€600 for a mk 1 is a steal
The bass on the A4 goes real deep and real heavy.
The mk2 to my ear can sound more dynamic and cutting.
But if smooth lush analog is your thing the A4 is fine. But dont be fooled it can get real effing gnarly when pushed and modulated
There is an @Eaves post somewhere on this site where he details the reasons that he is happy he upgraded to the mk2. I have a mk1 (which is a huge bargain at current prices) but am watching for a mk2 at a good price.
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Scored my Mk1 a couple of weeks ago for $800 AUD (520EUR, 520USD, 440UKP). There seem to be a few around that $800-1000AUD price range which seems bonkers given what it offers and the fact that the Mk2 retails here for $2400 AUD.
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I much prefer the MK2.
The ladder filter is more open, patches have broader capability to sound more open, brighter. The saw waves bite way harder. The filter overdrive is also noticeably improved.
Worth the extra $300-$400, IMO. And I typically prefer MK1 Elektrons (OT, Rytm).
Worth the wait if you have a price in mind. Watch the market, used prices will continue to drop.
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Mk1 into a gnarly guitar pedal. You’ll be astounded.
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They needa make a AKMK2
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With Novation-style dimming LED’s to show values so the encoders could be endless.
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So I had a glimpse at YT videos and indeed I can hear a difference in the distortion and filter.
I noticed two big differences in sound. The biggest difference is that the mk2 replaces one of the overdrive models with a more “traditional” sounding overdrive. The overdrives on the mk1 have this unusual behavior where the sound gets “smeared” and growls more than it screams without getting much louder, while the new mk2 gets LOUD and really shrieks, especially with resonance.
The other difference I’ve noticed is that it feels like bass frequencies come more easily on the mk2. When using the 2nd filter to boost the low end, both mk1 and mk2 get the same amount of bass (IME), but on the mk1 you have to increase the resonance a tiny bit more than on the mk2 to get the same amount of bass.
That said, I find myself using the mk1-style overdrive a lot more, but it is very nice to have access to a more predictable and loud mk2-style overdrive.
Drawn out explanation of why getting the A4 mk2 made it so I can never buy a mk1 product because of how much more comfortable the mk2 is
For me, the upgrade from the mk1 to the mk2 was like night and day in terms of comfort. The TL;DR of it is that the mk2 has better buttons, better encoders and a better screen. The long answer is this:
Screen: the mk1 screen is small, the icons are small, the viewing angle is narrow, and it’s sluggish. When I hit play, the number showing where the playhead is in the sequence just looks like an 8 because the pixels are so slow to change colors. Because the icons and text are small and there’s no graphical representation of the envelopes or filters like on the mk2, it’s hard to immediately see what page I’m on.
Encoders: mk1 encoders are slow. You can be more precise with them, sure, but I find myself pressing and turning all the time to make it change values in bigger increments. All the elektron knobs take a bit of force to press, and it’s annoying to have to do it all the time. it’s either that (and then not-press turning for precision) or doing 2-3 full turns just to get to the value I want. The mk2 knobs are as fast as on the DT and DN and OT mk2, so it’s a lot more comfortable to use IME.
Buttons: mk1’s buttons are a bit hard to read because they have a red LED over the button instead of backlit RGB buttons. The difference between a trig and a lock trig is that they’re fully lit and half lit respectively, and the half lit ones can be hard to see if I have a lamp aimed directly at the A4. I also prefer the feel of the soft square buttons that actuate with little force more than the round hard plastic buttons of the mk1.
More controls: On the mk1, going into the settings menu is a two handed button combo. FUNC all the way to the left + GLOBAL all the way to the right. There’s no shortcut for saving a project, so it’s FUNC+GLOBAL -> YES > YES > YES > YES to save, then NO -> NO to go out of the menu. That is assuming you’ve already saved once and that it remembers the last cursor position. On the mk2 you only need one hand, and it’s FUNC+SETTINGS -> YES ->YES, and it returns to the screen you were on before saving automatically. Also, having a little cluster of buttons for kit, pattern, mix, etc between the FUNC and arrow buttons makes saving kits and patterns more comfortable than on the mk1. Also being able to change octaves while browsing through sounds is very handy; arrow buttons to navigate the list, oct+ and oct- to change the octaves.
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…a bit more than half a grant for the mk1…is the biggest bang for ur buck there ever was…
…a bit less than a grant for the mk2…is a great price for four truu analog mono synth at once…
a4 at given 2nd hand prices is either way a shame and a steal…
my mk1, once bought brand new for around 1200 bux, is all i need, when it comes to truu analog synth…
but in addition, one day, i’ll get me a black mk2 anyways…
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Thanks a lot @Eaves for such a detailed post.
I appreciate.
I am used to the comfort of Mk2 style on my OT so I am willing to push my budget to a second hand Analog Mk2. I have one in line of sight for 900€.
I think my choice is already made 
Thanks again to all for chiming in 
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While I’m aware I’m being quite isolated and biased with my opinion, i prefer the mki over the mkii sound wise. I bought the mki when it arrived at the shelves in 2012, so 10 years I’m used to it. Last year I gave the mkii a try and bought it for testing. Reason for that was a possible step up in Sound quality (mainly in the bass region) and workflow enhancement. I connected both side by side and loaded my crafted Sounds onto the mkii. I played sequences side by side and could recognise a different, more full bass Sound on the mkii with the exact same settings. With a few tweaks the mki could hold up. But what I also recognised was a different character, mainly in higher frequency regions. The mki had a more hollow, fragile but detailed Soundcharacter in a very pleasant way. With patches i use since years, the difference was subtle but there. This character was gone on the mkii - on some patches more then on others. And while I’m set with bass beefy analog synths, the mkii had lost me with this loss of character. Maybe I’m biased on this, but the mkii went back and the mki is holding strong here. If I hadn’t had the direct comparison and would need a great 4 poly synth, it had stayed for sure. I remember some few here preferring the chracterof the mki too and I totally know what they are referring to.
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