Waves Announces First Softsynth

Israeli developers Waves are one of the longest-running developers of plug-ins in the business, but until now, their focus was purely on the effects end of the spectrum.  That's all changed with the announcement of Element, their new synth.  Based on what they call their "Virtual Voltage" technology, Element is based on an analog type architecture with two oscillators, a multimode VCF, a mod matrix, an arp/sequencer, and on-board effects.  Element will normally retail for $200, but for a limited time, it will be available at the introductory price of just $99.  Oh, and it's been endorsed by Jordan Rudess, like every other plug-in in the universe.  (Seriously, is there an endorsement that has become LESS meaningful over the years?  The guy endorses everything that makes a sound...)

Review: Tone2 Rayblaster

Product: Rayblaster Synthesizer

Developer: Tone2

Format:  PC (VST and Standalone, 32 & 64-bit) and Mac (VST, AU, 32 & 64-bit)

Price: $199

Demo: On the product page.

Whenever a developer or manufacturer comes forth boasting of a “revolutionary” or “radically new” form of synthesis, more times than not, it comes across more  like a small tweak to tried and true methods that have been around for decades.  So it was with a healthy dose of skepticism that I approached Tone2’s latest offering, Rayblaster.  Rayblaster uses a technique Tone2 calls IMS, or Impulse Modeling Synthesis.  So is this a brave new world of synthesis, or more of the same?  Let’s find out!

WHAT IS IT?

IMS is a bit difficult to explain, and to be honest, I’m not entirely sure I understand it fully, but basically, IMS replaces the typical static waveform with tiny “bursts” of sound interspersed with silence.  The order of the bursts and various other aspects can be altered in a way not unlike granular synthesis.  Apparently, however, the small bursts of silence help replicate the way our hearing works, allowing Rayblaster to have more apparent loudness and cut through a mix.

In most ways, IMS sounds are programmed similar to subtractive, with one important difference – there are no filters.  That’s because the oscillators can utilize not only waveforms, but also impulse responses of real-world or imaginary filters (it can import drum loops too!).

In most other ways, however, Rayblaster programs like the softsynths you’re used to.

INSTALLATION

Installation takes place via an installer specifically for the full version (the demo version is a different installer, in other words).  Copy protection takes place via a keyfile, as with previous Tone2 products.  Easy!

MANUAL

As is standard these days, the manual comes in the form of a PDF.  Oddly, this appears only to be available from within the plug-in, although once it takes you to the PDF online, you can, of course download it to your device of choice.  For the most part, everything is well laid out and easy to understand.  There are some things (for instance, the “oscillator window” parameter) that aren’t really explained in depth at all, though.  So perhaps more thorough explanation in spots would be helpful. Also an editor with English as a first language might be in order, as there are quite a few grammar and spelling errors throughout.  There's nothing that gets in the way of understanding the plug-in, though.

INTERFACE

Rayblaster shares the easy-on-the-eyes look of previous synths with a grey background, and orange or blue displays.  All the controls are easy to read and nothing feels crowded.

The top left section of the interface is occupied by the two oscillator displays.  Up to two waveforms (or filter impulses) can be loaded into each oscillator and blended between using mix controls.  Various parameters controlling the sound of the oscillators are present here allowing you to brighten sounds by controlling the kinds of harmonics they produce, add three different types of noise, and alter other properties of the way the impulses are constructed and played back.  One beef with the interface here, the display always reads “LOAD WAVE 1” and “LOAD WAVE 2” whether you’ve selected a waveform or not.  It would be helpful to have the name of the waveform displayed here if a waveform has been selected.

Next to the oscillator displays are the oscillator parameters.  Here you can set key-tracking amounts for the pitch of each wave, pan settings for each oscillator, low cut and damping controls for each oscillator, oscillator sync and BPM synchronization (especially helpful when using drum loops), as well as phase, analog drift and ring modulation settings between the two oscillators.  If you have just waveforms loaded into your oscillators, the formant control will change the formant of the oscillator (a separate tune control is independent of formant).  If, however, you have a filter model loaded in, this acts as your filter cutoff. 

Next door to this section is another display from which you can set-up the Arp/Gate, apply effects to your sound, and an extensive modulation matrix with an abundance of sources and destinations to keep your twisting your sounds for days. The Arp/Gate can function either as a standard arpeggiator or as a modulation step-sequencer for some nice rhythmic possibilities.  The effects section allows you to apply up to two effects at once (out of 19 available effects types).  Just about every type of standard effect you’d want can be found here and while they aren’t going to rock the effects world, they sound very good and offer a decent balance of flexibility and simplicity.

Directly below the display, you’ll find Rayblaster’s two LFO’s.  6 different LFO shapes are available with selectable frequency and phase, as well as the option to sync the LFO to the host tempo.

The leftmost bottom row of controls houses the general controls for the synth such as glide amount, pan, unison spread, overall patch volume, and the dedicated amp envlope.  Next to this, is the main patch display.  The bulk of this consists of the current patch name and patch category.  The bottom displays whatever the currently selected parameter name and value is, for precise adjustments.  At the top of the display you’ll find the File menu.  This section allows you to load and save patches, separately load or save arpeggiator settings to transfer between patches (nice!), the ability to export any of the waves loaded into an oscillator as a WAV file.  This is also the area where you import drum loops or resynthesized sounds.  To me, those functions seem like they should be located in the oscillator display as part of the Load Wave function.  Additionally, this section includes an Edit menu that allows you to initialize and copy different parts of a patch, a Help menu that links to the manual and a tutorial video, and a Buy Sounds menu that links to additional patches you can purchase for the synth if you so choose.

Finally, there are an additional two freely assignable ADSR envelopes with adjustable slope.

WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE?

Depends on how you use it, really.  It can do evolving digital sounds, convincing analog emulations, Waldorf-like wavetables, modern granular textures…  Rayblaster definitely sounds like a Tone2 synth.  It cuts through a mix nicely and has a beautiful, modern sheen to it.  I’m not sure I find that IMS offers anything truly radical or new from a sonic standpoint, but there is no denying that this is a great-sounding synthesizer.

IN USE

The only real problem I encountered (I am using Logic Pro 9.16) were occasional audio drop-outs on polyphonic patches that appeared to be unrelated to CPU load (at least Logic’s meter wasn’t showing any spikes).  This didn’t consistently happen, but it happened enough to be annoying.  CPU use varies from patch to patch, but is generally quite reasonable.  However, a “Low CPU” quality mode is selectable should you find the drain too much while working out arrangements.

THE VERDICT?

Whether Rayblaster appeals to you or not really depends on what you expect out of it.  If you own other Tone2 synths and want something radically different-sounding from their previous efforts, you might want to skip this one.  If you’re new to Tone2 synths, however, this isn’t a bad place to start as it offers a good balance between the simplicity of Saurus and the sound-warping depth of Gladiator 2 while offering sounds somewhere in between those two synths.  The unconventional method of programming may be off-putting to novices, but conversely may appeal to old pros bored with subtractive synths that shape sounds in more usual ways.  And, of course, the ability to capture impulse of any real or imagined filter and import it will be a big selling-point for filter freaks.  No doubt, Rayblaster continues Tone2’s track record for great-sounding synths and deserves a spin with the demo. [8/10]

Review: D16 Group LuSH-101

Product: LuSH-101

Developer: D16 Group

Format: Windows (VST) and Mac (VST and AU)

Price: $199

Demo: Audio demos and Demo version available on the product page.

“Vaporware”.  It’s a term any reputable software developer dreads having associated with one of their projects.  If you’ve never heard of it, it refers to a product with a development time so long after its initial announcement, that  people begin to doubt it will ever see the light of the day.  After about 3 years in development, many people were beginning to write off D16 Groups’s promised “SH-101 on Steroids” as just that.  To make matters worse, the product was initially saddled with the truly awful name “SH101ter”, which somehow suggested a goiter filled with feces.  Thankfully, though, LuSH-101 (the product’s new name) has finally seen the light of day .  Was it worth the wait?  Let’s find out!

WHAT IS IT?

Describing LuSH-101 as a mere emulation of the famous Roland SH-101 monosynth sells it short significantly.  Instead, D16 have used the 101 as a starting point and re-imagined it in a 21^st century version.  Building on the 101’s rather basic synthesis functions, LuSH-101 adds new features like extra envelopes and LFO’s, oscillator sync, unison, Supersaw, a mod matrix, built-in effects, and the ability to create monster sounds by layering up to 8 synths (or splitting them… or using an instance multi-timbrally).

INSTALLATION

Installation is your run of the mill affair.  Authorization comes in the form of  a key file you can locate anywhere on your hard drive and point the software to when you authorize it.

MANUAL

As is pretty standard today, the manual comes as a PDF file.  The illustrated manual weighs in just under 100 pages, which hints at how deep things can get with this synth.  Your basic synthesis functions are easy enough to figure out on your own, especially if you’ve used an actual 101, but some of the less obvious functions such as building layered patches and the like will probably require you to crack the manual once or twice.

INTERFACE

The interface for LuSH-101 is beautifully rendered replica of a 101 crammed full of extras.  The standard white skin looks pretty slick, but if you want it in a different color, a la the real 101, a future update will make the interface skinnable.

At the very top of the interface you’ll find the preset browser and settings section.  There is also a section that allows you to select which layer you’re working on, that lets you mute or unmute layers, and even “padlock” layers to prevent accidental changes, which is a nice touch.  This is also where you can select which “page” for programming you’re on… the synthesis section, the mod matrix, or the mixer.

Beneath this, you’ll find the layer settings that allow you to quickly transpose, detune and pan the current layer.  You can also set a key range for the layer if you want to build a split.  Additionally, there is a Unison function and an insert effect which offers options like decimators, vowel filters, ensemble choruses, distortion, and more.

The basic building block in LuSH-101 is called a Timbre.   This is a single sound.  Up to 8 Timbres can be combined per patch.  They can be layered, split, or set up to respond multi-timbrally to different MIDI channels.

The first synthesis functions are the Pitch/Sync controls.  Already we can see an expansion on the original 101 architecture.  Along with standard controls for pitch modulation and frequency, this is where you set up oscillator sync, a feature not found on the original 101.  LuSH-101 achieves this via a “hidden” oscillator in conjunction with the square and sawtooth oscillators on the front panel.  Sync can be modulated with either an LFO or envelope, and an adjustable mix slider lets you find a balance between the synced sound and the original.

To the right of this you’ll find the controls for PWM, which again can be modulated via any of the envelopes or LFOs.  The Source Mixer is found next door to this and allows you to mix different amounts of saw, square, suboscillator, and noise (available in several colors!  Nice!).  The suboscillator offers more waveshapes than the original as well.  This is also where you’ll find the controls for the Supersaw mode.  Different in sound and function than the Unison function, this is a nod to Roland’s JP-8000 and helps beef up the sound significantly without using additional polyphony.

Next to this, you’ll find the filter section.  Expanding on the 101’s original low-pass filter, you’ll also find highpass and bandpass options here.  All filters can either be in the rather well-behaved “Normal” mode, or the “SH-101” mode which gives the filters the squelchy, acidic resonance the 101 was known for.   Modulation amount sliders for all the envelopes and LFO’s are available, as well as keyboard tracking modulation.  Resonance can also be modulated independently via Env 2 and/or LFO 2. The main filter is followed by a simple highpass filter (no resonance) which can be useful in thinning out sounds and creating more high-frequency type sounds like bells and airy synths.

On the next row down, you’ll find controls to modulate the VCO or the VCF via either (or both) the pitch wheel or mod wheel.  Beside this you will find LuSH-101’s two envelopes and two LFO’s.  Both envelopes have reversible polarities, and multiple trigger modes, including repeating modes using the LFO, helpful for making instant-sequenced sounds.  The LFO’s offer 6 different waveshapes including random and noise.  A nice additional feature is the keyboard tracking of LFO frequency.  Applied to pitch modulation, this opens the door to very simple FM-type sounds.

Finally, we have the Arpeggiator and Gater sections.  The arpeggiator is a fairly standard, although well-featured host-syncable arpeggiator with a number of available modes.  You can expand the types of rhythms you can get with this with the gater that lets you trigger a gate in just about any rhythmic pattern including ties for extending note values.  These two form a powerful team in coming up with interesting patterns at the touch of a key.

The Mod Matrix gives you 9 sources and over 50 destinations (although not all destinations are available for all sources).  You simply add a mod slot by pressing the “+” button, assign a source and a destination, and then use the bi-polar slider to select a modulation amount.  Nice and simple.  One note, there is a destination for panning that is misspelled as “paning”.

The third available page for creating sounds is the Master Mixer.  Remember how I told you that a LuSH-101 sound could be comprised of 8 different timbres?  Not content to just provide you with basic controls over the balance of these, D16 has provided a full-fledged 8-channel mixer.  You’ll find standard volume and panning controls to adjust the balance and stereo position of sounds, but each channel also has its own compressor, three-band EQ, and effects sends for the reverb, delay, and chorus effects, whose controls reside next to the mixer.  This kind of attention to detail is what tells you D16 made good use of the long development time.  Indeed, just about every aspect of this has been so obviously obsessed over and tweaked to perfection, the development time suddenly makes sense.  They weren’t dragging their feet, they were honing this synth to a razor’s edge.

THE SOUND

In a word, LuSH-101 sounds spectacular.  The lows are warm and organic, the mids punchy, and the highs sharp and clear.  To my ears, they’ve pretty much nailed the sound of the 101, but beyond that, they’ve really nailed the early Roland sound in general.  The oscillators are lively, the filter beautifully squelchy, and the envelopes are snappy.  Add the amazing-sounding insert and send effects, the additional synthesis features, and the ability to layer 8 instances of the synth engine into a single patch, and you’ve got a monster on your hands.

CPU USE

That monstrous sound comes at a price, however, and that comes in the form of the CPU usage.  Obviously, this depends on the polyphony you’re using and how many layers your sound is made up of, but only u-he’s DIVA really compares in how much CPU it uses.  Even firing up the plug-in without playing a note put the CPU meter in Ableton Live on my 13” Macbook showed between 7-9% CPU use.  Fortunately, there are lower quality modes that will allow you to work out arrangements before rendering.  I do hope, however, that future versions will work on making things a bit less processor-intensive.  On the one hand, processors are getting faster all the time, and I think the amazing sound quality is a fair trade off for the processor load, but a more efficient version would certainly be more practical to use.  And this is a really versatile synth you might really find yourself wanting to build entire arrangements with, so the ability to use more instances at once would be a big bonus.

THE VERDICT

I had high hopes for this synth when it was first announced.  As a former owner of a 101, I really did miss its sound, but as I find myself working in the box more, I also wished I could have that sound with all the conveniences of instant recall, automation, and the like.  After spending some time with LuSH-101, I no longer regret selling the real deal.  LuSH-101 not only captures the sound of the 101, but jettisons it into the present day and expands on the sound significantly without losing the original character that makes that simple synth such a classic.  Three years of development may seem like a long time to some of us, but after working with LuSH-101, the painstaking detail and design work that went into this synth becomes obvious.  I only ran into one possible bug in my time working with the it, which was in Live.  Using my laptop keyboard to play notes stopped working the moment I changed any parameter.  D16 has already issued one update, however, with new ones already planned and announced on their webpage, so I trust that any bugs that arrive will be squashed quickly.

Simply put, this synth is a beast.  If you’re a fan of the classic Roland sound, this should be a no-brainer.  They’ve nailed the sound and opened up whole new worlds of sound with the added features and immaculate-sounding effects.  I was a bit skeptical when I initially saw the $199 price-point, but after putting LuSH-101 through its paces, I feel like that’s a bargain.  Just buy it, already!  [10/10]

D16 Group Announces Release Date & Pricing for LuSH-101

This just in... Poland's D16 Audio Group has announced a release date and pricing for their long-awaited "SH-101 on Steroids" emulation LuSH-101.  The synth will be available at 10:10:10 (CET) on October 18th.  Retail price is $199 US/ €149.  Look for a review here shortly after the release date!

TAL Releases Version 2.0 of U-NO-LX

Well that didn't take very long!  Right on the tail of unleashing U-NO-LX, the first commercial project from freeware faves Togu Audio Line, they've released version 2.0.  Upgraded features include a warmer, more accurate filter model, an improved and calibrated chorus, and more.  The update is free to existing U-NO-LX license holders.  As if that's not enough reason to check it out, TAL has reduced the price to only $40!

Review: Linplug CrX4

Product: CrX4 Sample-Based Synth
Developer: Linplug
Formats: PC (VST) and Mac (VST and AU)
Demo: Audio demos and downloadable demo (emits noise periodically) on Product Page.
Price: $149

One of Linplug's earliest products was the CronoX synth, a ROMpler-type synth that mixed samples and synthesis much in the way the popular ROMplers in the 90's did.  Three further revisions and many years later, we have Linplug's latest: CrX4, a radical update that brings this type of synthesis into the 21st century.

WHAT IS IT?
You can think of CrX4 as the Swiss Army knife of sample-based synthesis.  Although it has built-in virtual analog oscillators you can use, most of CrX4's sounds come from the manipulation of samples via a number of different specialized sample engines.  To be clear, though, this is not a sampler.  CrX4 generally works using a single sample versus multi-sampled, round robin, multi-velocity layered super samples.  While this sounds restrictive, the different sample engines help you get a lot more mileage out of a single sample than you would imagine.

INSTALLATION
Installation takes place via your run-of-the-mill installer with authorization coming via a simple serial number system.

MANUAL
The manual is a 70-page PDF file downloaded with the synth.  It's well-written and quite easy to understand.  Although much of the synth will make sense right out of the box if you have a decent grip on subtractive synthesis.

INTERFACE
As we've come to expect from Linplug, the layout of CrX4 is clean, easy-to-read, and logically laid out.  As I just mentioned, anyone familiar with subtractive synthesis will feel at home rather quickly with the basic architecture of the synth.  CrX4's architecture is based around 4 "Generators" (each of which can be either a VA oscillator, a noise source, or one of three sample engines), 2 multi-mode filters with dedicated envelopes, an AMP envelope, a free MOD envelope, 4 LFO's, a mod matrix, dedicated multi-effects, and an arp/step sequencer that can also work as a mod source.  So pretty nicely appointed, then.

Let's start out by examining the different types of Generators.  The first of these is the Oscillator Generator.  This is not sample-based and uses waveforms familiar to analog synths that are continuously variable between pulse and saw waves, with in-between settings offering a blend of the two.  You'll find your standard fine and coarse tunings (or even select for the oscillator not to track the keyboard at all), the option to have your oscillators free-running, or always retriggered, and, very cooly, an aliasing amount knob that allows you to add digital grit to your sounds if you feel like recreating the rough sounds of early sample-based synths like the Ensoniq ESQ-1.

The next Generator is the Noise Generator.  Far from just offering a "level" knob, the Noise Generator here has a lowpass filter and a highpass filter (each with independent resonance controls) which can be mixed between using the Mix knob.  As you can imagine, even before you hit the synth's main filters, you already have quite a bit of tone-sculpting options.  There is also a "rough" button that provides a more gnarly, digital version of noise when the tuning settings are set to low values.

The first of the sample-based Generators is the Time Sampler Generator.  This Generator allows you to load a single WAV or AIFF file and alter its length and pitch independently and in real time.  The sample can be mapped to the whole keyboard, or just a range if you want to use each Generator in your patch to create a split zone in the keyboard.

Next up is the Wavetable Generator.  As you can imagine, this uses the WAV or AIFF you feed it to build a Wavetable like you might find on a Waldorf synth.

Finally, we have the Loop Sampler Generator.  This operates more like your standard sampler, allowing you to loop sustaining sounds adjusting sample start, loop start, and loop end, using loop-smoothing, etc.

The Generators all share the same tuning controls, individual volume controls, and filter-routing knobs that allow you to route a Generator to either filter, or a mixture of both.  Many of the generators also offer a "spread" parameter that is essentially a "supersaw" unison type effect that does its thing without eating up extra polyphony.  The sample-based Generators also have optional waveform displays you can view to visually set loops and the like.  The final bit of note is that each set of two Generators can be cross-modulated via AM or FM for some really out there digital sounds.

CrX4's two filters are identical to one another.  They each offer lowpass, highpass, bandpass, and band-reject filters in either 12 or 24db versions.  The Standard filter allows you to select one of the four filter types, whereas the Free filter makes the transitions between filter types continuously variable, allowing you to blend the characteristics of multiple filter types.  Cool!  Each filter includes its own saturation setting for dirtying things up, cutoff, resonance, filter type, keyboard tracking amount, envelope amount, velocity amount, and pan settings.  You can set the balance between the two filters and use dedicated Edit Menu to copy and paste settings in between filters.  You can also select for the filters to run in parallel or serial.

The filters share a dedicated envelope for modulation.  These are Attack Hold Decay Sustain Release envelopes.  What makes them especially nice is that you can select a slope type for the A, D, and R segments of the envelope allowing you to go from linear to logarithmic curves to allow you to really sculpt the envelope beyond the standard controls.

You'll find the AMP envelope up in the MAIN section which includes a number of global controls. Here you can select oscillator precision, Glide settings, the number of voices, and velocity settings.  There is also a Chord Memory function here if you want to store a chord to play back whenever you hit a key.

The MOD envelope has the same design as the others, but can be assigned to modulate any parameter you assign to it in the mod matrix.

The 4 LFO's are identical to one another and are assignable as mod sources via the Mod Matrix. 9 different waveshapes including random are available, as are settings for frequency (syncable, of course), delay, attack, phase, and symmetry to help you further tweak your LFO modulations.  The LFOs can be run in either polyphonic or monophonic modes, as well.

The Mod Matrix offers 10 slots with 30 available sources and 56 destinations, so you can see that the modulation possibilities are pretty extensive.  Everything operates here are you would expect it to with the source on the left, the destination on the right, and the positive or negative modulation amount in the center.

Next, we round things up with a programmable arpeggiator that can be used in the standard fashion, or as a step sequencer to modulate the destination(s) of your choice.  You have up to 32 steps at your disposal and the level of flexibility puts this close to an analog step sequencer depending on how you assign it to modulate.

Finally, everything is sent through the built-in multi-effects which offers bit-crushers, EQ, stereo enhancement, a gater, flanger, reverb, phaser, chorus, 3 types of delay, and a filter.  There are six effects slots in all with each group allowing the selection of a certain number of effects.  This is more than enough to add polish and depth to your sounds and is flexible enough that plenty of customization is possible.  Of course, each of the individual effects have their own range or parameters that can be individually programmed for further customization.

THE VERDICT?
As you can see, Linplug didn't hold back on the features with this synth.  With so many synthesis types on offer and such well-thought-out programming features, you'd  be forgiven for thinking CrX4 is a difficult synth to come to grips with.  On the contrary, thanks to a nicely laid out user interface, CrX4 is quite simple to use once you get yourself up to speed on some of the ins and outs of the different types of generators.

The Sample Generators sound very good and can handle WAV or AIF files up to 24-bit/96k.  It's a lot of fun loading in your own material and twisting them beyond recognition. The Waveform Generators are fine for what they are, but honestly, if you're looking for virtual analog type sounds, you'd do better to look elsewhere.  I found the waveform generators a bit sterile here.  The Aliasing knob is a really nice touch I'd like to see on more synths, though.  Really helps to add some interesting dirt.

The filters sound nice, although, again, they're not exactly full of character. This is more apparent with the synth waveforms, though.  They seem much more effective on sampled material for whatever reason.  Speaking of which, CrX4 ships with over a GB of sample material to get you started.  While there are some acoustic/"real" instrument sounds, most of the sounds are decidedly synthetic and digital.  I like this, personally.  Too many sample-based synths try to be all things to all people and you often end up with a boring selection of the same old sounds every other workstation has.

As you might expect for a synth of this type, it really excels at pads, effects, and evolving sounds.  It's a lot of fun time-stretching a bunch of sounds beyond recognition and setting them off one another.  The built-in effects are also really nice sounding and can do a lot to bring sounds to life.  CrX4 is less successful for bass type sounds.  There are some nice ones, to be sure, but the overall tone of CrX4 seems to be biased more towards the highs and high mids than the low end.  As such, it's a synth that cuts through a mix very well.

If you are looking for a synth that offers some interesting, unique textures and loads of programmability, you should definitely give CrX4 a spin.  In an age where so many manufacturers are laser-focused on recreating analog sounds, it's kind of refreshing to play an instrument that wears its digital sheen with pride!  [8/10]

D16 Group Announces Imminent Release of LuSH-101

A couple years ago, Poland's D16 Group announced their next product would be a modeled Roland SH-101.  Given the quality of their prior products, there was good reason for the initial burst of excitement this announcement generated.  But as time went on with little news, some people feared it would be vaporware.  Well, those people can relax, as today D16 announced that LuSH-101 will be released soon an offered some details of what the synth can do.

LuSH-101 uses the basic architecture of the 101 and expands on it from there adding an extra envelope and LFO, a Unison mode, built-in FX, and an 8 layer set-up that allows you to build seriously big sounds with 8 layers, or control each layer independently.  A specific release date and price have yet to be announced, but it appears that our long wait is about to end.

Review: PSP Echo

Product: Echo  Delay Plug-in
Developer: PSP Audioware
Format: PC (VST, RTAS, and AAX) and Mac (AU, VST, RTAS, and AAX)
Demo: Available on product page.
Price: $99 (introductory offer until September 17th, only $79)

PSP Audioware are no strangers to delay plug-ins, having previously released Lexicon PSP 42, PSP 85, and the PSP 608 Multi-delay, but until now they hadn't taken a swing at creating a tape delay.  That all changes with the newest member of the PSP family, the simply-named Echo.

WHAT IS IT?
PSP Echo is a feature-laden emulation of a tape echo unit.  If you're not familiar with this type of effect, back in the days before digital delays, echo effects were achieved with a unit that basically contained a specially modified tape recorder.  A record head would record the incoming signal to tape and an adjustable playhead would then play the signal back slightly later depending on the settings.  What made it special was that you could set it up so each successive delay either brightened or darkened in tone, which, with high feedback settings, could create some wonderfully degrading sounds.  This very warm, distinctive type of echo eventually became a hallmark of dub music.

INSTALLATION
Installation is simple as can be and authorization is performed by via use of an automatic authorization program downloaded from the PSP website.

DOCUMENTATION
Documentation consists of a 14-page illustrated PDF file.  It does a good job of explaining the function of each of the controls in a concise manner.  It does assume some degree of familiarity with how a delay works, but that's the sort of thing easily discoverable through some experimentation.  It's more fun that way, too.

INTERFACE
Like all of PSP's plug-ins, Echo mimics the look of vintage hardware, right down to the wood panels.  Controls are laid out in an easy-to-read and logic manner, making tweaking easy and fun.

The top line of controls consists of settings for the virtual "tape" that creates the delays including "wow" frequency and depth to imitate the warping experienced on old machines with inconsistent tape speed.  You can even set the IPS (inches per second) that controls the quality of the sound recorded to tape.  Slower speeds result in a darker, less hi-fi sound, with high speeds providing the opposite.  There is also an input knob that lets you trim the input levels of the signal, and settings that allow you to manually set delay times or have them automatically sync to your hosts tempo.  You'll also find the Ping Pong knob which allows you to control the amount of stereo ping-pong in the delays from quite wide to mono.

On the very right side of the top row is the Ducker button.  Depressing this switches views from the tape settings to the settings for the built-in ducker.  This is useful for preventing the echos from clashing with the original input sound and is a nice luxury not usually found on these types of effects.  You'll find settings for the Threshold (the level at which the ducker kicks in), Range (amount of signal attenuation), Open (how long it takes the ducker to open), and Close (bet you can guess what that does).

The center panel consists of all the controls for the timing of your echoes.  As mentioned previously, these can automatically sync to note divisions of your DAW's host tempo, or can be set manually in milliseconds like we did in the bad old days.  As a third option, there is a Tap Tempo control to allow you to manually tap in the tempo you'd like the delays to occur in.  Finally, if your delays get a bit out of control due to high feedback settings, there is a panic button that will stop the effect.

On either side of the center panel are identical sets of controls for both the left and right channels.  These include knobs for Drive (adds a tape-like saturation to the delayed sound), highpass, lowpass, and combined filters for altering the tonal content of each successive echo, Feedback (the number of echos), and FB-Pan, which allows you to set the pan for the delayed signal.

Finally, at the bottom is the Output section.  Here you'll find settings for Linking channels (so both left and right channels have the same settings), Spread (controls the stereo spread of the dry signal), Dry Balance (balance between the left and right channels), and your standard Wet/Dry controls.

THE VERDICT
Echo is one of those plug-ins that clearly had a lot of thought put into it.  Sure, it does what you expect it to, but they throw in nice extras like the ducker or the tape speed selector that take it a step beyond.  It's easy enough to use for beginners, but there is plenty to be tweaked under the hood for more experienced users, so it's a plug-in that will grow with the user.

Soundwise, the quality is every bit as excellent as you would expect from PSP's rather sterling reputation.  The tape effects sound extremely convincing and exhibit all the artifacts of the real deal as you change settings on the fly.  In terms of flexibility, you can achieve just about any kind of delay effect you might need from short, rockabilly slapbacks for vocals and guitar, to trippy, evolving dub echoes.  The tape wow emulation also sounds great on pads and sustained sounds for making them sound like they're coming from a piece of gear on its last legs.

For many years, my tape echo plug-in of choice was the excellent one built in to Logic.  I think that all may change, though, now that Echo is on the scene.  [10/10]

PSP Audioware Releases Echo

PSP Audioware has released Echo, a new high quality tape-echo plug-in available in AU, VST, RTAS, and AAX formats for both Mac and PC.  Until September 6th, you can pick up Echo for $69 as opposed to the usual $99 price.  Buy it before September 17th for just $79.

Review: Dada Life Sausage Fattener

Product: Sausage Fattener
Developer: Dada Life / Tailored Noise
Format: VST (Windows/Mac) and AU (Mac)
Price: $29

The strength of some plug-ins is the depth of programmability you can get lost in for days.  With others, however, the appeal lies in simplicity and the ability to achieve the result you want with little time and effort.  Dada Life's Sausage Fattener is the latter.

As the name implies, Sausage Fattener is aimed at fattening up whatever you feed it, whether it's a single track, some stems, or an entire mix.  If you just want some light compression to tame dynamics, look elsewhere.  Sausage Fattener is designed to smash the ever-loving hell out audio.

The plug-in features only three real controls.  A gain control for trimming levels, a Fatness knob that starts at compression and unabashedly leaps over into distortion (with the sausage graphic getting increasingly angry looking as you increase it), and a Color knob that controls the overall brightness of the sound.  As such, it doesn't sound as if it would be very flexible, but a pretty wide variety of treatments are possible with even this minimum of controls.

This plug-in is not going to appeal to everyone.  Basically, this is one to check out if you make music on the harder end of the spectrum and are looking for a simple way to get more "in your face" kinds of sounds.  Really adds thud and oomph to dance drums, attitude to basslines, and nastiness wherever you might need it.  The sound quality is very good and even pushed to extremes, most material still retains its overall character, just meaner.  So if you're looking for a way to give you music an attitude problem, at only $29, this is a great place to start!  [9/10]

Virsyn Releases Version 2 of KLON The Vocal Designer

Virsyn have released version 2 of the KLON vocal designer.  KLON features 16 built-in pitch shifters with natural pitch and formant manipulation allowing it to be used as a vocal doubler, a harmonizer, or even turning a single vocal track into a choir.  Here's what's new in version 2:


- Totally revised pitch shifting engine for maximum sound fidelity.
- Ultralow latency for realtime operation.
- Separate handling for transients and consonants.
- Improved choir algorithm. 
- CPU load reduction.


KLON is available for Mac and PC in VST, AU, and RTAS formats.  Virsyn is currently running a spring promo offering KLON for just $99.  A demo  is available here.

LOM Introduces Jono - Softsynth for PC and Mac

JONO is a new standalone softsynth programmed with Cycling 74's MaxMSP.  Inspired by modular synthesizers, JONO includes 2 oscillators, 2 "layered LFOs". sequencers, a filter, and more to sculpt all sorts of audio wildness.  JONO retails for €15, and for a limited time, LOM will accept returns from unsatisfied customers within 3 days of purchase.

Review: Hamburg Audio Nuklear

Product: Nuklear Pulsar Train Synthesizer
Developer: Hamburg Audio
Format: AU, VST2, and VST3 for Mac and Windows
Price: €169 (academic discounts available)
Demo: Downloadable demo interrupted periodically by noise

Today I'll be taking a look at the first release from the new developer Hamburg Audio: a software synth called Nuklear.

WHAT IS IT?
Nuklear is a four oscillator software synthesizer that creates its sound via what Hamburg Audio refer to as "Pulsar Train Synthesis". And just what is "Pulsar Train Synthesis"? It's basically a form of Granular Synthesis where the duty cycle of the waveform can be modulated in a way somewhat similar to Pulse Width Modulation. A wide variety of modulators from LFOs and envelopes to step sequencers are available for sound mangling. In case all of that is a bit too much for you to process at first, it can also be used as a standard virtual analog using subtractive synthesis if you'd like to. So let's fire this puppy up and see what it has to offer.

INSTALLATION
After downloading the demo version of the software, make your purchase online. When you fire up Nuklear for the first time, the authorization window will pop up with what your personal ID number is (based on your system ID). Submit this via Hamburg Audio's website and you will be issued your authorization number which you then enter into the authorization window.

I should mention that I was unable to get the product to register in Logic Audio 9. When I tried to enter the serial number, Logic's internal key command handling took control and changed my screensets in Logic with each keystroke, and none of the numbers entered into the box. Cutting and pasting didn't work either. I brought this up to Hamburg Audio and they said they hadn't encountered this behavior among any of their Mac testers, so it's entirely possible there was something unique to my system that was causing troubles, but it's something to keep in mind. I simply downloaded a demo version of Ableton Live and used that to authorize the plug-in on my system.

DOCUMENTATION
Nuklear's documentation comes in the form of a downloadable PDF (which you can download from the product page). The docs are fairly well-written and organized, but some users, myself included, may wish they were a little bit easier for the layman to understand. This is, after all, a type of synthesis that is rarely seen, so describing it in less technical terms for people new to it, might be a good idea. Beyond just a clearer explanation of the synthesis itself, perhaps a few basic tutorials are in order here as well to show the practical applications for Pulsar Train Synthesis and why we would want to use it over another type of synthesis.

INTERFACE
Nulkear has a very pretty interface indeed with colors that are easy on the eyes, and a clean, 3D-looking appearance. My one initial criticism is that it seems a bit small. Not unusably so, I just feel like if it was 10% bigger (or even resizable by the user), it might be a bit easier on the eyes. The pulse train set-up and step sequencers would be a lot easier to program as well Your mileage may vary, though. Other than that, the layout and look of the interface is really beautiful.

At the top of the interface, you'll find the preset manager. This window displays the name of the currently-selected preset, the soundset (bank) it's from, the patch category of the patch, user-assignable ratings, and selections to alter the basic settings of the synth can be found here. If you click the "Browse" button, a larger patch browser opens allowing you to see all your patches listed on one page. To the right of this, is another window which is used for setting up modulations as well as controlling MIDI learn capabilities.

Below those windows is the bulk of the interface, the left half of which is made up of Nuklear's 4 oscillators (or "Pulsars"). By shaping different preset Waveforms with special preset Envelopes, you define what is called the "Pulsaret". You can then alter the duty cycle of the Pulsaret via the Frequency control. You can add variations in stereo width and phase to further manipulate your raw oscillator sound. Both semitone and cent tuning knobs are available, as well as a cryptic looking little box full of interlocking triangles. This is the Micro Sequencer. It basically allows you to define which individual pulsarets sound (the bottom row of triangles) and how often the sequence should loop (the top row). Finally, there is the mysterious knob marked "Pulsar". This allows you to switch between Pulsar mode (all the way to the right) or Classic mode (all the way to the left), which turns the oscillators into your standard virtual analog oscillator. Of course, you can even use a mixture of the two types by putting the knob somewhere in the middle.

Next door to the oscillators, you'll find the filters and the mixer. The mixers is fairly straightforward. It allows you to set the volume and pan level of each Pulsar, as well as routing each Pulsar's Filter Destination (allowing you to send to either or both of Nuklear's filters).

The Filter section gives users access to two multi-mode filters (offering lowpass, highpass, and bandpass filters in both 12db and 24db variations). Filters can be run in serial or parallel, and can even cross modulate one another for ring modulation effects.

Finally, at the very right hand side of the interface, you'll find the Envelope and LFO section, as well as the effects and step sequencer sections. Nuklear offers an extremely generous 8 envelopes and 8 LFOs apiece! This is a good example of where I find the interface to be a bit too small. You select the envelopes and LFOs by clicking on tiny circles. Getting your selection right the first time can be a bit difficult if you're a klutz like me. Each envelope offers controls for Attack, Decay, Sustain, Hold, and Release with adjustable slope shape for the Attack, Decay, and Release. Nice!

The LFOs are about what you'd expect with controls for Frequency, Attack, Offset, Phase, and Waveform, as well as buttons to sync the LFOs to your host tempo (via various note values) and set whether the LFOs retrigger or not.

This brings me to modulation. The set-up is actually quite nice. When you click on a knob, it is highlighted in blue. This also automatically brings up the modulation settings for that parameter in the modulation window. You can assign two modulation sources to each paramater and even modulate the amount with another modulator. Very easy and intuitive.

Finally, we have the Effects and Step Sequencer section. Nuklear offers two basic effects, a delay with adjustable time (syncable, of course), feedback, width, and mix, and both cut and damping controls for both high and low frequencies. The Distortion effect offers 3 different types of distortion, drive, gain, mix, and high and low damping controls.

The Step Sequencer is surprisingly nicely-featured, so it's a shame the window is so small. The sequencer can have up to 8 different modulation destinations and 8 different patterns. In the sequencer's Mono mode, it acts like a simple note sequencer. In the Poly mode, it acts as a modulation sequencer allowing you to modulate multiple parameters precisely and rhythmically. Holds, slides, and returns are programmable as well. Patterns can also be assigned to trigger via MIDI.

IN USE
So, it's fairly obvious that Nuklear is an extremely well-designed and full-featured synth, but how does it sound? Unfortunately, this is where things kind of fall apart for Nuklear. The simple fact of the matter is that Nuklear is not a very good-sounding synth in this version. There is a distinct lack of bass in most of the patches, and when there is low end present, it's muddy and indistinct. Many of the sounds seem like their bandlimited or EQed strangely. Sometimes an almost comb-filtered quality is present. I'll admit, I am not familiar with Pulsar Train Synthesis, so for all I know, that's just the way this particular kind of synthesis sounds. But even when you put together sounds with the Classic virtual analog mode, Nuklear just sounds cold, sterile, and lifeless. The oscillators sound very digital and "brittle" and the filters, while being decent enough, aren't enough to make the sound of the synth come alive. Perhaps some sort of "Analog" knob that could impart some irregularity would be useful here, although there is just something I fundamentally didn't like about the quality of the oscillators.

All this isn't to say that Nuklear is incapable of some decent sounds. It's very mid-rangey quality would be perfect for Goa and psytrance style leads. The sequencer is very nicely appointed and some of the included patches that make use of this are pretty cool. The extensive modulation capabilities make it very adept at weird "special FX" type sounds. The quality of the oscillators, while not great for traditional synthesis in my opinion, almost sound a bit like video game console sounds. That could make it appealing to the ChipSet boffins. But these interesting sounds tend to be in the minority. Many of the sounds are thin, unpleasant sounding, or just rather non-descript. Basses with little low-end, thin pads with too much high end, and just an overall sort of "cheap digital" sound (which may, in fact, be exactly what you're looking for).

I want to be clear about something here, though. At the end of the day, what most people are going to be concerned with is if a synth sounds good. That's a totally subjective thing and one man's noise might be another man's Nirvana. But I think it is important for me to re-emphasize how on the mark almost every other aspect of this synth is. The generous features are there. The clean, easy-to-figure out design is there. The "offering something different" factor is there. With some serious re-engineering of the sound of this plug-in, it could be something truly great. I hope Hamburg Audio will pursue that, as it's always great to see another new developer on the scene. As it is, though, I can only recommend this if you've got money to burn and are desperate to mess around with a different type of synthesis. [5/10]

Dada Life Presents Sausage Fattener

While I've often lamented the lack of dynamics in so much modern music, sometimes you really just need something that sounds totally bricked. Dada Life created Sausage Fattener with just that goal in mind... Simple controls and just $29 for both Windows (VST) and Mac (VST/AU).

Review: kHs ONE

Product: kHs One Softsynth

Developer: kiloHearts

Format: VST (Mac and Windows), AU (Mac)

Price: $119 (available for $49 for a limited time)

Demo: Audio demos on product page.

It’s always exciting to see new developers appear on the scene. The more the merrier, as far as I’m concerned. More developers means more competition, more innovation, and, best of all, more synths. When those developers release their synths on both Mac and PC, all the better. Such is the case with kiloHearts, who have appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, to present us lucky electronic musicians with a brand new softsynth called ONE.

WHAT IS IT?

ONE is a virtual analog synth featuring two oscillators (and an additional sub oscillator), a multi-mode filter, multiple LFOs, dedicated envelopes, a waveshaper, basic effects, and a mod matrix. In their promotional material, kiloHearts states that the aim of ONE is to make an easy to understand synth with the controls readily accessible and ready for even novices to get started creating their own sounds.

INSTALLATION

It doesn’t get much simpler than this. When you purchase ONE, you are issued a unique download link to a copy of the software registered to you. Simply drag the plug-ins to the appropriate folder on your computer, and you’re ready to rock. After dealing with some truly baffling registration processes (Arturia, I’m looking in your direction), it’s a pleasure to see a synth that doesn’t make you jump through additional hoops just to get going.

DOCUMENTATION

At the time of this writing, the documentation for ONE was not complete. The good news, however, is that if you’re familiar with the basics of synthesis, you’re unlikely to need to crack the manual at all. Everything is laid out right in front of you. On the other hand, if you’re totally new to synthesis, you may want to wait until the documentation is available before purchasing. Of course a demo version is available as well, so you can give it a drive around the block to check it out beforehand.

INTERFACE

ONE’s user interface is very nice indeed with a dark grey and light blue color scheme that is very easy on the eyes. Everything is laid out on a single page, with no need for flipping back and forth between multiple tabs or pages.

On the leftmost portion of the interface you’ll find the oscillator and voicing section. As mentioned before, ONE consists of two main oscillators, and a sub-oscillator. The two main oscillators feature a choice of saw or pulse waveforms (both with variable shape), and coarse, interval, and fine tuning controls. All told, each oscillator can be turned as desired across more than ten octaves. The suboscillator is a bit simpler, offering just shape controls and an octave selector (which, unusually, also spans ten octaves).

The voicing section allows you to set the range of your pitch bend wheel, set polyphony, engage a legato mode, set glide, and engage a unison mode with up to 8 unison voices, detune and spread settings.

Next door, you’ll find the amp, filter, and assignable mod envelopes, as well as the first of the two filters. The envelopes are your standard ADSR affairs. The filters are switchable between lowpass, highpass, bandpass, and vocal filters with cutoff, resonance and envelope and key position modulation amount controls. Beneath the mod and filter envelopes, you’ll find three dedicated modulation slots each to assign modulation destinations for both the mod envelope and velocity. You standard modulation destinations are available here along with knobs to assign positive or negative modulation amounts.

A bit further to the right you’ll find the waveshaper which allows you to modulate the shape of your oscillators with variable waveforms, drive amount, and mix amount. The second filter, which is identical to the first is beneath that. And beneath that, you’ll find the first LFO, which is a polyphonic LFO that is triggered per voice. It is scalable via key position, has dedicated waveform, rate, depth, and phase settings, along with an three more dedicated mod slots. The downside is that it is not instantly syncable. All rate settings are selected in hertz.

Still further to the right, you’ll find settings for the built-in chorus and syncable delay effects, an additional monophonic “global” LFO (which replaces the key scaling knob with buttons for sync and S/H).

Finally, at the right edge, you’ll find a small display that indicates the preset that is being played. Master volume, treble and bass settings (along with a selectable limiter effect), and three more mod slots dedicated to the mod wheel can be found beneath that.

IN USE

As was kiloHeart’s goal, ONE is simple to program. They’ve found the right balance between simplicity and flexibility. The oscillators sound good, if a bit sterile. Where they really come to life is when modulating the shape (the PWM is quite nice sounding) and using the waveshaper to abuse the basic waveforms into slightly weirder, dirtier sounds.

One oddity I noticed with the envelopes is that the attack seems to lag slightly even at the lowest settings. It’s a bit difficult to describe, but their is an audible “ramping up” to the attack level that takes some of the punch and oomph out of percussive bass and synth sounds. To make sure I wasn’t imagining this, I rendered out a single note from ONE, and the same notes playing back through Logic’s built in ES-M monosynth and took a look at them in a wave editor. Indeed, ONE’s waveform ramped up a little bit in amplitude at the very start, whereas ES-M’s started at full amplitude. I know nothing of audio and DSP programming, so I’m not sure what would cause this, but it does make ONE a bit less suited for certain types of sounds than others. (NOTE: kiloHearts tells me the ramping up is to avoid pops on the attack. That’s fair enough, but this seems like something that should be possible in a less audible manner…)

The filters also show some room for improvement. Although they don’t sound bad by any means, I did find them rather sterile and lifeless sounding. For certain, precise types of sounds, this isn’t a problem, but for me at least, filters can make or break a synth, and as it stands now, the filters don’t exactly ooze character. There is also audible stepping, mostly at lower cutoff values that should probably be remedied. That said, the VOX filter is very nice sounding and a welcome addition to the standard LP, HP, and BP variations.

Soundwise, once again, ONE doesn’t sound bad, but I have to say it’s pretty non-descript. There’s nothing here that is unique to ONE’s sound that would make you say, “Ah, they must be using ONE on this track!” if someone used it in a song. While there are some decent presets, most of them were pretty dull, and even the audio demos on kiloHeart’s web page didn’t really do much to get me excited for this synth. Programming your own sounds proves slightly more rewarding, but I still was struck with the almost “faceless” quality of the sounds I came up with. There was nothing bad, but nothing especially notable either. It was just sort of “there”.

CONCLUSIONS
ONE is a promising start for kiloHearts, but it also has a lot of room for improvement. Throughout the time I tested it, I kept asking myself who this synth was aimed for. Yes, it is very well laid out and easy to program, but the quality of the sounds that come out of it was fairly uninspiring when compared to similar synths on the market. I’d love to see kiloHearts concentrate on breathing a bit more life into the sound of ONE. Perhaps slightly less stable sounding oscillators, more characterful filters, faster envelopes, and even a basic reverb effect would go a long way towards making ONE stand out from the dozens of other softsynths on the market.

Scoring this synth is a bit difficult. This is a synth that is very early in its life cycle, so it’s hard to know how it will develop, but at the moment, it is hard to recommend to synthesists who already have a couple virtual analogs in their plug-in folder (and who doesn’t?). If you’re brand new to synthesis and just need fairly basic, clean, bread and butter type sounds, you will probably find ONE more appealing. I am anxious to see where kiloHearts goes from here. They clearly have a lot of talent, and with some evolution, they could definitely develop into one to watch. Until then, however, you might consider waiting for TWO. [7/10]

One You Might Have Missed: Aarto Vaarala Kirnu Arpeggiator

This one has been around for a few months, but it hasn't seemed to have received much press, so I thought I'd mention it here. Kirnu is a full-featured MIDI arpeggiator in plug-in form. Haven't tried it yet myself, but look forward to it. Available in 32 and 64-bit Windows VST and OSX AU format. Oh, and did I mention it was free?

Celemony Introduces Capstan

Celemony, creators of the ground-breaking Melodyne pitch-correction software have announced their newest product: Capstan, a tool aimed at correcting timing/playback speed issues introduced by faulty tapes or playback. Here's what they have to say:

"Being musically intelligent, the Capstan algorithm is capable of recognizing not only the minutest amounts of wow and flutter but also continuous speed variations within the musical material itself and makes possible detailed editing that extends even to drawing in the curve manually. It is based on the patented DNA Direct Note Access technology made famous by the award-winning program Melodyne, which is used worldwide in all major studios for the editing of pitch and timing.

Whilst the precise detection of the wow and flutter represents the actual technological revolution, repairing the recording is easy: the musical material is simply played back with the velocity curve inverted. Pure varispeed – guaranteed free from artifacts."

Rob Papen gives us a sneak preview of the 'Punch' Virtual Drum Machine

[via Synthtopia]

Hotto Engineering Releases Free Spring Reverb Plug-in

German plug-in makers Hotto Engineering have released SpringReverb, a free spring reverb plug-in for Mac and PC in AU and VST format.

[via Rekkerd]

Amazona.de Releases Tyrell N6

Amazona.de has released the full version of their free Tyrell N6 softsynth, designed by U-he's Urs Heckman.

GO GET IT!