By mikebeck
On 13th June 2006 Version: 2.0 Read all reviews by mikebeck
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Stability | As I went to write this review, I saw that funkychickendance had just written one, and pretty much wrote what I was going to write! One of the major things I like about this synth is that you can start from one of the many presets or easily load from one to three "analog" sounds but if you want to go crazy, the layering and effects routing allow you to make sounds as weird or obnoxious as you want in seconds. Very flexible. The included samples are of very good quality, and the GUI is easy to learn and use. It's very easy to get from bank to bank and find a preset without much digging in menus. I have emailed support a few times with questions and was answered quickly and my questions were thoroughly resolved. To be clear, I have not had trouble with the performance of the synth, I simply had questions about how some things worked. I like how there are a lot of supplied sounds and presets, but it's a bonus feature that you can add on if you want. Again, see funkychickendance's review, which lists some specifics. Very good value for money. I'm in the process of still learning it, and am now experimenting with doing a song completely with EVE 2, drums and all. |
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By funkychickendance
On 13th June 2006 Version: 2.0 Read all reviews by funkychickendance
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Stability | Now in v.2 and with a flashier interface than before, EVE is a great 'go to' synth. Not to be confused with EVE ONE (soon to be retailed as ManyOne), this is a rompler-esque synth that does great credit to its built-in good-quality samples, allowing up to three layers of different voices to be created and manipulated individually (or collectively) in interesting ways. Built-in effects are workmanlike, and you can split the keyboard to build never-before-heard ensembles.
The synth ships with a solid collection of vintage synth voices (in v.2, the selection is slightly larger than in v1.8, where I joined the train). But users will no doubt be tempted to pick up the other soundset/preset collections available at fairly reasonable cost. These include HQS1, a high quality Yamaha FS1r; HQS2, an exceptional MiniMoog collection; HQS3, the Evalon collection of yet more synths from BITR; and HQS4, Mellotronix, which has a fair number of Mellotron voices. I bought #4 even though I have M-Tron, simply because of layering possibilities. Quite a few star sound designers were involved in creating presets for these collections. Some are jaw-droppingly great.
EVE's sound is of very high quality, to my ears, and it does an excellent job of bringing the old synths back into currency. If you find yourself working in 70s and 80s genres, this is a good place to begin creating rich, swirling voices that don't sound very digital at all.
As with all DASH/Nusofting products, the support is excellent. A further bonus is that intercompatibility between Wusiksnd and DASHsnd offers yet more fresh choices for those of us who (sensibly) own both synths. It's very intuitive to use: I've never looked at the documentation! It's extremely good value-for-money, and it's rare to see anyone part with one in the secondhand market. Oh, and it has never crashed or 'acted up' on me in either FL Studio, ACID Pro 6, or in hosts like Chainer or eXT. |
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Last edited by funkychickendance on 13th June 2006
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By x_bruce
On 6th December 2004 Version: 1.4a Read all reviews by x_bruce
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Stability | Nusofting/Dash have created a wonderfully simple yet powerful sample playback synth that acts more like an analog synth in EVE. EVE is short for Electronic Vintage Ensemble. It is priced at $90 which is quite attractive considering it's capabilities and additional libraries, one of which we will discuss in this review. That library is an additional cost but in my case one of my favorite reasons for using EVE.
The included samples are exceptional sounding, my favorite being the Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano. It is a favorite not only because of the sample quality, which is excellent, but because of the the synth design itself. With all the EQ, filter, LFO and modulation capabilities it's easy to tweak a preset to work with a mix or get serious with EVE and program something vastly different within seconds. This means that after following the synth engine, which is a bit different in design than some synths you may have worked with but quite powerful. It is also a quick read of the excellent manual.
Secondly, I was able to get the incredible HQS1 FS1R sample module which is in essence a greatest hits multisample package of the famed Yamaha FS1R. Briefly, the FS1R introduced a new way of looking at FM synthesis. It was as capable as reveered synths like the Kawai K5000 etc. The HQS1 and EVE bring back a synthesizer I miss even to this day.
Looking at the synth interface, mixing and controlling samples are the abilities of turning on or off, free, sync and invert to the LFO section. whatever controls are used. This makes for a very small CPU footprint and runs well on less powerful computers.
EVE uses up to three samples per patch. And so we are clear, a sample can be anything from a loop to a highly functional multisample. Per oscillator you have all the typical synth capabilities with a few interesting choices for how the interface is designed. Besides an envelope section there are also 3 band EQs with on/off buttons which can be instrumental in developing well designed patches. Besides this is a individual mod-matrix using send/returns to the LFO similar to a mixing console. This may be confusing to some but the manual will explain what you need to know.
Furtheremore, the large readout offers information as to what section of the interface you are at. The way the synth works it doesn't seem to have a modulation matrix. I suspect some people are so turned off or afraid of messing with the mod matrix that they never bother. In EVE it is like fooling a person into manipulation of the sound engine with it's very different modulation matrix explained above. But there are more excellent touches such as drawn or knob controlled sample start and end points. This makes it easy to create traditional layers, or more complex configurations as you'd expect from a digital synth, set up to behave like a analog synth. It's somewhat hard to explain without pictures but have a look at the one at the top of this page, you'll see what I'm talkingabout quickly. I know I appreciate how quick this interface is. When I am working and have the basic sound I'll end up with, I just want to work, not spend time trying to zip around multiple menus or screens. There is only a single screen on the synt which is wonderful but there are a number of helpful right clicked menus.
There are modulation type effects including chorus, flange, phazer and rotary. The detail is admiriable and similar to most studio quality setups. The other effect is echo although it can produce anything for modest reverbs to long delays which are perfect for pianos, that CS-80P or the Rhodes and other EPs. There are several traditional synths and a lot of useful multisampled waveforms that allow the user to create excellent pads, leads and meat and potato sounds like organs and pianos.
Now a bit about the HQS1 FS1R module. While a bit short on voice (something that was incredible about the FS1R) the samples are well designed and near perfect replicas of the FS1R which was doomed from it's 1 unit rack and massive 8 operator, and format filter. The synth was a DX7 cubed and with lots of great features, most covered in this wonderful sample set. I use EVE frequently, besides the HQS1 library there are half a dozen others available by 3rd parties and Nusofting/Dash. Because of the types of useful samples and strong synthesis capabilities EVE is the kind of synth that becomes the artist's secret weapon. In some ways it doesn't get the respect it deserves as EVE is capable of stunning sounds.
I would recommend EVE and a few soundsets to any electronic, rock, blues or pop producer or end user. It has a beefy low end without being tubby and loose with a nicely balanced overall sound that will almost certainly cut through a mix effortlessly and with minimum post production issues. Not only that, but EVE is unique in similar ways to some of the EMU hardware synths. EMU had a great engine and some kick ass sample libraries. EVE is similar at a fifth the price! |
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By Jeremy_NSL
On 22nd July 2004 Version: latest Read all reviews by Jeremy_NSL
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Stability | EVE is a simple rompler, originally designed for retro-keys type sounds, but it has evolved into a larger general-purpose rompler module.
Its very easy to edit, and the GUI is quite functional, even if its maybe not the prettiest. By combining 3 different soundsets, and spicing things up with some filter env and pan lfo etc. you can quickly and easily create some nice sounds.
On the topic of the sounds themselves, they are well done. The original bank is complimented nicely by the Wusik sets as well as the AOS set. The Wusik sets bring a more 80s digital feel to the proceedings, which broadens EVEs aural range considerably.
EVE does fall a little short in terms of features. The main knock on it is the poor filter section. EVE allows you to use one LP filter per soundset, but it doesn't allow you to do much with the filter. You can't modulate it by lfo - which, as a sidenote, has no tempo sync - and it shares its ADSR and velo-sens settings with the amp. The lack of any other filter types is also disappointing.
EVE also gives you an effects section to play with. The chorus is nice and fat, useful for beefing up mono sounds; the delay is simple but good enough for me; the rotary and phaser effects aren't as good - I find myself reaching for external effects if I want these types of modulations. A recent update also added a toggleable limiter on the master output - its works as advertised and is a solid addition.
Under the hood, EVE is totally stable in my use, and is very economical in its CPU usage. I've written entire tracks with EVE, using over a dozen instances on my p4 2.1ghz.
For the price, EVE is a very good buy. The range of sounds its capable of is great, and its very easy to tweak new ones yourself. Its lack of features is a hindrance, but hopefully EVE2 will address these shortcomings. |
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By woolyloach
On 8th April 2004 Version: 1.2 Read all reviews by woolyloach
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Stability | I got EVE as part of the Dash Easter Bundle deal.. and while I didn't have great expectations, I was in for quite a suprise!
I received EVE with Famous Keys 1 and 2.. the initial bank of factory presets is nice and quite adequate for most things, but the availability of additional libraries (and more on the way) is VERY important to me as I'm a composer/performer and not much of a sound designer.
The GUI is well laid out and is easy to navigate. The only gripe I have is having to right-click and pick "load bank" from a menu, but that's a minor complaint.
Sound quality is excellent, most presets fit well in a mix and there are no obvious (to me) audio issues. I find the pads and leads good, they fit the kind of music I do well.
EVE is stable in both hosts I've tried it in (Orion Platinum and Tracktion).
This is not a "kitchen sink" instrument, it does a few things - but it does those very well. I have sample libraries of vintage keys that I've deleted off my HD since I got EVE (lol)!
If you need vintage keys in your tunes, I'd highly recommend giving EVE a try! |
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