Tone2 ElectraX Soft Synth Review by David Weiss

March 8th, 2011 by Trenton

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For electronic music producers and sound designers, soft synths can become something of an obsession. Whether they’re freeware or come with a price tag, virtual instruments are a constant source of discovery: Every time you sit down to play or program, you have infinite possibilities for the invention of new sound.

The ElectraX soft synth from Tone2.

When I saw that German developer Tone2 had released the ElectraX VST/AU virtual instrument, I was intrigued. For years, their FilterBank effects plug-in had been my “secret weapon” whenever bizarre-but-musical treatments were needed for my drone/theatrical trailer work, hallucinatory vocal effects, or unpredictable inspiration of any sort.

Despite my dedication to their effects, I had never used a Tone2 synth. When I got the chance to review ElectraX 1.1, I jumped on it. Would it live up to my lofty expectations?

What It Is
Referred to by Tone2 as its “sonic warrior” instrument, ElectraX V1.1 (MSRP: $199) has a number of tools working together:  multi-synthesis oscillators, analog modeled filters, chaotic fractals, samples, psychoacoustic processing, flexible modulation, internal effects and a very wide sonic range. In all, users have the ability to combine multiple polyphonic or monophonic synthesizers and 13 different synthesis methods.

You can visit the Tone2 Website for all the details on everything, but other technical highlights include the fact that up to 18 oscillators per voice (Virtual Analog, FM, Phase Distortion, Ultrasaw, Sync etc…) are available; you can import your own samples or custom wavetables; there are two multi-mode filters with 23 unique filter types; a modulation matrix, four independent arpeggiators and step sequencers; and 18 effects are onboard. A number of functional upgrades and bug fixes came with the V1.1 release.

Diving In
I downloaded ElectraX and installed it onto my machine, a Windows laptop running Vista, with Acid Pro 7.0 as my primary host. Authorization was relatively easy – you have to figure out where to put the keycode file, but this isn’t too obstructive. Within a few seconds of launching Acid, I was up and running with ElectraX.

If I think a synth will allow it, I like to dive in and start without the manual. One glance at the ElectraX’s spacious, intuitive GUI told me I’d be able to make music right away, and I was right.

My biggest fear when I start up with a soft synth is that I won’t be able to locate presets right off the bat, since I think that patches straight from the experts are the best way to find out what these instruments are all about. Sometimes that’s more difficult than you’d think, but it wasn’t a problem here: In under a minute, I had figured out the GUI’s file structure and process for showing you factory presets, as well as how to save your own custom versions of those presets. Result: I could relaxxxx and start enjoying what ElectraX had to offer immediately.

There are 17 banks of presets to explore (“Action Sequence,” “Arpeggiator”, “Atmo”, “Bass”, “Keys”, “Semireal”, “Vocoder” etc…), and by playing around with the very first preset I came to, Action Sequence “1Heart”, I could see how deep, yet accommodating, this synth was going to be. As I kept auditioning sounds, I saw that for needs ranging from advanced dance grooves, rhythmic pulses, huge pads, beautiful ambiences, ugly/scary sound design, and ear candy, ElectraX covers a great deal of 21st Century needs, and almost always in a musical way.

ElectraX lets you access four synth engines per patch.

The key to ElextraX is the fact that it hosts up to four synth engines in each patch, with a different color scheme for each synth engine to get you oriented as to what level you’re working on. How can you combine them? As it turned out, the possibilities were enticing, and constantly exciting. Like other synths where multiple, identically manipulatable layers are accommodated (Cakewalk’s Rapture comes to mind), taking a preset and quickly making it your own seems almost too easy.

Check out the following sound clips to see how the four layers of one patch — “2EasyDance” in this case — can be combined and/or separated out. These are just four of the 24 possible combinations in a four-layered patch preset.

ElectraX 2EasyDance with Synth Layers 1 2 3 and 4:

ElectraX 2EasyDance with Synth Layers 1 2 3 and 4

Electra 2EasyDance with Synth Layers 1 2 and 3:

ElectraX 2EasyDance with Synth Layers 1 2 and 3

ElectraX 2EasyDance with Synth Layers 1 and 2:

ElectraX 2EasyDance with Synth Layers 1 and 2

Electra 2EasyDance with Synth Layer 3 only:

Electra 2EasyDance with Synth Layer 3 only

Ergonomix
A powerful synth loses significant strength if its controls are hard to locate, hard to understand, or induce fatigue following extended use. ElectraX suffers from none of these maladies.

As noted above, Tone2’s application of a different skin for each synth engine within a patch is crucial for keeping the user oriented as to which part of the sound they’re working on at any moment. The controls each engine contains are definitely deep – you have 11 banks of controls (Browser, Sound, MasterFX, Oscillator, Filter, Arpeggiator, Settings, Insert FX, Envelope, Matrix, LFO) to deal with, but the signal flow is clearly defined via the graphics, and a read of the comprehensive and approachable manual (yes – I went ahead and absorbed it) makes it clear what does what.

The display on the upper left lets you know exactly what parameter you’re adjusting, and to what extent. Marking favorites and saving custom User patches is easy, as is getting Vocoder patches up and running (often a cumbersome activity with soft synths). The patch’s global EQ control is extremely helpful for on-the-fly sound shaping, and having four arpeggiators available per patch can also alter things in a hurry. As well, anyone familiar with the controls of Tone2’s FilterBank will be comforted to see many of the same animated visuals and controls here – now working within a synth.

Arpeggiators aplenty can make the ElectraX intriguingly rhythmic.

Check out these two sound clips to see how just a few quick tweaks can significantly alter a patch — “The Fog” in this case.

ElectraX “The Fog” stock preset:

ElectraX The Fog Stock Preset

ElectraX “The Fog” customized:

ElectraX “The Fog” customized

Also, the interface’s designers have employed a subtle trick of perspective that keeps you comfortable on this synth. Pots to the left have a slightly different perspective than those on the right, and the center is “dead on”. I’m sure other synths employ this technique, but the ElectraX is the first time I noticed it. The look helps bridge the gap between a 2D worksurface and the knobs we’d all really love to be grasping.

To further customize the look, the skins can be configured via a configuration file, “ElectraXskin.txt” that users can edit to change the skin setup, with different combinations or to enable all synths to use the same skin.

My only complaint with the control layout is that I couldn’t find a “last step undo” button anywhere on the interface. For me, “undo” is an extra level of security that prevents me from blasting my carefully-crafted patch masterpiece into eternal oblivion. I hope to see it in later versions.

As a Result
The outcome of this human-centric design: Almost immediately, ElectraX is doing what you LOVE soft synths to do. Provide deep deep depth, flexibility, and instant inspiration. The speed with which you can come up with new things that work – or don’t work – felt exhilarating at times: New ideas become limitless as the workflow becomes clear.

Electronic music producers, composers and sound designers working in TV or theatrical realms should all give serious consideration to adding ElectraX to their toolkit. The price will be high for some, but I believe that experienced pros and semi-pros will find that it represents a solid value.

ElectraX can take you from trance to electro to Philip Glass and back again – within one patch. Either I’m a killer programmer, or this is a killer synth. And maybe it’s both!

— David Weiss

ElectraX

Available from Tone2.
MSRP: $199

System requirements
PC: Windows XP, Windows Vista 32 bit or 64 bit, Windows 7 32 bit or 64 bit, Windows ME; Intel Pentium4 compatible CPU with at least 800 Mhz; 512 MB RAM
Mac: Mac OSX 10.4 or higher; G4, G5 or Intel Mac with at least 800 Mhz; 512 MB RAM

Technical specification
PC formats: 32-bit VSTi, 64-bit VSTi, standalone
Mac formats: VSTi, Audiounit; Univeral Binary
Supported samplerates: 44,1 kHz; 48 kHz; 88,2 kHz; 96 kHz; 192 kHz
Multicore CPU support; SSE2 support
Not compatible with Protools/RTAS