KVR Audio

JPQ · Post by **JPQ** » Sat Jul 04, 2015 9:26 pm

I very likely give their second change i mean i look again if they are stable with my new mac. where i have really much more hard disc space.(i mean in drive which used virtual memory etc). if changes something. basic reason one hardware synth what i think has own problems. and Tone2 synths have better presets for my taste. and i of course i made own sounds but sometimes presets are better working than anything what i can do.

recursive one · Post by **recursive one** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 2:24 pm

Still trying to decide between this one and Serum. I need a wavetable synth with a modern sound useable in transe and psy. I didn't like most of the factory presets but the demo of Dark Energy soundset sounds like pure synth heaven (but the Serum demo by Thrillseekers also does).

Electra2 seems to be very easy to program, almost like Sylenth but with much wider sonic palette. On the other hand, there are some strange restrictions - e.g., it seems that actually there is very limited control over oscillator unison unless I'm missing something. Serum is a tweakers paradise, but it leaves you lost in finding the sweet spots among the possible combinations of things. Honestly, most Serum demos show thin and harsh sound, but those which sound good sound REALLY good.

Orbit-50 · Post by **Orbit-50** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 2:38 pm

I would definitely go with Serum. There are way better soundsets available for it. It's funny how there are no real third party sound sets for any Tone 2 synths. I have a couple of guesses but I won't go into that right here. If you looking for a modern synth that is worth investing in, go with Serum. The developer Steve Duda is also the coolest guy ever and his technical support is second to none.

Mac of BIOnighT · Post by **Mac of BIOnighT** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 2:55 pm

Orbit-50 wrote:It's funny how there are no real third party sound sets for any Tone 2 synths.

Not entirely true - this one and others by Massimo Bosco https://www.tone2.com/html/electromania.html and this one and more to come by me https://www.tone2.com/html/ambientica.html for example are basically third party soundsets, except that they are sold by them. But maybe that's not what you meant.

Mac of BIOnighT · Post by **Mac of BIOnighT** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 2:56 pm

By the way, we're testing and working on a factory bank for a new instrument by Tone2 that is simply fantastic. I can't reveal anything about it yet, but it's just great...

db3 · Post by **db3** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 2:59 pm

Orbit-50 wrote:It's funny how there are no real third party sound sets for any Tone 2 synths.

http://aiynzahev-sounds.myshopify.com/c ... r-electra2

jsp1979 · Post by **jsp1979** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 3:03 pm

Simon (Patchpool) has a Tone 2 synth preset pack as well on his site.

recursive one · Post by **recursive one** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 3:08 pm

Honestly, I'm not an avid soundset buyer, for my favourite synths I mostly make the sounds by myself, but before buing a synth I usually listen to the soundset demos to get the idea what this synth may sound like. Serum demos which may be found online sound very diverse. Some of them show very textured and pleasing sound, some others sound harsh, boring and unpleasant. It seems like you get a very neutral engine and then you have to colour it by yourself. I have Serum demo installed, the factory patches are mostly complete garbage, some of my attempts give interesting sounds but this is mostly barely predictable experience.

With Electra it seems much easier to arrive to nice useable sounds, but it leans itself to commonly used sounds like supersaws, plucks, classic VA leads, I don't see really much place for experimentation here - but I haven't spent much time with the demo so far.

Orbit-50 · Post by **Orbit-50** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 3:10 pm

Ok I'll change it from none to one real 3rd party soundset.

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 3:26 pm

@ recursive one: If you're looking for a wavetable synth, i'd rather opt for Serum. Electra's wavetable capabilities are pretty rudimentary, i wouldn't even call it wavetable. You can't morph between them, at least in a way you would expect from a wavetable synth, the transitions are too abrupt. It also doesn't offer too many wavetables, i dunno how many Serum offers, but Largo for example offers many more. Regarding the ease of use, Electra may seem easy to use, but IMO, the layer architecture, and mono oscillators make it a bit of a pain, because it's quite unusual to program that way for me. E.g. you won't be able to have full control about stereo spread, only for the 4 layers, not for the super- and hypersaw oscillators. The sound is very nice though, especially the supersaw oscillator modelled after the JP-8k really sounds nice. But frankly, due to the limitations i've mentioned it's quite tedious to use for me, so i don't use it much unfortunately. I don't get why the dev seems to want to reinvent the wheel with all of their synths, instead of making them easy and fun to use. They're all a bit weird.

recursive one · Post by **recursive one** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 3:47 pm

Yes, this is what I feel about Electra - fine sound but lots of weird limitations. Maybe that's their way to keep CPU hit at minimum - they just use samples wherever possible. Considering that I've already got Dune2 and Spire (and also Diva for JP 80x0 supersaw and classic analog sounds), probably I wont get many new sounds from Electra. Their fractal oscillator seems to be something unique, but so far I failed to get really useful results from it.

db3 · Post by **db3** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 4:08 pm

recursive one wrote:Serum demos which may be found online sound very diverse. Some of them show very textured and pleasing sound, some others sound harsh, boring and unpleasant. It seems like you get a very neutral engine and then you have to colour it by yourself. I have Serum demo installed, the factory patches are mostly complete garbage.

With Electra it seems much easier to arrive to nice useable sounds, but it leans itself to commonly used sounds like supersaws, plucks, classic VA leads.

That sums up my feelings. Although with Electra you can have 4 synth layers each with 3 oscillators and 2 filters, so there's plenty to get creative with.

zerocrossing · Post by **zerocrossing** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 4:27 pm

recursive one wrote:Still trying to decide between this one and Serum. I need a wavetable synth with a modern sound useable in transe and psy. I didn't like most of the factory presets but the demo of Dark Energy soundset sounds like pure synth heaven (but the Serum demo by Thrillseekers also does).

Electra2 seems to be very easy to program, almost like Sylenth but with much wider sonic palette. On the other hand, there are some strange restrictions - e.g., it seems that actually there is very limited control over oscillator unison unless I'm missing something. Serum is a tweakers paradise, but it leaves you lost in finding the sweet spots among the possible combinations of things. Honestly, most Serum demos show thin and harsh sound, but those which sound good sound REALLY good.

That's a hard choice. I love Serum, but there is something about how Tone2 combines it's synthesis engines with it's effects that just sounds great to me. I like the UI of Serum much more though. It's very well laid out, IMO and the wavetable synthesis engine is bar none. If you tend to roll your own, Serum all the way. If you want a ready to use synth with a lot of good trancy presets, Electra 2.

gaf_thit · Post by **gaf_thit** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 4:40 pm

I bought patchpool's tripleX soundset this fall and it reenvigorated my interest for electra2. Highly recommended, very good presets for further tweaking with use of it's samples.

Dúnedain · Post by **Dúnedain** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 6:40 pm

Can all 4 layers combined give me 14 detuned saws?

Any love for Electra 2 around here???