Cherry Audio Releases Elka-X Synthesizer

[kmonkey]

Really good synth

[kmonkey]

yupp. have to create account to try the demo still. this synth went to the uninstall bin.

[DCrown]

Some nice presets and sounds, but some presets have very high cpu performance (up to 40% in Reaper!), well, you can improve a little by turning off all effects and less voices.
Is there an oversampling option that could be turned off, as well?

[Chris-S]

Yes but it's on 1x per default already.
Button: Q

[AdvancedFollower]

I’ve got the Xils Syn’X and it’s a tricky beast to program with all the hiding and showing of multilayers. The Cherry Audio one looks a lot easier to use.

That's what I was wondering - I like the Syn'x sound but rarely use it as the interface is so awkward to use

I believe that's why they have miniSyn'X too, which is just one layer. Still not the prettiest GUI though. On the other hand, the multiple layers make it much more powerful, and it's also quite CPU friendly so you can actually use all the layers.

Don't see much reason to get this if you already own one of the Xils products but if you don't have either, the CA version has some advantages like lower cost and no dongle for copy protection.

[Chris-S]

Sustain not working as expected?

- On sequenced patches (like back to berlin school) it's not working
- On ARP patches (like closer to god) the sound is "building up".

[Vortifex]

Edited

[XILS-lab]

I’ve got the Xils Syn’X and it’s a tricky beast to program with all the hiding and showing of multilayers. The Cherry Audio one looks a lot easier to use.

That's what I was wondering - I like the Syn'x sound but rarely use it as the interface is so awkward to use

I believe that's why they have miniSyn'X too, which is just one layer. Still not the prettiest GUI though. On the other hand, the multiple layers make it much more powerful, and it's also quite CPU friendly so you can actually use all the layers.

Don't see much reason to get this if you already own one of the Xils products but if you don't have either, the CA version has some advantages like lower cost and no dongle for copy protection.

Don't forget the "easy" mode of the Syn'X which provides the original two layers of the Synthex (but allows you to swap to the full multi layer editor when needed).
With five internal effects you can route as you wish, it's more powerful than the miniSyn'X (which comes only with the original chorus)

Also, the iLok protection allows authorizing your computer (meaning no dongle needed), up to two per license.

Best regards

[WasteLand]

a look into the process;

https://youtu.be/s40a9ICssC4

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Dear Cherry Audio, when creating a synth like this Elka where buttons are used to control things like the Octave or Waveform selection, I'd suggest developing these in such a way that they can be MIDI Learned to a single knob versus individual buttons. Or at least offering the option.

For instance, instead of expecting users to have 8 buttons available to map the 4 waveforms on each of the 2 oscillators, it would be much more efficient if a single knob or fader could cycle between the values.

Example, the Waveforms could easily be mapped as (MIDI Value then Waveform):
0-31 Saw
32-64 Triangle
65-96 Square
97-128 Pulse

That would make this a lot more MIDI Learn friendly versus the current setup. Even if that was offered as a mode in the settings, like a "Consolidated MIDI Map" mode.

Right now, I'm basically unable to create a good MIDI map for a lot of these features, where they'd otherwise translate very well to my System-8 if they worked as I described.

[Chris-S]

a look into the process;

Some nice infos there. Like female vs. male presets.

[ELEX]

Did anyone already compared it with Syn'X? It seems much simpler, but I'd like to hear some opinions.

just a few observations regarding sound:
- Generally Syn'X and E-X sound quite different. Syn'X sounds fuller, while E-X has the bright and slightly hollow sound I've come to associate with CA synths ( maybe that's more original, I don't know. )
- Filters sound as if they're indeed emulating the same synth, but the Xils sounds fuller and smoother to me. Though E-X sounds pretty good too.
- Audio frq. PWM is good on both. Hooray ! Colorwise same as above.
- E-X does not have that Xils thick attack sound, which I'm sure is much disliked by some.
- The biggest difference is in the chorus. Which if I'm not mistaken is a big part of the Synthex fame. Xils win here by the proverbial mile. It's all big, lush and smooth, while the E-X chorus simply isn't any of that. Mode 3 in particular made this very obvious. ( I used Xils MiniSyn'X as it has a comparable 3-mode chorus.)

[WasteLand]

made after an hour, when i had the Elka-X, so not the best example, but already shows, that making a preset, it is quite fun, and a lot of options and possibilties; when i get deeper in this synth, well, i like the sounds you can make with it;

https://youtu.be/HwCyVT8yO5Y

[vurt]

a look into the process;

Some nice infos there. Like female vs. male presets.

could you explain, save me watching a whole video?
is it more to do with the italian language?

[Chris-S]

They've had two (out of 7 total) female sound designers and it was said that they made better/different sounding presets.