EST is nearly unique in concept, and totally unique in execution. This is one of the most flexible, fun, useful, and totally stable VST plugins i have ever used, and i wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a new and fun way to use samples in thier music. GUI: extremely well done, and very attractive, the GUI is deceptively simple and clean while keeping all of the myriad functions at a click away. I'm sure there was a great deal of thought that went into the layout, because it comes through in pure useability. It would be easy to make a mess of something so deep, but SonicBytes has made this powerful instrument a joy to use. I only have one negative comment, and that is that the function selectors at the top-left could maybe be in a more logical order; but then, perhaps there is a reason that i have missed. Basically, it comes down to taste more than function, and it has never hindered my enjoyment of this instrument. Sound: Since the sound comes mainly from samples, it can be as good as your source material. But the quality of playback is very high; samples are played back very accurately, with no aliasing. The shaping abilities are numerous and of high quality, including the filters which sound excellent, and have a nice overdrive option. If the goal is, for instance, to use EST for an analogue style bassline synth, the filter is smooth enough, even at high resonance, to be perfectly convincing. Features: too many to go over in this space, this is packed with unique and useful features. The main feature is the sequencer; it has both piano-roll and drum grid, switchable with a single click at any time. Switching from piano roll to drum grid part way through composing a sequnce, and back again, is totally fine, and is useful for tuning certain drum hits in a sequence, or many other purposes. It has 12 slots, each of which has its own piano roll, as well as sound settings. The sequencer is a truly incredible piece of engineering, and is equally capable of creating an entire track as it is of being a simple arpegiator. Each sequence can have up to 16 variations. Each step can be different in up to 10 ways from each of the others, by using the 'values' lanes. I could go on for an hour and still not cover it all; the only way to really understand what it is capable of is to try the demo, and read the excellent illustrated manual. the other main feature that i will mention is the different sample modes; these include five different loop settings, and interestingly enough, an 'oscillator' setting wich includes five different oscillator 'mix' modes: sub1 through 3 which are suboscillator settings, normal, and noise which allows you to mix in a white noise signal to your liking. There are more features, but that's what demos are for :) Basically EST can be used as a multitimbral sampler, a groovebox, a classic 'workstation' type of instrument, or even a multitimbral synthesizer. All that, and nice to look at too! Docs: EST has a PDF manual, and an online guide. They give a basic, easy to understand overview of all the features. It could perhaps be more indepth, but it is a very good way to get a basic understanding of EST. Presets: i would like to see more presets come with EST, But there are soundsets available from 7fan which include presets, and are quite good sounding. Customer Support: Holger, of SonicBytes, is a friendly and helpful person who does his very best to help customers through any difficulties they may have, as well as listen to (and even implement) feature requests for his products. There ought to be more companies like SonicBytes. Value For Money: top! the price of this instrument is more than reasonable for such a powerful and fun plugin. In fact, it's downright cheap! It has been more than worth it. Stability: i have never had EST crash, or even glitch. NEVER. It is among the most stable programs i have ever used. It's very stable in every way, and CPU consumption is much lower than one might expect for such a thing.
All in all, this has been an excellent purchase. I bought it well over a year ago, and it is still easy to find new and fun ways to use it. EXCELLENT!
