I never said that they are comparable. I just said that the Dom 1 smokes the A4 sound wise when you compare the core sounds of the oscillators. Nothing more, nothing less.
This is very interesting. I wish I had more classic gear to compare to. I have this theory that at somewhere around 3 oscillators and two filters, the character of the individual parts doesn’t matter as much as the options for combining them together. At a certain point you can reliably recreate the characteristics of unique components by layering “plain” ones. I’d love to blow a week sometime just trying to mimic various other “character” synths with the A4.
I guess this is what drives me nuts when someone says something like "You can’t patch a decent X on the A4”. It’s like, really? If with 8 analog oscillators, 12 envelopes, 4 multimode filters, 4 ladder LPFs, a whole bag of LFOs, chorus, delay, reverb and a 64 step sequencer that can lock any of the above per-step someone can’t patch a sound, I’m not sure what kind of sound they’re thinking of.
Digital single-wave-form stuff or certain wave tables, I suppose? And samples. Anyway, sounds like a fun challenge 
6 Likes
On the mki my biggest tip for bass is to start with an init patch and set f1 res to 64, res boost off, cutoff to 127, and overdrive to 25. Choose the 2pole lowpass for f2. Use f2 for sound sculpting (envelopes and what not). Essentially what this does is bypass f1’s coloring of the sound, which counterintuitively “weakens” the sound despite being a ladder filter. Try a single saw with the above settings and then compare to the init saw; you should hear a marked difference.
If you want a really solid square, follow the above settings, set osc to square but set the pw to about -8. Makes a big difference…
Edit: the reason I like this method better than using f2 with a peak or hipass and cranked resonance is because cranking the resonance for only the bass frequencies creates volume issues if you want to play notes in higher registers.
14 Likes
Hmm that’s not entirely what you said but okay. "my A4 sounded like a bad joke compared to the Dom. "
It’s not a comparison that’s my point. A4 can certainly make epic sounds that will be completely impossible for dominion to make btw.
4 Likes
The init sound of the A4, compared to the init sound of Dom is a bad joke. Better?
Agree to disagree and all that.
Why would I want to use an init sound though 
19 Likes
Oh dear, are we now comparing Initialised sounds?
The sound when everything is set to zero?
I’d buy a Porsche 911 GT3, but when I turn it on its doing 0 mph which is not what I expect from a 200mph supercar.
Very disappointing. 1 star.
13 Likes
Okay, you don’t want to understand me.
Nevermind
I do. It’s just that I dont see the point of comparing a synth in that way as I see them as a sum of their parts.
10 Likes
It also has CV out, something most synths don’t have. It has audio in and some pretty great FX, so you can use it as an FX unit. The neighbour track oscillator thing means you can do some pretty weird stuff not possible with most polysynths. It’s a weird little device, and I do think a one of a kind. I really need to buy a MK I again before they go up in price.
5 Likes
Cool, I don’t even wanna start anything with weak core sound. All good.
Core sound or init patch?
What is the init patch of the dominion 1?
Are we comparing a single oscillator with a single oscillator ?
Genuinely curious
I have both here and both sound great. But because of their design and sound structure. Not because of a single saw tooth osc with open filter. Imho.
8 Likes
I have an a4 for many years, started with mk1, upgraded to mk2, love the grey look, design and feel. Bought a moog matriarch 14 mnths ago and suddenly the a4 felt weak. Later i found out it was more about the matriarch, not to play it too dominant.
Now i have a dfam and subharconicon with my a4 mk2, using cv, moogs on inputs and with fx, then a heat. It is amazing! A4 opened up again in this setup for me.
9 Likes
A weak core sound?
I think everyone has their own opinion on what makes a good or bad synth, but judging it’s sound engine on the Initialised patch is certainly a new one on me.
I think you’re 100% right. If that’s a turn off for you, you totally shouldn’t use it. You need a unit with presets so wild and full of character that you’ll never want to start a patch from scratch.
But I think you’re going to find it very difficult to find many people that would feel the same on a thread with this title?
As an ex photographer this reminds me of the people that are disappointed by the flat, grey appearance of the RAW files straight out my gear.
They want a super saturated, sharpened snap straight out the jpg so they can post it on Facebook ASAP.
I spent hours getting my images just right, the RAW was my low contrast base with all the potential
17 Likes
That’s my init patch for most basic sounds 
got this from somewhere in the forum. Maybe from you? 
4 Likes
Huh? I never use presets. Hell, I’m on 9U 124HP Eurorack atm. 
3 Likes
Don’t think so. Many many people judge a synth on its raw oscillator sounds. I can understand that. A moog just sounds immediately more impressive. Raw vco - wonderful. Simple Filter sweep wonderful.
Still it nearly can’t do all the sounds an A4 is capable of. But it’s far from instant gratification.
4 Likes
A4 is incredible!! Love everything about it, it always rewards the efforts and surprises me in a new way. It’s hard to think of a more flexible and powerful analog synth. A true masterpiece.
4 Likes
Haha, yeah I posted about this a while back. I simply just distilled what another user had found when they ran external gear through the A4 and used an oscilloscope to find the most neutral settings. I’m itching to try an mkii to hear the difference but feel absolutely no need to upgrade.
2 Likes
A Moog sounds more impressive? I’m selling two to fund an A4 because they were so weak and unimpressive.
Everyone has their own taste.
1 Like