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Kassiopeia!

Synth (Phase Distortion) Plugin by Sonic Assault
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Kassiopeia!
Kassiopeia! by Sonic Assault is a Virtual Instrument Audio Plugin for Windows. It functions as a VST Plugin.
Product
Version
2.0
Instrument
Formats
Copy Protection
None
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Kassiopeia! is a Casio CZ-inspired Dual Line Phase Distortion Synthesizer.

Features:

  • User selectable 1-8 Note Polyphony.
  • 6 Graphic 16-stage Envelope Generators with Stage Looping, Independent Stage Contouring and Key Follow.
  • 2 Pitch LFOs with Delay and Contoured Fade-In.
  • Multi-timbre and Routing Ring Modulator.
  • Variable Noise Generator.
  • User Adjustable Key Scaling.
  • Stereo Reverb.
  • 2 Independent Cross Feedback Delays.
Made with SynthEdit

Latest User Reviews

Average user rating of 4.00 from 1 review
Kassiopeia!

Reviewed By mridlen [all]
August 23rd, 2013
Version reviewed: 7 on Windows

I see my review was not helpful, so I'll try to revise it with some additional knowledge and assistance. This is not intended to be the manual. In fact it has a manual, so please read that.

This synth has a very unique sound akin to FM. It uses Phase Distortion Synthesis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase_distortion_synthesis.

  • 2 oscillators (DCO)
    • There are 2 waveforms per DCO.
    • You can draw the pitch envelope.
    • You can switch them on and off.
    • You can set the octave for the synth.
  • 2 LFOs, one for each DCO.
  • 2 filters (DCW), one for each DCO.
  • 2 amps (DCA), one for each DCO.
  • There is a global section for polyphony, pitch bend, glide.
  • There is a reverb and delay.
  • Key scale.
  • Line Select allows you to select both, one or the other, or 1+1 which modulates the oscillator against itself (surprisingly there is not a 2+2).
  • The DCOs are combined by a Detune, Modulation, and Output section
    • There are several ring mod algorithms that are a lot of fun to work with.
    • There is a noise generator on the Modulation section.

How the envelopes work:

  • You can set up to 16 stages.
  • Sus controls which point is the sustain.
  • If you have Rpt off, it will sustain only on one point and not fluctuate at all.
  • If you have Rpt on (sus becomes end), it will loop through the repeat section as the sustain.
  • If you want a standard ADSR, give it steps 3, sus 2.
  • It's hard to see, but there is a little bar you can click at the top of the envelope generator that will give you a drop down menu with some helpful options.

After a lot of experimentation, I have found that this synth excels at filling the high end of the frequency spectrum, in a way that few other synths can. It is great for glitchy electronic sounds and retro FM type pads and electric pianos, and yes... you can do dubstep growl basses with it. You can get a lot of the sounds you would expect out of a 2 operator FM synth, but with the ring mod algorithms you can get a lot more out of it.

It's not the easiest to learn or use, but it's worth your time.

Read Review

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Comments & Discussion for Sonic Assault Kassiopeia!

Discussion
Discussion: Active
dave1z
dave1z
18 April 2015 at 2:47pm

I'm trying to wrap my head around Kassiopeia settings. How do they map to the original CZ patch settings? I have the original patches from my CZ and would like to plug them into Kassiopeia. I read the manual and saw the table on timings, but am still confused. Is it possible to use VirtualCZ patch files with Kassiopeia with some sort of conversion? If so how do the .fxp files differ in structure? Thanks in advance. This plugin has really re-kindled my interest in VST instruments seeing as my beloved CZ-101 has bit the dust.

briandc
briandc
5 February 2016 at 9:31pm

Very very nice synth. LOTS of control that isn't provided on a lot of other synths (such as LFO section options). I used to have a CZ1000 but it didn't have all the control of this softsynth, such as the many envelope shape options: linear, exponential, etc.

Big Busker
Big Busker
16 October 2017 at 3:01am

The Sonic Assault website is archived; Kassiopeia! 2.0 is available from this link.

Big Busker
Big Busker
18 October 2017 at 8:01pm

There is one more version, the last update 2.1. See the KVR forum thread "Kassiopeia 2.1 Update".

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