User Reviews by KVR Members for SynthMaster
First off, let me just say that the rumors are true: you can do "everything" with this synth, and with high quality results to be sure. It does everything you would expect it to do, with some unexpected bonuses thrown in.
Each component of this synth is capable of affecting the sound in a staggering amount of ways. This is complimented wonderfully by the fact that you can save presets for each component. This modular approach is a strong advantage for this synth. Personally I like to make sounds from scratch as I'm writing a track, but with this sprawling synth, having building blocks is a huge aid to workflow. Plus when you're in an experimental mood, you can mix and match elements from your favorite patches and get inspired.
The sound quality is very high throughout. The filters are top notch. I loaded up a saw wave and put em through the ringer, and was way impressed with the results (I encourage you to do the same). I wouldn't say that I prefer analog or digital mode, they both have a distinct sound which will be suitable for different situations. An important aspect of the filter section is the distortion circuit. It can subtley enhance a sound or (of course) destroy it. Also there's a host of modulatable parameters within the filter section (too many to go into) that allows you to make things get super organic and animated.
The oscilators are great as well. SOOOOooo much I could go into here, but I'm going to focus on the wavescanning oscilators. Wavescanning (or as I always call them wavetables) oscilators are my favorite kind. And this is my favorite implementation of them I've encountered. You select the number of individual waveforms that are interpolated between, and then you select each waveform individually from the wave library. This may sound a bit tedious at first, but there's an ace up the sleeve here, and its called the mouse wheel. Just hover over the selector and crank the wheel until you find the right waveform. It's basically the same way you might audition drums sample til you find the one that pops. You can create you're own wavetable oscilators very quickly by just modulating the index with an lfo and then hoverin' and rollin'. I was very happy to discover this. Like I said there's too much to go into in this review, but another great feature of the osc section is that frequency modulation on any type of oscilator is just a couple of clicks away, which opens up yet another splendid can o' worms.
I'm not quite sure why, but the layer system in this synth is working for me a lot better than in other synths. It's just easy to copy and paste a component of the sound from one layer into another, and then take the rest of the components in a different dirrection resulting complex sounds. Also worth mentioning is that the effects are very high quality, and once again have a load of modulatable parameters. This is the way it should be IMO; when effect parameters are modulatable, they stop being effects and become just another module in the synth. kudos for that. Also the unison sounds really great (of course). Another detail that I appreciate is that you have a very fine degree of control on all parameters, which is very important for finding ye old sweet spot. I'm always a little miffed when I see a soft synth that has 127 values for each parameter (its not 1985 ya'll). Which reminds me, the envelopes are very very precise and tweakable. In both the ADSR and multistage you have very fine control of the time and curve of each segment.
So in conclusion, everyone should have one monster synth, and for me it's this one. I know that there are going to be things I realize I can do with synthmaster in the future that excite me, and being a bit of a gear junkie.. that's great. I can remind myself that I'm forever going to be discovering new sounds without having to actually buy a new synth. I could write pages more about this synth, but I'm going to stop here, check it out for yourself!
Discussion
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jam92189 try uninstalling it then restart computer with the update that worked when I was having problems
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kv331 @Electronicaz: Your "registered" email address is your paypal email address. If you need to change it please shoot us an email at support@kv331audio.com
@4damind: Such a "biased" review. You couldnt even run the plugin and you are writing a review...
jam92189 honestly it seemed like someone who was just trying to talk shit. It took me some time to get a good hold on it but its a all you ever need synth I like it. its not for a new to synths person though.
Aloysius I really don't get this VSTi. It supposedly does everything but I'm not hearing anything special.So, I purchase what seems like one of the better soundbanks, designed by 'an expert' and still the results are just tepid, mild, bland and uninspiring. My 2C. YMMV.
jam92189 basically It can do any effect you can want but that is also a problem it does everything. and the layout is not very easy to understand right off the bat. its a good vsti so far I like it but i have little need for many vsti stuff.
kv331 What's your "special" threshold ? For us it is giving the user best value/money. We dont claim to do everything "perfectly"
db3 I feel the same. I've downloaded the demo a few times wanting to like it but it never convinced me to purchase.
sasha_perl@yahoo.com Well, as with anything related to music -- it is all very subjective... I got it a week ago, and having wonderful time with it. Already put it in production use, and it is VERY inspiring for ME. One thing I would agree -- the main rule of GUI design had been broken (do not surprise the user). Very powerful and fat sounding. Arpeggiator section just blew me away. My 2C.
kv331 Hey Sasha,
Main rule of GUI design, what's that?
We really want to improve the GUI. What would you suggest?
Thanks!
Bulent
jam92189 well maybe for some people setting things up with more of a tab setup would be better. honestly I cant think of any real things to improve on for something that kind of does it all. to much to really slim down.
jam92189 I like some of these sounds I am going to pick up a few when I get paid.
sasha_perl@yahoo.com Sorry, If I wasn't too clear, let me expand on that.
But first, let me thank you one more time for the product. Special kudos for CPU/ASIO utilization. Very light, great programming indeed.
After spending more time with the synth, I really can suggest only couple of things, both of them are related to the preset browser:
1. Search. it is asking for it, really. Alphabetic sorting is good, but... You know :)
2. Grouping is a bit confusing, especially with not quite so obvious with italic fonts and all.
Do I make sense?
Once again -- thank you. Having so much creative fun!
liquidsound Can you elaborate on the issue of not being able to "identify" what's possible?
I'm actually overwhelmed by this synth capabilities and I'm working with Zebra, Blue and Diversion ATM.
I bought it long ago for less but today I would spend way more to have it.
The optional expansions really shows off what it can be done (and and I'm with you for the standard presets not being enough to demonstrate the depths of this incredible synth) but there too, the expansion are far from covering the enormous spectrum of sounds that Synthmaster can achieve with the different synthesis types available.
The interface it's trying to deal with the multiple, quite a luxury indeed, tools at your disposal and to be fair they did a good job indeed but I don't think there is much more that can be done without changing completely the approach.
Zebra is unique in that sense.
Yes, a scalable GUI would be welcome and popsUp windows such the wave shaper of the old z3ta for detail work on some envelops.
dakkra How would Synthmaster track poly glide? If you have a chord consisting of two notes and you switch both of them how would SM know wich note to glide to its' second note?
Gernburgs bharris22 Which Nori preset pack are you talking about specifically - the Art Rock pack? Thanks.
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yessongs great organs and trons in that preset pack but if you are into YES, Genesis, Pink Floyd, ELP and other prog rock greats then Nori has other preset banks you will want and these alone make it worth getting synthmaster and in fact it being a true desert island synth if you could only have one this is it.
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