Midi Controller for A4; Roland Aira System-1?

Elektron Gear Analog Keys/Four
1

Sorry for a new topic, But read lots of interesting items on here recently about moving from A4 to AK of which I am seriously thinking about being an A4 user. I spend time commuting most mornings and some days I spend what seems like far too much time trying to think about if I should sell the A4 and go for a Keys or buy a decent compact midi controller as space is limited; Novation sl49, Arturia Keylab, Korg tacktile amongst others.

Recently I am taken with the Aira System 1 with deals on them and the plug out might sound decent with an A4 too. I am aware of course that this would be only 25 keys as opposed to the 37. But has anyone tried this combo… System 1 controlling A4 through MIDI. Does it function as expected? Are you happy with it generally? even as rudimentary controller??

Thanks for time on this and I welcome any comments.

2

System 1 has no velocity, or aftertouch. Not a great controller at all.

I’m looking at the Novation Bass Station 2 for the purpose of kb for A4.
Has velocity, aftertouch, sends poly midi notes for chords.
Solid bass synth to boot. About $350 on the used market.

4

QuNexus?

Bass station II is really cool.

Microbrute?
You have keyboard to pilot the A4
Cv/gate and filter to get piloted by the A4
Basically an additional voice and a controller :+1:

5

Only if you’re using a midi host. as there is no midi output on Microbrute aside from the USB…

Microbrute midi hardware spec:
[ul]
[li]MIDI In with 5 pin DIN connector[/li]
[li]USB MIDI In/Out[/li]
[/ul]
Also, no aftertouch on micro.

Minibrute, on the other hand, has MIDI output, and aftertouch

6

My bad. I was thinking minibrute indeed.

1 Like
7

+1 Minibrute. I will use midi out straight in MM. Very fun and immediate synth too, imho, for a beginner like myself. Don’t be fooled by it’s timid looks. It’s a beast!

8

Bass Station is probably better than Minibrute in many aspect BUT you don’t have the CV/Gate input to get sequenced by A4.

9

so for system-1<->a4 combo…system-1 has fixed CCs and A4 also…so when turning the Cutoff of the System-1 you will change some other parameters than Cutoff on the A4 for example…not the way you would expect.

10

I don’t have an A4 (yet!), but my Novation X-Station makes a near-perfect controller for the Monomachine, and from what I know should work equally as well with the A4. The biggest downsides are that you cannot map the Y axis down (although I have yet to find a controller that allows this), and the XY pad is pretty much useless. Otherwise, it’s easy to make your own templates, the keybed feels nice and has velocity and aftertouch, and it’s nice ‘n’ knobby for control. It also works as an audio/midi interface for iOS, which is nice. As for the synth engine itself…from the 20 minutes I’ve spent with it, it’s a decent VA with tons of trance presets.

A similar option would be the Remote SL series.

11

I’ve tried a couple of MIDI controllers out. For me the Ableton Push has been the best. I had to go in the midi settings and change some things because the knobs on the push where changing parameters inside the A4. I’m sure there are a ton of you guys using the Push with Elektron gear and other synths. How do some of you use your push?