Hi guys!
Please tell me how does AR sound (not the samples part, but its analog engine) compared to the drum machines out there.
Where does it exceed as a drum machine (forget the samples part for a moment pls) compared to the sounds of drum machines from other makers?
(I did listen on youtube, but its not the same as in reality and I don t have shops around for that)
Thanks a lot!
All my personal opinion, but kicks are great (thereās plenty of variety too), snares have very, very few sweet spots, rimshot is basically a Roland, clap is okay, toms are okay (not really my thing) but the bass tom can serve as an extra kick, hats are shite and I preferred creating my own from the noise machine, cowbell is excellent, crash I have no opinion on because I never use it/them.
good in sound get the box
and donāt forget the samples
as craig said, the snares are usable but need very much love, but i admit i rather use samples instead of the snare-models, the high-hats are OK - you can modulate them with LFO - gives some nice crispy sounds but the metallic ones are hurting my ears - filtering is necessary
the kick-models could use some extra work too ā¦ with distortion and a LFO for the pitch and sometimes adding a short impulse on top
overall the sound is more dark, thatās my impression
but if you convert the whole sum to mono, dam this thing has trust like an afterburner - i swear
I don t care for samples as I have OT for that.
I am more interested as a comparison of its analog drum sounds to the same on other drum machines. Where and it excels.
it all sounds pretty good to me, maybe not amazing in terms of the flexibility of the actual machines, but where it shines for me is the overdrive and compression. imo you wonāt really know if you like it until you spend about an hour with it and find your own sweet spotsā¦ the demos werenāt very informative to me.
i also have an OT but the workflow on the AR when it comes to samples is different because the magic comes from the sample and the synth engine playing through the same filter and amp. i love my OT for sound design but when it comes to sound designing powerful one shots, the AR wins for me
It does have an upside with samples in that you can put them through the analog filter and drive. Though the OT is better for more complicated things definitely.
Every analog engine the rytm has can sound good with some patience and experimenting with filtering, drive, and effects. I think the best way to go about it is to create a template project with kits, scenes, and performance macros all set up.
I can absolutely recommend to layer samples into the synth sounds though. Even if it is just to add something to the transients. Imho not using them is not using 35% of the sound posibilities.
I have an Octatrack and you will care about samples, trust me. Combining a sampled hat with the engine will sound way better, but still give you the flexibility of an analog drum machine. Same goes for claps and snares. Kick and toms might be the only ones I donāt supplement with samples.
It takes some digging. At first I was disappointed in the hats but they grew on me. I agree the snare has a few specific sweet spots, but those are very sweet spots. Kick is glorious.
Where the AR shines is where all Elektron boxes shine in the use of the sequencer and p locks. Modulating the hat and kick decays with LFOs brings a lot of life to a pattern.
Donāt forget Dual VCO, endless possibilities.
OT isnāt running samples through a VCA and VCF. not to mention when you combine the samples with the analog soundsā¦ thatās where the RYTM really shines, for me. for example, I think the claps kinda suck. but then you grab like a crash cymbal sample, pitch it way down, only grab the attack portion of it, then combine it with the analog claps and suddenly theyāre to die forā¦
what exactly would you like to compare it to? Roland, Acidlab, Vermona, Jomox, MFB, Nord, etcā¦ lots of machines out there. none really in the same class, imho. they all are a bit different from one another. maybe closest would be Jomox but their OSās are typically dumpster fires and not worth the headache. or a Roland TR-8s possibly, but itās not analog (for better or worse, just saying not a straight comparison).
Cowbell even doubles up as a lightweight dual vco! Itās pretty weak for most sounds but you can get some decent detuned saw type sounds from it! Especially if oyu layer it with a single cycle sample for adding more depth.
I tend to use white noise generator for snares and hats over the built in ones, but if you automate parameters on the machines things can get a lot more interesting.
A big part of making it sound good has been utilizing the LFO set to env mode to get really punchy sounds by automating things like overdrive, tune, or just plain old volume. The next step is to resample those but Iāve not got too much into that yet.
I understand where youāre coming from, but I honestly donāt think you can really āforget the samplesā though.
The ability to layer and record samples is a big part of what makes this āone of the best drum machines ever madeā. Being able to layer a dual vco with a single cycle wave form for example is just one of the many uses. Or using single cycles along side analog engines for even your drum sounds can give good results.
You donāt need the classic 909s or emulations etc when you can download sample packs all into 1 box that has an amazing workflow/ performance ability with some solid analog sound generation to boot!
ā¦if itās all about truu analog drumsoundsā¦get a used a4 mk1ā¦and ur all fineā¦
Great answers!! Many thanks!!
I have a Digitakt and was a really tough decision between sticking with DT and getting an A4, or getting a RYTM.
I ended up going RYTM because I like the performance pads/scenes idea. But now Iām looking at an A4 anyway 
:( THE GAS NEVER ENDS
Yee, it would be interesting (apart grom the sequencer) to compare it to a TR8s or a Vermona.
Does it have cohones big time? 
If you have the cash, you could look at picking up a second hand mk1. The sounds seem pretty much the same?? and the prices are stable over the last 6 months in my experience, so reselling shouldnāt be too much of an issue?
Otherwise a lot of my local music shops do a 30 day no questions asked return policy. So you could get a new one and see if you like it!
ā¦wait a second, shinobiā¦weāre talking here about truu analog drum sonics, right?
so any comparison to anything else must talk analogā¦and if u say no samples, but analog drums, there aināt much other drummachines out there to compare the rytm withā¦
u can hold it up against a tempestā¦
but not against some roland copy eats copy drumcomputerā¦
and vermona has no swedish plocking optionsā¦therefor, canāt win here eitherā¦
if ur not too much into pads but into analog drums grooved by elektron sequencing, consider an a4ā¦seriously.
The problem with A4 is that u can have only 4 at a timeā¦
Sound locking is the magic word to say here.