KVR Audio

braj · Post by **braj** » Thu May 31, 2012 12:57 am

Yeah I'm sort of up in the air to get this or Saurus, I need to reinstall Saurus on my main machine and A/B them a bit. If anyone has any other recommendations I'm happy to consider them. Basically I want a HQ subtractive synth with a good arpaggiator that is relatively easy to program.

C.Bennett · Post by **C.Bennett** » Thu May 31, 2012 1:08 am

I really like Corona and I also like Discovery Pro.

They both have a really smooth sound - Discovery Pro can sound seriously silky and lush and Corona has a cool arpeggiator with a lovely tone. Both don't get the attention they deserve at KVR.

The best thing about DiscoDSP synths is that they fit into mixes really well.

braj · Post by **braj** » Thu May 31, 2012 1:34 am

This may not be a feature for a full user, but I do appreciate that the timeout is long with no annoying voiceovers

plus good init and starting point patches about, and it has so many good waveforms. RAM and CPU are both low on my old Core2Duo. I was looking at another 'bread and butter' synth that gets really good reviews for its 'desert island' functionality, but it was hard for me to get used to programming as it used less simple controls. So far everything that I have wanted to try has been right there, maybe not in the most flashy way but the GUI is nice and big (maybe a little large for my laptop though). My eyes don't feel strained and I appreciated having a dark option (though I'd love to make my own skin if possible).

Aiynzahev · Post by **Aiynzahev** » Thu May 31, 2012 1:39 am

Just been noodling around with it. The filters are immense! Maybe the best BP filters I have available to me now. They are so clear and really deep in their tone. They don't sound dirty muffled like vintage emulations. The shapers really give you a lot of different characters.

This really does offer something special. I think the GUI looks unfinished though... but it works.

Its got a really clean signal.

Definitely interested in Discovery. Think he'll put Zero-delay filters into it?

braj · Post by **braj** » Thu May 31, 2012 1:43 am

Aiynzahev wrote: This really does offer something special. I think the GUI looks unfinished though... but it works.

Yeah it is simple, if I could just change some colors, mostly the purples to something else and make the blue pitch/mod wheels dark grey I would be happy. I think of how U-he's ZebraCM has that nice mellow zebra pattern, something very subtle like that would be nice but it could easily go so wrong

On first glance this looks like freeware honestly, which probably is a big part of why I didn't try it before now, but it sounds fantastic and the GUI while plain (and a tiny bit too un-plain here and there) is clear and more functional than a great many synths. My big request for all developers would be to allow a resizable GUI ala Synth1, I am a bit surprised it is such a rare feature.

braj · Post by **braj** » Thu May 31, 2012 1:44 am

Oh and I really appreciate mouse-wheel support on the knobs and sliders, very helpful for me.

Sendy · Post by **Sendy** » Thu May 31, 2012 1:49 am

I really like this one. Do you remember that really old synth called AnaMark, that let you combine the oscillators in weird ways to make crazy digital sounds? Well Corona is a bit like that, but instead of the crap filters in AnaMark, Corona's filters are very powerful, even with 0dff turned off. The synth in general has a really unique sound that combines analog and digital traits, which is a nice departure from the analog fever we've been experiencing recently

I'm hoping that square/pulse waves will be supported soon in the sync mode, that's really my only complaint, and there are workarounds (no, this isn't a case of wanting the one thing you haven't got, I really think pulse waves are the best to use with sync

)

Aiynzahev · Post by **Aiynzahev** » Thu May 31, 2012 1:53 am

The GUI really put me off at first. I mean the knobs look like spiders and it is difficult to see where they are, even though you do have handy digits.

BUT, it is fast, simple and uncluttered. Its very functional and I think for how much stuff is going on if it became any more embellished it would start to be fatiguing.

It sounds so good though that my perception changed very quickly. It just proved something I thought all along, the GUI can be anyway, ugly or nice, but its the sound that makes you feel happy to use a synth more than anything else.

braj · Post by **braj** » Thu May 31, 2012 2:11 am

AND NO DONGLE!!!

Sendy · Post by **Sendy** » Thu May 31, 2012 2:15 am

braj wrote:AND NO DONGLE!!!

Charlie Sheen wrote:WINNING!

braj · Post by **braj** » Thu May 31, 2012 2:21 am

Sendy wrote:
braj wrote:AND NO DONGLE!!!

Charlie Sheen wrote:WINNING!

braj · Post by **braj** » Thu May 31, 2012 2:40 am

I hate to say this but it is probably accurate, but if Corona had a bit more flashy GUI it would probably have gotten my attention sooner. Yes I am shallow and like shiny things

but actually I really like the 0df too and that is a big part of why I tried it. It is cool to a/b different sou day with and without and use what sounds best in the setting, which isn't always 0df.

braj · Post by **braj** » Thu May 31, 2012 6:23 am

Maybe someone can help: I'm trying to use 'panning' as a modulation destination with the mod lfo driving it, but I don't hear any effect and don't see anywhere where panning is even a selection I can make. I'd love to get some subtle movement in the stereo field this way, anyone able to help with this? BTW I am loving programming this synth, the GUI gets more appreciation the more i use it. Just I still can't find somethings

ariston · Post by **ariston** » Thu May 31, 2012 7:24 am

braj wrote:I hate to say this but it is probably accurate, but if Corona had a bit more flashy GUI it would probably have gotten my attention sooner. Yes I am shallow and like shiny things

Same here. But I think it goes beyond mere superficiality. I've found that, if I really like working with a GUI, then my sounds will be more inspired and just better. Maybe I'm fooling myself in that regard, but it feels that way.

I'll give Corona another spin after all this glowing praise; if I end up buying it, it's all your fault, people! I'll send you the bill for it, which you can then split evenly amongst yourselves.

braj · Post by **braj** » Thu May 31, 2012 7:41 am

ariston wrote:But I think it goes beyond mere superficiality. I've found that, if I really like working with a GUI, then my sounds will be more inspired and just better.

Yeah I feel similarly, and the funny thing is it is growing on me, not the colors necessarily or the shape of the knobs or lack of wood panelling

but the overall user interface and where and how things are laid out. I'm finding generally that I can get what I am wanting to hear to happen which isn't true for a lot of synths.

Another plugin I was considering 'looks' nicer, has a 'virtual analog' feel to it. I used it after spending time with Corona and frankly it was a chore to program, not fun, and I didn't feel like I was 'in control' nearly as much, the sound was nowhere as nice to my particular ears and the sound design possibilities seemed way more limited. The arp was harder to use and not as tuned to what I want in an arp (I like arping fingered chords, not the step-sequencer version that was in that), the matrix was harder, the knobs didn't react to wheel mouse movements, the keyboard didn't show notes played via the piano roll so it was pointless to me. The preset system wasn't as nice either. It was so night and day that that synth is now fully off my radar.

So it seems to me that certainly Corona could be prettied up, but the basics are much better than many 'prettier' synths. I think if George allowed some more skins to be added somehow, just some more color variations, it would be perfect. I think of Synth1 again as an example, it has ugly ugly little knobs and buttons and a very basic GUI, but it is wonderful that you can specify the colors that work best for you and scale the GUI size.

Corona - my new synth!