23. December 2025
Test: Sonicware ELZ_1 play V2 – Groovebox in comparison
I like the concept of grooveboxes – especially because I prefer to make music on the sofa. That’s why I bought the Sonicware Ambient Ø a few months ago.
A very cool device – cool sounds, good form factor – but the sound comes out of the output a bit “thin”. The relatively limited sound generation options and the lack of a “real” display ultimately made me sell the Ambient Ø again.
Next attempt: Yamaha Seqtrak. I have already written about the Seqtrak here in more detail. In principle also a cool device – at an unbeatable price – but without an external display and external keyboard, not particularly comfortable to play.
In my search for a synth or groovebox that is reasonably compact, easy to play, sounds good and has a decent display, I finally ended up with the Sonicware ELZ_1. So for a few days now I’ve been looking at the Sonicware ELZ_1 play V2.
Form factor, hardware & display
I am delighted with the form factor of the ELZ_1. From my point of view, the device is just the right size. Compact, but still with a keyboard that covers 3 octaves. Basically, the device has a very high-quality appearance – this is probably mainly due to the solid metal housing and the relatively large display. The keyboard is somewhat disappointing – basically the same as on the Liven series. A little rickety and unfamiliar, but perfectly playable. In my opinion, the device would be perfect if it had a normal mini-keyboard, as known from all common midi controllers.
I think the display is really great. It’s the perfect size – and even if not everything is displayed as fancy as on Teenage Engineering, the display is very well thought out and all the information you need is always shown.
The sound
My first impression of the sound was ambivalent. On the one hand, the signal at the output sounds much fatter than with the Ambient Ø or the Seqtrak, but on the other hand, most of the presets sound quite digital and synthetic. However, the concern that every sound of the ELZ_1 would sound similar was quickly dispelled. With a few simple steps, I was able to screw together the “warm” synth patches I wanted.
The synthesizer
Speaking of screwing things together: creating your own synth patches is unavoidable with the ELZ_1. As I said, the presets are not quite to my taste and I haven’t found any ready-made patches to download, apart from one exception. So: screw it yourself.
When creating patches, the ELZ_1 offers almost infinite possibilities. A total of 18 oscillator types are available. Some oscillators can also be extended with your own waves – e.g. the Wavetable OSC, the DNA Explorer or the Sigrinder Granular Engine. Up to 3 oscillators can also be layered. The envelope can also be adjusted per patch and the sound can be provided with effects such as reverb, delay, distortion, grain FX and some others, for which some parameters can be adjusted. Fortunately, the effects section of the ELZ_1 sounds really good!
In addition to the “normal” synth sounds, a drum machine engine is also available.
What I personally miss with all the synth engines is a sample-based synth engine. I would love to expand the sound repertoire with my own samples that can be played chromatically. Unfortunately, this is not yet possible. I hope that this feature will perhaps be added in one of the next updates, because from a technical point of view, as far as I can tell, there is nothing to be said against it.
Looper & Sequencer
Since I primarily – and preferably – make music in jam sessions, another argument in favor of the ELZ_1 was the integrated looper. Although I usually use Loopy Pro – for a minimal setup, or as a sound source independent of Loopy Pro, the integrated looper, which can also loop sounds that come in via the AUX input, is a real enrichment.
Unfortunately, the effects (delay, reverb, etc.) can only be placed before the looper in the signal chain. As a result, the sound often feels abruptly cut off when the loop restarts. It would have been much more sensible and desirable to place the effects after the looper, allowing them to decay naturally when the loop begins again.
A sequencer is also available in the ELZ_1. Up to 128 steps can be saved per pattern. I noticed positively that non-quantized recording is also possible. To be honest, this bothers me with most sequencers – as a rule, all notes are quantized, so breaking out of the 4/4 time signature is often difficult. I haven’t used the sequencer yet, which is why I don’t have a well-founded opinion on this at the moment.
Power supply & scope of delivery
Unfortunately, there is no battery in the ELZ_1. This would be very convenient, especially for sofa sessions or on the go. Nevertheless, the device can be operated with batteries or AA rechargeable batteries as an alternative. Otherwise, it is powered by the supplied Sonicware standard 9V power supply unit – which, unlike the Liven series, is included. A 32 GB SD card is also included in the scope of delivery. The Black Edition also comes with a high-quality case.
Conclusion
The ELZ_1 play V2 is a successful synthesizer that invites you to get to grips with sound design and synthesis. I’ve already learned a lot about oscillators, wavetables and sound design in the first few days. The integrated effects, looper and sequencer make the ELZ_1 a convincing groovebox. For my taste, the price could be a little lower, but compared to similar products or measured by the range of features and the quality of workmanship, this is probably a fair price-performance ratio.
