"It's not a song, it's a comparison of two pieces of equipment!" say people that don't understand the subtle commentary in this soundscape on how technology refies the disconnect between the human and the natural.
Very interesting demonstration. The slight improvements on bass and overdrive departments can be easily appreciated here. Besides that, the mk2 has OLED and better ergonomics. However, from my perspective, having a mk1 since 5 years as central piece of my set up, I would upgrade to mk2 only for the individual outputs of the four tracks, which on the mk1 is a very big miss in my opinion.
Thanks very much for watching! Yep, I completely agree that this demo shows just how good the MKI holds up against the MKII. The biggest improvement for me was actually the ergonomics and the connectivity. In my view, if folks are happy with the feel of the MKI and wouldn’t frequently make use of the individual outputs or separated CV outs, there’s really not much reason to upgrade given the price differentials.
So since there's no seperate outputs there's no way of running a side chain from one voice to another? e.g. One voice is a kick drum and another is a synth, you can't duck the synth every time the kick hits with the MK1?
@@TapepusherYou don’t necessarily need to duck a sound with a kick triggering a device. You can do the same thing with a simple lfo which the A4 has 2 per voice.
Glad it was useful! Thanks for watching. Yes, I noticed that as well, although the difference is pretty slight. The real differences for me are in the form factor/ergonomics, and of course the overdrive.
hallo great viedo,i can get a mk1 for 500 euro or should i buy the mk2 ,i only need it for techno kickdrums and some perc for my daw. Is the drum sound of both the same ? thnak u
Did the comparison myself a couple years ago. The differences were very subtle. But, I did not know that the filter overdrive on the mark two is bipolar meaning, turning to the left pushes the low end to the right emphasizes The higher frequencies. Affecting filter number two. So, I need to do the test again. Considering you can pick up the Mark one Used in excellent condition for less than $700?
Thanks for watching! Yeah, the overdrive on the MKII is a very nice feature. It’s very versatile. I think the MKI is terrific value at current prices. I do prefer the interface and ergonomics of the MKII, but with the MKI you really do get like 90% of the MKII’s features (and very similar tonal character) for about half the price.
OVR (Filter1 Overdrive) introduces distortion in the signal path. In mid position (0) the signal is kept clean. Increasing positive values gives a clipping distortion after Filter 1. Increasing negative values also distorts the signal, but with a softer overdrive inside the filter.
overdrive and low end seems way better!!! i have mk1 ... thinking mayby of upgrading for that black mk2 looks so good, not surr if its worth the price tag though since i have mk1
Thanks very much for watching! I agree on the tonal improvements (although I was reminded just how good the MKI still sounds). It’s the new form factor and aesthetics that really get me - I think the new layout is terrific (and the angled case actually makes a big difference to usability for me). The new black color scheme was the clincher. It looks fantastic.
dan raiche The MKI is on the selling block at the moment (mental commitment to myself when springing for the MKII) but if it doesn’t move I will certainly be doing that. Thanks again!
I do miss the smaller overall size of the MK1s. It would’ve been nice to keep everything uniform across the range. But I actually really like the slightly angled interface of the MK2s. Makes it easier to use them sitting down.
Interesting! I didn’t notice that difference, but to be fair I wasn’t really looking for punchiness (eg, for percussion) so definitely could be the case.
Hi Steven - I don’t think there’s a proper polychain capability in the A4/AK at present (shame, really - it’s such a logical add). There are some potential workarounds though - a midi keyboard that can split into two midi channels (eg, left and right hand) would do it reasonably well. Or you could use the polyphonic midi sequencing on the CV channel of one A4 to control the four voices of the second A4; not true polyphony for performances but you could probably make this work well in a sequenced/programmed setting.
@@medardfischer thanks so much. I have a Machinedrum MKII and Analog 4 MKI and a Microkorg, Roland SH-01 Gaia, Casio XW-P1 and a Korg Wavestate and I am going to by an ASM Hyrdasyth and Korg OpSix soon. I am probably going to go for an Octatrack MKII as well.
yup, mk2 analog 4 is worth the extra price. rytm, on the other hand, not so sure, considering that the price discrepancy margin is wider. octatrack mk 1 is a good deal.
Thanks very much for watching. I’ve never used a Rytm MK1 so can’t compare but I agree - from what I understand there hasn’t been much of a redesign in the circuitry between the versions. So definitely a valid question as to whether or not it’s worth the (fairly steep) price difference.
@@markus6409 sure it’s cool. But you have to ask yourself how often you will use that. Most of us already have samplers. And the Rytm mk1 can load samples, just not sample natively. And resampling is a cool feature, but how often are you really going to do that? And are you going to sample actual dynamic analogue sounds into static samples? If you’ve got the money, get a mk2. But a mk1 goes for half the price and it’s an awesome machine.
Hello, I'm very interested to buy Elektron Analog Four mk2 or Rytm mk2. I want to know how much sounds and samples onboard I'll get with buying these devices? Could you help me please
Hi - thanks for watching! The Analog Four has no samples, only preset sounds for the analog synth voices. I think the factory library has over 400 sounds, but many more are available for download (free or paid) from the Elektron website. And of course you can make your own. In total, the machine can store 4096 sounds. The Analog Rytm is similar in that it can store a total of 4096 preset sounds for its 8 analog synth engines, but it also comes with 1GB of memory for sample storage. Each project you create on the machine can have 127 samples with a total memory size of 64MB, and you can create a total of 128 projects. Its factory library comes with probably 100-200 samples but you can easily add your own (from sample libraries or samples you create yourself). Hope that helps!
Thanks for watching! Yep, the difference really is subtle (other than the overdrive circuit, which is quite different between the two). A little EQ could almost certainly compensate for most of it.
to ccompare dist o mk2 hou need to turn knib actually anti-clockwise on mk2.. from middle to left it's mk1 overdive, from middle to riht it's new distortion
Thanks for watching! Yep, you are correct. I tried to show both sides of the circuit in the comparison. It’s nice that they included the original circuit in the MKII. It has a very unique sound (if a bit unconventional for an overdrive).
@@medardfischer yeah anyway nice presentation, they are both great machines every one with some prons and cons .. ok, more pros than cons to be honest 🤣
Thanks for watching! Volume matching certainly was tricky, as perceived volume seemed to change with various changes to the settings. I added the recorded level meters to the video to show that volume was actually quite close throughout (obviously not exact at times).
The mk2 bass boost sounds artificial if you compare it to the higher notes. I reallly would like to know what they have done. It is like eqing. On the mk1 you hear from the high to theblow notes that this it how it is. The bass feels natural from the bass amount, comparing it to the high notes. None the less the bass boos is very usefull. I often miss low end on the 4. it is just lacking.
Thanks for watching! Yeah, I’d be interested to know how they achieved the tweak to bass presence. As you say, it definitely could be some EQ or saturation or something, rather than a change to the oscillators themselves (which sound identical to my ears at higher frequencies). And I agree it’s generally hard to make deep bass tones with the A4. I find that I get the best results setting the second filter in high pass mode with a good bit of resonance and cutoff somewhere around the 80-200hz range.
Thanks for watching! They both feel similar to the touch, but I’ve heard that the MKII were redesigned to be more robust long-term. They definitely act differently though - they are most responsive on the MKII such that it is easier to do wider value sweeps with one turn. You can see this a bit in the video where I’m trying to do a full filter sweep in one motion. It’s easy to do that on the MKII, but harder (but not impossible) on the MKI.
Hi - Thanks for watching! Yes, the MKII is quite a bit larger than the MKI. In some ways this is nice (more space; a few more buttons) but it definitely makes it less portable and convenient for travel, etc.
Mk2 hifi and bit generic oriented still kicks ass. Mk1 sounds tard dirtier in a good way . Both of em on a mackie 2404 and a sherman you really need nothing else
@@medardfischer yeap tho my heart beats jomox. If ya want your sound to sound like a modular and crazy. Elektron is the way. Very deep machines forget manuals theres no way out ahaha. I love elektron up until mk2 silver. After they become bit generic. More computerized froendly, and tard Cheaprized:p hope they bounce back to their monomachine philosophy roots someday
Hi! Thanks for watching. Yep, that’s my impression as well. A bit richer in the lows and a bit more clarity and punch in the mid range. I also prefer the character of the overdrive on the MKII model. But overall the tonal differences are actually pretty slight!
Thanks for watching! Actually each unit had more or less perceived volume depending on the specific overdrive and filter settings. Sometimes the MKI seemed to have more volume, and sometimes the MKII did. I tried to match volume manually for each part to provide as accurate a tonal comparison as possible. I recorded the level meters in Ableton and displayed them in the lower left corner of the video to show any differences.
A lot of people won't "get" this song, but I do because I am very smart at music listening.
"It's not a song, it's a comparison of two pieces of equipment!" say people that don't understand the subtle commentary in this soundscape on how technology refies the disconnect between the human and the natural.
This is “The New Music”.
@@fraserhawkins4462 oh how deep and cultured you are…. You individual snowflake, you..
Nice comparision. A4 black looks slick af
Thanks a lot! And yes, it really does...
Very interesting demonstration. The slight improvements on bass and overdrive departments can be easily appreciated here. Besides that, the mk2 has OLED and better ergonomics. However, from my perspective, having a mk1 since 5 years as central piece of my set up, I would upgrade to mk2 only for the individual outputs of the four tracks, which on the mk1 is a very big miss in my opinion.
Thanks very much for watching! Yep, I completely agree that this demo shows just how good the MKI holds up against the MKII. The biggest improvement for me was actually the ergonomics and the connectivity. In my view, if folks are happy with the feel of the MKI and wouldn’t frequently make use of the individual outputs or separated CV outs, there’s really not much reason to upgrade given the price differentials.
So since there's no seperate outputs there's no way of running a side chain from one voice to another? e.g. One voice is a kick drum and another is a synth, you can't duck the synth every time the kick hits with the MK1?
@@TapepusherYou don’t necessarily need to duck a sound with a kick triggering a device. You can do the same thing with a simple lfo which the A4 has 2 per voice.
I would be interesting to hear the analog keys in the middle
Thanks! The bass does seem to be slightly richer on some of these patches with MK 2
Glad it was useful! Thanks for watching. Yes, I noticed that as well, although the difference is pretty slight. The real differences for me are in the form factor/ergonomics, and of course the overdrive.
It is the same.
hallo great viedo,i can get a mk1 for 500 euro or should i buy the mk2 ,i only need it for techno kickdrums and some perc for my daw. Is the drum sound of both the same ? thnak u
What do you expect to hear then apply overdrive to harmonically rich sound?
Did the comparison myself a couple years ago. The differences were very subtle. But, I did not know that the filter overdrive on the mark two is bipolar meaning, turning to the left pushes the low end to the right emphasizes The higher frequencies. Affecting filter number two. So, I need to do the test again.
Considering you can pick up the Mark one Used in excellent condition for less than $700?
Thanks for watching! Yeah, the overdrive on the MKII is a very nice feature. It’s very versatile.
I think the MKI is terrific value at current prices. I do prefer the interface and ergonomics of the MKII, but with the MKI you really do get like 90% of the MKII’s features (and very similar tonal character) for about half the price.
OVR (Filter1 Overdrive) introduces distortion in the signal path.
In mid position (0) the signal is kept clean. Increasing positive
values gives a clipping distortion after Filter 1. Increasing negative values also distorts the signal, but with a softer overdrive
inside the filter.
overdrive and low end seems way better!!! i have mk1 ... thinking mayby of upgrading for that black mk2 looks so good, not surr if its worth the price tag though since i have mk1
Thanks very much for watching! I agree on the tonal improvements (although I was reminded just how good the MKI still sounds). It’s the new form factor and aesthetics that really get me - I think the new layout is terrific (and the angled case actually makes a big difference to usability for me). The new black color scheme was the clincher. It looks fantastic.
would love to see more A4 content! cheers from canada!!!
like mayby a a4 mk1 & mk2 jam :-p
dan raiche The MKI is on the selling block at the moment (mental commitment to myself when springing for the MKII) but if it doesn’t move I will certainly be doing that. Thanks again!
dan raiche Cheers to you as well from (an expatriate Canuck in) Australia!
I much prefer the form factor of the OG boxes. Pitty the mk1 has no individual outs though, that was a huge miss from Elektron
I do miss the smaller overall size of the MK1s. It would’ve been nice to keep everything uniform across the range. But I actually really like the slightly angled interface of the MK2s. Makes it easier to use them sitting down.
I did the comparaison too (i had both) and presets need to be tweaked sometime otherwise it sounds kinda boomy and less punchy on the MK2 (IMO)
Interesting! I didn’t notice that difference, but to be fair I wasn’t really looking for punchiness (eg, for percussion) so definitely could be the case.
Could one synch them up and use them together to get a really amazing sound? I have an Analog 4 MKI and thinking of buy a MKII.
Hi Steven - I don’t think there’s a proper polychain capability in the A4/AK at present (shame, really - it’s such a logical add). There are some potential workarounds though - a midi keyboard that can split into two midi channels (eg, left and right hand) would do it reasonably well. Or you could use the polyphonic midi sequencing on the CV channel of one A4 to control the four voices of the second A4; not true polyphony for performances but you could probably make this work well in a sequenced/programmed setting.
@@medardfischer thanks so much. I have a Machinedrum MKII and Analog 4 MKI and a Microkorg, Roland SH-01 Gaia, Casio XW-P1 and a Korg Wavestate and I am going to by an ASM Hyrdasyth and Korg OpSix soon. I am probably going to go for an Octatrack MKII as well.
@@smguy7 ya might as well just get everything then!
yup, mk2 analog 4 is worth the extra price. rytm, on the other hand, not so sure, considering that the price discrepancy margin is wider. octatrack mk 1 is a good deal.
Thanks very much for watching. I’ve never used a Rytm MK1 so can’t compare but I agree - from what I understand there hasn’t been much of a redesign in the circuitry between the versions. So definitely a valid question as to whether or not it’s worth the (fairly steep) price difference.
Samples are in R 2
So in the mark1 but you can sample on the mark2. Also resample. Tgats cool.
@@markus6409 sure it’s cool. But you have to ask yourself how often you will use that. Most of us already have samplers. And the Rytm mk1 can load samples, just not sample natively. And resampling is a cool feature, but how often are you really going to do that? And are you going to sample actual dynamic analogue sounds into static samples? If you’ve got the money, get a mk2. But a mk1 goes for half the price and it’s an awesome machine.
Hello, I'm very interested to buy Elektron Analog Four mk2 or Rytm mk2. I want to know how much sounds and samples onboard I'll get with buying these devices? Could you help me please
Hi - thanks for watching!
The Analog Four has no samples, only preset sounds for the analog synth voices. I think the factory library has over 400 sounds, but many more are available for download (free or paid) from the Elektron website. And of course you can make your own. In total, the machine can store 4096 sounds.
The Analog Rytm is similar in that it can store a total of 4096 preset sounds for its 8 analog synth engines, but it also comes with 1GB of memory for sample storage. Each project you create on the machine can have 127 samples with a total memory size of 64MB, and you can create a total of 128 projects. Its factory library comes with probably 100-200 samples but you can easily add your own (from sample libraries or samples you create yourself).
Hope that helps!
the difference is so sublte.. a little eq on the mk1 and thats it. other than that its mainly a difference in volume-
Thanks for watching! Yep, the difference really is subtle (other than the overdrive circuit, which is quite different between the two). A little EQ could almost certainly compensate for most of it.
to ccompare dist o mk2 hou need to turn knib actually anti-clockwise on mk2.. from middle to left it's mk1 overdive, from middle to riht it's new distortion
Thanks for watching! Yep, you are correct. I tried to show both sides of the circuit in the comparison. It’s nice that they included the original circuit in the MKII. It has a very unique sound (if a bit unconventional for an overdrive).
@@medardfischer yeah anyway nice presentation, they are both great machines every one with some prons and cons .. ok, more pros than cons to be honest 🤣
Sound levels are off, sometimes. Hard to tell.
Thanks for watching! Volume matching certainly was tricky, as perceived volume seemed to change with various changes to the settings. I added the recorded level meters to the video to show that volume was actually quite close throughout (obviously not exact at times).
The mk2 bass boost sounds artificial if you compare it to the higher notes. I reallly would like to know what they have done. It is like eqing.
On the mk1 you hear from the high to theblow notes that this it how it is. The bass feels natural from the bass amount, comparing it to the high notes.
None the less the bass boos is very usefull. I often miss low end on the 4. it is just lacking.
Thanks for watching!
Yeah, I’d be interested to know how they achieved the tweak to bass presence. As you say, it definitely could be some EQ or saturation or something, rather than a change to the oscillators themselves (which sound identical to my ears at higher frequencies).
And I agree it’s generally hard to make deep bass tones with the A4. I find that I get the best results setting the second filter in high pass mode with a good bit of resonance and cutoff somewhere around the 80-200hz range.
Are the knobs on mk2 as fragile as mk1?
Thanks for watching! They both feel similar to the touch, but I’ve heard that the MKII were redesigned to be more robust long-term. They definitely act differently though - they are most responsive on the MKII such that it is easier to do wider value sweeps with one turn. You can see this a bit in the video where I’m trying to do a full filter sweep in one motion. It’s easy to do that on the MKII, but harder (but not impossible) on the MKI.
@@medardfischer thanks for the reply. it's good to hear the knobs were redesigned, but it still looks fragile.
@@Jeremy-su3xy they are better, just returned a rhythm mkii, solid knobs
I have mk1, so that mk2 is bigger didn't know that
Hi - Thanks for watching! Yes, the MKII is quite a bit larger than the MKI. In some ways this is nice (more space; a few more buttons) but it definitely makes it less portable and convenient for travel, etc.
At 15:10 the mk1 has more character.
Sounds like the filter was just a little more open at the start of an envelope.
Mk2 hifi and bit generic oriented still kicks ass. Mk1 sounds tard dirtier in a good way . Both of em on a mackie 2404 and a sherman you really need nothing else
Yep, they're both terrific. Super capable machines!
@@medardfischer yeap tho my heart beats jomox. If ya want your sound to sound like a modular and crazy. Elektron is the way. Very deep machines forget manuals theres no way out ahaha. I love elektron up until mk2 silver. After they become bit generic. More computerized froendly, and tard Cheaprized:p hope they bounce back to their monomachine philosophy roots someday
how do you like your alphabase :) @@raven-jz6cv
More low end on the Mk II...it seems at least... a bit Fuller and more "Balls" ...
Hi! Thanks for watching. Yep, that’s my impression as well. A bit richer in the lows and a bit more clarity and punch in the mid range. I also prefer the character of the overdrive on the MKII model. But overall the tonal differences are actually pretty slight!
@@medardfischer i have a MkIi and niticed this, even in the vídeo without headphones.
I like that. I like balls.
more volume for sure, so is not possible to properly compare here
Especially noticeable if you have a subwoofer ... The MK2 really banged , while MK1 barely tickled the sub on his first bass example.
mkII has more volume , so is not comparable this video
Thanks for watching!
Actually each unit had more or less perceived volume depending on the specific overdrive and filter settings. Sometimes the MKI seemed to have more volume, and sometimes the MKII did.
I tried to match volume manually for each part to provide as accurate a tonal comparison as possible. I recorded the level meters in Ableton and displayed them in the lower left corner of the video to show any differences.