We all know and love Elektron for their powerhouse grooveboxes and synthesizers, but the Analog Heat has long been a valuable tool for producers and performers alike. Eight different flavors of drive circuits from clean boost to crushing high gain enhance and decimate any instrument, from synths and drums to guitars and more. The Analog Heat MkII was brought into line with the release of the Digi series and the MkII Analog instruments, and it was hard to imagine how it could get even better.

But today, ahead of Superbooth 2023, Elektron presents the Analog Heat +FX. Though the effects built into each of the Elektron boxes are certainly valuable as part of the instrument, a dedicated effects processing box has been a longstanding dream for Elektron fans. By combining stellar digital effects with their eight beloved drive circuits, Analog Heat +FX bridges the best of both the analog and digital effects worlds—but that's only the beginning.

Diving Into the New Analog Heat +FX

Let's start with the familiar bits—Analog Heat +FX brings back all of the beloved analog features found in previous versions. The main attraction is, of course, a rotary wheel selecting one of eight different distortion and drive circuits. These true, analog circuits provide a range of saturation and coloration, and can enhance any instrument from synths and drum machines to guitar, bass, or anything else you could imagine. Add some tape or tube-like vibes with Saturation or Enhancement, borrow from the sonic vocabulary of guitar with Mid-drive or Classic Dist, and blow everything out of the water with High-Gain.

That's an impressive array of versatility, but it doesn't stop there. In the Flow page, it's possible to not only enable or mute different effects, but you can change the order of them entirely! Add the Heat before or after your Reverb, feed Delay trails into Warble, or totally squish everything with Compressor at the very end—there are options aplenty. And like other Elektron products, these may be saved and instantly recalled from the 512 different preset slots.

Analog Heat +FX also sees further expansion of its modulation capabilities, with the ability to dynamically modify any and all effects. There's an envelope follower—essential for making any effect feel lively and dynamic—as well as three highly configurable multi-mode LFOs. And if you need some outside help, two onboard control ports allow for the connection of expression pedals, footswitches, or control voltages from modular synthesizers. And of course, Overbridge support offers easy DAW integration and automation.

Turning Up the Heat (+FX)

Many of us here at Perfect Circuit are big fans of the Analog Heat, so we're excited to see this new version become available. Even if you're using other boxes for your delays and reverbs, compression and the lo-fi effects are common companions for overdrive and distortion, so we're sure that the Analog Heat +FX will find its way into music of all genres.