Available now! Tone2 Electra3 Synthesizer Workstation

[Markus Krause]

Product page:
https://www.tone2.com/tone2-electra3.html

Free demo download:
https://www.tone2.com/download.html

https://youtu.be/lCJHxwB6NZU

https://youtu.be/WM87JX6Zh0k

New features - interface:

• GUI with 16 different sizes (with and without editor / effects).
• Native support for WQHD, 4K, 5K and 8K UHD displays.
• GUI can be scaled from 50% up to 300% by clicking in the lower right corner.
• Smoother animations and more responisve controls.
• Support for hardware-acceleration.
• Ultrasharp graphics with enhanced HiDpi and Retina Display support.
• The SYNTH button flashes when a layer plays a note.This makes it easier to work with several arpeggiators.
• Automatic detection of the ideal GUI size.
• A check-mark shows the last loaded custom-waveform.
• Online help with tutorial videos.

New features - synthesis:

• 114 additional patches that make use of the new features.
• The 8Bit noise oscillator can create lo-fi fx sounds from the past.The sound can be changed with PW and the key.
• Major and minor chords are available as additional key modes for the arpeggiator.
• The new 'Transient shaper' adds punch and presence to the sounds. It can be accessed in the 'sound mode' selector.
• The new 'Transient + Bass' mode adds presence and dynamic bass pressure to the sounds.It can be accessed in the 'sound mode' selector.
• New analog pulse oscillator types : Pulse 1/2, Pulse 2/5, Pulse 1/3, Pulse 1/4, Pulse 1/5, Pulse 1/6, Pulse 1/8.
• New analog oscillator types with inverted phase : Saw invert, Pulse invert.
• New analog oscillator types : Impulse, Sine Flip, Comb 2, Comb 3.
• New reverb-types : Cold, Theater and Hangar.
• New bipolar modulation source : "Step LFO/Envelope +-".
• Monophonic LFOs that re-trigger only with the first pressed key (set the LFO mode to 'Mono').
• Monophonic STEP LFOs (set the trigger mode to 'Mono loop').

Enhancements - synthesis:

• The audio-engine now uses 64-bit precision instead of 32-bit, which results in a higher sound-quality.
• CPU useage has been lowered.
• Maximum Delay-time has been extended.
• Enhanced sound of the automatic micro-tuning : A wide range of chords are detected.
• Replaced 'Reverb Hall' with a better sounding algorithm.
• Slightly enhanced sound of the Reverb types 'Cathedral', 'Room', 'Infinity', 'Big', 'Glass', 'Plate'.
• The arpeggiator's Stack-mode has been enhanced and can handle polyphonic input and duplicate notes.
• Enhanced sound of 'Unison'.
• Unused matrix slots are cleaned-up automatically after saving patches.

New Multistep-Envelope / LFO (available for each one of the 4 synth-layers):

• The STEP LFO has been completely rewritten.
• It can be used as a Multistep Envelope by changing trigger-mode to Envelope.
• The modulation capabilities of the synth have been extended drastically.
• Editing and sound-design is more intuitive.
• A realtime-display visualizes the current shape.
• The current play-position is shown.
• Unused parts of the LFO are faded-out.
• The STEP LFO shape and values are not longer only updated after NoteOn.
• It offers higher precision timing.
• It is able to interpolate and sounds a lot smoother.

New Multistep-Envelope / LFO waveforms:

• Linear to left : Interpoles smoothly to the step located to the left.
• Cubic to left : Interpolates with a cubic spline.
• Analog slow : Analog envelope smoothing with low cutoff.
• Analog medium : Analog envelope smoothing with medium cutoff.
• Analog fast : Analog envelope smoothing with high cutoff.
• Analog reverse : Inverted analog envelope.
• Saw down : The step ramp downwards.
• Saw up : The step ramps upwards.
• Triangle : The step ramps upwards and downwards.
• Triangle 25 % : Sloped triangle.
• Triangle 75 % : Sloped triangle.
• Pulse 0 % : The second part of the step is 0.
• Pulse 50 % : The first part of the step is 0.
• Decay 1 : Slow analog decay envelope.
• Decay 2 : Fast analog decay envelope.
• Attack 1 : Slow analog attack envelope.
• Attack 2 : Fast analog attack envelope.
• Sine / 2 : Sine with half frequency.
• Cosine / 2 : Cosing with half frequency.
• Sine + -: Bipolar sine.
• FM Sine : The FM modulated sine is useful for wobbles.
• FM Square : FM modulated square-wave.
• FM Saw down : The FM modulated saw is useful for wobbles.
• FM Saw up : The FM modulated saw is useful for wobbles.
• Noise : A step with noise.
• Diffusion : Noisy diffusion between steps.

Enhancements - interface:

• Completely rewritten GUI code.
• More beautiful graphics for the LCD displays.
• The animations of the filter, LFO, waveform and envelope-displays are drastically faster and smoother.
• More contrast for the knob-handles.
• Reworked many graphics.
• LFO waveform display is bigger.
• Keyboard in patch browser is hidden when editor or effects are hidden.
• Fine-tuned many coordinates in the interface.
• Fine-tuned some colors.
• More immediate control of filter cutoff and parameters.
• More tooltips with better descriptions.
• Layers are initialized with a smoothed gate shape.
• Patch browser can now also be opened by clicking on 'BROWSER' or the display on the upper left.
• A finger is shown when hovering over 'BROWSER' to indicate that the control is click - able.
• The interface gets a blue shading when drag & drop modulation is used.
• When a patch uses the STEP Lfo it is show automatically after loading.
• The user is warned if he / she selects a GUI size that is too large for the screen.

Enhancements - synthesis:

• Enhanced sound quality.
• More precise pitch calculation.
• Higher precision timing of the LFOs.
• Enhanced sound of white noise.
• Enhanced sound of pink noise.
• Analog oscillators are more in-tune and have more beautiful noise.
• Step LFO shape and values are not longer updated only on NoteOn.
• Step LFO is able to interpolate and sounds smoother.

Other enhancements:

• Enhanced DAW compatibility and stability.
• Performance optimizations.
• Smarter detection of the installation path on PC to avoid duplicate installations.
• All links are now https.
• A huge number of small enhancements.

Upgrade:
The update to v3.0 is a major update that is downward compatible with all previous versions. All existing song-projects and patches can be loaded without any further steps necessary.
The upgrade is be free for anyone who bought Tone2 Electra2 after December the 12th 2022 directly from tone2.com. All others are able to upgrade to v3.x with a big discount.

[Markus Krause]

Summary of key features

• Four synthesizers in one interface
• High-end sound quality
• Huge sonic range
• High flexibility
• 15 different, combinable synthesis methods
• Free support and updates
• Psychoacoustic processing
• Low CPU load, multi-core processor support
• Easy to use
• 4x multitimbral, 4x stereo unison
• Over 3000 sounds in 1469 presets by professional sound designers
• 41 exclusive filter types
• 53 oscillator types
• 64 effect types; Master effect section with Equalizer
• More than 1000 waveforms
• 64x4 voices
• Midi learn
• Realtime displays
• Drag & drop modulation
• Expandability
• Can import samples in wav and sfz format
• Can export samples in wav format
• Standalone version for PC and Mac
• Flexible preset management
• Context sensitive help

Summary of features per synthesizer layer (x4)

• Several playmodes: Monophonic, legato, polyphonic, glide
• 3 multi-synthesis oscillators
• Dual multi-mode filters
• Dual multi-mode distortion/waveshaper with 18 types
• 3 LFOs (global or per voice), a Step LFO, BPM syncable
• 17 Sine-LFOs (free-running)
• Four Envelope generators
• 13 Decay-Envelopes
• Arpeggiator
• Insert effect, BPM syncable
• Flexible modulation
• Key splitting

64 studio quality effects:

• Reverbs: Hall, Cathedral, Room, Infinity, Reverb Big, Glass, Band, Real, Hall old, Cathedral old, Gated, Reverse, ...
• Delays: Delay, Delay Band, Ping Pong, Multitap, ...
• Hyper Unison, Phaser FB, Phaser Stereo, Vibrato, Vibrato Stereo, Tremelo, Tremelo Stereo, Chorus, Ensemble, Phaser, Flanger, Rotary, Trancegate, Compressor, Ampsim, Equalizer, Punch, Surround Encode, ...
• Vocoder

Summary of synthesis methods & OSC features

• Subtractive
• FM
• Sample playback and import of own samples with loop support
• Wavetables
• Resynthesis function and the ability to load own waveforms
• Ultrasaw (up to 18 detuned oscillators per voice)
• Fractal (a completely new synthesis method)
• Physical modeling
• Phase distortion
• Waveshaping
• Exclusive oscillator types
• PWM
• Soft sync, hard sync
• Noise
• Ringmod
• Vocoder
• Analog oscillator modeling
• Microtuning

41 exclusive filter types

• 13 analog modeled filters with self oscillation: Low-pass/High-pass/Band-pass 12dB/18dB/24dB, Ladder, Butter, Filter-FM
• High precision digital filters: Lowpass, Highpass, Bandpass, Notch
• Equalizers: LowShelf, HighShelf, Peak, Wide
• Special types: Phaser, Comb+, Comb-, Vocals, Vocals2, Vocal AM, LP Shaped, LP AM, LP Elliptic, BP Boobs, M-Shape, Aliaser, Ringmod
• Exclusive fractal filters
• Physcial-modeling String, Physical-modeling Flute

System requirements

PC: 7 / 8 / 10 / 11 (64 bit)
Plugin formats: 64-bit VSTi, VST3, Standalone

Mac: macOS 10.7 or higher / macOS 11 / macOS 12 / macOS 13
64bit Intel or M1 or M2
Plugin formats: VSTi, VST3, Audio Unit (AUi), Universal Binary, Standalone
Native support for M1 and M2

User-friendly copy-protection:
No dongle, no cloud, no data-collection, no need to be online, does not install an additional 'license-manager' or driver

[Markus Krause]

Tone2 Electra3

The instrument is equipped with a high-end quality sound engine with multi-layer support and a wide range of music production features. It's friendly, easy to use interface allows first-timers to easily create sounds and enables experts to delve into sound-design as deeply as they want to. With Tone2's high-end technology at its core, you're not only working with the best sound quality possible, but also a lower CPU usage and larger palette for creating original sounds than with any other type of workstation.
Tone2 Electra3 comes with an astounding collection of over 1400 production-ready sounds by professional sound designers. A smart patch browser gives you an instant overview of all the available categories and sounds. Just pick the sound you want - it's that easy.

Multi-layer

Playing with Tone2 Electra3 is a lot of fun because the multi-layer architecture allows you to create impressive tracks just by pressing a single key. "Multi-layer architecture" means that you have access to four synthesizers at the same time and all within one interface.
Each of the four layers is as an independent, full-featured multitimbral synthesizer consisting of up to 108 oscillators, dual multi-mode filters, a flexible modulation system, an effects section and its own arpeggiator. Together with this and the 15 different types of synthesis available, it's guaranteed that your sound design possibilities are virtually endless.
You can edit your sounds layer-by-layer, or edit multiple layers simultaneously. Separate synthesizer layers can be saved and loaded, allowing you to simply grab a layer you like from a patch and load it into another patch.
You can combine different layers, mix different types of synthesis, use keyboard splits and use different play modes like Poly, Mono, Legato or Glide per synth layer. Most of the patches that come with Tone2 Electra3 already use multiple layers so mixing and merging your favorite patches into a new multi-layer sound is extremely simple.

Samples

The sample capabilities go far beyond normal playback. Load and manipulate your samples in ways that are impossible with other synths or samplers. Samples can be automatically tuned when loaded. Tone2 Electra3 makes sure that your samples always play back at the highest quality possible. Play back samples in single or loop mode. Use the loop markers to set your own loop points. An easy to use auto-loop function allows click-free loops with no hassle. The sample engine offers an edit menu with a wide selection of sample edit options, as well as no less than 20 effects to further process your samples. Special Quick-import-sample- and Quick-vocoder menu options are provided to guide you through setting up a sample or vocoder patch. Just follow the on-screen directions and Tone2 Electra3 will do all the work for you.
Your custom sample content is stored automatically with your songs or as a compact and compatible fxp file. You won't need to deal with broken songs, missing files or managing huge archives as in conventional samplers. With a higher sound quality than competing products, using samples together with synthesis has never been this easy: import your own samples, edit & process them where needed, and play.

Oscillators and Synthesis

With an incredible selection of 15 different types of synthesis, this synth truly is the “Swiss Army Knife of synthesis methods” (Beat Magazine). Its versatile synthesis engine can easily replace a studio filled with hardware.
The synthesis types range from traditional ones such as the classic Virtual Analog, Wavetable, Subtractive, Samples, Phase Distortion and FM synthesis, up to Physical Modeling, Ultra-saw, Vocoder, Sync, Ringmod, PWM, Noise, Wave-shaping and Tone2's exclusive Fractal synthesis.
Each synthesis type was designed with the utmost attention to sound quality, musical potential and low CPU usage. They offer enormous scope for sound-creation, being limited only by your own imagination. Let your creativity run wild! You can mix different types of synthesis within single or multiple layers, import samples, re-synthesize a waveform or use a vocoder on one of the layers. You can literally build any sound imaginable and open up whole new worlds of sonic capabilities in innovative and inspiring ways.

Filters

Tone2 Electra3 contains two multi-mode filters with 41 unique filter types, and includes three tone controls, as well as multi-mode distortions. The filter types range from traditional analog filters like Moog Low-pass, High-pass and Band-pass and digital ones like Vocal, Phaser, Aliaser and Fractal. Many of these filter types are exclusive to Tone2 and are not available in any other product. The filters are able to self-oscillate producing a wide range of timbres for further sculpting your sound to perfection. Most of the filter types use a special Analog control, which allows you to vary the amount of analog behavior applied by the filter. The filter section comes with two displays, which show the frequency response of the filter in real-time. This makes it easy to understand, how the filter affects the audio signal.
A dual distortion unit completes this section with 18 different modes, ranging from classic tube pre-amp distortions, to fuzz-box type distortion, self-sync and including wave-shaping.


Effects

A great deal of time, effort and skill was spent to ensure that Tone2 Electra3 featured a suite of high-end quality FXs that perfectly sync to your track's BPM. No less than 64 different effect processors are available, ranging from reverb, delay, multi-tap delay, unison, trancegate, chorus, flanger and phaser, as well as vocoder, tremolo, vibrato, surround encode, rotary, EQ, distortion, amp simulation and compressor. A unique 'Reverb Infinity' effect is also included, which allows you to have an endless reverb signal. Both a master effect and four insert effects are provided to offer a wide variety of choices.
The synth also offers smart micro tuning, which makes chords sound more fat and more transparent at the same time. Optional punch and psycho-acoustic features are also included to add a little kick to your sound.

Modulation

The synth features an extensive modulation section for each of its layers. By using drag & drop or the matrix, it allows you to modulate almost any parameter with audio-rate speed. Modulation is done using fast and punchy-sounding envelopes, high quality LFOs which can be synchronized to your track's BPM, as well as a step LFO which can be used to create rhythmic sequences or custom wave-shapes. LFOs and envelopes each use a real-time display to make it easy to see your changes and get an instant overview of which settings are used. Using the modulation matrix you can further enhance your sound. Modulation can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. The modulation system can provide any modulation routing you need to create the perfect sound.

Arpeggiator

The arpeggiator section offers an extended, yet hands-on way to both create and play arpeggios. Smart algorithms create melodies that are more musically useful than those offered by conventional arpeggiators. Best of all, by using multi-layers you can even have four arpeggiators at the same time. Together with a host of editing features this allows you to create sequences as simple or as complex as you want. The arpeggiator also supports advanced features such as auto-chords, pitch-slides, legato, swing-shuffle and matrix integration. Working with the arpeggiator is simple, just select your notes as you normally would and set the play direction.

[Tj Shredder]

MPE???
CLAP???

[Markus Krause]

Both is possible for future updates of all Tone2 products (apart from Icarus2, as this one already supports MPE).
I am also keeping an eye on Midi 2.0.

[whassup]

Enhanced sound quality.
Looking forward to the demo.

[maximoog]

That sounds really good. Then 2023 will be a big VSTi update year for me personally. Most likely HALion 7, Avenger 2, Electra 3 and Synthmaster 3. We can be curious.

[kenny saunders]

Please include these kins as I have Electra 2 but never use it simply because of the current grey interface.

[zvenx]

Oh this is great news.. Nice to see you adjusting your model for sustainability (that is new versions/upgrades not just updates)..
Does this replace the plans for 2.12?
viewtopic.php?p=8540573#p8540573
rsp

[Markus Krause]

v2.12 is available as a (non-public) beta for PC. The intension of this version is to test and prepare the transition for the new GUI framework. The beta has a few smaller technical issues (mainly GUI glitches), but seems stable so far.

[a9k1tp]

I don't like 3d interface.

[morphex]

The specs are impressive Markus. It looks like a powerful, well-rounded synth and I'm looking forward to audio/video demos. Bring on 2023!!!

[Examigan]

It is one of my favorite synth plugins so this is great news.

[Echoes in the Attic]

Both is possible for future updates of all Tone2 products (apart from Icarus2, as this one already supports MPE).
I am also keeping an eye on Midi 2.0.

Except that MPE doesn’t work for Icarus 2 VST3. That would be good.

[Markus Krause]

It's a sad and well-known fact that Steinberg's VST3 format is the only plugin format that does not offer full MIDI support. However, the MPE standard requires full transmission of all midi channels. We do refuse to support Steinberg's own MPE soup with doing further ugly workarounds for this (in our case it would mean to expose 2048 additional fake-automation parameters to the DAW). Instead, we will continue to stick to a well-known and established industry standard called 'MIDI' and will focus our developement on well-designed competing plugin standards.
We recommend to use the VST2/AudioUnit/CLAP format, especially if you use MPE or MIDI-learn. Usually, there are no disadvantages compared to VST3 at all, but significant advantages.