I understand a digression solely to the JDXA is off topic.
But, to keep it on topic, I’d add that the JDXA is the greatest companion ever to the A4 for anyone who is looking for a way to expand the keys range and hands on functionality.
For all the gear I’ve bought over the years, if I had to choose the best matching pair, I’d definitely say the A4mk2/JDXA is it.
Too much adjustment because forum members do things wrong, is very annoying and in many cases unnecessary.
Appreciate the feedback, that answered my question. As it stands, the AK is nearly too much for me even standalone, but that XA does have some stuff I’d love to have alongside.
I knew it was slightly OT but I was asking about it specifically as it goes with an Analog Keys… maybe I didn’t mention the AK enough in my post.
The Analog Keys is hard to top on feature density for modulation
Factor in the price, and no Roland keyboard stands a chance.
As someone who has an A4mk2, an Analog Keys and a JD-XA, I completely disagree with this. It might be more money, but the A4mk2/JD-XA combo beats the AK hands down (and it should really).
Personally, I just get don’t on with the mk1 format after getting so used to the mk2.
I can’t imagine they’d do it, but I’d love an AKmk2 (with 6 voices and 49 keys please).
That’s fair. Although sonically, the AK and A4mkII are extremely close (and more or less have the same featureset). The only significant / objective differences I’m aware of are in the UI/UX. I’ve already made part of that up by installing an OLED screen on my AK. Doesn’t fix the encoder speed / less legible screen elements, but it’s much more readable. (Edit: and has the individual outputs plus the adjusted overdrive that the MkII has)
I don’t disagree with you on AKmkII, that would be pretty amazing. I meant as a single, standalone 4 voice analog synth, I still don’t think anything touches A4 mk1 or AK for modulation capabilities within the price range. I understand the pairing of A4mkII with JD-XA obviously would beat a single AK 
I can relate and confirm that. I have add the A4 mkI, the AK, the A4 MKII - I sell the A4 MKII later I bought an A4 mk1 very cheap and even if people from there warn me… oh boy yep very hard when you use the MK2 to come back to the MK1
Not the same as Mechanical Hard Drive to SSD and back to Mechanical, of course it’s not that same comparison.
But I feel the precision on encoders, the screen and the improvements in the design and analog circuits is more than welcome. When you are used to it’s very weird to get your hands on the MK1 again. I think it’s more the encoder precision and the screen… the biggest
And yeah, I was to forget the individual outputs for the 4 tracks damn useful 
Sure, I’ll post more about it in the JD-XA thread once I have both in the studio hooked up to each other.
I mentioned the JD-XA in this thread because I’ve read that people like to use the JD-XA as a controller for A4. I’m thinking, why settle to merely control the A4/AK, lets get the audio mixed into it as well. JD into AK and AK into JD, twice the textures, twice the madness
I can also relate about the interface changes; I get tripped up all the time moving between AK & A4MK2, but I treat them as two very different instruments, even though the sound is nearly identical. I like sound design on the A4MK2, but nothing beats playing/tweaking on the AK with it’s Aftertouch keyboard & the joystick.
Also, I think the A4 is aging (and will probably continue to) really well and it is confirmed by Reverb’s upwards price trends on second hand A4s MK2, starting last November:
A4 & just intonation. Tuning in cents for those interested.
Awesome @ligature
Thanks for sharing
Ditto, that’s very helpful! That’s something I’ve been curious about before but was too lazy to dig into. I’ll definitely be trying it out!
I’ve been eyeing the A4 for years but held back for various reasons, only 4 tracks, elektron workflow is too convoluted, people said the sound isn’t great, etc. But I finally got one and oh man I wish I had bought this years ago.
I went through a period of sequencing modular and monosynths with analog step sequencers and improvising on top with another synth and recording the whole thing (all old synths w no midi or patch memory). But I always wished I could transpose everything, or save the whole setup and recall it. Well A4 is it, a whole analog workstation, almost modular-in-a-box.
It’s so much easier to use than the OT. One of my big hesitations was that I don’t like working in little 4 bar chunks and having to piece everything together. Well, I never realized until I just randomly tried it that you can chain together multiple patterns and then live record on top of that!
There are so many weird misconceptions about it. It’s not meant to be played as a poly. Not good for pads, presets suck. I guess the previous owner of mine already installed all of the free sound packs from Elektron, but there are a lot of amazing sounds on there and it’s really fun to just play it polyphonically with a midi keyboard. I feel like you could score a whole movie just with the presets, there are so many interesting textures, strange effect sounds, and beautiful pads. But I’ve also been able to make great sounds of my own really quickly from an init patch.
So many cool musical features too like transposing in scale, direct jump, and that other second page on the arp where you set the length and offsets. That one can really take you into some weird modular style polyrhythmic territory.
So yes, it’s definitely incredible and deep!
I bought a used MK2 which should arrive tomorrow, it’ll be interesting to see what I can do with it. My plan is to use it as portable composition device for rhythm tracks and pair it with a resurected Sidstation (powered by a ripcord). It’ll be interesting to see how it can handle guitars too.
I tried it with guitar a bit but got lazy and just plugged it in direct, so it didn’t work too well. I tried cranking the overdrive and sending it to the neighbor track and cranking that drive, but it all just sounded kind of thin and noisy. I need to try again with another pedal in front to boost it up properly.
