#12

They aren’t in production at this point, but I find the Grayscale Synapse to be a great companion for my A4 and Eurorack. It gives you green/red lights for each of the CV outs, which makes it super easy to see which channel is doing what while patching.

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#13

As I use it more, I would agree that the lack of character is a strength. This flexibility creates a blank canvas and I have been pleasantly surprised some of the places I have been able to take it (particularly some chiptune-esque squiggles and chirps).

If you don’t mind me asking, what albums did you use it on? My partner and I enjoy your music!

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#14

Glad you like my tunes. One A4 Album is ‘When’ on which it also provides all delay and reverb:

The other album is still a secret but will come out later this year :slight_smile:

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#15

For what it’s worth to others who may be interested, I also am not a fan of the MK1’s lack of tilt.
But for the past 5 years I’ve been using either these blue lounge cool feet to get a good tilt.
More recently I switched to this Ikea isberget tablet stand.
Either make a world of difference, and the former are very ideal if your device is on an uneven surface, as adjustments are easy.

Since I recently got a Typhon, I’ve been enjoying its instantly accessible big mono sounds. I wasn’t one to complain much about the A4’s sound before, but the comparison makes it easier. If I want to try to get those same tones out of an A4, I have to basically ignore the first filter with cutoff entirely open and key tracking off, and just use the 2nd multimode filter for everything.
Looking back at the projects I finished with A4, I employed a good bit of 2 voice unison for bigger sounds, and used sound locks to pepper in lots of very short sounds with a good bit of FX, and lots of p-locking.

A4 is its own thing in terms of workflow, but it sits in a mix easily and is very versatile. I think it excels most when you try to do a lot with it, rather than try to make it do one thing really really well.

The MK2’s added output connections would be my biggest reason to go that route vs MK1, but my stints with both the OT MK2 and Digitone were not good for my eyes. The bright white blinking LEDs under all the buttons were information overload, and I’ve found myself going back to OT MK1 and A4 MK1 for the simpler (and classic) design language.

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#16

Updated version of the A4 MkII out today with a new color scheme: https://www.elektron.se/products/analog-four-mkii/

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#17

It’s worth mentioning that the colour scheme is the only update apart from new factory presets.

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#18

Oh, oh wow, that’s beautiful… thank you for sharing :0 and it sounds like new presets, too, which is something complained about earlier in this thread. Yay for Elektron :slight_smile:
I love the lack of “ELEKTRON” on the front. Best looking machine they’ve ever put out I think. Wow!

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#19

Which all users get in the OS update :stuck_out_tongue:

#20

Which it seems has a whole lot more!

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#21

Pretty massive firmware update, and I just sold my A4 MK1 last week to fund a Pro 2.

Ah well, I’m happy for everyone else, and the new boxes look sharp. I am 50% hopeful the OT MK2 gets “transformed” as well, though the only gripes I really have on my MK1 is lack of cursor text below the encoders, which could be resolved if Cremecaffe or Oversynth provided a handy sticker for the encoders area.

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#22

what are your thoughts on the pro 2? like the A4 it seems like a good compliment to modular

#23

Class Compliant USB Audio is now available on the Analog Four MKII and Analog Rytm MKII

Very cool stuff here. Do wish they could do this for the MKI boxes, but this might tempt me to upgrade so I can do overbridgey stuff on Linux (actual software doesn’t work, but you’d get a lot of the audio routing benefits over USB with this upgrade)!

#24

I doubt it will happen for the MKI boxes. They upgraded the USB interface between the two versions.

Still helluva an update.

#25

Yes, that’s what they are implying on the thread:

I’d say it wasn’t likely, I don’t recall any clear discussions on why, but I think it would’ve already been here now if it was likely to happen

As you say, still impressed they are releasing so much for the old MK1 boxes. :slight_smile:

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#26

For sure. Solid looking out for their customers, old and new.

#27

can anybody confirm is the ‘class compliant audio’ working on both directions? Video is mentioning bi-directional audio processing but these artsy promotional videos are kind of confusing

#28

I haven’t upgraded yet but that is the new feature. You can read more about the capabilities in the new Audio Routing section of the revised manual.

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#29

Yea the CV implementation is similar to A4 in terms of connection count, but wonky in terms of notes:
When sequencing external CV notes it uses numeric values instead of notes. Not a deal breaker and makes a little sense due to offsets you might have employed, but it’s a hurdle.
A4’s CV section is a bit more logical.

I prefer to just sequence external stuff with Pro 2 over MIDI instead, and though that does use note names for values, it’s still not entirely straight forward. Otherwise the sequencer is very powerful and makes a great mod source.

It’s a deep synth, deeper than A4, and there is a lot to appreciate. The thing I probably miss the most from A4 that is omitted on Pro 2 is the LFO fade. This can be overcome with some sequencer tweaks but that feature on the A4 is very simple and quick to use. Ideal for long evolving sounds.

It’s funny that you mentioned Pro 2 as being a good compliment to modular.
I got it in lieu of a modular. The dual filters, routing, vast modulation, and audio rate capabilities give me what I want, and for the things I cannot achieve, I fire up Reaktor blocks. Will need to explore Blocks CV output into Pro 2 as I have 8 unused outputs on my Ultralite MK4.

I don’t want to derail this A4 thread too much, so I’ll add that if I ever get an A4 again it would probably be the new black MK2.
Using the QuickPerf pot for filter is a lot of fun (I had a MK2 Rytm for a while), and that overdrive just sounds nice. Once I started using more synths with pots on amazing sounding filters, my love for the A4 MK1 soured, and that was unfortunate. I used to take deep dives into that thing, and the only time I came up for air I was a few sampled drums away from a finished tune.

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#30

How are people liking the new firmware?

I was on the fence with the A4, but I have decided to use it for a whole year and then evaluate.

One aspect I’m struggling with is the chorus, the delay in particular sounds amazing, but I can’t get anything nice out of the chorus for the life of me. Any tips?

#31

this is exactly my approach and i love the clip you shared, would love to hear more of your jam on A4

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