Tone2 Electra 2

[zerocrossing]

I'm debating between my first Tone2 synth.

Electra 2 would take the cake, as its the newest and seems to have gotten great reviews.

However, the HCM of Gladiator intrigues me, and it doesn't seem to be a part of electra (HCM that is)?

I love Gladiator, but tbh, the lack of sample import is a constant source of frustration. If you don't care about such things, maybe Gladiator is for you. It sure is a great synth. I'm debating getting Electra as well as I always like a good resynthesis engine... which I'm assuming Electra has, though one would not know it from the demo where it is disabled.

[Frantz]

I'm debating between my first Tone2 synth.

Electra 2 would take the cake, as its the newest and seems to have gotten great reviews.

However, the HCM of Gladiator intrigues me, and it doesn't seem to be a part of electra (HCM that is)?

As someone who has Electra2, Gladiator, and Rayblaster, I strongly suggest Electra2 as your first Tone2 synth. It is flexible, fast to work with, and very powerful.

Gladiator's HCM is interesting but very hit or miss. It takes a lot of trial and error to find good results. Gladiator was impressive for its time but I think Electra2 blows it away in terms of capabilities, ease of use, sound quality, etc.

[eroxx]

Thanks!

[zerocrossing]

So, I've been contemplating Electra 2, or as I like to call it, Electra, the synth they made after ElectraX. I'm packing up my studio for a move so I've been listening to all the demo tracks of the different expansions and I have one thing to say. ENOUGH WITH THE TECHNO. Sure, I get it. YOU GUYS DIG TECHNO.

But, I think Tone2 sells their software short by not including other types of electronic music, you know, the ones that are actually good. I actually like the kind of sounds Techno uses but man, enough already!

OK, I know I said only one thing, but I have to add another thing. No developer ever, ever, ever needs to include a panflute preset no matter how well their synth does one. Ever.

[eroxx]

I also like Electra simply because it's newer (and by a few years). Is that dumb?!

[Frantz]

But, I think Tone2 sells their software short by not including other types of electronic music, you know, the ones that are actually good. I actually like the kind of sounds Techno uses but man, enough already!

Yeah, I don't like their presets either. Everything is shiny, EDM oriented, and smothered in reverb. The good news is that it forces you to explore and program your own patches from scratch.

OK, I know I said only one thing, but I have to add another thing. No developer ever, ever, ever needs to include a panflute preset no matter how well their synth does one. Ever.

Well, in this case, Electra2 added both flute and guitar physical modeling. That is not a flute sample. So it makes sense to demo those capabilities.

[billcarroll]

much as i too would prefer to see the electra2 files in a path like this: HD>Library>Application Support>Tone2....what difference does it really make? those files were there with electra X, and it never stopped me from working.

how much time does one spend in the Audio>Plugins folder anyway? just seems a non-issue, in the overall scheme of things...

Using blunt force like making the entire Plug-ins directory world writable and dumping all application support files into the same directory is indicative of a developer making a poor decision trying to solve a bug or issue they couldn't solve otherwise when sticking to standards.

Deciding to alter permissions on the Plug-ins directory and all audio plugins underneath affects every plugin. One developer does one thing, another developer does another, and sooner or later you end up with issues with other plug-ins and hosts. Not sticking to standards affects other developers (DAW and plugin) trying to support their products on the same system.

A plugin installer should never alter permissions on the plugins directory like that. A plugin developer should never touch or alter plugins from any other developer, period.

Following standards creates stability for other plugins, for the plug-in host, and for the OS.

[fisherKing]

much as i too would prefer to see the electra2 files in a path like this: HD>Library>Application Support>Tone2....what difference does it really make? those files were there with electra X, and it never stopped me from working.

how much time does one spend in the Audio>Plugins folder anyway? just seems a non-issue, in the overall scheme of things...

Using blunt force like making the entire Plug-ins directory world writable and dumping all application support files into the same directory is indicative of a developer making a poor decision trying to solve a bug or issue they couldn't to solve otherwise when sticking to standards.

Deciding to alter permissions on the Plug-ins directory and all audio plugins underneath affects every plugin. One developer does one thing, another developer does another, and sooner or later you end up with issues with other plug-ins and hosts. Not sticking to standards affects other developers (DAW and plugin) trying to support their products on the same system.

A plugin installer should never alter permissions on the plugins directory like that. A plugin developer should never touch or alter plugins from any other developer, period.

Following standards creates stability. Stability for other plugins, for the plug-in host, and for the OS.

i'm certainly not arguing with you, but...have you ever experienced any issues? i've been using electraX for a long time, and lots of other plugins, and have had no problems. seems a number of developers have their own ideas about file placement. check out native instruments if you want to see true mayhem....but my NI plugins work, which is what i care most about....

[billcarroll]

Is "I haven't experienced an issue yet" a good excuse for not following common sense standards? To exaggerate the example, "I drive drunk pretty often, but it's all been good so far." Sure a developer can probably get away with poor programming practices for a while, but sooner or later it will likely cause issues.

In answer to your question, yes I have experienced issues with plugin installers like this. I won't name developer names, however there have been a few plugin installers that I know of that have caused repeating issues. In one specific case, the developer was dealing with ongoing support issues and customers were frustrated because of a poorly written installer. I was one of the frustrated customers. The developer was having customers manually fix issues the installer caused.

A poorly written installer can cause new issues with every update of that product.

[gaf_thit]

I'm debating between my first Tone2 synth.
Electra 2 would take the cake, as its the newest and seems to have gotten great reviews.
However, the HCM of Gladiator intrigues me, and it doesn't seem to be a part of electra (HCM that is)?

The free Firebird also makes use of it if you want to test HCM, in case you didn't know. Not that I'm telling you not to buy a new synth There's a lot more possibilities with the G and E, though the Firebird is a beautiful bird in my opinion. Very fun to use and loads of presets floating around if you're interested.

tripple post damn

Must be some ripples in space-time due to all that shaking...

[eroxx]

I'm debating between my first Tone2 synth.
Electra 2 would take the cake, as its the newest and seems to have gotten great reviews.
However, the HCM of Gladiator intrigues me, and it doesn't seem to be a part of electra (HCM that is)?

The free Firebird also makes use of it if you want to test HCM, in case you didn't know. Not that I'm telling you not to buy a new synth There's a lot more possibilities with the G and E, though the Firebird is a beautiful bird in my opinion. Very fun to use and loads of presets floating around if you're interested.

tripple post damn

Must be some ripples in space-time due to all that shaking...

>>Unfortunately, firebird is windows only

[SLiC]

I am lovin' Electra 2, but would love a 'joystick' mode to morph between the four layers a la sy22, Wavestation etc...seems ideally set up for it!

[aMUSEd]

But, I think Tone2 sells their software short by not including other types of electronic music, you know, the ones that are actually good. I actually like the kind of sounds Techno uses but man, enough already!

Yeah, I don't like their presets either. Everything is shiny, EDM oriented, and smothered in reverb. The good news is that it forces you to explore and program your own patches from scratch.

OK, I know I said only one thing, but I have to add another thing. No developer ever, ever, ever needs to include a panflute preset no matter how well their synth does one. Ever.

Well, in this case, Electra2 added both flute and guitar physical modeling. That is not a flute sample. So it makes sense to demo those capabilities.

Interesting, what physical modelling capabilities does it have?

[Sequent]

A sort of 'missed opportunity' of sorts. Unless they thought of it and there was some reason for no putting it in. But the ability to morph between the layers does seem like a very good idea. Maybe if we ask nicely...

I am lovin' Electra 2, but would love a 'joystick' mode to morph between the four layers a la sy22, Wavestation etc...seems ideally set up for it!

[bmanic]

Quick summary from my point of view: Electra v 2.0 sounds really really good. It's by far the best sounding tone 2 product in my opinion. Finally all the psychoacoustic bla bla bla processing is done with moderation and doesn't sound too annoying making Electra 2 a really solid synthesizer.

It'd be an absolutely brilliant "my first synth" for anybody as it's easy to use but very powerful under the hood with an excellent starting point of presets.

Cheers!
bManic