyphony.
3 Likes
No.
4 Likes
a stradivarius only has 4 voice for Hundreds of years，it cost billion these days，is it outdated？
good music never count by voice，if you by any chance learned classical Harmony theory，you will know 4 voice is the norm of all music.
3 Likes
…haha…what an outdated question…
4 Likes
You are so negative. 
The Analog four, synths, people, nature, dust, materia…everything is basically condensed energy, condensed light, formed by an eternal spirit.
Therefore an A4 can only be “outdated”, if your mind believes so.
Long answer:
I always took the A4 as a toolbox…it can be a polysynth, but also 1 monosynth plus a 3 voice polysynth, or four independed monosynths… Also…the two oscilators per voice lets you mimick more than one voice, by uses different turnings, so that with 2 or 3 or 4 voices, you can play 4 or 6 or 8 note chord sounds. Or…treat the A4 as a 4 stage multifilterbox, sequencable. Or use presetlocks to use it as a drum machine. You need more voices to play with both hands and long sustained notes? Than this might be not the right tool for it. But this doesn´t mean that it´s outdated.
1 Like
The point i was making is is the term “out of date” is irrelevant as time is a man made construct. There is no beginning or end. But thats way just theory. And mostly thats all we have to go on. The A4 is without time just like everything else.
2 Likes