For some reason this synth has like a very 50/50 reception. Reading so many mixed opinions on it made me stay away from it a bit, especially people endlessly dragging it for being 4 voice at this price (still sounds massive for just 4 by the way). Also didn’t help that there wasn’t really too many demos that I liked.
But I just decided to pull the trigger anyway cause I trust Elektron and I do love the DN and wanted a companion with it.
Why is the reception to this synth so polarising throughout its history?
I don’t know, but it seems some people just really dislike the sound I guess…‘it’s lacking in low end’ comes up quite a lot etc… it’s not a sweet spot synth, more a blank canvas and for a blank canvas that you can push in basically any direction - it makes sense that the raw osc sound is kind of not blowing minds actually. That leaves it up to the user into what kind of direction you go…
this is true. I also didn’t like how menu-divey it felt, in comparison to other Elektron synths. too many pages, and lots of 'em had a secondary page. however, the experience is likely better on the mk2 units with the bigger screen (I had the AK).
overall, I think it’s a very powerful synth that can sound great, but you gotta put in the work. it’s not like a Juno 106 where it’s hard to make it sound bad. in the end, I just didn’t like working with it as much my other synths, so off it went.
Hey @acylus, just got an A4 myself last week And I absolutely love it
Since you come from the DN, just be aware that sounds are saved in kits and not in patterns. I just fucked up all my first patterns yesterday because I missed that…
To me it was the factory sound and lack of real keyboard. I had both the mk1 and the mk2, i would say mk2 is more enjoyable to program. (precise encoders, screen, overdrive, separate outs are real pros)
Factory sound or sound packs are a fixed issue (with Plughugger and Dual Shaman). When i try my Roli Seaboard with the Analog Four i rediscover its sounds… it’s really important to not stay with the little internal keybed as there’s is no joy to play with 127 velocity each notes you played. (and programming it can be a little time consuming - but the power is in the sequencer with sound locks, trig types etc…)
I didn’t find at the beginning Sound Packs i like… when i bought the mk2 i challenge myself to create a soundbank and a eBook - people should know now as it took me a while.
From now on there’s awesome club Sound Packs as proof, any synth can sound great if you take the time to grasp its tools.
And also this :
Also maybe a lot of people this last decade moved from VST to Hardware synth and it’s a total different thing… it can be disturbing not to have the flexibility of vst (maybe) even if the A4 is powerful in that regards with OB2 etc…
But i must admit sound design is not for everyone it needs patience and learning the gear each time you buy a new one you need to grasp its tool to make the most out of it. even if you are experienced with sound synthesis.
There’s a few things that make it divisive. Factory presets are meh, lots of parameters, the whole kit/sound pool idea, the minimal screen. It takes a bit of time to realize the potential (the vids @William_WiLD linked to above go a long way towards that…) But once you see how far you can go in one machine it’s almost as deep as a modular system, x4. It can also be a better-sounding drum machine than even the Rytm IMO. Then there are the CV options and being able to apply many of the Elektron sequencer tricks to external gear… just so many possibilities in one box.
Yeah, exactly! And that‘s also the reason why my AK is sitting right in front of my daw screen. Nice keybed, works as midi controller and the synth can go in all directions, nice fx even.
The envelopes have a certain snappiness to them which makes the A4/AK ideal for all sorts of percussive sounds, but with some fine-tuning it happily goes into pad sounds and similar stuff.
You gotta put in the work, though.
Compared to some really menu-divey synths, the A4/AK is super straight forward, it‘s not even real menu diving, just loads of parameters on many pages and it can really get annoying when you‘re jumping around the pages for hours (even for me ), so I think it comes down to if you‘re looking for a blank canvas or not.
Also I‘ve never looked at the factory sounds, but it seems they‘re not it‘s strength. So for people that want to just turn on the synth, load up a sound and play this might lead to disappointment.
Also, you really gotta learn all the short cuts, it‘s just endless clicking around without utilizing short cuts.
quite frankly I really recommend people to learn sound synthesis. We all have sounds in mind, a taste that is unique to us and no one is better served than by itself
it may be more judicious to generate according to our tastes the major part of the elements which one uses in our audio projects and to borrow only (samples, presets …) than what requires to be instrumentalist or percussionist. things we are unable to get for whatever the reason is (recording, processing gear, percussion or groove lacking etc… Voices … ) but if you feel comfortable to make everything : do it.
My initial likes of the a4 is the fact that you have parameters such as bend and vibrato already sorted so you don’t have use up an LFO or Envelope like on DN and MnM. That means there’s more room to get experimental.
Yes, I love it too . An mk2 next to my mk1 and a mixer would be so nice (edit: even more when I hear Wiliam Wild talk about more precise encoders…)
Aehm, sounds are ( can be) saved in kits and/or patterns (parameter locks), + drive, soundpool(project)… and/or by the holy elektron ghost in the machine himself (autosaved).
if you take away the sequencer you would be left with a synth engine you would never pay £1k for. I think Elektrons are just great sequencers. This has a good synth engine attached to a fantastic sequencer. Polarizing as if you just see the synth engine alone there are many many better options for the money.
Would you make the same argument for a Moog, because you have the Sub 25 just a cpl 100$ less and it’s Just a mono synth. I find it strange that people don’t seem to have the same critique for Moog synths…
To expand on that I think we each also have a unique “effort threshold.”
That is to say, how much time or work we are willing to put into a task before it begins to reward us.
The A4 is not an instant gratification machine. But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
I hear a lot of “synth music” made with Moogs, Sequentials, and other “sweet spot” instruments that is frankly pretty uninteresting, but the tone of the synth is quite good.
It’s as if the composer stopped pushing the synth (and the composition) because they were so satisfied with the tonality of it, that they were content to just enjoy that.
And I understand that contentment too. Sometimes when I am stressed out or just want to relax without much of an aim, I’ll fire up Oberhausen, add a few Kush sweetening VSTs and just zone out with chord progressions. It’s like anti-anxiety medicine, taken in through the ears.
The A4 only gives that kind of experience to those who have learned it inside and out, and have developed the muscle memory and understanding of its architecture that is required to get to those sweet spots quickly. The good thing is it is so capable thanks to deep modulation and the sequencer, that it rewards those who put in the time and effort.
It CAN sound sweet. It CAN sound big. But it can also do many other things and it is more than the sum of its parts, which is a rare quality in a synth.
If you put in the time and learn how to harness these qualities, you’ll end up with far more interesting sounds than your standard single LFO poly synth, or big beefy analog mono are capable of.
People rarely mention the amazing four-part multitimbrality… I find myself regularly live playing one part with an external keyboard and another one using the mini-keyboard on the A4. I also love the possibility to combine (limited) polyphony with an additional mono-line.
One of my favorite ways to use it is a single mono part that uses 2 voices of unison to get that big sound quickly, and then use the remaining 2 parts for little FX sounds, mono strings (easy to due thanks to FX and OSC scheme), and sound locks.
Found myself, often times with A4, just a kick and a clap away from a finished tune.
I really didn’t like it because you could only play 64-step sequences in a loop.
If you try to chain two banks, then use the pattern reload function while tweaking a 128-step sequence … only the first bank will reload, the second bank stays permanently tweaked.
The A4 has pattern reload, but not two+ pattern reload, so it can’t reload pattern chains - meaning that it can’t reload songs, meaning that it will only reload the first 64-steps every time you use that function.
I didn’t see the point of having the pattern reload function if I couldn’t reload my pattern. My pattern = +64-steps most times.
Secondly, the sound was not that good imho. I got rid of the A4MK2 and got a few random second-hand instruments that I enjoy.
I tried hard and this time with the MKII. I get often the sounds I want and get it to sound good, but its sometimes so exhausting and I loose the fun. Giving up and finally doing a swap tomorrow for a Prophet 6 that I always wanted.
And I absolutely love it 
), so I think it comes down to if you‘re looking for a blank canvas or not.