Just a thought, not true for everyone, but I guess people who began with MD/MnM still love them, people who began with A4/AK/AR and TRC don’t gel with them ?
OT is between. I felt confortable with MD in a few hours, after OT and A4…
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Monomachine mk2+
What a weird and wonderful machine. It feels endless, and I love the raw, digital nature of its soul. I decided I would keep just one Elektron a while back, and this was the one. -
Machinedrum UW mk2
Fantastic as well, and the only serious ‘the one’ contender, against the MnM. -
Analog Four mk1
Kinda liked it, but never loved it. I found the general sound slightly boring. Was never really on my radar, but got (and sold) it very cheap. -
Octatrack mk1
Yes - I did take the time to learn, and I understand the potential, and love the idea of it, but to me, it just sounds bad.
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I Always thought a4 made a better drum machine than ar…
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OT (se brain.)
Heat (just wow.)
MDUW+ (too fresh, may get on place 1 some day)
AR
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Curious how so many people rate the a4 over the AR for percussion… it’s strange and unexpected.
The Rytm should be like the boss / father figure of drum machines.
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Much more control on analog sound parameters with A4/AK.
I don’t have AR, chose A4 because I read it could do drums very well too.
Pretty sure you can’t do @taro’s drums :
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I think the AR is just rockin… I’m surprised it doesn’t get talked about more. I feel it’s the most underrated Elektron. Got that and a an OT and there’s no way I’d trade the AR for any of the other boxes…
When I researched drum machines I decided the Tempest and Rytm were top of the heap, Rytm won, it’s the best available drum machine out there as far as I’m concerned…
For my tastes anyway…
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When AR had less machines it was pretty underwhelming, once they did that big update it certainly opened it up, but for me the half assed sampling side (corrected in the mkII) keeps it quite low in my list, I think it is Elektron’s under achiever, it always wants to sound a bit wooly, and the envelopes and sweep curves are not very natural/sweet spot sounding, still Rytm has nice scenes and perfs, but IMHO A4 does much nicer drums, both realistic and analog, although obviously not samples 
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This thread explains why there’s no best or worst Elektron…
We all have different orders… Based on our own preferences, styles, workflow approach, etc…
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For sure we all have different dis-orders 
I bet in 6 months time my order will be different 
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I’d say Rytm still lacks in breadth of sounds. Could do with more machines. Machinedrum still kills it in this regard.
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Having the Mduw A4 and Rytm for drums means nothing else is ever needed in life for drums. I use A4 a lot for drums.
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Digitone makes very interesting drums too.
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I personally started with A4 and then Monomachine, and Monomachine is my number 1 despite being less intuitive and easy than the A4.
I agree those who said A4 is great for drums.
I personally prefer it for drums over the AR, would love if it could also play samples
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MDUW mkii - for me this machine was a perfect mind-meld, everything made sense!
AR Mk1 - I guess I love drum machines
A4 Mk1 - But synths too!
MnM mkii - Got a lot of sounds out of this thing that are not possible anywhere else
OT mk1 - My favorite sampler, but continued brain cramps make it my least favorite Elektron box
I have not tried any Elektron box beyond AR Mk1…
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Rytm scenes, performance pads, velocity and aftertouch mods, compressor, and the machine concept although limiting, I think help a lot for a drum machine. For someone who already has a monosynth, an octatrack, plays other instruments, and is more into playing instruments through fx than synth sound design, the Rytm to me seems way preferable over A4. Granted I think the A4 is awesome, but I don’t think I’d have as much fun needing to sound design drums and then not having the stuff I mentioned above… I can make new kits on AR that sound good rather quickly without thinking too much. Just seems quicker with more suitable performance features for drums. The pads that release seem better for drums, and the 12 mix and matchable scenes on the pads right there are great. It’s got 8 voices too and plays samples, plus choke groups…
Even though the machine controls are simplified, I’ve heard all kinds of sounds come out of it, and I’m sure there’s tons more to find… The thing has some uber serious sub bass… I’ve had it shake my desk and things while the note was so low you can’t hear it, stuff just starts shaking… Haha
I can see deep synth people preferring the A4, but for someone who synthesizer isn’t their main instrument, the AR just seems more appealing as more focused and ready to go drummer…
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Just load a drum pack into the a4 and you are good to go. can modify each sound as needed to your own taste.
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Nope, I can’t do it. Each box represents a stage in my musical-development. It started with the SFX-6 and MDUW, then moved on to a more analog sound, now I’m full-on digital, so the Digitone is on top…for now.
The other thing is that Elektron keeps adding amazing features to their sequencers, hardware, etc., so it’s very difficult to compare the older boxes to the newer ones.
I love them all for what joy they have given me.
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Haven’t had any experience with a OT or Rytm, or the older boxes.
1 - A4 (MkII) - It nails my taste in synth tones and timbres
2 - DN - Just a joy. Control-all on this thing transports the whole pattern to another world.
3 - DT
I basically have gone all in on the elektron workflow. I come more from a guitar background. I’d like to experiment with dark post-punky style guitar samples integrated into my patterns. Digitakt is a little limited in this regard, (no flex, no slicing, only 1GB of storage) … would an OT be good for this? Or am I just being dumb with that idea.
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