energyXT

review for energyXT 2.7.

the fastest route between intent and composition. clean. minimal. tidy. lean not sprawl. about everything can be done with a left/right click pointer, basic and thus functional.

as a synth developer i mostly use my own VST and found it solid and reliable for years. absolutely sufficient for my purposes, possibly for composers who prefer the core process to simply support their selection of hosted processes. that is the beauty of energyXT that earns the devotion.

it does what i want a host to do. and that is all.

recently using 3.0, which doesn't seem to support vst3, but my VST 2.4 plugins work on windows 10 64-bit, it's nice not to lose decades of work. it always seems strange that this type of aesthetic is so hard to find.

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i hoped this would be a nice lightweight VST host / seq.....

but it will only run 32-bit plugins.

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EnergyXT is a great piece of DAW.

And I say that after working with it for 7 years and having tried many others and watched yt videos of almost every other DAW widely used. The functionality in terms of number of features can be discussed, there are definitely some missing that some consider essential and are common with most leading DAWs, but there are also some that eXT users use very much but are really unique to eXT, so unknown to others.

Probably the worst thing about eXT is its (public) reputation, or better, lack of it. Like, for example, this thread, the list of evaluations. The last eval here was written 10yrs+ ago. This is terrible! Not that it just seems nobody is using it, I know there are several users, but the last eval is about a dissapointment because the V2 is not an upgrade of V1. That could be called a marketing mistake from the designer but somebody should explain that here, or at least the author could call it for what it is. And unfortunately it seems that people loved V1 (I haven't tried it) and somehow got discontinued. However, the V2 evolved over time to V3 and now we have a decent and in some aspects a uniqely special DAW - IDEAL FOR AMATEURS with low budget - and not in any negative aspect of the word.

The GUI and usabilty are in most areas unmatchingly good. Of course this is felt only after you have used for a while. And then if for some reason you want to go somewhere else you just realize how valuable its usabilty is:

• Very clean interface ("less is more" logic) with all the functionality very easily accessible.
• Extremely low CPU usage - it literally works on any laptop or PC.
• Powerful and simple modular pane where you can combine more plugins in a visually clear manner.
• Small GUI elements (unfortunately not resizable) allow for very good use of monitor space (medium resolution monitors, laptops).
• Very simple, intuitive audio parts management (stretch, volume, tune, transpose, cut, split, glue, fade in-out, x-fade).
• powerful integrated drum sample player with:
  • unlimited sample pads (with inserts per each pad).
  • huge collection (30+) of sampled rhythm machines (Roland, Korg, Akai, Alesis ...) - from small to huge w. up to 180 drum sounds.
  • inserts and sends on each pad.
  • sampler playback functions (transp., filter, chop).
• strong PM synthesizer w. good sample player.
• quite some quality presets, samples and loops available on the product website.
• simple automation interface and support for automation recording from VST GUI.
• each track with integrated EQ.
• User friendly built-in theme editor, for nice colors and quite some custom themes available online.
• Complete set of customizable keyboard shortcuts.
• ...

I just tried to list some special features that are really well implemented and distinguish EnergyXT in the huge DAW world.

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[Version 2 review]

What was once a secret weapon inside the vst/midi arsenal (I was a power user of version 1) has become with version 2 something that I wouldn't call the dignified successor. While version 1 always left the feeling of already being somewhere near to completeness (despite the couple of bugs that always seemed to appear after a beta update), now XT2 leaves me pretty much left with only a select few of the features of V1 (needless to say there's no backwards compatibility), and overall disappointment.

The modular area is quite poor and misses almost all the little tools that made it quick to get something going. The sequencer on the other hand got an impressive overhaul but still feels like there needs to be done a lot more. A lot of the intuitivity of V1 got lost somewhere in the development process.

Positively remarkable is the new cross-platform orientation. Now not only Windows but also Linux and Mac OSX are supported. Nevertheless, this additional work seems to also be negatively reflected in the quality of the software which differs greatly between platforms. In general, bugfixing and support has come to crawl compared to "the old days". Hardly any sign of the developers and the (also in the licence mentioned) community support is (compared to the XT1 days) non-existant.

Overall a disappointing experience.

The patience for the promised compatibility to version 1 projects is running low on power. Maybe the aim of the energyXT project changed in the middle of the progress ? I wouldn't know. I'm only sporadicly checking for any news for it nowadays. Maybe the deal with Behringer will bring a bit more wind into the sails of XT software again.

If you find a copy second-hand, it may be worth to get because of XT1, which was at 49$ good VFM at that time.Read Review

This is without a doubt the best sequencer for your money. It's gorgeous UI is inspiring. It sounds better than cubase. I'm getting a great clear sound. There are a TON of features and there is a new version, XT2, on the way!. I found XT easy to learn since I also use synthedit, alhough video tutorials are available, can't beat that. There is also a dedicated forum for help which usually is quick. For what energyXT does there is no better deal out there. energyXT is also a lot more stable than cubase on my system. I wont penalize for presets because I really don't believe it applies here.

I have not tried energyXT as a VST plugin yet, because it works so well as standalone application. I simply ditched my old sequencer for this new wonderful application. I am very greatful for the low price that I could afford. I feel as if i'm building my own virtual recording environment when using energyXT. It's quite easy to get comfortable using it because it's so customizable. There are many skins to apply on the GUI and if that's not enough you can even make your own! I honestly don't know what I'd do without it.Read Review

Energy XT! The name caught my attention some time ago, but never really cared to download and try the app.

I was looking to learn a new host just to have something different to work with other than my regular pattern based host.

I downloaded the demo for Energy and was truly surprised at how well this little (small download size) application works.

I had never worked within a modular enviroment and this program impressed me so much with its flexibility that I bought the license the same day that I tried the demo.
Within minutes I had figured how to set up a basic template for working in a more linear way which was what I was looking for as oppossed to the pattern based way used in my other host.

Many will look at the main window and wonder why there is no "standard" sequencer or a regular mixer or more presets (actually there are many of those in the user forum). But I find this to be EXT`s main strengh. You can make it anything you want! EXT can be an amazing modular enviroment in which to display your keyboard controller prowess and chain many different components (Comps in EXT lingo ) included audio and MIDI comps and trigger them at will.Or a regular linear sequencer, or a live machine! Your imagination and talent are the limit.
You can also use EXT as a VSTi within you prefered host and tear down any barriers you host might have.

The program itself is rock solid and I have never had any crashes even though I always use the latest Beta. Jörgen the developer is also a one-of-a-kind half human/half robot type of person as he develops newer features faster than the user base can think of. He listens to every request and exchanges views on how to make the program more stable and useful to us.

The documentation is almost always lagging behind, but what can you expect of a program that has newer features implemented almost on a weekly basis? Still. Users like Darkstar, Caleb and others (sorry if I forgot anybody`s name here ) are always developing the docs and helpfiles to keep up to date with Jörgen.

The GUI is another great feature as it can be fully customizable to fit your personal taste. Proof of that are the many skins available in the user database and wikis developed by the users.

For the money. This is one hell of a program and I bought it as quick as possible as there is not any other program that costs this amount of money and yet can become so many things to so many people.

Try the demo, ask around and soon you will be hooked! The power of the Energy is far beyond many other hosts/VSTis costing 4 times as much!!!Read Review

Well i bought this beauty 1.5 Months ago and it is one of the best buy i have done regarding music sequencers.
The Customer support is awesome since Jorgen listens to all of the request regarding the software.
The program is pretty stabil haven´t had a crash with the latest version (There has been some in the betas, but that is also why it is a beta)

And all the features you get with it is also superb you does´nt only get a midi/Audio Sequencer, but also an arpeggiator,Groove, and chord player + a great sampler with excellent sound quality, and a synth wich can be downloaded at his site.
And if you are´nt ready to use it as your host you can also use the vst version of it inside the host you use.
There is not any presets included in the sequencer, but you can find most of them thru the Energy XT forum on this site, and also remember that Ext is also totaly skinnable so you can add the look of your choice.

And when it comes to new features and updates i really don´t know what to say (that guy is fast as hell).


All in all this is a pro sequencer for all your needs :)Read Review

User Interface

The default layout is clean and easy on the eyes. Some would say it is spartan, but I prefer this - I am there to get a job done, not stare at busy graphics that are distracting and hog more CPU. That said, the UI is totally user-configurable and a ton of skins are out there to download and try.

Sound

This is mostly a non-issue since it doesn't really create sound itself, except for the sampler which works fine for my uses.

Features

I originally purchased eXT as a 'modular VST router/vst chain preset creator' to compliment audiomulch and bidule. After a couple of weeks of tinkering I've finally cracked open the manual and am blown away by the functionality and features. I didn't think I was going to delve into the MIDI side of things that much but after exploring the Arps, Chords, VST/CC Mapping, Audio and MIDI sequencing, etc etc...eXT has become my main audio host.

The mind boggles what the future holds!!

Documentation

There is no 'official' documentation, various chapters seem to be written by volunteers who are experienced users of eXT. But they are clear and logical. Though the general layout of the material could be better in that sometimes there are pages with a lot of blank space.

Presets

There are no presets per se, but if you browse the eXT forum you can find presets for chords, arps and specific tasks. Perhaps in the future eXT will include these or a similar set with the download package. Generally speaking though, eXT is so open and people will be using it for so many different applications presets are best created by the individual user.

Customer Support

Though I've never dealt with customer support, there is abundant info and help out on the net for eXT. FAQ's, manuals, a forum. But the dev's seem very responsive to customer's feedback. They really seem to want to make the best product possible with (almost too) frequent updates. the only niggle I have here would be it would be nice to be on a mailing list informing registered users that a upgraded version ahs been uploaded onto the server. No biggie.

Value for Money

This is the best bang for buck I've spent on software EVER. I think it will be hard to top. One of the deciding factors of getting this software was the price-tag, having laided out a decent amount on a new DAW system. I am eternally grateful to eXT for providing such an incedible piece of software at a price that anybody can afford.

Stability

I've had no issues here. It seems rock solid. It deals with buggy VST's very well - compared to some un-named and now redundant host software I ~was~ using that crashed on impact with a slightly resistant plug in.

eXT has made several other software packages redundant. And I intend on playing with audiomulch and bidule for their unique capabilities once I stop having so much fun with eXT. Two thumbs for eXT!Read Review

This is not going to be an in-depth review so much as a response to the previous review which presents an entirely different experience to my own.

User Interface - Absolutely superb! After all, I made it myself. eXT has a fully customisable GUI that is easy and fun to work on. You can easily make simple tweaks to colours or go in deep and completely rebuild it from the ground up. I have no problem at all resizing the window inside ORION and all window positions are saved with my ORION songs.

Sound - The included sampler sounds good and everything I put into it sounds just like it would anywhere else.

Features - Its got tons and new stuff is constantly being added. It also offers plenty of flexibility and accommodates many different workflows. I could easily use this as my only host if I really wanted to but its real strength for me is in using it inside ORION Platinum to extend my boundaries.

Documentation - Great! There are tons of resources kindly provided by the community from in-depth Flash tutorials to WiKi's to a comprehensive manual project that is underway.

Presets - Not really applicable but I've made a few useful ones for my own needs. I particularly like the way it saves window positions with all presets/projects.

Customer Support - Jorgen does a great job.

Value For Money - Through the roof. It is easily worth 4 or 5 times more than the asking price if you compare it to a lot of other products.

Stability - I cannot recall ever having a crash either as stand-alone or VSTi which is very good considering I use the curreent public beta version most of the time.

Overall I think EnergyXT is about the best 40 euros I have ever spent. It provides me with a stable and complementary application to use for sketching out ideas or cleaning up a project with no fuss. It seems very efficient, CPU wise and allows me to attack problems from several different angles at once. It will revolutionise the way we perform live and finally give us the freedom to do everything we've wanted to do on stage without having to go through the tedious process of having to completely re-do all our songs for another host. In a word - brilliant!Read Review

I use this VST primarily as a way of chaining other VST-plugins in a non-restrictive way. Especially in hosts that provide very limited chaining capabalities - like Cubase SX - this is a welcome addition. The built-in sequencer is cute, but not quite up to par with other, more mature products like named Cubase. The fact that there is no plugin delay compensation (PDC) in whatever form doesn't help that fact either.

The user-interface is functional but - let's face it - not the prettiest around. Even the fact that you can apply several skins doesn't help that you often have a hard time discerning what the heck it is you're looking at. This is especially true for anything requiring manipulating scores or audio files.

The standalone-version of this plug-in is pretty buggy and will crash and the craziest of times (like, moving a note in the piano-roll). The plug-in is stable when used as a VST, although it is rather cumbersome that the standard-size is rather small and you can't resize it. I complained about this and simply got told that this is the "host's problem". Ah well...

What's even crazier is that it doesn't support multiple VST-outputs from the get go. You have to make copies of the dll and fiddle around with entries in some obscure configuration-file to make that happen. It works, but there sure have to be better and more user-friendly ways to achieve such an important feature.

Support is abysmal and strictly limited to the Kvraudio-forum, where you will often get wildly different (non-working) suggestions to the same problem. The response to several of my feature requests was even downright hostile, leading to a long slew of complaints from the developer. So I guess PDC is out of the question for the time being.

Since I don't expect too much for something costing only $40 I won't be too harsh on the developer, who is likely bogged down by the attention. It is a useful addition as a plugin-chainer and I will keep using it as exactly that.Read Review

Theres the theory and debate that the progression and advancement of electronic music has more to do with developments of software rather than developing new theories in music.
In that case, the music created with EnergyXT will be intelligent, flowing, modern, and thoroughly brilliant.
That is because this is what this amazing app is itself.

Where to start? This is an app that can be used for nearly everything you can think of. It can be a standalone host application (It is my main host), a mastering chain, a drum seq VST, a FX chain effect, a... well the list goes on.

EnergyXT is a fully modular host/VST/VSTi application that is only limited by your imagination.

User Interface: The default GUI is sparse and unimaginative, if very easy to use. However, the app is fully skinnable, so you can create your own or download one of the user-created ones form the forum or website.

Sound: Well, I have given it 10 as a a zero rating will not be reflected positivly, but the program does its job on the sound front.

Features: Well, where do I start?
Items include: Sequencer Module
Arpeggiator
Midi Module
Audio Module
Chord Module
Sampler Module
Envelope Module
Midi routers
Mixer Modules
An unlimited number of VSTi/VSTs can be used, including Midi FX (but sadly not MFX).
Due to the modular environment, unlimited set-ups are possible, from traditional linear sequencers to Ableton Live-style like clip-triggering performance instrument.
This can be done as a Main host application, or as a VST/VSTi in another host, expanding its potential massively. Oh, and the automation is peerless.
Its basically everything you could want in the execution of an application.

Documentation: EXT's documentation is a blessing in disguise, or a simultaineous blessing and curse. There is no supplied documentation from the author. However, a community help file is perpetually being conpiled by users. This means that the help has to come after the updare is released. Howvever, as being written by users, a very involved help file is created.

Presets: Well, another 10 as there is no need for presets. However, there is a nifty feature of being able to breed and morph patches over time, and randomly generate patches using selected parameters.

Customer Support: Well, EXT has one of the greatest support networks outside of a 12-step plan. Sometimes it feels like a community project with Jorgen *just* as the programmer :-). Always lively forum here on KVR, great resources on XT-HQ.com and XT-Geek.com, and a genunine sense that you are participating in something special.
Make sure you keep a copy of the last full release as well as your copy of the latest beta to minimise bugs and

VFM: 100/10 or somthing daft like that :-). It only costs 39 Euros!! Thats £27!! Thats $50!! You have no reason not to buy it.
Its a host for that price! Its a sampler for that price! its a midi data module for that price! Its an FX chain for that price!

Stability: Final releases are rock solid. Bugs in the betas are quickly resolved.

This is a proper Hard-core music app, that grows and progresses with every iteration and with your abilities as a programmer. It is not really for the beginners, but what it can do is just incredible. The community spirit around it is great and makes you feel like you are taking part in something forward-looking.Read Review

Good god you have to play it to believe it. Apps like eXT, Reaktor and Live are forging a new road of music (as music is always tied to the technology of a culture, but I'll save the rest for my thesis).

Many people have commented, "When or where do I get the best usage from eXT?". I ran into this conundrum myself. I needed a "higher" level view than the excellent "how-to" documentation has provided.

To get the most from eXT I have found it best to think of it as separate programs;
1) a 'sequencer', 2) a host 'chainer' 3) an 'eXperimental Toolkit', 4) a 'sample creator'

In standalone mode use it as a Sequencer. Open a sequencer, do all your composing work inside the sequencer (import or create MIDI tracks + load wav samples), then route these tracks to your VSTs then to a mixer module and save your mixdown to .wav and it's perfectly great for this. It's mighty powerful workflow, and can give you envelopes and automation for your MIDI and audio tracks. Don't feel like you are mising out on any power features by going this route. In fact the option the eXT VST wrapper gives you of morphing 2 presets from you VST is reason enough alone to use this as your sequencer. And remember, don't touch that arp module!

In chainer mode you will want to load into another host, say Fruityloops or Live. From here you will use the MIDI part, Audio parts, Arpeggiator, Chords and MIDI routing components. The main purpose here is to have your host trigger, via MIDI keys, complex patterns you have set up within eXT, say a MIDI Part which contain just 3 notes which then trigger 3 independant arp patterns (each differentiated by keyrange and velocity). Or you can have in s MIDI part a single note which will then be passed to one of the other modules to then trigger the arp, chord or audio pattern programmed within.
Sound complex enough for ya?? Leave that sequencer module alone, it will only add extra unneeded complexity to this application. Remember, this is why you are using a host sequencer.

In Standalone mode we mad scientist types can use it as a 'Toolkit' for sound mangling. While not meant to replace such higher-level tools such as Max/MSP, CPS, PD or Csound, eXT is, with VST plugin kits such as mda's Effect and Utilities Pack's an easy replacement for apps such as Audio Mulch. This where you might want to load up loop manglers, test tone systems or live performance functions.
Users in this mode will also find 'SynthEdit' to be a must for creating quick (in under 30 minutes) VST synths, fx and utilities.

As a sample creator you can link up an a MIDI comp -> to your drum-synth of choice and create mad beat and groove samples for use in you main sequencer (even if it's eXT). Hook an Arp (with drum-synth following) and/or Audio (with samples sliced for X-Phrase style triggering) comp after the MIDI part and get ready for massive mind-scrambling polyrythms!!

Agile, responsive, useful, fun = eXT.Read Review

Wow! Who ever thought that little energyXT could put such a whipping on the big giants. This little inexpensive host\VST kicks major ass. I originally bought it to have as a simple arp to us inside of FLStudio, now I find myself using it all the time for all my major music projects.

GUI: To me perfect! No fancy this or that just pure and simple icons that you click on to bring up your editors. The simplicity of the GUI keeps work space nice and tidy.

SOUND: The sound quality is excellent whether being used as a host or a VST. I have never had a problem out EXT with any of the hosts or VSTs that I have used it in (Sonar 3P, Orion Plat, FLS). I also like the fact that if I create a song in EXT in one host it's very simple to tranfer it to another host. Only sound problem I have is that setting up multiple outs using EXT as a VST is confusing and cumbersome. It needs a simpler way to choose multiple out configurations.

FEATURES: This is where EXT kicks major ass! Programable arp and chord components that you can layer and split across your keyboard. A mixer thats user defineable, create as many channels,sends and subgroups as you like.An envelope component thats assignable to any cc to modulate any control. A sequencer ( I haven't had a chance to dig into depth with it yet!), midi parts and audio parts. The features inside EXT is what makes it so great and fun to work with. You can route the components, instruments and effects any way you like making your creativity unlimited! Where in a lot of programs you build your music say linking patterns or tracks, in EXT you can do set ups where your midi keyboard can trigger your sequence parts for killer live jamming! The only thing missing in EXT is the much anticipated sampler that should be comming soon, for now audio parts do a decent job of handling your wave files. Cake Walk,Steinberg,Synapse and Image-line beware!

DOCS: This is the one major negative about EXT. It needs more detailed docs. The help files online are incomplete and kind of scattered here and there between different sites.This is understandable as with updates and new features being added like every week, how can Jorgen have time to sit down and write a manual. Id rather have him working on EXT doing amazing things with it then writing a manual. A newbie would have trouble using and understanding EXT, but music veterens should be able to get around in EXT very well.

PRESETS: There are no real presets in EXT! Who needs them, it's a VST host! You can make your own presets for the many different components or for the situations you use it in.

SUPPORT: The support is excellent! The KVR forum for EXT well answer any questions about EXT you have.

VFM: Best VST host there is for £39! It beats the pants off of a lot of $200 - $1000 ones too!

STABILITY: No problemos! Solid as a rock! Never had a crash or weird error message yet whille using EXT with my 2400 AMD XP.Read Review

User Interface:
energyXT looks variable. I didn't like the default UI but i simply downloaded a new one and did some color variations on it (which can directly be done in eXT).
Since it has a modular structure, eXT is by far the most intuitive production tool I've ever used. I had tried out Cubase and Logic when I noticed that i spent more time on engineering than on making music. I tried Ableton Live and was satisfied, but energyXT is used even easier, faster and more spontaneously.

Sound:
I had no trouble with eXT's sound. It supported ASIO without any problems at different sample rates.
The results I've already made using eXT sound rather melodic and spontaneous than technical or planned. It's also easier to break rules in sound creation since you can route any MIDI data to an arpeggiator, chord maker. That output could be sent through any VSTi followed by an unlimited number of effects and so on.

Features:
To be honest, I got to know eXT with an alignment like "Is there any software I don't get confused by?" rather than "How many Tracks, Mixer Channels, Built-In FX and flashing lights does THIS offer?". So i rate eXT by the results you can do with it, not by its features.
The Sequencer is great. I produce jungle/drum'n'bass/breakbeat and I can even arrange very complex beats just using the sequencer and eventually the arpeggiator. The feature list is found above, but if you're missing something just have a look at the forum. Maybe your feature has been included some days ago because of the excellent...

Costumer Support:
Excellent. It is developed faster than lightning and if you post a suggestion it is possibly included shortly.

Documentation:
Even though I'm not experienced with computer music, i didn't read any documentation at all. And I got to know every single feature just by trying out because of the modular structure. There is quite a lot of documentation, though.

Presets: N/A

Value for Money:
eXT is amazingly cheap (39?) and if you already spent $500 on other hosts there is really no reason to refuse eXT.
If you aren't convinced, give me another comparable host inside a 400kb download!

Stability:
It never crashed. And even if it crashed now i would blame anything else for that.

Personal Statement:
Personally, I use eXT as my core host along with the (free) Kjaerhus Audio effect series, Bionic Delay, 0xVA-3FM, rgc sfz sf2 player, Scrubber, Xtal and a variety of free soundfonts.
I don't miss anything. And I would refuse to use any $150 multiFX. If i want an airy, delayed, compressed beat, i insert Xtal, an EQ, a delay and a compressor. That's it!

Conclusion:
There is no reason to refuse emergyXT. If you're accustomed at another host you can simply try out eXT by loading it as a VSTi or even as a VST effect. Perhaps, sooner or later you will more and more use eXT's integrated features because they're easier to use. Until you get used to eXT and use the stanRead Review

User Interface: 9/10
As energyXT is completely skinnable (and there are a number of skins already available at http://www.xt-hq.com/resources/index.php?view=skin , I gave it this score. You can make it look however you want. The layout is quite sensible and user friendly, and is always being improved

NOTE: The screen shot above doesn't represent the current version of eXT - that's a much older version! Go to www.xt-hq.com to see what it currently looks like with default skin

Sound: 10/10
Although not entirely applicable to a Host, I gave it a 10 because of the capabilities it can give your VST instruments because of built in Arp, Chord, Midi Patcher etc. Add to this automation tracks (as of beta version 1.26), and you have real amazing control over your sound

Features: 10/10 (would be 20/10 if possible)
energyXT can be almost everything to anyone
- sound designers can use it to quickly create new sounds with the Patch Generator. Can can breed/combine/randomize existing patches to create new ones
- live artists can use energyXT to set up midi key triggered arps and chords, to set up keyboard key splits and other stuff, envelopes and midi parts. Some very powerful features in there! eXT will soon become even more live orientated, check out the eXT forum
- you can set up energyXT to do crazy stuff like.. when you press one midi keyboard key, it can play lots of ARPs on lots of different instruments (if that's what you want it to). Get rid of your band members, you can do it all yourself ;)
- and of course you can sequence in it. The sequencer is a recent addition but is always improving. At the 1.25 release you can have audio and midi tracks, but again automation tracks are in the next release (already in the beta)

Documentation: 6/10 for developer's docs, 9/10 including NicFit's documentation
The developer's own documentation is rather light on at the moment, but if you include the docs at http:/www.xt-geek.com by NicFit there is alot more well written help :)

Presets: N/A

Customer support: 10/10
Amazing :) Jorgen is always adding features that the users want, and is always answering questions in the energyXT forum and by email. Fantastic support. If he's not around there's always someone else to give some help

Value for money: 10/10
39 EUROs. For what it can do, this is absolutely incredible value for money. And considering the amount of features always being added, it's awe inspiring. Soon eXT will well and truly rival the big guns as features are added. Why pay a grand for software when you can pay 39 euros?!

Stability: 10/10
The released versions are very stable, having been beta tested by energyXT users.

Conclusion: Get it now!!!Read Review

Having worked with "The Big Boys" (Cubase and Cakewalk) for years i was getting very tired of having to force my creative process to their work flow (i still get completely confuzeled everytime i have to get into the mixer section in Cubase SX). i tried out Tracktion and was impressed, but there seemed no way to get in with tweezers. i also checked out Buzz, but being a Keyboardist first and foremost i bristled at having to enter notes via the computer keyboard. Then i downloaded EnergyXT. After my first session with it i had my Credit Card out. True there is a bit of a learning curve, and i have really only scratched the surface, but i am in complete awe of this application.

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Okay after using energyXT for a while i am so incredibly impressed. For being a modular system, it is very easy to move around once you get the concept down.

Jorgen Rocks My WorldRead Review

EnergyXT is an amazing piece of kit. It's initially humble GUI hides a lot of functionality and flexibility.

Basically energyXT lets you manipulate MIDI and VST instruments and effects in a myriad of ways. It has modules that lets you split the keyboard into zones and send different parts of the keyboard to different instruments, it has an arpeggiatior on steroids, it has a midi chorder, a midi part player, a midi channel splitter and the list keeps on growing.

It also has audio capabilities and a sampler is in the works. I mainly use the MIDI bits, so I cannot comment on the audio side of things.

It works standalone as a host, as a VST instrument and as a VST effect (the latter being especially nice, because in a program like Ableton Live that allows VST effects but not VST instruments, you can add EnergyXT as an effect, and within it add VST instruments and jam along to the loops in Live).

The UI is minimalistic, and in the beginning it involved a bit of guesswork finding out what went where and how. However, once you grok it, it is easy to work with. The documentation is a bit thin, but Jørgen (the developer) is ever present at the forums to help out if questions arise. He is also incredibly attentive and implements feature suggestions with lightning speed.

Before I found EnergyXT I used Chainer a lot, and although I still find uses for it, EnergyXT has replaced it in my toolbox. XT does the same, and a lot more besides. On top of this, it is cheaper. At the current price it is a steal, and I would gladly pay many times the license fee for the features it now has.

The stability of EnergyXT is good, I have had a few crashes, but new updates are coming out at a rapid rate both with fixes and new features. I usually run beta versions, as I have found them to be very stable, and containing features that are useful.

Regarding value for money, few if any of my plugins can rival EnergyXT. Highly recommended!Read Review

Wow, what a fantastic product. I can't believe there is not a whole pile of reviews.

First I want to say that you should not be fooled by the simple GUI when you first open it. Part of it's power is in it's simplicity, but I have to say this very simplicity fooled me into initially thinking it was less then it really is. Once you have snapshots of your instruments and FX taking the place of the standard icon in the main workspace, you have increased the workspace size, added your favorite skin, opened the mixer, arp, audio part editor, envelope tool, etc., it is VERY apparent that you are working with a VERY powerful environment.

Basically EnergyXT acts in standalone mode, VSTi mode, or VSTfx mode. It let you chain together VSTi and VSTfx in any manner imaginable, and if you are using a host, treat this whole setup as an individual VSTi or VSTfx in your host. There's a built-in mixer with sends, so really you can set up the routing between modules to be as flexible as you want. A really simple application that EnergyXT breezes through is setting up multiple copies of the same synth, all responding to the same input, to create thicker sounds. Of course you don't have to use the same synth, and you can chain or send effects as well.

What really makes things cool however are some of the included processing modules. There's an amazing arpeggiator that you can place in front of a VSTi (or in front of a bunch of VSTi's!). I love this arp, it's got everything I could ask for: sync mode/poly/hold mode lets you have multiple patterns when you play chords, or a single pattern moving though the chord keys, whatever you want. You can have 'per channel' arp patterns as well, triggering different patterns with different MIDI channels. You can have one arp play two different patterns on two different VSTi's, just by pressing one key on your keyboard! The arp also lets you create MIDI CC patterns, so along with your arp'ed notes, you can also pattern control synth parameters like envelope cutoff, resonant frequency, etc. Very powerful.

Another great module is the Envelope tool. It's your standard 'draw n' drag' envelope creator, and the envelope you make can be mapped to any MIDI CC#, and can be set to 'Legato' 'Sync' or 'Run', awesome for automating parameters.

There's also an Audio Part tool, I suppose this is similar to products like XPhrase. You add as many samples as you want into it, they can each be triggered by midi notes, you can cut them, combine them into parts, change the end points on them, etc. Very very cool...I just got into this today and I'm sure I only barely grasp the power of this feature.

About my ratings - 8 for UI as I had to play with the UI a bit before I loved it :)

10 for features as I keep finidng new things!

7 for documentation. The online manual covers enough to get you comfy with this app, but not everything.

10 for presets - it doesn't have any and shouldn't.

VFM is tops! $39 a STEALRead Review

No review / rating yet - unbelievable.

One of the best things of EXT is if someone has a wish for an additional feature, it will be implemented sooner or later because Jorgen is one of most activ developers - his support is fabulous. For me the quintessence for that wonderful and extremely versatile plugin / standalone host is: Excellent value for money. I was rarely so impressed by a plugin / host.

Sorry for the short review, but I´m no mega-poster.Read Review