I’m struggling a bit, how do you set up the Analog Keys as an external fx device in Ableton? Any good video’s out there showing how it’s done? Do you have to route the whole channel to the AK(sidechain channels?) Or is there a way to put the AK inside the channel’s fx-chain?
External audio effect only seems to let you choose an output of the track’s device(my soundcard), not another device(the AK in this case). Is this done with something like soundflower as a vst? Or is it only really possible to send the whole track to the AK?
Set the Keys as your audio interface in your Live prefs for the Input, and leave your Output section however you like it (ie routed to your speakers). Then you need to set a trig (INF) to let the sound in, on say Track 1 of the AK. You can turn the oscillators down on their respective OSC pages. From there, take your Ableton track, ie Opertaor, and choose ‘Audio To’ - > Analog Four - and choose a sidechain input ie 1/2. Then, in the plugin, set the Sidechain 1/2 input to Track 1 - the one with your Amp trig. You should hear sound and can then use the filters and effects on that track from there. You should also hear the effected sound on your Plugin Track, and can turn of the Operator track monitoring if u like.
But no, there is no AK ‘audio effect’ plug
I doubt you need to change anything in Live’s main preferences? I would never use any Elektron over my main soundcard as I mix inside it’s DSP environment. Not an option 
Apologies, thats just the way I had it setup.
Not needed, I am def interested to see how diff people work. But I have a personal challenge as well The place of the AK in my fx-chain is super important to me, before the Heat, after the verb, before the compressor or after etc etc. But theres also a very defined signal chain as a whole, my MIO console, my summer, the other hardware on the analog mixer coming into my soundcard etc
I see. Doesn’t appear possible to drop the AK plugin into the Audio Effect Rack device
I learn’t something tonight too. Thought you had to use the Analog device as soundcard for this for some reason.
Thats the great thing about Overbridge! But with multiple external environments it also complicates things. And the AK being an instrument device and not an effect device this really makes the workflow a bit different. Which is why I am really curious about diff approaches!
In a perfect world there would be an fx version of the AK plugin. But second best would be to have a sort of external audio effect wher you could choose the Ak as a device instead of being stuck to the tracks device’s io.
I guess you could do some routing in live, like jumping aorund 3 or 4 different audio tracks… place the AK in line where you want then Group or something…
yes, but then the fx chain becomes pretty complicated as well. But it seems to be the only option. Unless something like Soundflower or maybe Max for Live can bring a solution? Have zero experience with them…
You could potentially use an M4L Macro Device on the Group. I think there are some out there that do 16 or whatever. Then bring all your main controls to the one device, if that makes it easier…
Mm. Simplest solution is prob: output of the track to sidechain input, split up the fx chain and put the rest of the chain on the return channel(AK main). Should work, not as smooth as a regular fx vst but workable.
Which brings up the next mystery, what’s up with all the sidechain channels? Are they all seen as the external audio input in the AK? Is it just so you can send multiple stereo busses to it? All will be seen as the audio in right, and if you want them to play on a channel you need to set the osc to audio in etc? Or turn up the inputs on the fx channel?
Ok now how the hell do you get the filters and fx on the sidechain input?? I get the signal, it’s just completely unmodified 
Which channels should I activate if I wanted the audio i send to the sidechain input to go through osc 1(left) and 2(right) of track one into the fx?
It’s all explained in the Overbridge manual. Take a look at the diagram on page 17. You can see using the Main audio Overbridge Output basically sends the audio from your DAW directly to the Analog 4/Keys outs - see point [4] in the diagram. I’m not sure why anyone would want this aside from using the A4/K as a sound output device? It sounds like this is what you’re currently doing and why the sounds is unprocessed.
Instead, if you look at Track 1/2/3/4’s outputs in the diagram [5] then they join the signal chain at the start, before the filter and distortion. So switch on Track 1’s Outputs in Overbridge App and choose that inside the sidechain section in the A4/Keys VST.
The reason why there are so many sidechain destinations should be self-explanatory.
/OH
Is there any way to route the Overbridge output into the ext audio in through overbridge, to use an external signal as oscilators? I now just wired the audio into the ext audio in and use two track as left and right (as I can’t seem to pan osc 1 and 2 left and right)…
You can’t pan the oscillators in the A4/K so in short, no. Your solution of using 2x tracks is the only solution for stereo processing through the oscillator path of filters and overdrive.
And sending Overbridge audio to the ext audio in? Or treat a stereo channel from your daw as such through Overbridge?
Thanks for the clear explanations btw, much appreciated