Hi everyone,
I know there are some post about this for the MKI (which i own). Thinking about upgrading to the MKII. One reason to do that is the hope that they fixed the external in level control issue (or the lacking of it) and made it hopefully similar to the four/keys approach.
Can someone confirm if its the same (very low input level which you can not adjust) or different than on the MKII.
Much appreciated!!
ICE
yes- because it’s still a direct analog connection between the inputs and (just before) compressor (the A4 isn’t analog through, it’s digitised at the inputs) - the AR in level isn’t low input, it’s high headroom, it allows hot signals to come in unclipped and seems about right for some other Elektrons - either way it is what it is, it sure would’ve been nice to have gain for those actually low level gears but that’s something folk have to remedy as per Mk1s
Thanks a lot, thats a bummer. I think it is def low. I have to set the other levels to about 35% to be in the same volume range. Thanks for your quick reply!
I am also MK1 user!
this is also a problem for me. so I was looking for some cheap and mobile amplifier to boost the signal cause I want to use AR compressor (which I really love) with my A4 
so I came around with 2 of them:
# Behringer P2:
# M-Audio Bass Traveler Battery Powered Amplifier
the Behringer just arrived and I hooked it up (via phones out and and also L/R for testing purpose) and after the first impressions I have to say this is a big improvement!
waiting for M-Audio to arrive and then I will make a decision which I will keep.
maybe this will help!
Thanks a lot!
Can you let me know which you liked to muist?
Since I have to wait for M-Audio here are some pictures and some thoughts for Behringer:
(AR for scale)
what I like:
you get a 6.3mm input connector (XLR combo) so you just need one adapter from 3.5mm to 6.3mm for Rytm input.
Design is fine, lightweight, portable, using 2 AAA Batteries (can’t say anything about battery life so far)
Output is next to the volume knob - also fine
weight incl. batteries: 170grams
when I recieve the M-Audio I will give you an update.
(Rytm for scale)
M-Audio is smaller than the Behringer but also includes a builtin battery - for sure you have the option to power that device via USB (powerbank or similiar) but having spare batteries with me is more convenient for me.
the sound:
Behringer keeps the signal as clean as possible - you can drive the gain/volume until a little bit distortion is created (could be nice for some synth tracks) - so in general the Behringer is going to be “louder” than M-Audio
M-Audio give also the option to have an equalizer (FLAT / MID / HIGH - is marked as BOOST) - IMO this cause even on FLAT settings some boosts in bass - which I don’t like - wanna boost something I will use the Analog Heat 
it sounds a little bit to much espacially when you know the synths sounds w/o boost.
M-Audio you have to use 2 adapaters (3.5mm - 6.3mm)
Behringer only one since you got combo XLR.
for sure M-Audio is smaller and less weight but only 3.5mm and bass boost 
so Behringer is the winner and I will keep it.
hope this helps to find a solution.
and thanks anyway. I was planning to look for some amplifiers. but I just forgot it over time (appr. 1 year) and then I saw your post and memories came back.
I have also to thank you to give the hint! ^^
so when you set the switch to stereo, it must fix the expected phase for the default mono input situation then ?
The issue may be that it is indeed offering gain on low level devices, but what if you had a moderate level from another Elektron box, do you have any headroom left bearing in mind this is designed to drive headphones and presumably not deafen anyone - so maybe the output levels aren’t huge
couldn’t find any documentation on teh specs, is it conceivable that it’s even just attenuating ? is it definitely applying gain - so when it’s distorting, is that output level louder than when bypassing the device
one last one, presumably a mono balanced input is distributed to both L & R, can’t imagine it wouldn’t be?
It’s a nice size for this application, albeit conceived for a different purpose - it’s about the price of a behringer entry mixer, so that could serve up a robust amplified signal, at the expense of being conveniently small
I still think i’ll try to find a fixed gain DIY circuit to mock up for this job when hooking up lower output gears, just to make life easier - but then again, like you, i’ve mulled this for a few years too and not progressed it
using A4 phones out --> switch set to stereo
using A4 R or L out --> switch set to mono
output in both cases --> stereo
A4 is the only box I want to use for AR compressor so this is the best workaround for me since I run all my boxes with power banks
I also have a small mixer 8 inputs - but it is bigger and needs additional powersupply.
thanks, interesting. is this worthwile?
in other words, does using the compressor of the rytm for the A4 (with this behringer device) really make things audibly better compared to using both rytm and a4 in a mixer?
Taking my Eurorack inputs on the MK2 I’ve mostly gotten around this by reducing track volumes on the AR and using compression settings and makeup gain to get things feeling right. This was something I came across on another thread here as a solution for low input levels and for the type of stuff I make it works well, though it does take a bit of tweaking to avoid clipping and such.
short answer: jop!
I got the device since 4 days - I had this idea appr. 2 years ago but forgot all the time about it.
Since I own it I don’t want to miss it!
this is the actuall workaround but I don’t want to mess with my track volumes since all is gain staged 
and sounds fine!
Thank you so much for all the effort and comparison. It really helped.
You are welcome!
I suspect that the low ext input perception is due to the master distortion sounding so good and boosting the rytm machines only. Most use it I’ll bet.
So avoiding distortion (using overdrive + amp level instead) solved the problem in my case.
The distortion seems like more of a live oriented feature, if the rytm it’s self sounds relatively weak.
