Steinberg Media Technologies has announced their latest VST instrument, Padshop.

From the inventors of Virtual Studio Technology, Padshop is a unique monophonic/polyphonic granular synthesizer for Mac OS X Lion and Windows 7 and runs as a plug-in within any VST 3 host application.

"Above all, Padshop offers an ultra-fresh approach to virtual granular synthesis, making complex sound manipulation accessible to everyone really," commented Matthias Quellmann, product marketing manager at Steinberg. "Thanks to effective usability, an extended range of control parameters and its compelling scope of sound, Padshop is one of the best granular synthesizers out there."

Drawing its strength from the state-of-the-art granular synthesis engine, Padshop delivers two individual tiers in granular textures that are mixed and processed with a dozen high-quality filters, modulation and delay effects. Each layer consists of two LFOs that offer a choice of six wave shapes, two ADSR envelopes that can be applied to various sound parameters and one oscillator for generating up to eight grain streams with innovative parameters, therefore boasting a flexibility absolutely new to granular synthesis. The featured Step Modulator triggers the oscillators, filters, amplification and panning, creating rhythmical modulations which synchronize either to the tempo of the host application or can be adjusted manually. With the ten-stage Modulation Matrix, users can assign modulation sources to vary the targets' values for each layer, also supporting modulation assignments from Note Expression, Steinberg's way of editing controller data, first introduced in Cubase 6.

The user interface of Padshop provides undeviating accessibility to all its controls and content, with more than 400 presets plus the SoftGrain Wave ROM comprising hundreds of samples to customize presets and feed to the two available grain-layer oscillators.

Features at a glance:

• Advanced granular synthesis engine with 2 independent layers, each with individual oscillator, edit and FX sections.
• Up to 8 grain streams per oscillator for impressively rich and spacious structures.
• Intuitive user interface for effective usability and direct accessibility.
• More than 400 presets dedicated to atmospheric pads and evolving textures.
• SoftGrain Wave ROM with hundreds of sounds for custom presets and individual tweaks.
• 10-stage Modulation Matrix with Note Expression support for unlimited flexibility.
• 12 different high-quality filter types for each layer.
• Step Modulator for rhythmic triggering of oscillators, filters, amp and pan.
• 2 LFOs and ADSR for filters and amp envelopes.
• Mono and Poly Mode with Legato and Glide.
• FX Section with high-class modulation and delay effects.
• VST 3 compatible host application support.

Availability and pricing

Padshop will be available from February 29, 2012, as download version through the Steinberg Online Shop.

The suggested retail price for Padshop is €49.99, including German VAT, and £42.34, including British VAT.