That is 100% not true. I owned the A4 3 times now and spent a very large amount of my life working on it and the statement, you can get it to sound the same is totally false. Why do all you defend it so much? Yes, it is a rad synth for certain things, but no way can it sound like other monos being referenced. I own those too and the A4 does not compete with those harmonics found on other synths. If it did, i would own it and probably have two and would not have lost thousands of dollars of investment on a device with no resale value. Name another modern synth that has countless threads on the internet about it sounding bad. there aren’t, except the A4. And if what you say is true, and it’s like enlightenment where you must spend a lifetime to achieve it, myself and a lot of others don’t have time for that. But the A4 won’t sound like the synths i like. I have read every thread on this forum about it, about how to program it and it isn’t possible. Fun synth, yes. Ever sound like a Moog or DSI, LOL hell no. If Elektron were smart they would headhunt and buy someone with that skillset to make some good synths for them because as of now, all their synths sound not so good to me. They should stick to samplers or lure someone that can flip their synths into something good.
EDIT: just want to reiterate so the fanboys dont crucify me, that the A4 is a fun synth. It can do some very interesting things and seeing the music most the users of it i see on youtube make, probably works for that kind of stuff, not my cup of tea at all but i see why they like it. But saying it can sound as fat or like other sytnhs is just not true, and it shouldn’t be able to. Can a ukelele sound like an electric guitar? probably not and it shouldn’t, it’s a different instrument. What I feel the A4 should do though, is offer some richer sounds, doesn’t need to sound like a DSI, but should sound as good as one. Synths like DSI and Moog, just raw oscillators, give me goose bumps when played. they have a vibe. I never got that vibe from the A4 no matter what settings i altered. The Pro 3 may not be as complex as the A4 but it is a very deep machine, and everything it does sounds good, it has mad vibe.
you should put a decent Drive „Elektron Analog Drive“ for instance on a single output or the Sum and you‘ll likely put every waveform to square and this results in a creamy hi fidelity bombastic MOOG sound with a lot of headroom.
boosting the physical aspects of the Analog sound.
it’s no magic, more technique and the A4 gives this universal foundation of raw or highly modulated waveforms and such.
I own an Analog Heat and I did. Yes, the Heat made it better but still did not give it the vibe a lot of people seek. And dang, really, we need to buy your expensive distortion unit to make the expensive analog synth sound better? I get how they market and spread stuff across different devices so you have to collect them all, but thats kinda taking a doo-doo on your customers heads. I have a love/hate with EK. Love their sequencer and thats the sole reason they got me. but they should hook the people up a bit more. Shouldn’t have to run the flagship synth through external drive to get a rich sound
Hey, have you checked these tracks?
Pure A4 on those. Are these fat enough for your taste?
That the A4 doesn’t sound as a DSI or a Moog is a thing. That it’s not only sweet spots, certainly. But I think you can bring it in very different places!
no, those tracks did nothing to help the A4’s cause. they were loud tracks. and the sounds chosen were a bit abrasive but wouldn’t say that is the analog synth sound that myself and others are talking about. Have you worked on a lot of other monos? if yes, are you really listening to what they are doing with sound? it doesn’t take an audiophile to hear it. There’s a difference. I would not be having this conversation if there wasn’t, believe me. I bought the A4 3 times. due to listening to all the fans here who say “you must spend a lot of time with it, nurture it, read it bedtime stories, really devote your life to it and over time you will unlock its magic” so i did, i listened because I am not that stupid when it comes to technology, so i bought it 3 times, wanting it to work sooooooooo bad because the idea on paper is incredible. But the synth didn’t have the vibe myself and many others are after in a synth. I am a fool because i sold my pro 3 to buy the A4 again this last time, I needed more voices, dont like having too much gear, and went in thinking now i could master it and make it sound good. LOL. such a mistake, The Pro 3 had VIBE. And the Erica Synths DB-01 that I just bought after selling the A4, even with its overly aggressive filter I don’t like, has mega VIBE. It feels good when you hear them, very musical, very warm. Never found that in the A4. Found lots of other sounds, some were cool but the sweet spot to usable sounds for what I am after was so far and few between. Loved it for drums/percussion though. But i have samples and a Rytm for that. I do hear what you mean in those songs, it can get loud, just not as musical as i prefer.
I have had and played a Grandmother and a Slim Phatty that I’ve loved but they are gone now unfortunately. Got a SH-01a as well. Very good, but gone as well… Love my Typhon.
My OB-6 is a beautiful poly. And Peak as well, in another flavor.
Well, it would let me think you don’t like A4 sound then.
I do.
As a lot of people here, by the way.
Maybe you should look for a synth as aggressive as your tone. But somewhere else I guess.
The a4 is the most flexible analog mono I’ve owned. It would be valuable to me without the sequencer, no question. The people who complain and think it sounds lifeless or bad is their own problem.
I didn’t get it at first either. Familiarizing yourself with PW sweet spots on different oscillators, gain staging, how and when to use the different filters and envelope styles will all go a long way.
The beast arrived yesterday…
Didn’t have so much time to play with but…i’m really blow away by the sound quality and the sound palette. I should get one sooner ^^
I recommend you pick up the free Sound Packs on the Elektron site - they give a great example of the range of the unit and are an excellent source of learning via deconstructing them.
I can understand @zaezur about raw sound. Some synths sound better with same basic settings. Filters are particular, they can sound really bad on certain ranges, if you don’t like them, no reason to keep A4.
I made a quick comparison with Typhon recently. I definetely prefered Typhon with a single saw and its low pass filter.
With A4 you can make original sounds that you’d probably won’t be able to reproduce with others synths…
Macros are great to select sweet spots ranges.
That said I still want to sell it to buy an Hydrasynth Explorer. Hard decision, but after maybe 6 years with A4, I like maybe 1 or 2 patterns made on it…
Great analog drums, but I don’t want to use it as a drum machine.
I think I explored it enough to make my mind. If I change my mind, maybe I’d go for an AK…
same for me. Fun machine, but it rarely made it on any tracks in 7 years of use. Just a lot of unfinished demo patterns. Digitone as well though, elektron synths don’t seem to lead me to finish stuff. Fun to explore though
I decided to sell the A4 countless of times. It’s still here
Me too. All A4 “debates” seem to come down to talking past each other on this point. No one is saying the “raw sound” of an A4 osc sounds like the “raw sound” of a Moog. It doesn’t. I don’t think anyone is even saying the raw sound of the A4 is subjectively better than the Moog. I think we all prefer the Moog? (Again talking raw on its own. Some would lean for the A4 in a mix)
So a question we might have is “Why does the Moog’s raw sound sound fatter?” And the answer I’ve come up with studying mine is non linearities in the osc resulting in harmonics, i.e. distortion. The Moog saw is perfectly imperfect leading to a thicker, fuller sound.
Another question then might be, “Can we add distortion to the A4 to make it sound closer?” We can definitely add distortion. Two types. Does that fatten up the A4’s osc? Absolutely. Does that make it sound like a Moog? To my ears, yes, but I’m old and going deaf. There are plenty of more indirect ways to distort to explore if we’re not happy with it, from clipping to subtle cross mod.
Though how much that matters in the non-raw case when most of the time we have a filter on a sound, and that filter is taking out a chunk of harmonics is worth considering. (And I agree, the filter is the most characterful part of a synth and the one the A4 has the least flexibility around. But it by definition removes harmonics so is not usually a part of the “fat sound” equation).
But the argument always seems to come back to “you shouldn’t have to do all of that, though!” I can certainly see not wanting to. And if that all sounds like drudgery to you, then do not get the A4 and sell it if you have it.
But just like having a simple unadorned osc is desirable in a modular setup because then you can patch it into oblivion in 1,000 different ways, the simple undistorted A4 oscs give a lot of flexibility in sound design (some of those designs being “other synths”). And thus, if you don’t want to explore sound design in everything you do with it, I personally think you’ll be frustrated with the box. But for some, it’s really nice.
I think the way to draw a line under this going forward, is to continue to use this thread as a way for fans of the A4 to discuss it, and for those responding with “I don’t like X about the A4” to be met with “you’re allowed not to like it” and just leave it at that.
Alternatively someone can create a “bitch about the A4” thread and we can just move the negative comments over there to stop this thread being derailed.
Not trying to make an echo chamber, I just like coming back to this thread to hear someone’s technique or jam and learn more about my A4 not just anooooother argument about DCOs vs VCOs…
