The A4 excels in drums IMO. If you took away the Elektron sequencer, i don’t think many people would buy it as a synth because of its sound. I know, it’s “deep” and you can get awesome sounds if you spend 30 minutes programming it, but even then it lacks compared to most monos out there. I find it funny seeing these youtube videos, “how to program a good bassline on A4”, and the video is 35 minutes long. like really? The Pro 3 will create a usable bassline just by looking at it, it sounds good all around AND it is a VERY DEEP machine with lots of features. I get that the A4 is deep and has lots of options, that’s great. What I don’t get is why Elektron couldn’t make their flagship synth sound better. why don’t they care? Dave Smith cared, and he delivered. He makes good-sounding synths that cover bread-and-butter sounds but can also go as weird and crazy as you want. I don’t expect nor do i want the A4 to be a moog, or a DSI, but would love it if it sounded as good as one and gave me that smile when I hit a raw oscillator on it instead of the scratch my-head, is that all you got look i give it when i turn it on and hit a note. I have owned it three times now. And i am at the point where i am probably going to sell it again. as good as it is with drums, that’s not enough for me and i don’t need a 4 voice drum synth.
I think Elektron makes amazing samplers. But none of their synths do it for me.
I will say, that the deep bass thread on this forum, the user Area303 gives instructions (below) on how to make nice bass with it and for sure without a doubt that is a nice, smooth sounding bass patch
My $0.02
Edit: and all this talk here saying the init sound doesnt need/shouldnt sound good is a bunch of rubbish, yes, it for sure should because that is the base of any sound you are going to make. There’s a saying, “you cant polish a turd” which comes to mind. I would love it if the first thing i hear when I turn it on and play it sounded good. Why not? other “deep” synths do.