I’m mainly making techno, trance, acid, and jungle. With the above gear, I’ve got poly, supersaw, acid, drums, and sampling all covered, and now I feel that the thing missing is something modular to give me all the blips and blops.
… however, I’ve had the Matriarch in the past and although it was fun, I didn’t like that I couldn’t deterministically sequence what I was playing via the Pyramid (I know it has CV out, but I think I would need a tonne of them to record/play what I was tweaking).
So this brings me to the Analog Four MKII. I love the p-locking on the Rytm because it will do exactly what I tell it. Exactly what I’m after, but it’s not a complete synth (yes I know about it’s 3 dual VCOs, but it’s still not there FWIW). So after watching every Youtube Analog Four video, I’m convinced and will probably pull the trigger in the next few days. But the only thing stopping me is the Sequential Pro 3 - I’ve had an OB-6 in the past and it was lovely. The Pro 3 having 3 notes paraphony along with a Ladder AND OB-6 filter (I’m already covered with it’s Prophet filter), it makes me think I should go Pro 3 just because of the incredible sounds.
I think what I’m trying to say is - should I go with my gut and get a A4, or should I go with my gut and get a Pro 3? Maybe it’s sound vs sequencing I’m debating here… if the Pro 3 had p-locks, I think that would answer my question, but watching a few videos of it’s sequencer, it’s not even close to the A4.
tl;dr: A4’s sound is 8/10 for me, whereas the Pro 3’s sound is 10/10. But when it comes to the sequencer, the A4 is 11/10 whereas the Pro 3 is about a 3/10. Which would you chose?
… now that I think about it, maybe the Pyramid could sort of p-lock sequence the Pro 3. Not sure.
You can p-lock the Pro 3! The sequencer is pretty impressive tbh - like you say, not A4 level impressive, but still very creative and fast, and can even do some things the A4 can’t (change sequencer direction for example).
For me (ex-A4 mk2 owner, and current Pro 3 owner), the Pro 3 sounds a little better than the A4 for certain sounds - I guess mainly the big analog sounds and fat bass. But then the A4 is multi-timbral, has some amazing tricks up its sleeve, and can sound ace. I regularly get tempted to get another A4.
Pro 3’s sequencer is a slight evolution of the Pro 2 sequencer. As such, it can p-lock up to 16 parameters, and unless I am mistaken, each parameter’s “track” can have a different length. So polyrhythmic p-locks. It’s pretty powerful.
Hmm… if it’s anything like the OB-6, I’m guessing that there’s only a limited number of sequencers on the Pro 3 vs saving a library of sequencer for different songs (or even difference sets of songs) on the A4.
Either way, very interesting about the Pro 3 being able to p-lock. Damn, this makes things even harder now
In that case, I’m more interested in this then. Damn it, I had my mind made up already about getting the A4, but mistakenly watched a few Pro 3 reviews before bed
If you’d specifically said you wanted something for bass or leads, it’d more likely point to the Pro3… but if you want blips and blops, having the A4’s 4 tracks to play with (4x sounds, seq ptns, arps, conditional trigs) is definitely going to scratch that itch and do the job for you.
But thinking I want to something that will let me do an hour set of Berlin school (i.e multiple arps etc), I’m now back to leaning with the A4.
Damn it though, having to be able to filter audio through the Pro 3’s OB-6 filter would have been sweet. I wonder how close the A4’s band pass can get me there?
Either an A4, Pro2 or Pro3 should do the job. My plan is to buy a Pro2/Pro3 in a few years, so I’m happy to let the Evolver go to someone who is ready to use it now.
You may also want to consider a Desktop Virus or Blofeld - something multitimbral with plenty of internal modulation sources that you can drive with your Pyramid. My Octatrack + Virus can Berlin all night long!
Ok, I think the next question will make up my mind…
Can you trigger different sequences on the Pro 3 via midi? I’m hoping I can program what I want into the Pro 3, and then use the Rytm or Pyramid to play different Pro 3 sequences.
Saw your same post on gearspace, so I’ll copy my post from there
Get A4 mk2 and then get a Pro 2 later. Had a PRO 3,but sold it for the pro 2 which had more features, and just sounds more unique. I just add analog oscillators through cv when I want them.
A4 sequencer is amazing and the engine can get boards of Canada style drifty analog pads and avant-garde blippy bloops with ease. Great drum machine as well, that will only add to your Rytm.
I’d get the A4. I own a mki A4 and a PRO3 but I would chose the A4, but only because I also own a PRO2. Obviously you should have one of each but I think the A4 would suit your particular needs perfectly.
I have an OB-6 and a Peak.
Both sound really great! And if I need large chords, they are the ones I reach.
But in my hands A4 is so much more convenient, more fun to play with or to design sounds…
I make patches and have fun with the big ones.
I make evolving tracks with A4.
I’m not sure the OB-6 is in the same category with the A4 or Pro 3 when it comes to modulation… especially as the A4 and Pro 3 can sequence modulation parameters per step (sorry, I don’t know anything about the Peak).
I was hoping to kind of get a poor man’s OB-6 sound (paraphonic of course) by sending in my Prophet 5 into the Pro 3’s in. I’ve asked here (Sequential Pro 3 - #598 by alfiedotwtf) if anyone has a Pro 3 and a poly to try it out much appreciated!
I absolutely love my pro3. It’s a really fantastic synth but for your purposes the a4 sounds like a better fit.
Yeah the ob filter in the pro3 is beautiful (I find myself using it more often than not) but I wouldn’t buy the synth based on that.
Excuse my ignorance but I am curious: is the filter digital on the Pro 3? I just looked at the comparison chart from sequential and there is no analog filter listed. Could be a mistake.
BTW, I looked there because I just bought an OB6 and love it dearly, bit part of that is the ob filter. I recommend that synth, though simple, it bring me so much joy and other emotions!
