Exactly. I feel like these forums are often where people look for info when considering a purchase… And I hope that posts like yours might help prevent others from potentially wasting time and money if they could be much happier with a Prophet or one of the many other synths which has a grin-inducing sound / interface / filter that’s sooo satisfying!
the prophet 6 is double the price of the A4.
or 1k more of you go for the module.
I hope it sounds better
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The monomachine sounds so much juicier in a springy way, at least mine does.
can you make or perform a techno song on a prophet 6 without any external gear? probably not a synth someone after a device thats capable of that is after then.
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I prefer my analog four over the monomachine.
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I’m still fresh with the A4, had it for a week.
But I didn’t say juicier in a springy way was better, did I? I like my techno grooves dry… autumn like… sometimes, at least in the evenings
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I have never been able to master the monomachine. I can make it squeek thats about it. I am very proficient with the A4. I do prefer the sound of the A4 but the device you feel more comfortable with must play a role as well. The more comfortable you are, the more time you spend with it, the more you get out of it.
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For the price of a new A4 MK2 (£1100 is hardly cheap, you’d really expect it to sound better), you have a lot of options. And for those that do buy a new A4, second hand resale prices are pretty brutal, with mint MK2s currently selling at £850 and MK1s going as low as £500. That makes the second hand units look like quite a bargain… And for sure, some people will be happy with the level of functionality for that price, although I personally don’t think the sound is good enough even in the 500-600 price bracket.
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The sound is awesome imho. I love this synth! So much to discover soundwise!
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you must really dislike the a4, as 500 pounds is basically entry level or just above entry level price range and most synths you can buy for that little are either limited or behringer. the a4 definitely blows them all out of the water, both sound and featurewise. unless of course ms20 mini or similar extremely recognizeable synth happens to be your desert island synth, in that case the a4 will come second
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its a case that most synths need good processing and skill to use/time to master. but i just knew id never like it. id possibly like it more nowadays…
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This is the end, my friend.
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But what I want to know is, what do people really think of the A4/AK?
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…the blue bus…
…is calling us…
…this is the end…
…my only friend, the end… 
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Nice sounds!
thanks mate, I indeed knew this but appreciate the effort. my main problem isn’t bass frequencies being loud enough, that could be solved with EQing too. it’s a lack of precision that really bothers me. in low registers I get nothing from the oscs but gnarly buzz.
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I went for the A4 bcs I wanted an analog synth that saves patches with the best integrated sequencer out there. I didn’t care so much about the 4 tracks tbh.
You may argue that’s not what it’s made for, but then I’d ask back, what is it made for then? Why would I want to make whole Techno tracks with just 4 voices?
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The init sound is pretty thin. I made a saw-like sound on the Digitone to compare (algorithm 8, high feedback and only B2 op). To get it to sound like the A4’s saw, I had to EQ out the bottom end by setting the 2nd filter’s base to 50.
Despite this, I like the sounds the A4 can make, but I think it’s largely thanks to the sequencer and performance macros. Making it sound great takes a lot of tweaking because you have to manually add in the imperfections, otherwise it’ll sound a bit sterile. What I love about the sequencer is that it’s easy to punch in melodies thanks to the tiny keyboard, but it’s also easy to really tailor the sound to the melody with p-locks.
On top of this you have the performance macros, 10 knobs that can be used at the same time, each of which can change 5 parameters. I’ve been using these a lot to increase the intensity of sounds, by increasing the filter cutoff and osc2 level and reverb amount, but also lower the amp volume to compensate for the added loudness.
I’ve also started using two macro knobs to control the delay and reverb: one to increase the feedback and length, and one to choke it by lowering the lowpass filter. It’s a fun way to wash everything in delay and reverb, and when things get out of hand and turning down the reverb knob is not enough, I can use the other knob to tame the effects.
Here’s an example where I use all these tricks to perform a full track with only 4 voices. Full disclosure, the A4 is running through the Analog Heat which is off-screen for some EQing (more bass 
) and a bit of saturation.
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I would want to make whole tracks with only 4 Voices if they sounded like this!!!
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