Which Ekksp Sounds synth do I need

[dvdrtldg]

There's a Ekssperimental Sounds sale on at the moment, and I'm thinking of picking up one of their synths. Of course I'll trial them, but what do you guys reckon is the Ekssperimental Sounds synth that brings something different to the table (i.e. significantly different from all the other RE synths)? I go all over the place with my music so the "It depends on what kind of music you make" thing doesn't really apply. I dip into drone and noise, but also experimental instrumental pop. At the moment I'm dicking around with minimal dub techno but that's mostly because I've been spending time on Ekssperimental Sounds' YouTube channel

Sine Synth looks interesting but maybe I'm able to get similar FM/additive results with Zero. HexaTone looks nicely oddball. Amalgam has a great UI. The ES synths don't really interest me, but maybe they should (ES 01 is $19 so maybe that's a no brainer but I feel like I have its sonic territory pretty well covered). Maybe a drum synth - but what's the difference between DrumSyn and SYNR? Help!

[Arpeg]

I have DrumSyn but cannot compare with SYNR as I don't have it but I remember my preference being Drumsyn when I trialled both due to its playability - I prefer the controls than SYNR, has enough CV's- trim, res, width etc. OSC Mode knob flicks between 6 different oscillations from a preset/patch and the device can be daisy chained to another and then another and so on.
Both are classed as Synthesizers but I wanted a more straight up n' down synth percussive device with less fiddling around than what SYNR can do which has more CV's, also. I recommend both if you have the cash.

[antic604]

I'd hapilly get Amalgam + Wave Master + SineSynth for $99

[Quarmat]

I'd hapilly get Amalgam + Wave Master + SineSynth for $99

I own the three and I do recommend any of these. Amalgam being my favourite, but Synesinth has potential for the deepest dive in sound design.

[antic604]

I'd hapilly get Amalgam + Wave Master + SineSynth for $99

I own the three and I do recommend any of these. Amalgam being my favourite, but Synesinth has potential for the deepest dive in sound design.

Yeah, I asked Ekss about the bundle above but he said no.
Might just get the Amalgam and SineSynth individually, then.

[ekss]

...what's the difference between DrumSyn and SYNR? Help!

Drumsyn is an emulation of Syncussion SY-1, SYNR is influenced by several different drumsynths like Stars Synare and Coron DS7/8. Drumsyn is true to the original and has fixed modes and controls, SYNR has more "free" controls, more flexible so to say.

ES01 is good if you want an accurate emulation of CS01 (with added functions) Reset/initialize the device and then forget about the settings in the display if you want it to be a "vanilla" 1:1 emulation.

101 is more inspired by the sound and architecture of SH101 but also has added functionality like FM and Ring Mod, it's good for techno and synth music.

[Steedus]

Welp no excuse to not grab ES-01 now. Killer price.

Btw I have both SYNR and Drumsyn. I personally find Drumsyn easier to use due to its simpler design.

[dvdrtldg]

Welp no excuse to not grab ES-01 now. Killer price.

Yep, grabbed it. It's great, could become a go-to bass synth. And I picked up HexaTone as well, so good! Spent a few hours yesterday making borked drum kit patches with it, sending the individual oscs out thru various combinations of Filter Chain, Sadist, Industrializer and Ouroboros, lots of fun. That might do me until Black Friday

[rorystorm]

Welp no excuse to not grab ES-01 now. Killer price.

Yep, grabbed it. It's great, could become a go-to bass synth. And I picked up HexaTone as well, so good! Spent a few hours yesterday making borked drum kit patches with it, sending the individual oscs out thru various combinations of Filter Chain, Sadist, Industrializer and Ouroboros, lots of fun. That might do me until Black Friday

Hexatone is fantastic, really good for early radiophonicity.

[dvdrtldg]

Yes it has that vibe from back when electronic music was the exclusive preserve of Germans with thick glasses & neckbeards. I'm loving it. Will probably grab SineSynth at some point as well, it seems to have a similar flavour but more complexity. At this point I feel like I could happily spend the next five years using nothing but plugins from ES & Audio Thing

[Steedus]

Yeah I'm really liking ES-01 so far. I also have Amalgam, but I never really got on with it - I think it's just a bit too complex for me so I lose focus before just reaching for something else.

[joeyluck]

ES01

[ekss]

ES01

Thanks Joey!
Indeed it has breath controller and is a really nice sounding synth!

[dvdrtldg]

ES01

Classic! Why is it that the Japanese do everything better than everyone else

[joeyluck]

ES01

Thanks Joey!
Indeed it has breath controller and is a really nice sounding synth!

Heck yeah! I remember making a patch for it based on this, called Cosmos in the presets. I think it's pretty close? It's a pretty simple sound though

[antic604]

So, as said I grabbed Amalgam & SineSynth. First impressions:

* both - I love the GUIs but everything's very small and difficult to read due to small letters & poor contrast; wish both were bigger (Thor/Algoritm/Complex-1 size) so that options from the back could be moved to the front and things could get more space; I also wouldn't mind modulation matrix similar to what RS have, because both seem to be constrained here;

* Amalgam - I'm not sure about color choice, especially why red, yellow, gray and blue are used - seeminglt randomly? - in every section on the knobs & faders; I'd rather colors be kept uniform for given section, so that it's easy to visually say what's what; thanks God for the tooltips! Sonically I'm surprised by its versatility - the OSC routing is very clever and gives enough options, the filter sounds good, the RM/Sine and Bit Reduction sections leads to a lot of pleasant surprises although they've narrow sweet-spots; It tends to sound thin a lot of the time, but careful balancing of OSC levels & routing helps

* SineSynth - again, wish it was more colorful, to underline its sections more clearly - e.g. wouldn't it be great if 2x EGs and 2x LFOs had their specific colors each, so that the controls that determine what's controlled by them (i.e. the individual switch lanes below partial faders) had those colors, too? sound-wise, this one's probably even more versatile, but it's simply "terrifying" to operate - small tweaks yield huge, often surprising differences! the problem is magnified by inability to type in specific values (not Ekss' fault, obviously), so I've spent lot of time staring at small labels and shift+mousing knobs & faders to get them where I want them; It will take time before I wrap my head around it, but it seems worth it!


Looking forwards to Ekss' new stuff

[Chi-Individual]

Drumsyn is an emulation of Syncussion SY-1, SYNR is influenced by several different drumsynths like Stars Synare and Coron DS7/8. Drumsyn is true to the original and has fixed modes and controls, SYNR has more "free" controls, more flexible so to say.

ES01 is good if you want an accurate emulation of CS01 (with added functions) Reset/initialize the device and then forget about the settings in the display if you want it to be a "vanilla" 1:1 emulation.

101 is more inspired by the sound and architecture of SH101 but also has added functionality like FM and Ring Mod, it's good for techno and synth music.

Is the ES400 modeled after any vintage gear?

Also, I'm trialing the Multi Tap Delay and keep getting this error anytime the delays are 2000ms and I adjust the Scale Time in real time.

[moalla]

ES-01 a real electronic stuff synth bomb, amazing

[ekss]

Is the ES400 modeled after any vintage gear?

Also, I'm trialing the Multi Tap Delay and keep getting this error anytime the delays are 2000ms and I adjust the Scale Time in real time.

ES400 is heavily inspired by DX100, and a little bit by Digitone.

Thanks for reporting this error with multitap, will look into it asap!

[Chi-Individual]

Is the ES400 modeled after any vintage gear?

Also, I'm trialing the Multi Tap Delay and keep getting this error anytime the delays are 2000ms and I adjust the Scale Time in real time.

ES400 is heavily inspired by DX100, and a little bit by Digitone.

Thanks for reporting this error with multitap, will look into it asap!

I’m on an M1 Pro MacBook Pro Ventura 13.6, 32gb ram running Reason 12.7
Hope this helps.

[challism]

I'm getting ES-01 because it's on sale for $19. I beta tested it years ago and have wanted it since.

[Quarmat]

I'm getting ES-01 because it's on sale for $19. I beta tested it years ago and have wanted it since.

I had snubbed ES-01 a few years ago because I didn't need yet another virtual analog. At this price, however, I decided to buy it and, boy, does it sound divine. Rough, full-bodied, fat, it fills the spectrum with exuberance. The presets are many and all very good. I am already writing a piece with the ES-01 and ES101 as the main players and it is really satisfying.

[Tiny Montgomery]

I'm getting ES-01 because it's on sale for $19. I beta tested it years ago and have wanted it since.

I had snubbed ES-01 a few years ago because I didn't need yet another virtual analog. At this price, however, I decided to buy it and, boy, does it sound divine. Rough, full-bodied, fat, it fills the spectrum with exuberance. The presets are many and all very good. I am already writing a piece with the ES-01 and ES101 as the main players and it is really satisfying.

I have ES101 - I know that 20 quid for ES01 is a no brainer, but would you say there is enough to differentiate the two? Might just pick this up today as well.

[Tiny Montgomery]

Lol I also want ES400 literally just for one rim shot sound Erik uses in one of his videos but i think im going to resist temptation this time....that being said I bought Amalgam on the strength of one patch I liked and wasn't disappointed (in a sale of course!).

[ekss]

I’m on an M1 Pro MacBook Pro Ventura 13.6, 32gb ram running Reason 12.7
Hope this helps.

The MultiTap bug has been fixed and an update is available: https://www.reasonstudios.com/shop/rack ... tap-delay/