Ekssperimental Sounds ES101, New Synth Rack Extension For Classic Analog-Style Sounds

July 9, 2020 Synth Anatomy News, Plugins, Software 0

Ekssperimental Sounds upgraded its best-selling Synthesizer rack extension ES01 to ES101 and added major new features like a 2 operator FM engine.

The ES01 from Ekssperimental Sounds is one of the most popular Synthesizer rack extensions and is also one that I remembered. Now there is a successor with more features. The ES101 features again a synth architecture that is massively inspired by some all-time favorite synths but this time expanded with a vintage drum synth inspired 2 operator FM engine with a dual-mode ring modulation/sine oscillator, all in full polyphony of course.

Further, it comes with two self resonating VCFs that can be finely tuned and modulated with either the two super snappy envelopes, the two wide range LFOs or with virtual CV signals. The flexible routing system with mod source selectors makes ES101 great for experimental sound design and very easy and fun to use.

On the backside, it benefits from the Reason modular flexibility and offers multiple CV jacks, trimmers, and switches for great control of the inner workings. It also comes with a built in effect bank featuring simple but great sounding FXs that makes it a quick and easy task to create great sounding patches that you can save and load with the Data Bank.

According to the developer, ES101 is great for classic synth sounds, percussion synthesis, gnarly metallic ring modulation sounds, raw and simple FM or a mix of it all. Perfect for synthwave, industrial, EBM, techno, and other experimental electronic music.

Rack Extensions & Rack Plugin (VST/AU/AAX)

Since Reason 11 is also available as a rack plug-in, rack extensions can now be easily used in any DAW. Even Reason 11 Lite, which is currently available for free with every purchase from Plugin Boutique, can load rack extensions. This major change has made RE much more relevant than before

Features

VCO with Saw and adjustable Pulse waveforms
Sub Oscillator with selectable octave & waveform (-1 or -2 pulse / -2 rect)
VCO/Sub Mixer
Feet selector from 32’ to 2’
2 OP FM Oscillator
Ring Modulator / Sine Oscillator
2 VCFs with self resonating 24 dB/oct slope
2 LFOs with 6 waveforms including Triangle, Saw Up/Down, Pulse, Random, Drift and Saw Exponential
Adjustable Glide with settings for off/on/auto
2 snappy Envelope Generators with ADSR
Polyphony up to 16 voices
Pitch bend range of +/- 12
Analog noise, drift and filter lag settings on the back panel
Tempo sync and retrig options for LFOs
CV inputs: Gate, Note, LFO 1 & 2 Speed, VCO Pitch, VCO PWM, FM OP2 Level, FM OP2 Ratio, RM / Sine Osc Level, RM / Sine OSC Tune, VCF 1 & 2 Frequency and Resonance
CV output from both Envelope generators
Effect section with High Pass Filter, Drive, Chorus, Echo and Reverb
Data bank for saving and loading patches