So i’ve been thinking lately about how i purchased the A4 for versatility and how i now feel as if I was trying to make it something it’s not. I’ve been feeling like it isn’t the super versatile mono i wish i had nor is it the super lush (obviously) poly i wish I had. So i’m considering dumping it and putting the money towards both of those things. I have on OT that will never go and have had just about every other ELEKTRON in the past at some point. I’ve been thinking PRO3 and digitone (which i sorely miss). Any thoughts? Am I just GASING again?
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Sell it, get what you need
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A4 Mk2 is still in production, and it isn’t hard to find Mk1s and AKs for amazing prices. Get what you want, go back if you change your mind.
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I bought the A4mk2 with the ARmk2 less than a year ago with the same mindset as you. I was looking at it as an alternative to getting a Perfourmer Mk2. I had had all of the previous Elektron machines to that point and currently have the DT, DNK, ST, and OT mk2 (my third Ot). I just recently sold my A4 and Ot and realize selling the Ot was the mistake. I only used the A4 a handful of times because it was much more than I anticipated it to be. I sold my Ot because I thought I was set with having the AR and DT sampling capabilities but I was totally wrong.
I am happy with no longer having the A4 hibernating in its box and to a home that will be put to use. I am highly regretting getting rid of the Ot yet again. I will not be repurchasing the A4, but I do see another Ot in my future very soon.
Get rid of what you don’t see yourself using. If you feel the A4 is overkill for now, pass it along and revisit the idea of having another one in the future against whatever else may be weighing against another A4 purchase at that time. Knowing what you know about it now may help that future decision as well.
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There’s no point in keeping something you’re not happy with, even if others are. The only reason not to sell now is that I’m seeing a lot of A4s at pretty low prices and they are not moving. It is tempting me to upgrade to a mk2 even though the increment over my mk1 is pretty small. But who knows what will happen with prices in the future, and in the meanwhile you are missing those boxes you will appreciate more.
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For me, the A4 is probably my favorite piece of gear, but it has more to do with the sequencer, the modularity (cv), and the elektron quality/thoughtfulness in design than the sound. I also like the sound though, which helps.
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Thanks for all the positive feedback. I will definitely sit down with it for a good solo session before I make a decision.
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You’re right about the a4 prices for sure. I bought it pretty cheaply in the first place though.
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I’ve had mine for 5 days and I want another already.
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My experience selling the a4 to fund a dip into modular: dont look at it a just a single flexible mono, it’s 4 flexible monos with patch recall, sequencer / plocks and an fx track with plocks. You also get some interesting options for voice allocation. A single patch would be faster/easier to setup on a mono with knob per function, but you can set four patches easily and really unlock the power with easy modulation via p locks. Setting up four patches with two osc + sub oscs on a single modular probably would cost substantially more. Just sharing my experience with selling my a4, my other gear is an octatrack, performer and modular setup.
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Yeah it’s no slouch at all.
People can split hairs about this powerful bass or that pulsewave’s phasing properties until I fall asleep in the middle of the conversation. But if you were to to take the average amount of time involved in care and feeding of the “best of breed” of each, against the amount of time to dial in or preset surf a good-enough version sitting on the couch with the A4, I’m quite confident you’d find it’s not even a close contest. I value my time and enjoyment over picture-perfection so I for one quite strongly prefer the latter.
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It’s actually one of deepest sound design analogs around, the presets don’t even begin to hint at what’s in there. Which doesn’t answer your question of course. But if that’s important than you might take the time to dig deeper, it will reward the effort.
If immediacy is what you want though, I’d say it’s not a good choice.
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Yes it’s the best analog synth out there for the money, but get rid of it anyway and get what you want
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I can echo most of the comments here.
It’s absolutely incredible in its capabilities, but a lot of people just don’t feel with it for whatever reason. It definitely needs a lot of work to get the best out of it compared to the other machines.
I’ve owned both the MKI and MKII. I kept feeling like I SHOULD really like it but in the end I just accepted it wasn’t for me.
If it’s not bringing you joy or helping you achieve your musical goals, then let it go and focus on what does. Life’s too short for music to not be fun.
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the amount of things it can do, it covers a lot of ground. and sequencing of course, great for not so great keyboarders like myself. if there’s a feeling of being sonically held back you could rely on external fx maybe. though at some point i’d probably get a more dedicated polysynth for sure.
If you’ve given it an honest shot and you still don’t enjoy using it, I think it’s fair to sell it to fund something else (or pay bills!). I had the same dilemma with the OT, which in paper completely replaces my DT and then some, but I just didn’t gel with it despite its capabilities. The A4 is really good, but it can take a lot of time and effort to get to the best sounds, which can be a huge speed bump when all you want to do is make music.
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I really like my A4 MKI, always surprised of what comes out with it…
But I don’t use it enough. I have a very versatile Micromonsta 2 that can do better for pads for instance…
I’ll see if I’ll keep it, but I’d sell it around 450€…so for that price, what else ?
(It would probably fund an OTO BOUM).
why not?
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I have also always interpreted more positive things in the A4 than it actually is. I’m not surprised that it’s cheap. for my purposes it should function as a multi-timbral monosynth, but with sounds that are strong in character and here it was difficult to get that right. The only thing I found pretty cool, without the sound just sounding like sawtooth, was the function of modulating the OSCs with the LFOs or with the frequency. I don’t like moog either. always sounds like standard sawtooth, not mine.
But now I realized that I have the rhythm and can do the same thing with the VCOs much better and with much more character. Ever since I finally understood the Rytm’s amp envelope to get exact note lengths with the LEN controls via the TRIG page, I’ve sold the A4 instant and haven’t regretted it at all.
The A4 only has four voices anyway, so I didn’t care about the polyphony, there are better synths for that.
That’s not supposed to be hostility towards the A4, but in my eyes it’s more of a normal synth. And if you have the rhythm, then I really don’t see any need for the A4. Unless you need the four votes. but i can also say that the mk2 sounded better and was more fun than the mk1.
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I own a few monosynths (Erebus, Nyx, Mono Lancet, AS1 etc) and LOVE my A4mk1 in that mix. I use it predominately for evolving pads and SFX, it’s really great for that. I spent some time pre-programming types of sounds from which to build. I have a bank full of my own sounds that I can load and then evolve as need be — so I can work very quickly with the A4. I should also add that I sequence it externally, I occasionally use its sequencer for P-locking but that’s that.
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