I’ve posted this in other AR threads, but might help with your decision. This track is 100% done on the AR recorded live with no editing. Ableton was used to bring it to -.5 dB peaks w/ slight eq and compression as well. There are some samples being used, but mostly behind the analog engines.
That’s great! Well done. I need to up my game!
I regret selling MD but love my rytm mk2. My advice is just add a Rytm or A4 to the mix. Due to the A4 flexibility and MD high voice count, I think adding an A4 to an MD is a better overall setup than just an AR which compromises on both, but is a very nice unified machine for simpler tasks.
We have almost the inverse opinion 
I find the M:C a simplistic toy. It’s kicks are great and its melodic tones are much broader than the AR, but I find most of them sound cheap and tacky. I like that, but only now and then. Conversely, the AR inspires to make whole sets on. The M:C’s reverb is a delight! The AR’s one is murkier.
I bet the reverb algorithm is the same (it’s the same as in Digitone, Digitakt etc.)
That’d make me laugh. The AR has more controls, but I can’t work out how to get it to sound as airy and clean as the M:C.
I stopped using my MDUW after getting my AR mk1 when they came out. More weight and depth to the AR’s sound out of the box made it fit into my hardware-based setup perfectly.
Maybe a year or two later I found myself using samples more and got a Digitakt for a cleaner sound, growing a bit tired of AR’s dirtier character, and haven’t used the AR since.
Now I prefer the MD because it’s so unique, but you are spot on about its character and adding analog processing will only get you so far. If you want to just have fun making music without a bunch of additional processing, I think you will enjoy AR quite a bit. It sounds fantastic and can be quite expressive. Maybe you will miss MD’s digital charm, but it sounds like you would probably enjoy AR more for now.
ah hm, you might be right since AR is from another decade.
no VA??? Just load a Single Cycle Waveform, loop it and you’ve got VA (Saw/Tri/SQR/Sin)?Map an LFO to OSC pitch and you got FM too. VA is just that!
I bought an AR recently after having sold my MD a few years ago. I wish I’d kept the MD and never bought the AR. The MD sounds so much cooler, and I think the new 3rd party firmware makes it even nuttier.
Not in my view. I’ve owned both, and my current black AR can easily be played with light one-finger taps. Worlds apart from AR MKI (which I also have owned, f**king GAS 
)
I think separating the thought process to features and sound, and evaluating each on its own can help you determine your preference.
Holy crap that tune is BRUTAL and I love it.
Maybe my understanding of VA is too limited. I thought it meant running a mathematical model of the whole signal path. The AR doesn’t do that. I suppose you could call a single cycle wave a model of an oacillator, but the rest of the signal path is still analog.
Agree, I think in general virtual analog means modeling the behavior of analog components mathematically. Recently watched this “intro” to the subject:
What was previously described with a single cycle waveform is more akin to wavetable or sample based synthesis.
I’d expect VA to come with a much higher track count to cost ratio, too. You’re paying for a lot of actual circuits when you buy an AR. If it were really a VA device, I’d expect it to cost 1/2->2/3 what it goes for.
Sorry guys, if my mention of VA on Rytm caused any confusion. Somehow I thought they’d added virtual analog in addition to the real analog. From my understanding, there are many ways of achieving VA, from wavetables, to circuit modeling. Perhaps I didn’t understand how “machines” work on AR and assumed “Dual VCO” meant some kind of VA as an alternative to the analog circuitry. My bad! 
End of thread. Just don’t do it.
PS have both.
This track certainly slaps and makes me want the A4 even more. Have you ever used MD?
I was hoping A4 could be used for more chromatics but everyone is saying it’s limited so it’s starting to seem like a bonus feature meant for bass and glitchy sounds than anything else. I have other means of adding chromatics, M:C, NL3, even an ESI-2000. Been playing with MD’s options and it’s … okay. You have to use two tracks oftentimes. The FM machines can be coaxed into chromatic territory pretty painlessly but the pitch range is limited. EDIT: With TONAL enabled the range is significantly expanded, turning EFM-BD into a general purpose FM synth.
I’ve noticed that one reason I use Model Cycles so much is the ability to change pitch, velocity, and length on notes so fluidly. On Machinedrum it is really not much fun with the one button to get to the pages needed to tweak these params, and on top of it if you use two tracks then you have to switch between them if you want to tweak the amp envelope vs the filter envelope.
I’ll be happy to exchange my Rhytm MK2 for your MD 