Elektron Analog Keys : Is discontinued

[tsutek]

hmm, good point. Maybe I’ll just get the indiouts done by a pro modder for the A4 instead. Anyone know any contact info for someone who does such mods and is a qualified electronics professional?

[ChrisG]

I love the AK, 3 octaves and 4 voices goes a long way if you play keys, that joystick with 20 destinations adds a layer of magic fairy dust, add another 5 for the AT/Vel. Obviously one can hook up external controllers to any desktop gear etc, but it’s never quite the same. When MKIII comes out with 24 pressure/velocity sensitive buttons and…the joystick, I might take a peak!

I’m thinking that the marketing, the talk etc surrounding the AK was perhaps too focused on the sequencer, the CV, the…The reputation for being too complicated was probably another thing that scared of a few people from the keys-camp I can imagine, which is a shame as the only thing that’s stumping people on these boxes is the file system, or project structures if you will, everything else is as straight forward as it gets:/

I hope the software isn’t discontinued. The push action on the joystick is still waiting for its intended function (like holding the joystick position, hm, Elektron?:).

[JuanSOLO]

Recently i’ve been putting together a midi joystick controller, thinking two joysticks, one with spring one without. It’s pretty much down to paying the money for the parts.

I’ve been wanting something like that, never thought about two, with spring and without.
I like that!

[northerntao]

Always laugh a bit when I say I love my AK (the synth, not the rifle!) That said, it’s the starting point of most of my songs/jams. It’s a great sketchpad and CV sequencer, as well as quick MIDI keyboard.

The MIDI mapping makes more sense with the built in keyboard, and the individual lights per key are a nice addition. Versatile oscillators and filters. Did I mention it’s the same sequencer as the A4 mk2? Very happy to have mine, as well as the discontinued gig bag.

The idea that the AK is outclassed is pure BS. The only big thing it’s missing that the A4 mk2 has is the CV input, but it’s hardly a showstopper.

I did sell my Rytm mk1 to get a mk2, for the built in sampling, but the other additions were nice (especially the bigger pads) but not a huge selling point if you’re on the fence.

[umonox]

There’s been no announcement of being discontinued has there? It may just be out-of-stock – or it’s been discussed that there might, who knows, be a MkII under development. (That’s hardly even a rumor though.)

there doesnt have to be an official announcement to know that the AK is discontinued Silence is the ultimate answer. Years before the official announcement for discontinuing the Machinedrum and Monomachine was made we already knew that they have abandoned them. because the regular OS updates stopped!

AK will step into Monomachine Keyboard footsteps i assume (except for the Monomachine Keyboard being a limited run, the AK is not). Sales in Germany were very low. Quite a few Shops still have AKs available for immediate delivery. I dont know if the lack of sales in Germany reflects the worldwide sales but if this is the case i highly doubt that there will be a MK2 - or any other Keyboard from Elektron in the next years.

[J.m]

Seeing them all the time in England at 700 mate so the second hand price is not rising, can get them new at most shops for 950 too so I hate to pee on ya bonfire but I am bursting and I’ve gotta go somewhere

[2disbetter]

So the AK can sequence via midi? How many tracks?
I must have missed that. That is pretty big.

2d

[J.m]

No it can’t sequence midi, it can act as midi controller with knobs and joystick but not sequence

If you use a cv to midi processor you can use the cv outs and that’s what is being discussed above mate

[dobermate]

No no, he’s spot on - just five years early

[r1n9o]

Whether or not the AK is discontinued, I think it’s safe to assume that OS updates to the A4 MKII will be available to the A4 MKI and the AK. I cite the pending AR MKII Dual VCO OS update, which will also be available to the AR MKI.

Edit: D’oh, double-ish post.

[umonox]

One could argue that by that time of product maturity, they were ‘feature complete’.

This is almost half true as well I dont exactly know what people were craving for at that time. its just too long ago. but i can remember lots of threads about improvements - and feature updates - over at Elektron Users back at that time. Till date the Monomachine and Machinedrum were the most versatile of their Boxes - except for the Sequencer which had yet to improve. So … they were not exactly “feature complete”; they probably could never be. People had great ideas all over the place. And they were used to regular software updates as well. It was a little bit of a shock to realize that there will be nothing new anymore …

But, lets be frank: No company can survive with free Software Updates alone. So it was just a matter of time anyway - it had to stop one day. And this may be true for the AK now

[umonox]

i wouldnt bet on that. Judging by how Elektron behaves these days. But i would assume the same in the first place

[r1n9o]

I totally want to take that bet! How about a SidStation as ante? J/k, but it would be kind of fun, eh?

[Open_Mike]

I bet the AK will get an update when the new OB comes out for sure…

Overbridge news

During the past seven months, we have been hard at work with the next version of Overbridge, which will support Analog Keys

[2disbetter]

Ahh, then it is just like the a4, albeit a mich better controller end.

I think that the omission of this while in line with their product line is one of the reasons it didn’t sell so well.

With all the space under the AK hood they could have easily put 2 a4s in there. That would have been really compelling!

2d

[umonox]

ah c’mon … mate if we flip every word and take everything for granted we could also say - in respect to the section you mentioned:

have a look. for Analog Heat and Analog Keys, Elektron doesnt write that OB “will be free of charge, and become available at a later date.”. so this means: no new Overbridge for the Heat and the Keys then? And where are the MK1’s?

come on guys. we all realized which way Elektron is going now. Lets just enjoy the annual appearance of new machines and dont care about what we have anymore!

[Open_Mike]

I honestly believe what we keep telling ourselves is more likely to come true…

[t3h]

I honestly believe what we keep telling ourselves is more likely to come true…

at least true for us

[BONES]

With all the space under the AK hood they could have easily put 2 a4s in there. That would have been really compelling!

Maybe but it would have put it way out of my price range. There is no point in making the perfect machine that everybody wants if nobody can afford to buy it.

[BONES]

What i’m referring to is the new section of the Elektron Overbridge page that they recently redid with a specific tab added for the Analog Keys. Scroll about two-thirds of the of the way down on the following to the kraft-paper brown section labeled Overbridge and Elektron instruments and click on the tab specific to Analog Keys.

You guys are talking as though this is coming in the next version but all that stuff is working in Overbridge now. I got my AK two weeks ago and I’ve tried it all out - it works perfectly once you get your head around it.

It’s interesting that most of you seem to use hardware for everything but if AK couldn’t work with my PC, it wouldn’t be half as useful as it is, and certainly not worth what it costs.