New synth Tone 2 ElectraX review

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Hey whatsup!

Glad to be back!!

Figured I’d start off with a review of a new synth from Tone2, one of my favorite synth makers.

I really enjoyed their Firebird+ synth, and Gladiator 2 was dope as well, but neither of them were 64 bit, so I wasn’t able to use them as much once I moved over to a 64 bit host. Sure I can use jbridge and such, but I prefer to go native 64 bit if I can.

Anyway, this new synth is not an update to either Firebird+ or Gladiator 2, it’s doing it’s own thing, and doing it in full 64 bit glory!

let’s check it out!

So what is ElectraX?

This is basically a monster, 4 synth engine, multi fx, multi arpeggiator, multi everything synth with the great sound Tone2 is known for.

You get 4 synths in this baby, you can either use it as a 4 part multitimbral synth, or you can stack them all.

Just so you know, each synth/layer has 3 oscillators! Yeah….plus 2 filters, and arp, lfos, envelops, 10 point mod matrix, I think you see where I’m going with this right?

You can build some pretty deep sounds with it, but the great thing about it, it’s not complicated to understand or program.

Quick Specs

  • format: 32/64 bit VSTi, standalone (PC),ย VSTi, AU, Universal Binary (MAC)
  • price: $199

How does it sound?

Pretty much however you want it to sound. It can sound fat, harsh, smooth, metallic, airy, whatever.

The included presets show of quite a bit of the power of the synth but I think the fun comes when you start creating your own sounds.

The fact that you have 3 oscillators per layer is nice. You can choose from Virtual Analog engine, Ultrasaw engine, Noise/Fractal engine, sample playback, and wavetable synthesis.

That’s a lot of different engines, each with their own character and settings.

The FX are actually usable without hogging up a bunch of CPU, which is always good.

There’s also other ways you can alter the sound, including adding some “analog” character to it, from a nicely operating analog synth, to one that is all out of wack and has a mind of it’s own.

There’s even a fat tune mode that let’s you create some fat chord style sounds, etc.

It’s also very easy to program, you can even load a “template” preset of various types of sounds from FM to Phase Distortion or Wavetable and Subtractive Pads. Overall I like this sound, which is no surprise as I like Tone2 in general, but I was really impressed with the ease with which you can program your own sounds, or load your own samples to resynthesize and create new sounds.

So what’s the bottom line?

This is a great synth, very easy to program, but it’s very deep and able to create some complex patches. Having 4 arps going at once can get crazy. Having one following the host tempo, the next at half tempo, and another at 1/4 tempo was pretty interesting, that’s only 3 arps!

The mod matrix is very easy to understand, I find some synths do this better than others, and some take a while to grasp, this one was very easy to understand and assign. The various waveforms in the va engine are nice and being able to load in my own samples to synthesize is a huge plus, this is also easy.

I wish we could use more than one insert effect on each layer, but that’s a small thing. The fact that you have an insert on each synth plus a global master effect is very useful.

File management is also very easy, you can just go into your explorer and rename folders, presets, etc if you wish. You can also change the skin very easily with the text file located in the plugin directory, all you have to do is ย change the number at the top, it also tells you what each number will do.

I give this synth 4 out of 5 subs, really useful, easy to program, and sounds great.

I personally wasn’t a fan of the 3d knobs, they looked kinda weird at times for me, but it’s all good, I can overlook that when the synth is easy to use and sounds good ๐Ÿ™‚

This one is definitely worth downloading the demo, check it out and see if you like how it’s laid out. It’s one of the easier synths to program, even though it’s also one of the more complex synths around in terms of the synthesis types and modulation options.

Check out the demos and other info on the tone2 site: tone2 electraX

leave a comment below, let me know what you think

37 Comments

  1. Heeee’s BaaaAck!

    That’s what’s Up Saint! Really nice synth, seems very basic and straight forward. I’ve always been a fan of simplicity in my synths. Cause I’m not a Sound Designer or Synthesist, so if I can just go in and tweek presets; which Electra X seems to have in abundance. Then it’s all to the Good!

    Reply
  2. Yo joe can you pleaase tell me y would u give this monsta of a synth only 4 subs just becuz of the three knobs u dnt like? I mean I know its your opinion but come on mannnnnnn.lol….anyway thanks to you I’m thinking bout buying the tone2…I’m re vamping my whole productioning system switching from one daw to the next then moving on to the drums sounds, vst’s,etc……anyway I need a way to talk to you personally I need your expertise on some good buys

    Reply
    • @Eezzy, hahahaha, I didn’t think 4 out of 5 was a bad score! That’s good! This is a dope synth, I just always mention things I do or don’t like, and some of the skins/knobs were not my favorite, but you can change that to use the skins you like so it’s all good, they definitely don’t lose points for that.

      They 4 out of 5 had nothing to do with the knobs lol. This joint sounds dope, easy to program, and expandable, great synth.

      Reply
  3. Yo joe…lol….I hear you,but fa real tho, I’ve been using mostly reasons for the past two yrs(didn’t like it) and other vst’s and I went threw a lot of them…tone2 is a synth that I think might be good for my hiphop style of beatmaker(hard ,aggressive,edgy)I’ve been looking for sounds that everyboby and their mammy aren’t using and tone2 sounds like the first stop on my adventure

    Reply
      • @saintjoe, hey bro if you want to use those 32bit vsts with your 64bit OS you can use an application called Jbridge so you don’t have to wait for Tone2 or any VST app developer to create 64bit VSTs also you will save lots of money and ain’t that what we always trying to do ๐Ÿ˜‰

        Description:
        jBridge is an application designed for bridging VST plugins (up to the 2.4 VST specification).

        Using inter-process communication mechanisms, it aims to make it possible to run 32bit plugins in 64bit hosts, 64bit plugins in 32bit hosts, or even bridging 32bit plugins to 32bit hosts, allowing to overcome the memory limitations of a single 32bit process, in this last case. A demo version is available here (v1.19) and here (v1.2) โ€“ Scroll down for more details and alternate links.

        This software works on Windows XP/Vista/7 only โ€“ To make use of all its features, a 64bit Windows OS such as Vista or 7 is recommended.

        You can see the details here:
        http://jstuff.wordpress.com/jbridge/

        Reply
        • @Madbull Studios, yes, I have jbridge, I prefer not to use it if I don’t have to, I don’t like introducing “middle men” between my plugins and host. But I use it when I have to lol. I rather purge my library and use native 64 bit plugins in my 64 bit hosts.

          Reply
  4. Point blank….can’t no other synth friggle with this. The presets are just the icing on the cake. Just imagine makie custom patches with this beast. But….the presets are so crazy, that it would keep the lazy/non-synth programmers lazy. Can you name a hotter synth, Joe???? I mean really!!!!!!

    Reply
    • @Eric Frazier, joint is dope for sure ๐Ÿ™‚ I like it, it’s really easy to program which makes it nice, and the fact you can mix samples into the synth engine as well…good stuff.

      I know there are other synths that do that, but not as easily as this, the 4 part synth layers is just crazy, because I was making fat sounds with just 1 layer! Imagine 4!! Start playing with different arps on each layer and you got some sick stuff going on.

      this one is staying at the top of my toolbox for sure, just because it’s so easy and inviting to create sounds with.

      Reply
  5. So joe I just got a taste of the firebird and dammmmmmn homie, where have I been. I think I will need to take it upon myself to take a listen at synths that’s not the talk of every music gear forum…..cuz I’m missing out, all u hear is nexus this, sylenth1 that(although both are really brilliant synths)…tone 2 makes some major sleepers

    Reply
    • @Eezzy, yessir ๐Ÿ™‚ that’s why I do this, to show the good stuff that may be missed by many! Firebird is still a brilliant synth! And the price is insane lol, I don’t know if they will update that one to 64 bit or not, but if they don’t I will have to just use a bit bridge for it because it sounds crazy.

      Like I said, Tone2 is one of my favorite synth companies, they make dope synths, period!

      Reply
  6. Hi Saintjoe Glad your back on track. this sounds way too easy, an the sounds are good. This is one for me an the boys. Feel sorry for the guy next door. Thanks for showing this one. Keep Smiling an all the best for Hog-ma nay, (new Year, man.)

    Reply
      • @saintjoe, I just paid for this application yesterday afternoon but still haven’t received the download links or license for the application as of yet.

        I was highly impressed by your video review of Tone2 ElectraX which is the main reason I brought it but I gotta say I ain’t a fan of how they handle the turnaround on processing your order and sending the information back for use.
        I was hoping to have an email from them by the time I returned home from work this morning so I can start digging into the app…no such luck.

        I just sent an email to the customer service as a precaution to make sure there was no issue with my order but received an generic email back stating that it will take another 24 hours for them to get back in contact with me regarding my order.

        Just a heads up for anybody planning to order this software…Don’t expect to be downloading this product as quickly as you would when dealing with a company like Native Instruments. Tone2’s apps may be really good but their order process seems to be 2nd rate even for a small company.

        Reply
        • @Madbull Studios, thanks for the feedback man, that’s why this site is here so we can share info like this. I’m not totally sure but I’m thinking they do one of those manual processing things, which I don’t like from any company, it’s can definitely be a pain as you should be able to get the download immediately.

          keep us posted on this one bro!

          Reply
          • @saintjoe, I finally got my download links yesterday. Had a chance to load up the application and I really like the sounds & features…it packs some punch for a small 93MB application. Worth the wait but I should mention…

            TAKE NOTE: I notated that the file (for PC) is about a 93MB file. Just for that one file (not mentioning the Mac file) took between 30-45 minutes to download (Over an hour for all files). I’m just noting this because it seems that Tone2 servers will only allow you to download these files at very low speeds so expect it to take a while to finish (My Internet Service is very fast but didn’t matter).

            I’m just throwing this information out there so you guys can know what to expect when you buy this application. You will not be using it right away when you by it…you will have a 12 to 24 wait before being about play around with it.

            Now that I had a chance to dive into it I can say it was worth the wait.

            Reply
  7. Yes this is the cake and Gladiator is the iceing, I got my younger brother into using Gladiator until then he was never impressed by any vst plugins. Gladiator got him into using VST, just brought tone2 electraX and haven’t showed him yet. But I think it’s this is the best Vst I ever heard and I forgot all about saving up to buy Nexus 2 when I can have Gladiator and Electrax into my collecton.

    Reply

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