My experience with DM12 is pretty much the opposite. I have found it versatile and awesome sounding synth with solid build quality (have owned one since february). You can also turn the fan off completely if you are not playing in heat.
That said, A4/AK certainly has its place due to the amazing sequencer even if it doesn’t sound as lush (I have owned both). If only it sequenced in MIDI…
To me, the A4/AK is for synthesis like the rytm is for drum machines. Holistic manipulation of sound, sequence and fx that goes beyond the sum of its parts = game changer
Im not so good at the polish currency but the MK2 a4 and rytm listed there look to be very cheap? surely they would be the same price as the OTMK2? Looks just like an error maybe?
Do you happen to have a source for this? I’m trying to find where this was stated.
Manual page 6: “digitally controlled oscillators”.
You can turn on “oscillator drift” which will introduce some vco-like drift, but it’s all digitally controlled.
It was stated way back when it was released, and is pretty well documented everywhere since in reviews etc.
Elektron state this also on their site
Ok, thanks. Does that mean the oscillators on the RYTM are considered DCOs as well? If that’s the case, I’m curious how they were able to implement FM with those DCOs.
Strip away the effects and…that lush-ness is pretty much gone though. I’m only talking about the analog components inside the synths really (and what they are capable of). In all fairness, I guess, the DM12 did start out as a Juno 106 clone of sorts, so the weak oscillator section is what it is. I had a unit from the first production run and a unit from the production run where they had glued a bit of extra dampening onto that lovely…Behringer keybed:). I get that feeling from the whole thing, like it is stitched and glued together, both software and hardware. But I came straight from spending time on the Analog Keys, and I guess I just had a hard time adjusting to a Behringer-level synth. I might give it another chance in the future (I still have it in a closet lol)
They have been documented as DCO’s also.
I presume FM in the RYTM engines is done the same way as the A4 i.e. they are using a digital modulator (digital lfo in the A4 at audio rates) to modulate the analog DCO carrier?
Just a guess?
I’m quite certain the LFO pitchmod method is similar in both machines. A simple A/B of both boxes doing LFO pitchmod to the same waveform (assuming a match is available?) should confirm this.
Using an LFO as an FM modulator sounds different than the actual FM kick and snare engines though. What I hear from those engines is more akin to what I’d expect when FMing an analog oscillator than what I’ve been capable of achieving with the A4 when I owned one.
ahh ok so you want FM machines in the A4/AK as opposed to LFO pitchmod, gotcha. Personally I don’t mind, my preenFM2 will give me plenty of “real FM” which I can input into the A4 (which I should be getting in a few weeks) should I need that kind of thing.
I actually owned AK when I bought DM12, but I find DM12 superior as a polysynth. There is nothing wrong with the build quality in my DM12 unit either. I ended up trading my AK for A4 as I prefer the 49 keys.
I think it sounds good without effects too - though I don’t see anything wrong with using effects either and the effects section is pretty great in DM12.
Btw, nice trick for getting classic two oscillator saw sound in DM12 is to modulate the second unison voice some semitones lower. Combine that with slight oscillator drift and it certainly sounds fat to me.
Plot thickens!
Machinedrum and Monomachine are more likely candidates for a reboot surely?
Yeah I remember seeing someone on Gearslutz coming up with a way to kinda do it, before it was implemented in a firmware update. The extensive modulation implementation certainly is a plus!
I also caught a glimpse of that listing with A4 & Rytm MKII. No AK. Elektron, if you do decide to give the AK the same treatment, please add 1 more octave as well. You know it deserves it. Yes you do.
an a4 mk2 would be interesting, but i would prefer a “digimachine”, “digitone”, whatever. we´re all wishing a new kind of monomachine, aren´t we?
Since the price drop is so big, I’m really considering buying a second one.
Thinking about the possibilities of 2A4s blows my mind at the moment 
A4 are no more listed @ Thomann
