It seems like the Korg Volca Keys has some spare CPU left to do midi note out (with a little hardware mod)…
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I’m looking forward to Overbridge.
This idea that Elektron is trying to subvert it’s users into buying more Elektron gear or stop losing sales by not implementing MIDI is silly. Where do you guys come up with this conspiracy rubbish?
I didn’t buy Elektron to get out of the PC, I bought it to enhance my studio experience and because I like the sound. This notion that anyone who buys hardware is not going to use a computer is pretty assuming.
No MIDI, boo hoo, why did you buy a A4 then? If all you want was MIDI out then there is a heap of other equipment that can do that.
My prediction is that the a4 will eventually get midi out. There is no technical hurdle to do this - it’s purely strategic - they want the OT to be the midi king yet there’s none available. Obviously they can choose any strategy they want but from a users perspective it’s bullshit.
There Must be some way to get a midi stream from the a4?
I think also that there is a more deliberate strategy at play and overbridge is going to pull it all together. Remember when the a4 wasn’t polyphonic? Same thing with midi out.
I agree with the title of this thread.
I’m having major tuning/scaling issues still with the CV out, and if I could simply switch to midi I would. There’s no other sequencer out there that programs as easily as this one imho.
This one glaring omission has me considering selling the device. and just sequencing from my Octatrack which is a PAIN IN THE ASS to program.
ARe the tuning / scaling issues an issue with all a4s? I havent used it for that as yet and was planning for it to be the head of the sequencing CV table.well with expert sleepers - a4 sans computer
Read this thread for more info:
http://www.elektronauts.com/t/a4-cv-out-is-waaaay-off/6933/57842
Haven’t checked it myself recently, but I don’t recall there being any problems once the volts/octave setting is set to the correct value for the target gear.
e.g. Moog is not exactly 1.0 volts per octave, it’s actually 0.97 - this is a know bug/feature, you can find details on the Moog forums.
The internal sequencer does not use MIDI.
There is no hidden MIDI sequencer inside the Analog Four.
Every parameter has 127 values. Why do that if the sequencer isn’t using midi.
It’s handy if you want to control the parameters from the outside world of computers and MIDI control devices.
Oh, and they have 128 values. 
dimmeys and forges barguane protocol perhaps? if not using midi internally, 0-127 seems coarse… perhaps more is yet to be revealed? MR. cryptic? the suspense is stupefying 
Just my 2 cents on this ongoing discussion.
One day, Elektron came out with the +drive. Now I have a lot more space to save my work. If I want to do the same on my computer, I have to install more memory. But no one has upgraded the memory of my analog four. So what happend?
Easy answer. Elektron decided to bring out the A4 with a slightly limited OS to handle only a part of the bigger memory, which was installed from the beginning. They planned to do this, but they run into some problems with memory management. So the limited version was shipped, and with an update later, the whole memory was set free. Great strategy. Awesome.
Now, summer 2014, we are waiting for the Overdrive. One feature of the Overdrive is to send the four voices to my DAW. It brings an important feature which is called single out for every voice. They do that via USB.
Lets keep in mind, that the Analog Four is an analog synthesizer. You need an analog to digital converter (ADC) to do this. For every voice! An ADC is hardware (like the extended memory for the +drive). But I dont’t think Elektron will ask me to send in my A4 to expand the unit with 4 ADC. Why not? Easy answer. They are already installed since the first delivery one and a half year before.
Elektron knows what features the unit should have in the future. But they also know, that making stable and error free software is a hard job, which takes it time. The best decision a company can do in this case is, to ship a “nearly” perfect product, with a lot of cool features (but not “all” features they planned to do), and sell like hell, while the dev’s make a great product perfect.
If this is true, we all get MIDI out in the future. And i really appreciate this, because i like it to connect my Mopho and my SlimPhatty with my beloved A4, and with my Electribe (in the future an Octatrack) i have an incredible set up for any live event.
So please, let this be true …
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The internal sequencer does not use MIDI.
There is no hidden MIDI sequencer inside the Analog Four.
Every parameter has 127 values. Why do that if the sequencer isn’t using midi.
It’s handy if you want to control the parameters from the outside world of computers and MIDI control devices.
Oh, and they have 128 values. [/quote]
Perhaps you can answer a question for me then. Will Overbridge feature some sort of ability to transfer patterns to midi note data within the DAW? Perhaps some kind of conversion script? Some sort of sequencer collaboration between the A4 and DAW is very important to me.
And yes 0-127, 128 values why be a smart ass to a 2 month old post? Perhaps something is lost in translation or I’m just pissy but the lack of a chance for future MIDI support is not good news to me. The A4 might be sold in the future if it is not implemented in any form. I like to take the A4 to coffee shops to write portions of songs and it’s very difficult to write a long melody or chord progression with the sequencer in it’s current form. If I had note transfer to my DAW I could just edit the notes to expand on what I’ve written. At this point including this feature would increase your sales. A4’s are all over the second hand market and none of that money is going straight to Elektron, and I’m sure a contributing reason for the sales is a lack of MIDI out in any way.
The internal sequencer does not use MIDI.
There is no hidden MIDI sequencer inside the Analog Four.
Every parameter has 127 values. Why do that if the sequencer isn’t using midi.
It’s handy if you want to control the parameters from the outside world of computers and MIDI control devices.
Oh, and they have 128 values. [/quote]
THEN…perhaps Elektron should NOT have on the product description for the Analog Four…FULL MIDI SPECS…because it’s simply NOT true.
I am also betting that Overbridge will somehow be Elektron-centric. Meaning, connecting all my various synths that from mid 80’s to present that can all speak midi in/out according to FULL MIDI SPECS to AND FROM the A4, probably will not be possible with overbridge unless it’s another Elektron device…not the marketing hyperbole they used from release to present of A4. Nowhere to present in any of the A4/AK marketing info is there a CLEAR STATEMENT of “oh, and there’s no midi out functionality so you will need to drop another two house payments on our Octatrack to get that…”
Also, with all the variables in PC/Apple/Linux O.S.'s not to mention all the variables in DAW programs…I certainly believe Access Music would have perfected this if it were possible given aforementioned variables.(USB bandwidth problems vary from system to system).
I am talking basic midi note out data…NOT all the parameter locks and such. It’s called diversity in composition.
Plus, the way USB (Universal Serial Bus) handles ‘packets of data’ is nowhere as efficient as using Firewire or even ADAT.
A LOT of people have absolutely no need nor want to invest in an Octatrack because like me, have Emu or otherwise great samplers already.
I bought the A4 based on Elektron’s own words to present; FULL MIDI SPECS. After-all, it’s an INDUSTRY STANDARD and called such FOR A FREAKING REASON!
I would have thought the Analog Keys would have been designed so that an A4 could be midi-chained for more tracks and grant more variety rather than having that typical Elektron blippity bloop sound.
Count me as to contributing to the used A4 market as well. Funny, I know close to a dozen other musicians that also found this the most non-intuitive instrument/creativity buzz-kill ever laid hands on…if one actually composes music with music theory structure, rather than all this rubbish of endless repetitive loops.
MIDI sucks. It’s a legacy format. It’s low bandwidth, serial (the timing sucks). The Analog Four is not running a MIDI sequencer inside and then converting this data to voltage as an afterthought; there’s a direct link between the code and the generators without any need to go through the weird format bottleneck that MIDI is. Could they strap on some sort of MIDI backend just so that the A4 could ALSO spit this data out? Sure. Why should they? They already have a better system working and there’s no real incentive to devote resources to adding this in.
Says it all.
Midi is amazing.
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^ + 1!
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I would love if the A4 gets midi out but I’m not holding my breath.
BUMP! Lets push this thread through the stratosphere!
WANT MIDI OUT! why have it in the MD and not on the new machines?.. or at least supply us with an alternative route. I’d even pay for a fuckin’ upgrade that gives me MIDI out!
I believe their alternative route will be called digitakt…
Haha 
So be it! So you think with Digitakt I could run CV from AR to Digitakt and from there run Midi to the MD?
Digitakt will have a full MIDI sequencer. Digitakt pre-release discussion takes place here: