Elektron Analog Four info

[Alume]

Hello fellas,

A small summary of events in the past: My grandma passed away last week(may she rest in peace) and left me a 1000 euro's.
My mother told me that I should buy something to remember her. You know, something that will stick. Not food,
vacation or beer.

So ofcourse my first reaction was: GEAR

I've been juggling with a few ideas in my head, but basically I've kind of been leaning towards the a4.
I have a md myself so I know what elektron can do but id like some info from you guys as wel.

Can anyone enlighten me? Id like to use it for, pads/ambients, textures, basslines, leads.. almost everything really.


Oh yeah and one thing that was also REALLY tempting about it as well is that the machine will have Elektron Overbridge in a few months. This means that the device will integrate with your daw:
youtu.be/RHeeyvYsGgE

Other hardware recommendations are welcome as well, but I feel that the A4 can do it all?

[Barfunkel]

I've made entire tracks with the A4. Of course, with just 4 voices it's a bit of a challenge. You can do drums, leads, basses, all kinds of sounds with it. However, IMO, it's not that great at pads. Ok, but not great. Then again, someone at the Elektronauts made a pack of just pad sounds with it a short while ago, maybe check that one out, it's very likely that some people are better at synthesizing pads than I am.

You of course have that amazing sequencer. It's just SO fast and easy, yet complex if you wish, pretty much the best sequencer I've ever used.

FX are very good for a synth too.

Here's some things I've made with nothing but the A4. Straight from it's stereo outputs, no tricks, no multitracking, no mastering, except if I remember correctly a few dB of EQ boost from the Boss mixer in the pictures.


2 techno tracks:





And 2 ambient tracks:





That's what it sounds like pretty much. If you like that, buy one, you won't be disappointed. If you think those didn't sound good enough, then maybe buy something else.

[Alume]

Whats wrong with the pads then? Is it the reverb?

I like what im hearing.

I think what im looking for is something that is gives "endless" experimentation, more depth in my tracks, and that is really fun to play with and good for possible live performances.

[Barfunkel]

Whats wrong with the pads then? Is it the reverb?

Nothing wrong with them as such, it just doesn't excel at them. Could be just my lack of programming chops of course.

Edit: The reverb's actually pretty good for a built in effect.

[johannes heil]

if you want to create all the sounds you have listed
in a great quality for that price, go for a used virus
ti, learn to work with it and be happy to have a swiss
army knife for all kinds of high quality sounds.

it can also do low quality with a high quality!

if you want big sounds and versatility, the analog four
will not do the job for you, i have one and i love to
use it live, but compared to the virus the sounds and
versatility are a joke.

the virus ti can nearly do any sound you wish for,
the most versatile and best sounding synth for this
bugdet you can get on the market, that's for shure.

believe me or just buy what you want or others tell you,
but then don't be sad that you don't have a alice in
wonderland kind of instrument.

[Alume]

Hi Johannes,

I'll have a look at it for shure. You are quite the salesman

[johannes heil]

i just thought you might want to
have something lasting and great
to the honor of your grandma...

for me this synth is heaven, it's pads
are the most elegant and score like
i have ever heard coming out of a synth,
creamy, silky, very very lovely,
you could say it has orchestral qualitys
when it comes to create a feeling of
depth and a very visual emotional tone.

but you can also do great basses, effects,
chordstabs, arpeggios, etc.

if you have a good imagination, this will
be your matrix to create all the colours...

anything besides some strange modular
stuff no one in the world would ever need to
create inspirational music.

it can do strange, noisy and experimental stuff
aswell, but honestly, i wouldnt give a shit about
a track that is simply full of noise, not having any
intelligence or soul which directly connects to me.

the a4 is a nice synth aswell, to mention its sequencer
first would be most respectfull, because it is simply the
best hardware sequencer in the world, as all elektron products,
but when we are talking about sound quality, BIG sounds,
this machine is not delivering them.

if you go with the virus
you will have a huge toolkit with this, lots
of waveforms, filtertypes, great effects,
a couple of lfo's, envelopes, step sequencer style arp,
lots of voices, lots of program memory, a realy powerfull
mod matrix, you can nearly let all of the parameters be
modulated by an other, the build and sound quality is
perfect and yes it is german!

and don't bother about it being digital, it sounds so fat
that a word like digital or analog becomes meaningless,
it can do it all... tease you softly, blow you away with a
fat bass, be realy harsch, digital, accurate, but i can also
have all the opposite attributes, it is up to you, if you
understand the machine and the dna of the sounds you
want to achieve everything is possible, this machine has
only a few limits.

i could program a sound makong you believe you are hearing
a juno 106 or a sh 101 with ease, but only because i know how
they sound and how to achieve.

i had a roland jupiter 8, an elka synthex, an alesis andromeda 6,
i sold all of them and that for a good reason...

when i turned on the virus and heard to sound, i knew that
none of these legends can beat this machine in any discipline.

the a6 is pretty close to what i call a BIG sound with GREAT
quality, but to program is simply a pain in the ass....

and no, i do not get anything for saying this, i only like the idea
to have pointed you into a direction you would be realy happy
with, because that would make your grandma happy aswell.

g-d bless!

[Barfunkel]

I never really got the Virus sound personally, but I can see the attraction. If I wanted a hardware VA, I'd rather take a Nord Lead. Sounds closer to the kind of sounds I need/want straight out of the box with a much easier UI.

[atom_output]

how about octatrack for your one stop powerstation?

[Alume]

i just thought you might want to
have something lasting and great
to the honor of your grandma...

for me this synth is heaven, it's pads
are the most elegant and score like
i have ever heard coming out of a synth,
creamy, silky, very very lovely,
you could say it has orchestral qualitys
when it comes to create a feeling of
depth and a very visual emotional tone.

but you can also do great basses, effects,
chordstabs, arpeggios, etc.

if you have a good imagination, this will
be your matrix to create all the colours...

anything besides some strange modular
stuff no one in the world would ever need to
create inspirational music.

it can do strange, noisy and experimental stuff
aswell, but honestly, i wouldnt give a shit about
a track that is simply full of noise, not having any
intelligence or soul which directly connects to me.

the a4 is a nice synth aswell, to mention its sequencer
first would be most respectfull, because it is simply the
best hardware sequencer in the world, as all elektron products,
but when we are talking about sound quality, BIG sounds,
this machine is not delivering them.

if you go with the virus
you will have a huge toolkit with this, lots
of waveforms, filtertypes, great effects,
a couple of lfo's, envelopes, step sequencer style arp,
lots of voices, lots of program memory, a realy powerfull
mod matrix, you can nearly let all of the parameters be
modulated by an other, the build and sound quality is
perfect and yes it is german!

and don't bother about it being digital, it sounds so fat
that a word like digital or analog becomes meaningless,
it can do it all... tease you softly, blow you away with a
fat bass, be realy harsch, digital, accurate, but i can also
have all the opposite attributes, it is up to you, if you
understand the machine and the dna of the sounds you
want to achieve everything is possible, this machine has
only a few limits.

i could program a sound makong you believe you are hearing
a juno 106 or a sh 101 with ease, but only because i know how
they sound and how to achieve.

i had a roland jupiter 8, an elka synthex, an alesis andromeda 6,
i sold all of them and that for a good reason...

when i turned on the virus and heard to sound, i knew that
none of these legends can beat this machine in any discipline.

the a6 is pretty close to what i call a BIG sound with GREAT
quality, but to program is simply a pain in the ass....

and no, i do not get anything for saying this, i only like the idea
to have pointed you into a direction you would be realy happy
with, because that would make your grandma happy aswell.

g-d bless!

I will have a look at it man. It is user friendly? I mean I'm wuite new in the hardware world and in the synthesis world for that matter. Is it hard to learn properly?

[Alume]

I never really got the Virus sound personally, but I can see the attraction. If I wanted a hardware VA, I'd rather take a Nord Lead. Sounds closer to the kind of sounds I need/want straight out of the box with a much easier UI.

Thats why i was so interested, i kind of know the UI already.

I'm not shure what kind of sound I want. I like the directness of the elektron machines. But the virus sounds really great in terms of beauty.

[Alume]

how about octatrack for your one stop powerstation?

I have not considered an OT. What do you like about it?

[johannes heil]

guys, octatrack is a sampler, so what the fuck are you talking about!?
stay focused, you want an instrument that creates great sound...

you know that a sampler is something like a vagina where you
you insert something crossed with a parrot which repeats the word penis
all day, plus an envelope to package the sound in different ways, some scissors
to cut etc.

before i was taking it serious, but now after you considering an octatrack,
i feel like i am talking to puppy dogs which jump around, barking, rolling
over the floor all day, not knowing that all they want is the smell and feel of hot pussy!

octatrack is cool, i also got one of those, but this is something different...

also nordlead was mentioned, i own nordleads aswell, great synths, which number
do you need, but the virus offers you a LOT more.

i would say the user interface is as friendly as the user, if you fear it,
it will bite you, if you do not respect it, it will piss in your face, but if
your heart is pure and your mind focused, it will give you a lot of pleasure!

of course you will need at least a little bit of intelligence and memory to
handle this, but i guess if you allready made it to live without permanently
shitting on the floor, you will manage it!

come on, don't act like a bunch of losers, stay ambitioned........

(read with an old school british accent in mind)

[Alume]

Im not considering an octatrack, oke maybe I was
The thing is im keeping an open mind, right now there is nothing that my studio needs or misses
because its starting from the ground up. An multifunctional machine like the Virus would be great
but maybe something else will catch my interest. I'm very thankfull for your advice Johannes, and
I am listining to it carefully. But the facts are that I'm still a student with a crappy ass bedroom that I cal my
studio. I use my desk for music making but when exams come around, I have to be able to study as well.
Plus the fact that when I but one of these wonderfull machines I will have to cut money on food and
other stuff for a couple of weeks(as vinyl always goes first haha).

That is why im acting like a puppy which jumps around, barking, rolling
over the floor all day. Because in fact I am (music-wise)

And if I dont purchase a virus now(though i might as wel buy one) I might find one in the future
and buy it then:)