KVR Audio

antic604 · Post by **antic604** » Wed Sep 23, 2020 2:37 pm

New coat of paint, basically

https://www.elektron.se/products/analog-four-mkii/

https://www.elektron.se/products/analog-rytm-mkii/

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Thu Sep 24, 2020 7:32 am

Does that mean grey and black are options?

I’ve got the grey ones... visually I like the black... functionally the grey

kvotchin · Post by **kvotchin** » Thu Sep 24, 2020 7:32 am

Always struck me as laughably bad value, and just underwhelming overall, the Analog 4.

4 DCO-based voices, and (IMO) a pretty awful interface, for that kind of money. Hmm...

(Full disclosure: I’m seriously not a fan of DCOs. Would prefer decent digital OSCs, per the Peak, if it had to be one or the other,)

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Thu Sep 24, 2020 8:08 am

Why? What do you know that every synth manufacturer on the planet in the mid-80s didn't? Analog Keys is easily the best sounding analogue synth I've ever heard. I couldn't care less how it manages that, the fact of it is all that matters. Price-wise it's cheaper than most Sequential or Moog modules and has a lot more to offer.

christian f. · Post by **christian f.** » Thu Sep 24, 2020 8:43 am

Come on. The ANALog 4 sounds boring and stale. I use mine to sequence other gear and maybe some drums.

ericj23 · Post by **ericj23** » Thu Sep 24, 2020 8:55 am

christian f. wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 8:43 am Come on. The ANALog 4 sounds boring and stale. I use mine to sequence other gear and maybe some drums.

We all have different perspectives - certainly it is great for sequencing with CVs but I just don't get the boring and stale part. It is incredibly versatile, but more important for me controllable and reproducible. I am happy, actually joyous, about the trade off between being able to provide precise patches every time but maybe needing to work a bit with the DCOs to get certain types of sound. Yes you can make dull sounds but you can do that with all synths - I find putting the effort in gets me the results I want. There are some pretty unique features too - I am a huge fan of using the pitched LFOs for FM changing them on a note by note basis or using p-locks leads to sounds that would be extremely difficult to reproduce on any other synth - maybe on a wall of eurocrack but then patch recall has gone.

I was however pretty dissapointed with the RYTM - I just do not warm to the cymbals or toms and I keep wanting more than one LFO and some more envelopes (like the Analog 4) when designing things.

antic604 · Post by **antic604** » Thu Sep 24, 2020 12:55 pm

BONES wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 8:08 amWhy? What do you know that every synth manufacturer on the planet in the mid-80s didn't? Analog Keys is easily the best sounding analogue synth I've ever heard. I couldn't care less how it manages that, the fact of it is all that matters. Price-wise it's cheaper than most Sequential or Moog modules and has a lot more to offer.

We rarely agree, but on this you're spot on!

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Thu Sep 24, 2020 3:36 pm

The A4 does some of the most beautiful leads I have ever heard/played... it’s a lovely sounding synth with exceptional depth of control... (particularly for an analog)

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 2:43 am

christian f. wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 8:43 amCome on. The ANALog 4 sounds boring and stale. I use mine to sequence other gear and maybe some drums.

A poor workman always blames his tools. If you can't get absolutely amazing sounds out of your A4, it has nothing to do with the box. That said, a big part of what makes Analog Keys so good is the way it uses the joystick. At first I thought it was ridiculous how deep some of the modulation was but I learned that it's actually awesome. It's something you may not get from the A4, or that might not be obvious, but it is well worth looking into.

lfm · Post by **lfm** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 3:49 am

BONES wrote: Fri Sep 25, 2020 2:43 am A poor workman always blames his tools. If you can't get absolutely amazing sounds out of your A4, it has nothing to do with the box.

Well, if things needed are not that accessible - maybe the box is to blaim.
A quick look and it only use 20% of panel for the things you really need hands on for.

Buttons to select which feature is to be in display, 8 knobs controlling what is in display.

That's a lot back and forth for things I usually fine tune - envelope attack and decay on amp and filter, back and forth zillion of times. That is button presses, and knobs not in last position they were - and just not user friendly.

I had similar issues with Blofeld, no matter how lovely sounds you could get out of it - it had a way too heavy knob that swapped which part you were working on in panel.

For people just buying commercial libraries For A4 this is no issue - but tweaking by yourself, which is the fun part exploring, does not tick many boxes for me. It's not even on the map what I would consider, not matter how good it sounds. I just know it will be a shelf warmer and never used.

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:33 am

What do you need "hands on" for at all? You can use Overbridge and do it all from your host. And if "hands on" was important, wouldn't you buy the keyboard version?

The knobs are endless encoders, so they absolutely are in the position you left them in. And of course it's not user-friendly, it's hardware. Hardware isn't user-friendly, never really has been. That said, AK and A4 work pretty much like half-a-dozen other hardware synths I own or have owned, all the way back to the CS-1x at the turn of the Century. So I am as comfortable with it as I am with anything else. The good thing with hardware is that you can use one had to switch and the other to turn knobs so once you get used to it, it can be very quick and easy. With my Uno, for example, I think it is actually easier to tweak patches from the front panel than it is to use the VSTi.

lfm · Post by **lfm** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:51 am

BONES wrote: Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:33 am The knobs are endless encoders, so they absolutely are in the position you left them in.

That's good thinking, at least. Maybe part of price point doing that, seem rather unusuall and pots are way cheaper probably.

I wish they would have made DeepMind with endless knobs as well, instead of obsession with faders everywhere almost.

And of course it's not user-friendly, it's hardware. Hardware isn't user-friendly, never really has been. That said, AK and A4 work pretty much like half-a-dozen other hardware synths I own or have owned, all the way back to the CS-1x at the turn of the Century.

Opposite for me, I always pick synth from what is available on panel(and sound of course) - or no real reason to get hardware at all.

Prologue and Nordlead2X has everything there. Wavestate is swapping with button like DeepMind pretty much and you have to dial again.

My very first synth 1985, CZ1000, was all menu diving but had no reference to anything else then. And with 8 nodes each envelope, filter amp and pitch, a lot to do.

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 6:05 am

Yeah I had a CZ101 back then. But I disagree with your point about what is available on the front panel being a selling point for the very reason you state - nothing is ever in the correct position when you change patches which completely ruins the experience. A few years ago I bought a JP 08, JU06, Minilogue and Monologue but none of them lasted more than a year or so because of that very thing. It was frustrating as hell!

antic604 · Post by **antic604** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 6:58 am

lfm wrote: Fri Sep 25, 2020 3:49 amThat's a lot back and forth for things I usually fine tune - envelope attack and decay on amp and filter, back and forth zillion of times. That is button presses, and knobs not in last position they were - and just not user friendly.

lfm wrote: Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:51 amI wish they would have made DeepMind with endless knobs as well, instead of obsession with faders everywhere almost.

Make up your mind - either you want instant hands-on access to e.g. envelope parameters, or you want encoders that are used PRCISELY because they're multi-purpose and you need to "menu dive" (or at least press some button(s)) to change their function

lfm · Post by **lfm** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 7:44 am

antic604 wrote: Fri Sep 25, 2020 6:58 am
lfm wrote: Fri Sep 25, 2020 3:49 amThat's a lot back and forth for things I usually fine tune - envelope attack and decay on amp and filter, back and forth zillion of times. That is button presses, and knobs not in last position they were - and just not user friendly.

lfm wrote: Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:51 amI wish they would have made DeepMind with endless knobs as well, instead of obsession with faders everywhere almost.
Make up your mind - either you want instant hands-on access to e.g. envelope parameters, or you want encoders that are used PRCISELY because they're multi-purpose and you need to "menu dive" (or at least press some button(s)) to change their function

DeepMind was made for partially use display interactively, and have buttons to switch between which envelope you are working on - same as A4. So in this case endless work well.

If having separate knobs for filter, amp and pitch envelopes on a synth - it can just as well be positional pots - like on Prologue and Nordlead2X. Prologue share filter envelope with pitch, and NL2X have a bit simplified AD mod envelope that is assignable apart from filter and amp.

Refreshed Analog Four & Analog Rytm