The sound of the A4/AK... like or dislike?

Elektron Gear Analog Keys/Four
#268

on the MK2 Desktop Unit i experienced the missing Bass because of the ongoing overload of all voices at the same velocity, exactly at this stage you don‘t have any chance to boost the Bass signal or track to cut thru, and that was also something I couldn’t justify.

i always play the AK in polymode and the huge difference is to play a 3 note chord at like 64 (velocity) but hitting the 4th note (bass) a bit harder it cuts easily thru and behaves like a separate mono synth with more headroom, which is really funky and deep.

it’s the layering of the Sounds

#269

Add a little pulse wave modulation with the dedicated LFOs and instantly sounds way better :slightly_smiling_face:

#270

sorry it’s not that simple. it really isn’t.

#271

that indeed makes a bit of sense to me

1 Like
#272

try turning up the volume also, louder sounds better hehe…
i really like the sound of the AF ive got a moog for low sub type bass now,
its a one trick pony compared to the AF though

#273

Mine has been sounding a bit oily this week…

6 Likes
#274

oily warm or cold/digital?

1 Like
#276

After instantly falling in love with a DN then DT, I was a little meh on the A4 sound. My “ah ha!” moment was a little strange, and I don’t think a common sentiment, but might click with someone out there:

Between its four (mono) voices, crazy fast envs, :3lektron: sequencer with all its locks, generally insane amounts of modulation, and oddly specific shortcutted modulation (vib, PW, really fast arps…) the A4 comes across to me as a very (very) upscale chiptunes tracker.

If you think of the classic sound of an NES, for example, you have to only two PWs to do most of the melody work (the tri on bass is essentially unmoddable, and the fourth channel is just noise for percussion). How can you make full and interesting melodies with just two PWs? By moding the hell out of their pitch, amp, and phase to produce vibratos, arps, delay effects, faked out reverbs, slides, trems, timbre sweeps, and all the rest, extremely quickly, on a per-step basis.

That’s what the A4 brings to the table that other synths don’t. And even if the only thing it did was back this modulation-heavy workflow with nice sounding squares, it would be a beast. But of course it goes so much further, giving us two osc with all sorts of shapes and subs (that 5th sub!) through 2 filters x 4 tracks and built-in FX.

In a way, the full-featuredness of the analog side of things (and its pretending to be poly) is what hid the “heart” of this box from me. It’s possible — maybe even easier — to try to patch it like a Prophet. But what I now love about the A4 and what made it a keeper for me is using it like a delux demoscene mod machine but with incredibly full analog sound.

That’s what a lot of people here have said, right? That it’s modulation-heavy. I just wanted to say “Yes, but x10!” The A4 to me is not an “evolving sound” ambient sort of morphing modulation (though it can do). The modulation is the sound, to the point where patches don’t really capture it — no more so than a PW captures the sound of those NES tunes. You have to hear it sequenced with all its locks to get a sense of its potential.

Edit: made it more clear what I believe A4’s advantages are above and beyond NES emulation :slight_smile:

8 Likes
#277

let alone round robin with full tracks instead of “just” oscillators :new_moon_with_face:

2 Likes
#278

What do you mean with ‘if it only backed this modulation-heavy workflow with analog oscillators’?

#279

I just love my A4 (original version) and sounds it can produce. But yeah, when it was launched I was hesitating for quite a lot of time, because Youtube demos sounded not convincing. Purchased it after listening presets in a shop - difference was astounding.

The tone of A4 most of the time is a strange mixture of warm and cosy analogness mixed with cold digital tones. Visually it’s like a mixture of two colors, sometimes there are more warm shades, sometimes - more cold, depending on a patch. Very odd feeling, tbh.

The most pleasant sounds it can make - leads, especially in unison, synthetic flutes and tuned percussion (just standard presets). Sometime it just sounds like a sample or real instruments.
I don’t remember if I got such an impression from other, ‘more proper’ analogs like DSI Tetra, which sounded massive and juicy, but all the time perceived clearly as a synthetic sound. I think the too stable DCOs are really good for some sounds which require precision.

1 Like
#280

Even if the only thing the A4 did was replace the extremely blippy PW of the RP2A03 with nicer, fuller PW (with more than 3 preset duty cycles :scream:), that upgrade combined with the power of the Elektron sequencer would still be a beast.

But they went further and added, essentially, everything else commonly found in analog synths (and then some), all with the same level of modability, making it a full on monster.

I’ve edited the original to make this more clear.

#281

I’m enjoying my AK a lot, it can do many things well and I’m glad to have the (very expressive) keyboard layout and sequencer integration. But when people talk about it being ‘four modulars in a box’ and similar, I feel like I’m missing something. It does have a lot of modulation options, I’m not complaining, but it all seems like fairly standard stuff for a high-end-ish synth… What am I not seeing?

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#282

If you use the onboard sequencer you can have a different sound per step on each of the 4 tracks, that’s more modulation than what most can do

1 Like
#283

I think the phrase that it’s 4 modular synths in one is incorrect, but in comparison to the features it is a 5000€ system or more, really high precision engines.

you just have to compare the “parts” of the A4/AK with a Eurorack system and of course it’s top notch sounding, in Eurorack you would just pay 600€ for the sequencer alone and like 400€ per Oscillator with all the sync settings and such, imagine. :relieved:

3 Likes
#284

This is great!!

1 Like
#286

I agree

#287

Original AF/AK is OK

MK2 sounds thicker and richer. If I had the money I’d get a MK2 and be quite happy.

#288

This is a very old question: A4 sounds good? Mk2 is it better than mk1?
I had an A4 mk1, loved and used it a lot. For me it was the school of analog subtractive synthesis. Sequencer and all the features were dope, but to be honest I had some problems with oscillators and filters. In every session I had to spend a lot of time looking for sweet spots and some times it was a little annoying. Than I tried a simple Doepfer standard vco filtered by the A-120 and it was another world: any given setting of the knobs was a sweet spot, everything was easyer and the sound was richer, deeper, more powerful and alive. After a while I sold my A4. Sometimes I miss it and probably I didn’t understand something, but this is my story with it.
I’d wish to try for some days an mk2 and to know if it sounds really better than mk1: it could be a good reason to have an A4 back.

(Honestly: the problem could be me. Today I know synthesis much better and probably I could use A4 in a more proper way :slightly_smiling_face:).

2 Likes
#289

I’ve mentioned my thoughts on this subject a few times already, so I won’t repeat myself too much, but suffice to say that I’ve heard similar things a bunch of times, not to mention having a similar experience myself (and I’d count myself well-versed with synths).

But here you’ll get endless commenting about how it’s so amazingly flexible and can do so many things etc etc… and if you implement 5 tricks and some more workarounds it can sound almost exactly like… Oh wait, nope, it still sounds meh and has sucked all your time and energy out of creating something :unamused:
But as always, it’s different horses for different courses!

1 Like