Should I sell N.Peak?

Elektron Gear Analog Keys/Four
#1

Hello,

So recently i purchased Novation Peak for a lot less than actual price, but my first choice was A4 although I’m not sure whether this will be a good pick.
Peak is a great sound synth with excelent interface, but he doesn’t offer me nothing more than that.
From hadrware synth which worth that much i want a little more.

A4 has a great sequencer i know , but not sure whether it will suit my needs.
Im looking something mostly for pads, drones, atmospheres etc. 4note poly isn’t a problem.

Should i sell my Peak and go buy A4?

#2

I’ve owned both and much prefer Peak, but that’s me and not you so who knows?
Much broader sound pallet available with the Peak.
Imo the only thing A4 has over Peak is a sequencer, Peak does have a great arpeg though.
Try before you buy if possible

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#3

…and audio in, cv gate out, overbridge.
But sequencer and plocks are the things that attract me most.

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#4

Yep if this is important then buy it

#5

Maybe buy something to sequence your peak.

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#6

Maybe try pairing the peak with a digitakt. I bought one at a local shop as a replacement for my Tomcat (basically I had planned to use it as a drum machine) and now I have the digitakt sequencing my blofeld (which I hadn’t touched in months), modular, and 0-coast and I am having a blast. The digitakt sampling sounds really exceptional, I’m not sure what the DSP mojo is but it’s the best sampler I have experienced and it makes excellent drones. One of these days I will get around to using it as a drum machine :slight_smile:

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#7

If anything, the Peak seems like a keeper… maybe you can add A4/Rytm/Digitakt in the future, but I’d hold on to the Peak for sure. The combination of an Elektron synth + Peak would be killer.

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#8

Where are you based (USA perhaps?) I have an A4 in great condition that needs a home… and an eye on the Peak…

#9

When comparing the synth “engines”, to my ears the Peak wins over the A4 (mk1, owned one). I would keep it!
If you are thinking about mk2, it´s a more difficult choice. If you plan on using the sequencer, p-locks and other features in which the A4 excels then it´s a worthy switch, absolutely. Also, compared to mk1 the mk2 synth engine has a lot more character. The A4 was a bit flat or thin to my ears when i had one…

#10

I would try to have both, why

It’s hard to compare Novation Peak vs A4:

  • 3-VCO vs a 2-VCO synth
  • 1-VCF vs a 2-VCF synth
  • 8-voice vs 4 voice polyphony
  • mono-timbral vs multitimbral

Just to point out some important differences of the synth engines.

Both have a wealth of different modulation and crossmodulation capabilites. Maybe that the A4 has more options, even if we do not consider the sequencer but IMO the audio-modulations are more interesting on the PEAK.

  • FM Osc 1 -> osc 2, osc 2 -> osc 3, osc 3 -> osc 1 and noise -> osc 1
  • Osc 3 -> filter cutoff frequency
  • Noise -> filter cutoff frequency

A strength of all Elektron devices is the integrated sequencer, which makes the A4 to four independant synths.

At the end it depends on personal taste, sound-design goals, the music style, and workflow, which of the both could fit better to ones needs … if only one can be afforded :wink:

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#11

Also if you are on the verge of selling it you might as well try to do some last minute sessions with it and see if you like it anymore. If that doesn’t work the. It wasn’t meant to be. I’ve bought two since where I tried and tried but nothing happened ( Alesis micron and microkorg).

If you can go instore and use the A4 that also helps a great deal.

I like having four mono synths in my analog keys along with p locking. It might not have deep deep bass but a VST or my voyager will handle those duties.

Does the peak do deep bass like a moog?

#12

I recommend to check out this excellent review of the Novation Peak …


Nick Batt has an excellent talent to review and explain.

Three VCOs may go deep, but then is the filter. If the filter is thinning out the basses with increased resonance as a Moog does, well… :wink:

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