General
While guitarists still hold true to their pedal-based effects, physical effects are becoming a rare sight in recording studios. Back in the day, these units were essential, but as most effects can now be virtual, effects hardware is now pretty scarce. Tight, desktop-friendly and the perfect team mate for synths and modules, the Elektron Analog Heat +FX processor supplies no-less-than eight effect blocks that can be filled, used simultaneously and even routed, much like a guitarist's pedalboard. Stick sounds through effects like Heat, Reverb, Delay, Chorus, Warble, Bits, a Compressor and Bass Focus, tweak the parameters and play with the chain order. On top of that stack, you get an envelope generator/follower and three LFOs, which can be assigned to two destinations. Add it all up, and you have something that can really expand a synth module that either doesn't have its own effects section or came with a really limited one, and open up a fat can of creative, sonic worms.