Tone2 Audiosoftware has released Electra 2.5, a major update to the synthesizer instrument for Windows and Mac.

Electra 2.5 is downward compatible with all previous versions. All existing song projects and patches can be loaded without any further steps necessary. They will benefit from the enhanced sound quality.

Tone2 Electra2

Electra2 breathes new life into the term “synthesizer workstation”. With its powerful and sonically versatile approach to audio production, it provides you with truly outstanding new sounds.

Changes in Electra v2.5

  • New features:
    • Drag & Drop modulation: Drag an envelope or lfo and drop it to a knob to modulate it.
    • Right-click on a knob opens a menu where you can assign a massive amount of modulation sources.
    • 8 additional delay effects: Wide, Fat, Diffuse, Dual, Tape, Echo, Resonator, Reflections.
    • 10 additonal distortion effects: Saturate, Soft clip, Hard clip, Rectify, Bitcrush, Warp, Waveshape, Ripple, Amp Sim, Multiband.
    • Stereo sample support for FILE -> ‘Quick import sample’.
    • Support for 32 bit wav files.
    • Support for wav files created by LogicX.
    • Support for larger samples.
    • Every layer now can play stacked chords. Select ‘Stack’ in the arpeggiator and choose a chord.
    • Every layer now can solve chords , which is useful for subharmonics. Select ‘Chord root’ in the Arpeggiator.
    • New Midi learn algorithm: Right-click on a knob to assign a CC.
    • Hovering the mouse over a knob shows the current parameter value and the modulation source.
    • Modulation depth control on top left of a knob if a source is assigned.
    • Sectors on knobs show the modulation amount.
    • A red sector is shown when clipping of modulation occurs.
    • 7 new LFO shapes: ‘Square %’.
    • 6 new LFO shapes: ‘Stair’.
    • Tooltips are shown when the mouse is hovered over a control.
    • Undo/Redo function for sample editor.
    • New mod matrix targets “PitchOct”, which allow a seamless tuning of +-1 octave.
    • FILE -> ‘Quick save patch’ overwrites the current fxp file with new settings.
    • INIT -> ‘Clean matrix’ removes unused matrix slots.
    • COPY -> ‘Arpeggiator’ copies all arp parameters of the current layer.
    • COPY -> ‘Step LFO’ copies all Step LFO parameters of the current layer.
    • PASTE -> ‘Arpeggiator’ pastes the arp parameters to the current layer.
    • PASTE -> ‘Step LFO’ pastes the Step LFO parameters to the current layer.
    • HELP -> ‘Show version info’.
    • HELP -> ‘Download updates’.
    • More available halftones for the arpeggiator.
    • 49 new patches (NewSoundsV2.5)
  • Enhancements:
    • Drastically enhanced sound quality of frequencies over 10Khz.
    • More linear frequency response.
    • More punchy volume envelope.
    • Enhanced sound of most reverb types.
    • More inituitive parameter names for automation.
    • .rnk files are stored within ElectraX_sounds now.
    • patch rankings are written immideately on change.
    • Slightly enhanced sound quality for very large samples.
    • Enhanced sound of FM.
    • Enhanced sound of Sync.
    • Higher precision of high frequencies for Wavetable oscillator.
    • Higher precision of high frequencies for Custom Wave osciallator.
    • More linear frequency response for fractal oscillators.
    • Optimized performance and sound of hypersaw oscillators.
    • Enhanced sound of distortion.
    • Enhanced sound of the filters on high cutoff and resonance levels.
    • Enhanced sound of the effects.
    • No more missing frequencies above 13 kHz.
    • More smart algorithm for the microtuning.
    • Rearranged FILE menu.
    • More precise knobs.
    • Slightly less RAM required.
    • Enhanced some graphics.
    • More high-end frequencies for ‘dynamic loud’ mode.
    • More precise LFOs.
    • Enhanced sound of the Multitap delay by adding a low cut filter.
    • Enhanced sound of the PingPong delay by adding a low cut filter.
    • Activation dialog is now also available in German.
    • More intuitive handling of sample markers.
    • Various small enhancements.
  • Fixes:
    • Workaround for a bug in Orion, which caused a crash on scrolling through the automation parameters.
    • The volume of the first 1ms of a song render could have been to low.
    • Aliaser was detuned in 96kHz.
    • Midi learn did not work on layer 2-4.
    • Fixed a compatibility problem when knob circular mode was selected in some hosts.
    • Fixed a bug in loudness, which did not sound right.
    • Autotuning samples does not longer reset the halftone settings of the osc.
    • Matrix source ‘random’ did not work in mono modes.
    • Workaround for a rarely appearing deadlock in Reaper after closing and opening the GUI.
    • Fixed a possible buffer overflow in the vocoder module.
  • Changes (just cosmetical):
    • Renamed “Bass boost” mode to “Analog boost”.
    • Renamed “Reverb Band” to “Reverb Plate”.

Electra 2.5 is available for Windows and Mac (VST/AU), priced at 149 EUR/$189 USD.

More information: Tone2 Audiosoftware / Electra 2.5