Probably not until early next year… There’s one on classifieds here in Germany for 850 I’m eyeing.
I’ve listened to a lot of DN2 demos and would generally agree the core tone edge goes to Nord, whereas specs, functionality, UI, compactness and creativity to DN.
If I needed to prioritize live use, portability, creative weirdness, and ability to use as a groovebox/sketch machine, DN would be the clear winner. Some of the DN2 VA patches sound really good and would work absolutely fine in a show. I’ve used a DN1 in dozens of club and festival livesets for the last 5 years and have one Juno-esque pad I use a lot. Doesnt sound amazing and a narrow sweet spot, but gets the job done. But I find I’m reaching for it less and less often with where I’m currently at.
But purely as a VA, and especially in the studio, no question I would go with the A1. Designed specifically as a VA by a company known for it’s crystal clear sound. It can sound like a Moog, it can sound like a Juno, it can almost sound like a DX, it even has a TB modeled filter and does a damn good 303! Most importantly whatever you make on it cuts through a mix and sounds ‘alive’. It does not do wavetable, it does not do complex multistage FM, and making complex sound designy ambient patches on it is probably a multilayer faff. It’s just really good at delivering on anything VA.
For a spring show here in Berlin, space isnt an issue, so I’m bringing my A1R for the first time and leaving the DN out of the rig. I literally spent 2h the other night going through every single factory patch and highlighted about 30-40 of them that I can’t wait to try out.
side note
Disclaimer - my ears dont love Elektron synthesis, both analog and digital. Whether AR, A4, DN, Syntakt, it just always sounds like I’m listening to the oscillators from within a cardboard box and have to keep adding more and more to make things interesting. There are some great sounding sweet spots, but I no longer have the time to dedicate to dialing them in and am much more interested in things that sound good out of the box, like Roland, Moog, and yes Nord. Still, love love Elektron UI and sequencers. The whole package often makes up for the lack of what I personally consider a good core tone for my ears.