The Swedish electronic instrument company Elektron has recently announced an overhaul of its pre–existing line. Last week, the company announced the MKII version of its lauded Octatrack Sampler and today, it announced MKII versions of the Analog Four polysynth and Analog Rytm drum machine.
The template for the MKII line was set by Elektron’s newest design — the budget–minded yet incredibly powerful Digitakt drum machine — announced back in January at NAMM. Like the Digitakt, all of the MKII products feature a revamped OLED screen, precision encoders, a new style of button, and enhanced control over internal parameters.
The machines all come in a shade of grey, eschewing the black that was previously Elektron’s default.
When the Octatrack MKII was announced last week, many on the internet commented that there weren’t substantial changes to the device, with few new functionalities offered. That box does over more tactile control over the sampler process, though, a welcome addition on any Elektron product which require a lot of navigation through menus.

Octatrack MKII

Analog Four

Analog Rytm
But that complaint will find little credence with the new Analog Four and Analog Rytm. The Analog Four MKII has been redesigned to produce better bass tones and features a revamped overdrive section. It also features stereo outs for each of the four synth voices, as well as CV inputs and outputs.
The Analog Rytm MKII is the most impressive machine of the bunch, thanks to Elektron’s addition of a sampling engine and balanced inputs. With sampling capability, the new Analog Rytm starts to edge into the Octatrack’s territory, making this an incredibly flexible device. CV inputs have been added as well, for external control over the machine’s parameters.
The Octatrack MKII and Analog Four MKII will be priced at $1,349, with the Analog Rytm MKII priced at $1,549.