Z3TA+

Since this is my first review, I decided upon starting with this beast.

The "Zeta" is an astonishing, feature-rich, ultra-modern sounding monster of a synth.

It has six - SIX! - ocillators, two filters, six LFOs, a multi-mode arp, a huge mod matrix and a comprehensive effects section spread accross two main pages. all oscs, lfos, and filters have individual tabbed pages.

All features have multiple routing options, so you can have additive, subtractive, and FM in one patch, with two filters in parallel. Then you can get started with the mod matrix and the effects - wow!!
(I'm going use the sections to structure this review)

GUI: Great graphics and intelligent design means that little screen real estate is taken up, but everything is easily accessable, unclutterd and easy to understand. The only criticism I have (and this is a really personal one) is that the logical signal routing is not apparent from the layout. However, quick play with the parameters and all becomes clear.

Sound: Stunning. You can do hard edged leads, twisty basses, evolving pads, complex (VERY complex) arps and crisp drum sounds. The effects section is top notch, and FX versions are also supplied with the program. User waveforms can be imported, and the whole app can be modded with a bit of dexterity (check Franesco's Virus mod) to expand the sounds palette. You can do pretty much any sound with a bit of thought and a good deal of programming - retro sounds come as easy as cutting-edge shards of noise. And of course, if you want to strike out on your own, crack open the wave shaper, and create your own wave shapes for even more sounds!!!

Features: What can I say? Check the list at the top of this page - its comprehensive and fully formed. Crucially, it is not overwhelming at all. It never feels like there are too many parameters to control. Of great note are the wave shaper, effects section, X-Y pad and arp.
The wave shaper allows you to create your own wave forms using lots of options. The effects section is first class - check out Rene's free effects and see just a small taste of what these are like. The X-Y pad allows you to control linked parameters using a mouse of joystick - great for live messing. The arp have all the usual features, but also complex midi generated patters and a utility to create user patterns as well.
The spectral analyser looks nice and does stuff, but is not really needed, IMHO.

Documentation: Great .pdf manual that explains all the features and how they interact. Tutorials are available on the net and are well worth reading if you can find them.

Presets: This is a sound-designers synth and the presets reflect this. A huge range of sounds are provided in over 500 presets arranged into banks. Top notch banks are freely available on the net. You could use the synth as a ROMpler-style device. They are that good. The included ones are designed to show off the synth's abilities, but even though, they are very usable and will probably find a way into one or two of your tracks.

Customer Support: The forum on KVR is an invaluable place for help discussion and general chat. Rene is in there nearly every day will never let you down. If your problem is of a more "personal" variety, you can also email as well.

VFM: Well, I got this is in the recent Group Buy, so for me the VFM is waaaay off the scale. Yes, it is a pro synth and is at a pro price - but that price is at the very bottom of the scale. For what it can do the price is stupidly small. Compare it to synths in the same price bracket and then compare features - scary, eh?

Stability: It has never crashed. Ever.
However, due to the nature of the beast, it is a CPU guzzler, so be prepared to use freeze.

Overall, this is one of the most cutting-edge synths around. It is part of an elite group of megasynths that provide ineffable sound quality with stunning, intuitive features that just make you glad to be in this game.
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