KVR Audio

AstralExistence · Post by **AstralExistence** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 1:17 am

this synth is really grabbing my attention. im looking for biased and non biased opinions about electra 2 from those love it or have sold it.

Kindred · Post by **Kindred** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 1:52 am

My issue with Electra is applicable to all Tone2 stuff - works on a very narrow range of material, has a kind of plasticky sheen, patches are always loaded with too many fx like reverb (so you have to disable everything to hear each patch properly), GUIs are designed to appeal to EDM kids high on E and the price - Tone2 synths are always around 50-60 euro more expensive than they should be. Oh and they have a 20 euro license transfer fee so they might as well just make their stuff NFR - as far as I know it's the most expensive license transfer fee for any stuff I have tried to sell.

AstralExistence · Post by **AstralExistence** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 2:09 am

yeah this is not for me no next previous, scroll on every feature is a total no go.

Astralv · Post by **Astralv** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 4:38 am

Kindred, this is definitely biased opinion. I did not find any issues with Reverbs or other effects. It is perfect for all styles of music I make, and it has presents like RAMpler- organs, keys, strings as well as all electronic sounds. I love the graphics. My only issue- some time it is more promising than it actually is. While I love the graphics, it makes it look better than it sounds. I hear no plastic- it just sounds like other synths, dated, dressed in pretty skin. However, they do great job in attempting to improve sounds. You got to remember that it is not that easy to improve computer-generated sound. All it does is "eeeeeee". The affects and processing is what makes it different from outdated 1999 software synths- farther we move forward, more programming we can do, but sound improvement is a slow process. I would give them 9 out of 10. Love it. Great synths. Great guys. Always individualized costumer service- great company.

stikygum · Post by **stikygum** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 6:01 am

I'm thinking of buying it. I agree and hear it has a modern plasticky sound. (Not that it's a bad thing) But I also agree it's not a whole lot different sounding than other softies out there. It seems like it does sound more plastic/modern than other soft synths out there though. But where I think it sets itself apart from other synths is it's great interface. I strongly feel this is incredibly important to creating your own sounds vs. relying on presets. Easy to use. The other 'plus' is that it has a lot of filter types and different synthesis methods all in one synth.

I think interface is the number reason why people choose synths like Massive, Spire, Serum, etc. I'm not too sure how much different things like Gladiator or Rayblaster are to Electra2. They all seem to have a similar sound, but I haven't used them, only listened to them. I have Nemesis though.

Why do I buy new soft synths? It's not because I think one sounds way better than another. It's because of the interface. And maybe the features it offers and how easy they are to get at. Will soft synths ever become better sounding? After 15 years it seems the answer is no. Logic's ES2 can let you hear that.

kuzami · Post by **kuzami** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 6:20 am

I sold mine because I disliked the plasticky sound. Also, just one insert FX...

C-note · Post by **C-note** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 6:48 am

Electra 2 is one of my fav synths behind Sylenth and U-NO-LX.
No complaints at all

penguinfromdeep · Post by **penguinfromdeep** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 7:09 am

I don't like the sound like some other people in this thread

filter303 · Post by **filter303** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 7:34 am

Things I don't like:
----------------------

- New GUI colors (or lack of them).

- Only one FX insert per layer.

- Not enough LFO's, GUI has space for one more LFO.

- Modmatrix of only 10 slots for a synth of this caliber? The GUI has easily space for two more MOD matrix pages.

-Aliasing (can be heard in higher octaves and with some more complex sounds) Needs some oversampling options. I run this plugin @96khz but it's not enough to get rid of it.

- Distortion/overdrive algorithms can sound really ugly.

- Oscillators are not available as mod sources and some other stuff missing from the mod matrix like fx parameters (like in spire).

- No zoom for samples.

- No SFZ support.

- Doesn't support very long samples.

- Sample import is clumsy. It doesn't have sample preview and every time you save a patch
you Electra will forget the last used sample folder.

Things I like:
----------------

- Many different synthesis options.

- Factory patches and expansions.

- Dual filters with many different filter types.

- Oscillator have a lot of different waveforms.

- Tone2 sound (not for everyone but I like it myself).

- Portable installation makes it easy to use on multiple computers.

- Low CPU usage.

- Samples used in a patch are saved with it so you will never have problems with missing samples.

- Fat tuning is a very interesting and unique feature.

Touch The Universe · Post by **Touch The Universe** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 7:42 am

core · Post by **core** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 9:15 am

I like it a lot http://rekkerd.org/review-tone2-electra ... er-plugin/

Caine123 · Post by **Caine123** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 1:19 pm

i think i should have invested more time in it but i looked for an enhanced Sylenth1 synth with Wavetable/FM capabilities, the GUI for Electra 2 is too overburden for me, no fast spread, Detune etc. options on the fly

sounding great but this was a let off for me!

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 1:39 pm

stikygum wrote:Will soft synths ever become better sounding? After 15 years it seems the answer is no. Logic's ES2 can let you hear that.

Seriously? I don't know Logic ES2, but IMO, soft synths sound MUCH better now than 5 or 6 years ago even. At least if "better" means more detailled and versatile. There are still soft synths which will sound kinda similar for most sounds though.

On Tone2 synths: They're all a bit weird for me. Either they have some sort of weird marketing friendly synthesis technology, or i feel like they over exaggerated the psycho acoustic enhancements. They all sound a bit "hi-fi" to me, can't describe it in other words. Some people here describe it as plasticky, which is the same thing i guess. They could sound a bit more dry i guess.

Vectorman · Post by **Vectorman** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 2:13 pm

Indeed, one has only to check out the filters in The Drop to see what huge leaps have been made in recent years. The filters in early generation softsynths (or hardware VA's, for that matter) are not in the same league at all.

lacandon · Post by **lacandon** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 5:57 pm

hm many ppl says plastic sound to electra 2 but i am not sure what they meant i just compared bass patches on the electra 2 and roland sh 02 and the electra its way more round and sits way better in the mix.Of course they are two different instruments but still Electra has very well balanced sound(the programmer its most responsible for the final sound) witch sits almost complete in a mix with very few touches. I prefer it sounds more now then the analog and digital synths i have and i am thinking of selling all the gear.Also its total workhorse the sample import the resynthesis are very nice add ons !
In the box sounds completely enough for everything.

what do you like and dislike about tone 2 electra2