Enable the four voices polyphony, dial in an ambient pad and heaven. So glorious on par with Virus and Prophet synths but lighter and superior sequencer.
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I’ve had a love/hate relationship with my mk1 until pretty recently. Now it’s all love.
What changed?
Pretty much stumbling upon a thread in this forum that demonstrated that the A4’s ladder filter is the primary source of coloration which leads to an often perceived “weak” sound character and that some rather esoteric settings can offset this effect greatly (as determined by viewing waves from other synths via an oscilloscope through the A4’s filters and finding the most neutral settings). There are also some tricks to get more standard/expected sounding waves as, again, the A4’s stock settings are a bit atypical. I now feel like I can achieve the bass and tone I have been wanting (without hp/peak filter boosts) and it’s made a huge difference.
Now, add in a few drum packs and the flexible sequencer and the A4 becomes indispensable as the sum of its parts…
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I still have a love and hate relationship with my A4 Mk2.
I guess i’m in the minority but soundwise i preferred the Mk1 (darker, less boomy… i dont know) though the GUI of the MK2 is vastly superior + the 4 outputs.
Combined with the Ensoniq DP4 the A4 become something else. For me its a perfect match ! The DP4 is kinda lo fi and i cant explain why but even without FX (just running thru the DAC) it makes my A4 sounds better.
If i compare the raw tone to my SE Boomstar 4075, MS20, Ob6, Dreadbox Typhon or even the Mi Ambika (digital OSCs) the A4 is just ok i guess but that sequencer !!! 
I mostly use mine as a percussion synth (i might sell my Analog Rytm TBO ) and it does a really good job as a drum machine.
I also like to use it as a 4 voices synths for complex pads but 4x Typhons would almost be better for me since i like the sound of the Dreadbox better but i would loose too much , the sequencer, parameter locks etc .
edit : I still dont understand why the Rytm doesnt have the ENV curves from the A4 and the amazing noise generator (S&H option)
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as already discussed here on the forum and most probably elsewhere too, to some the A4 can sound like it doesn’t have a particular sound or low frequencies that other synths have…to me it does sound really good when things are adjusted properly; i do like the filter section together with the various options available for each of the oscillators. this combined with the FX and Envelope+LFO…and of course the sequencer too, well… i’d say there’s plenty in there for some good results soundwise 
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Erm…the A4 can do it! OK with a Trick, but it’s doable (hackable)…watch this:
He uses a BomeBox, but i think any DAW that allows MidiEvent Processing can do it.
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I love my A4 but it does sound thin without abit of tweaking. Got a link to this thread?
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Same here 
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this, 100%. yes, it sounds great. but it’s a rare miss by Elektron in the fun to use department. every time I used mine I kept thinking “why the hell am I doing this when I could be using something I actually like working with instead?”
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Yeah, this debate constantly pops up. I had an AK. Here’s my experience with it:
- using it as a polysynth is a faff
- best thought of as 4 x Monosynths… But it doesn’t sound as good as most other analog Monosynths
- to be more specific on sound, it lacks weight and depth to the core sound, the sweet spots are few and far between
- the filters don’t help improve the core sound either, they’re really meh
- the FX are only okay-ish. There is much better to be found in other synths
- architecture, workflow and interface is a pain in the ass and takes tiiiime. It’s a bit of a nightmare to be honest
- the good part of it, is assigning all the macros to use knobs for controlling a bunch of stuff all at once… But you’ll get bored of it and end up playing easier, better sounding synths with more immediacy
- one other good thing is being able to use the sequencer on CV out, but it’s unlikely to be worth it just for that
- the keys will break if you drop something on them and don’t have the aftermarket underbridge, and because the keys age and discolour badly, the replacement will look really out of place
I know this is an Elektron forum (and it’s worth noting that I love my Digitakt and Analog Heat!) but the A4 / AK really isn’t a synth I could ever recommend. And I think the difficulties above are reflected in quite spectacularly poor re-sale values…
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I mean, yeah. All of those will destroy an A4!
Having an Elektron sequencer is good… So I’d usually suggest Digitakt used to control some killer synths.
FYI, synth-wise, I’ve got Peak, two different Boomstars, Sub Phatty, Lyra – and again, all of them crush the A4 in pure sound and joy / ease of use. I’ve got a Jupiter 50 / Yamaha MOX8 too, for anything the above doesn’t cover!
I’ve had mine for around 4 months i think. I bought an A4 for super cheap, just to see if I liked it. Then my friend fell in love with that one, so I bought an AK and sold him the A4, since I didn’t have a keyboard.
I kinda bought the AK because I wanted the hold and multi map button, and to be able to play the multi maps from the kb. I guess I wanted a contoller kb, to just play and it’s great for that.
Tbh, I never bought into the whole analogue vs digital craze. I’ve always thought that analogue is antiquated, or limited. The idea of only having these 4-6 waveforms on a modern synth was never my cup of tea. Filters, maybe, but then have one digital and one analogue.
But, after reading about the A4 a bit, I bought one. I had a feeling that people would buy the A4, much like the person I bought my OT off of, play with it for a while and wonder why they can’t get that sound out of it they had imagined…But, like most Elektron gear, it’s about tenacity and spending time getting deep into the machine…and I have not gotten there yet. I think in a year or two I’ll either be in love with it, or I’ll finally just sell all my synths and get a Nord Modular G2 Keys.
Pro’s for me so far.
- Drums Drums Drums!! Multi map, triggered by my OT with 128 differnt drum presets. Then record into the A4 sequencer and tweek knobs in record mode. Soooo fun.
- Drums. Twice cuz they sound sooo good.
- The amount of synthesis options is outstanding. It’s not knob per function, but once you get used to where things are, it’s all right there.
- The 5th sub osc. For beautiful pads.
- A bunch of stuff I haven’t tried yet- feadback osc, inputing into a track…and a bunch of stuff.
- Envelopes everywhere, including in the envelope section. Kinda crazy.
- Trig mute, accent, note slide buttons.
Cons so far - It’s analog…But, hey, it says it on the tin
JK kinda - I’m still having a hard time fitting it in the mix, but I’ll get there. I think I’m just learning the sound of this thing.
- Having so many options to get to the sound you want can be overwhelming. But, in the end they make it happen.
In the end, so far I love this thing as a drum synth and for designing long beautiful pads. I wouldn’t say it doesn’t sound analogue enough. It’s a really deep synth, that could take years (days for some synth ninjas) to really get to know well.
If you have a sound that you would like to synthesize, you should be able to do it on this synth.
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I spent a couple days recently working on a string sound. It’s possible. Would be a good thread. I’m sure there would be a lot of tips from people here.
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I think it sounds good has a really nice range, some clever implementation of some preset lfos and envelopes make it so you don’t really need to do mod assignments for bread and butter sounds. Had some people telling me they instantly recognized the SH101 in my tracks when it was really just the A4. I think the 2nd filter is where it is at for rolandish sounds.
I think the workflow is decent on the A4 but it has much tougher competition if you are thinking of it as a synth. So many good knob perfunction synths makes it harder to want to use live over one of them to me. The sequencer on the A4 might be the best of any elektron box though, makes it perfect for making a cool phrase and sampling it to me. You can design some great drums also. But yeah I feel it more as a studio tool than a live tool these days.
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I love my A4, the depth the routing and shit, but when I turn on the Rev2 things get pretty embarassing soon, speaking soundwise
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I will amend my comments and say I do think that if you are after a synth that’s versatile and you want to have a smaller setup, it’s not a bad option. I think the mk2 version is likely more fun to get on with than the AK I had, namely because of the larger screen and it being tilted towards you.
I am spoiled by having many knob-per-function synths and I certainly appreciate working with that more (especially if no patch memory and it’s WYSIWYG). I do love the Elektron “pages” style of menu interface as well, I just think that with the number of pages present in the A4, and that lots of them have extra pages… it just gets un-fun quickly for me: back and forth and back and forth, trying to get to sweet spots. BUT the depth and power one would be after in a workhorse synth are certainly there, if you want them and have the skill/patience to corral them.
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That’s a fair assessment.
I think overall, due to the unique workflow and sequencer, the experience of using it will take you places no other synth will lead you to.
You just have to decide whether or not you enjoy traveling on those roads along the way.
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Totally agree with the fun assessment, and the tilted screen. I think the fun comes after you get the sound and start plocking and live recording…Which is really where Elektron machines always shine. I mean, it still blows me away that this thing can change everything so fast (sound locking) on an analog machine, Thats just nutty.
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A4 is that bad compared to it?! 
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Not so bad but 