réactions à la news Electra One, le contrôle MIDI nouvelle génération

The Electra One mkII builds on the orginal design. Good things are kept. And there were lessons learned as well. The controller looks the same from outside, but there are many changes inside.

12 presets in real-time

A new powerful CPU and large memory allow users to run whole bank of presets simultaneously. What does that mean? It means Electra One mkII will keep all preset parameters in sync, even for inactive presets in the bank. When you switch between bank presets, all preset parameters will always have correct values.

And there is more. Do you have a preset that generates MIDI LFO or runs a sequence of notes? It will run on the background even if you switch to another preset to tweak the sounds. It almost feels like having 12 controllers.

MIDI Router

More processing power makes it possible to route, filter, and remap MIDI messages between all the MIDI interfaces, ports, and channels.

The MIDI router can be controlled with a static configuration, on-screen buttons, or programatically with Lua script functions.

We have finally got to the point of preparing a new manufacturing batch. The unavailability of critical parts and experience learned in last three years resulted in designing an updated version of Electra One.

Electra One mkII is fully compatible with the original Electra One. The changes are under the hood. A new CPU and large memory expand capability of the controller. When we designed the original unit three years ago, it was really meant to be just a synth programmer. It was you - the users - who gave the direction to the project. Electra One mkII is designed to handle lot more MIDI traffic, run complex Lua scripts, and do all that much faster.

An important thing to mention: we keep the original Electra One fully supported. Whenever we come with a new feature, we will try to implement it for both makes, the original and mkII. Of course, sometimes it will not be possible.

And the most raving feature: the SD card will be accessible

The size of the controller feels just right. An attempt to make it with 16 knobs resulted in bulky, ugly device.

What is on the drawing board, greatly inspired by input from @NewIgnis and by what I saw on @phonaak desk, is a docking station for Electra One, that would offer additional 24 pots, a set of extra buttons to switch pages, presets, modes. There would be also an extra narrow LCD and larger encoder. The docking station would also feature more USB ports and a power supply. I am about to make a few prototypes. I am not sure if and when it would be actually manufactured.

mk1 with firmware 3.0 and higher handles large SysEx messages. The difference between mk1 and mkII in this is that while mk1 stores larger SysEx messages in relatively slow external RAM (actually the unused part of the video RAM), mkII will do the work in SDRAM directly connected to the processor. It means much faster and without multiplexing data transfers with refreshing the graphics on the LCD.

All stock hw 2.3 and 2.4 Electra One controllers have orange USB connectors and are fully compatible with the upgrade kit.

I have decided to provide the STL file for 3D printing E1 enclosure and internal parts. This would allow people who upgraded their Electras to reuse the original PCB board. A refurbished display and knobs (b-stock quality) could be offered for decent price (under 60 EUR). Please let me know if you are interested in that.

All the Electra platform features in a smaller, more affordable package with fewer physical controls. Create Mini-tailored presets or load any mkII preset and add Performance overlays to reach the same parameters from a compact layout. Perfect for hands-on control of menu-heavy synths, VST parameter mapping, and powerful MIDI and Lua scripting for automation.

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Pre-order now. Ships before the end of November 2025.

€299 excl. VAT (VAT applies to consumer purchases within the EU).