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SynthMaster 2

Synth (Semi Modular) Plugin by KV331 Audio
MyKVRFAVORITE304WANT74
Crossgrades

Crossgrade Licenses

from Synthmaster One

from Synthmaster Player

SynthMaster 2 SynthMaster SynthMaster SynthMaster SynthMaster SynthMaster SynthMaster SynthMaster SynthMaster SynthMaster SynthMaster SynthMaster SynthMaster
SynthMaster 2 by KV331 Audio is a Virtual Instrument Audio Plugin and a Software Application for macOS and Windows. It functions as a VST Plugin, an Audio Units Plugin, a VST 3 Plugin, an AAX Plugin and a Standalone Application.
Product
Version
2.9.16.13040
CPU: 2 Ghz (SSE3)
RAM: 2 GB
OS: Windows 7 (64-bits) and above
AAX: ProTools 11 and above
Product
Version
2.9.16.13040
CPU: 2 Ghz (SSE3)
RAM: 2 GB
OS: Mac OS X 10.9 (64-bits) and above
AAX: ProTools 11 and above
Instrument
Formats
Sample Formats
Loads and/or Saves
sfz
Copy Protection
Key File
My KVR - Groups, Versions, & More
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KVR Rank

Overall: 294   229   291

30-Day: 304; 7-Day: 603; Yesterday: 380

SynthMaster 2 is an 'all-round' semi-modular software synthesizer and effect plug-in that features many different synthesis methods including VA, Additive, Wavetable, Phase Modulation, Phase Distortion, Frequency Modulation, Pulse Width Modulation, Ring Modulation, Amplitude Modulation, Physical Modeling and SFZ Sample Playback synthesis.

With its multi-synthesis oscillators, zero delay feedback filters, flexible effects routing with 11 types of high quality effects and a massive modulation architecture with 95 separate modulation sources and hundreds of modulation targets, SynthMaster is a powerful instrument for all synthesizer enthusiasts.

Features:

  • Cross-platform VST/AU/AAX: SynthMaster runs as a VST/AAX instrument/effect on both Windows and Mac OS X, and as a VST/AU/AAX instrument/effect on Mac OS X.
  • 2000 NKS Compatible Factory Presets: SynthMaster comes with 2000 factory presets from a world class team of sound designers: Arksun, BigTone, Kevin Schroeder, Yuli Yola, NatLife, Selcuk Ergen, Michael Kastrup, Rob Lee, Nori Ubukata, Ufuk Kevser, Fragment Audio, Gercek Dorman, VorpalSound, Vandalism, BluffMonkey, Ümit 'Insigna' Uy, Aiyn Zahev, Frank 'Xenox' Neumann, Teoman Pasinlioglu and Brian 'Xenos' Lee. All of those factory presets are NKS compatible, so they can easily be previewed/tweaked inside Komplete Kontrol/Maschine hardware/software.
  • Semi-Modular Architecture: For each SynthMaster instance, there are 2 layers followed by 2 global effect send buses. Each layer has its own: Arpeggiator, 2 Oscillators, 4 Modulators, 2 Filters, 4 ADSR Envelopes, 4 Multistage Envelopes, 2 2D Envelopes, 4 LFOs, 4 Sequencers and 4 Keyscalers. The modulators can modulate frequency, phase, amplitude or pulse width of the oscillators or any other modulators at audio rate, or they can be used as sub-oscillators.
  • Massive Modulation Architecture: SynthMaster has hundreds of modulation targets and 95 modulation sources including ADSR Envelopes, 2D Envelopes, Multistage Envelopes, LFOs, Sequencers, KeyScalers, Easy Parameters, MIDI Velocity, Aftertouch, Pitch Bend and MIDI CCs. The modulation matrix, has 64 available slots which can grow when necessary. There is visual filtering as well so that targets for a specific source, or sources for a specific target can be filtered and shown on the user interface.
  • Easy Parameters: SynthMaster features 8 easy knobs and 2 XY pads that can be freely assigned as modulation sources, so that the complexity of the synth engine could be hidden away and only most important parameters of a preset can be controlled by the user. The easy parameters can be globally linked to MIDI controllers, and they can be assigned automatically by SynthMaster as well.
  • Powerful Arpeggiator: The arpeggiator in SynthMaster features classic arpeggiator modes such as Up, Down, UpDown, DownUp, UpDown2, DownUp2, AsPlayed as well as Sequence, Chord, Arpeggiate and DrumKit modes. Each of the 32 steps of the arpeggiator has its own Velocity, Note Number, Note Length, Slide and Hold parameters.
  • Basic Oscillators: 'Basic' oscillators in SynthMaster are capable of synthesizing many different types of waveforms: Sine, Square, Triangle, Sawtooth, Pulse, Noise, any single cycle waveforms and multi-sampled WAV/AIFFs defined in SFZ files.
  • Additive Oscillators: An 'Additive' oscillator is actually 8 'basic' oscillators running together. Each 'basic' oscillator has its own detune, tone, phase/pulse width, frequency and waveform type.
  • Vector Oscillators: A 'Vector' oscillator consists of 4 'basic' oscillators, mixed at different ratios. The mix ratios are determined by 2 orthogonal parameters in 2 dimensions: 'X Index' and 'Y index'.
  • Wavetable Oscillators: A 'Wavetable' oscillator is similar to basic oscillator, except that the waveform can be scanned (interpolated) through up to 16 different waveforms shapes. The position of the waveform can be adjusted using the 'wave index' parameter.
  • Stereo Oscillators with Improved Unison: Oscillators in SynthMaster have stereo output. With the "voices", "voices mix", "pan spread", "detune spread" and "detune curve" parameters, each basic/wavetable oscillator can have its own unison settings which eliminates the need to enable unison for all voice elements.
  • VAnalog Filters: The 'vanalog' filters are modelled after the famous ladder filter, so they self oscillate when the filter resonance is maxed out. They have continuously variable slope, which is unique to SynthMaster. There are 3 CPU settings for analog filters: "Basic", "Normal" and "High". With the "Basic" setting, CPU can be reduced by at least 50%.
  • Zero Delay Feedback Filters: All of the 4 new filter categories (Ladder, Diode Ladder, SVF and Bite) in SynthMaster are developed using the zero delay feedback filter technology. With advanced filter parameters like input gain, drive and acid, you can get that "analog" sound from the filters.
  • Digital Filters: The 'digital' filters are biquad filters with a hard limiter in their output. The limiter features an envelope follower with attack, release and threshold parameters.
  • Multimode Filters: With the 'multimode' filter type, it is possible to switch from Lowpass to Bandpass to Highpass filter types continuously. For vanalog multimode filters, it is also possible to change the slope of the filter continuously from 0 db/oct to 24 db/oct.
  • Dual Filters: With the 'dual' filter type, two multimode filters can be run simultaneously, either in parallel, or in series. The mix ratios between the filters, and the topology (parallel/series) between them can be changed continuously, as well as the modes and cutoff frequencies of the filters.
  • Comb Filters: Comb filters are digital filters used in physical modeling synthesis.
  • Before/Inside/After Filter Distortion: A distortion stage can be inserted before, after, or even inside the filters.
  • Rich Set of Effects: SynthMaster features 11 different effect types: Distortion, LoFi, Ensemble, Phaser, 6 Band EQ, Compressor, Vocoder, Delay, Chorus, Tremolo, Reverb.
  • Flexible Effects Routing: Each of the 11 effect types can be inserted on any layer insert or on any of the 2 global effect bus inserts.
  • Microtuning: SynthMaster supports Scala tuning, so tuning can be set either for each preset or globally by loading from a Scala tuning file.
  • Preset Browser: SynthMaster features a comprehensive preset browser with separate search criteria for instrument type, preset attributes, music style or preset author.
  • Public User Library: Registered users can upload their presets to public users library, or download presets created by other registered users.
  • Multiple Skins: SynthMaster comes with different skins in different color variations. Using the included user interface editor, users can not only customize the existing skins but also can create their own custom interfaces as well.
  • Import of MIDI patterns as Arpeggiator Sequence: Monophonic or even polyphonic (chord) MIDI patterns can be imported into the arpeggiators in SynthMaster by just drag and drop of the MIDI file onto the arpeggiator view on the plug-in window.
  • Import of WAV/AIFF Multisamples as SFZ definitions: Multisamples in WAV/AIFF formats could be imported into SynthMaster as SFZ definitions, by simply drag and drop of the WAV/AIFF files onto the oscillator waveform view on the plug-in window.

A demo version of SynthMaster is available. It is identical to the standard version except for 3 limitations:

  1. Saving presets is disabled.
  2. The synth starts playing random notes after 30 minutes.
  3. Comes with 1200 factory presets (demo users can check out the remaining factory presets from the online presets browser though).

Audio demos of SynthMaster's factory presets can be listened at:

SoundCloud.com/kv331synthmaster/sets/synthmaster-2-7-factory

Expansions

KV331 Audio has also been releasing expansions for SynthMaster, in various genres. So far, there are a total of 36 expansion banks for SynthMaster in the 'Everything' Bundle. They can be listened to at KV331 Audio's SoundCloud page:

SoundCloud.com/kv331synthmaster/sets/synthmaster-expansions

SynthMaster Player free

KV331 Audio has recently released a free "Player" version of SynthMaster that comes with 600 factory presets. Users of this free "Player" version can purchase and use commercial preset banks released by KV331 Audio. They can also upgrade to the Player version which comes with 2000 factory presets.

{See video at top of page}

Latest User Reviews

Average user rating of 4.44 from 41 reviews
SynthMaster 2

Reviewed By Milkman [all]
July 5th, 2023
Version reviewed: 2.9.16 on Windows

After nearly 2 years of experience with Synthmaster 2 and with the dev, KV331, I have decided to revise my review and drop it to 1 star. I wont be working with KV331 any longer.

Synthmaster 1 and 2, and soon 3, sound very nice and offer a lot of presets. When I originally purchased SM2, I knew it was buggy and had many longstanding issues (you can read about those issues on the KVR forums, inside the KV331 forum), but I chose to support the dev and try it out anyway.

I immediately noticed that SM2's modwheel did not work unless I clicked it onscreen, and the "midi learn" feature would crash the plugin in Cubase. Manual assignment within SM2 also failed. I tried various ways to fix this including reaching out to the dev, but I was never able to solve it and the dev ignored my questions.

Recently the dev emailed all customers about Synthmaster3, and offered a new upgrade deal. I considered this, but wanted to make sure the modwheel issue was resolved before spending more $$, so I asked questions on the dev's forum here on KVR. The issue was denied, it was blamed on Bitwig (I started using Bitwig 6 months ago), and then finally it was very curtly blamed on VST3.

In the end, I have no idea if this issue still exists in SM3, but it certainly exists in SM1 and 2 and I am not interested in working with this developer anymore. The responses to my questions and then later to my frustration were inappropriate and dishonest, and I dont have time or patience for dishonest devs. Im done with KV331.

Read Review
SynthMaster 2

Reviewed By Faydit [all]
April 27th, 2022
Version reviewed: 2.0 on Windows

One of the best sounding and most flexible synthesizer plugins, which I know.

Almost too many features, but of course you do not need to use them all, alone the existing presets sound very good. I've also bought some more vintage based expansions, which also up to now did not disappoint me.

More than fair price for the quality and features.

Read Review
SynthMaster 2

Reviewed By vata44 [all]
November 3rd, 2021
Version reviewed: 2 on Windows

I absolutely love this synth. I am always drawn to it when looking for a sound or to design a sound. I love the layout, sound, and flexibility. It is quite deep. It allows .WAV file imports, but the only thing is it missing imo is a rompler library with a real Piano and Strings. I know this isn't the aim of the product so I am not disappointed, but if they added this in the future it might be the only thing I ever used.

I think the effects section is great as well, the only thing I would hope for is a ValhallaShimmer-esque reverb.

I like that you can use the Synth as an FX unit as well, but it would be helpful if they had a different GUI for the FX only version. I understand that would probably be a tremendous amount of work, but it would really set it apart and make the FX version less cluttered and more usable.

If you want to buy a virtual synth, I would put this HIGH on my list. I own Diva, Zebra, Lush 101, Korg, and the whole NI suite, but I always come back to Synthmaster and Synthmaster One.

Response from kv331 from KV331 Audio on November 4th, 2021

Hi there, thank you very much for encouraging words! Don't forget to download our latest v2.9.10 update, it has a serious usability improvements, critical bug fixes, and new content (factory presets and skins), and it is the most stable version to date.

Read Review
SynthMaster 2

Reviewed By Triplefox [all]
August 26th, 2021
Version reviewed: 2.9.9 on Windows

I just upgraded from Synthmaster One + Synthmaster Player to the Everything bundle and have had the prior two for some years and often bring them out.

Synthmaster is a true "jack of all trades, oftentimes better than master of one". It's established and stable, and its utility as a preset box is enormous, even before getting the expansions. I readily admit to rarely deep-diving the UI, because, while I've been toying with filters and envelopes for 20 years at this point, the presets basically always have something I want. The licensing is, relative to the scale of the product, very hassle-free, unlike most of the big players in plugins. Not only does it have presets, but it also has macro knobs for each preset, so no extra configuration step is needed to get some expressive playing. These are all qualities that are boring yet important when one's attention moves away from noodling and towards quickly producing tracks. Synthmaster plus your multisample rompler library of choice is a fine instrument palette, and anything on top is getting into extra-credit territory and is relatively less important than the studio recording work and effects plugins in making a well-rounded production.

The sound quality is something I've sometimes dinged Synthmaster for and it did keep me away in the past - in a head-to-head demo it's just a little more polite and thin than competitors, on average - but it has only gotten better with time and it's always had a lot of tweakability, and it successfully avoids the trap of glossy over-effected presets that you have to immediately strip down to their bare bones to actually use. For the most part, you can bring quality up to par by cranking the engine quality and doing a little more mixing work to give it some distortion, EQ, transient punch or a touch of reverb. It's just not quite on the level of the high-end analog modellers when doing exposed, filter-intensive patches(yet), and that's the kind of thing that, if it really does concern you that much, you may just want to get real analog gear instead.

Read Review
SynthMaster 2

Reviewed By ksertb@hotmail.com [all]
August 3rd, 2021
Version reviewed: 2 on Windows

It is amazing! It can do almost each and every synthesis (hence the name Synthmaster) and the workflow is great. Just try to imagine the sound you want and simply count on Synthmaster. %99 you get the sound you like with high quality.

It also comes with so many presets, more than you can imagine.

Bear in mind that it very affordable in the competition. So please check it out. You will not regret it.

Read Review

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Comments & Discussion for KV331 Audio SynthMaster 2

Discussion
Discussion: Active

THIS POST HAS BEEN REMOVED

jam92189
jam92189
25 July 2012 at 9:16pm

try uninstalling it then restart computer with the update that worked when I was having problems

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THIS POST HAS BEEN REMOVED

kv331
kv331
27 July 2012 at 1:21pm

@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
jam92189
27 July 2012 at 6:56pm

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
Aloysius
6 September 2012 at 8:40am

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
jam92189
6 September 2012 at 8:46am

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
kv331
13 September 2012 at 7:10pm

What's your "special" threshold ? For us it is giving the user best value/money. We dont claim to do everything "perfectly"

11gadget11
11gadget11
15 March 2014 at 6:06pm

dear kv331 my name is nikita konstantinov i want to create VST instrument i mean the modular synthesizer what program or language you had used for creating SynthMaster?

kv331
kv331
13 September 2012 at 7:11pm

and we're open to "constructive critisizm"

db3
db3
17 March 2013 at 11:16am

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
sasha_perl@yahoo.com
26 September 2012 at 11:58pm

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
kv331
27 September 2012 at 6:17pm

Hey Sasha,

Main rule of GUI design, what's that?

We really want to improve the GUI. What would you suggest?

Thanks!

Bulent

jam92189
jam92189
28 September 2012 at 6:58am

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
jam92189
28 September 2012 at 6:59am

I like some of these sounds I am going to pick up a few when I get paid.

sasha_perl@yahoo.com
sasha_perl@yahoo.com
28 September 2012 at 9:42pm

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!

caitiffchoir
caitiffchoir
2 May 2014 at 1:24am

Agreed. This post is over a year and a half old, and still there doesn't seem to be a search bar when looking for a preset... (i just bought it two weeks ago)

and the manual for this AWESOME synth is sorely insufficient. This is a very, very powerful synth with a lot of capacity, but given that, a more in depth explanation of some of the controls, routing, tabs, drop menus, etc (I can't even find anything in the manual telling me how to load presets I have saved o my computer) seems appropriate...

liquidsound
liquidsound
8 December 2012 at 5:12pm

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.

xcentric
xcentric
11 December 2012 at 2:33pm

Would be nice if it had Polyphonic glide/portamento.

dakkra
dakkra
4 January 2013 at 3:11pm

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?

kv331
kv331
12 February 2013 at 6:35pm

Poly glide is currently not supported.

godly
godly
26 September 2019 at 11:28am

I love to see this also.

Gernburgs
Gernburgs
10 January 2013 at 7:03am
I think you should make the GUI more analog-looking, as opposed to 100% digital. I like the look of something like DUNE or DIVA where there's a more real-life look to them. Synthmaster is more like Straightliner as far as looks go. I just think the more genuine feel is visually appealing. The synth sounds great though. No need to change much there. The ocillators sound incredible.
bharris22
bharris22
20 March 2013 at 6:46pm

Which Nori preset pack are you talking about specifically - the Art Rock pack? Thanks.

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yessongs
yessongs
19 May 2013 at 11:25pm

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.

BitArts
BitArts
25 May 2013 at 8:23pm

I wrote a review on Synthmaster and am told now, I need to have ten posts on the forum before reviewing the product? Is this a joke? I'd actually guess, I don't need to post for no reason, just to be able to write a review. Having bought and used the product is a basis to review. Not posting random stuff in advance.

So I'm gonna post mine here then:

-----------------------------

A lot of people have described all the positive things and I don't want to just repeat these. There are indeed a lot, that make this VST stand out from others. Yet I haven't read much about the disadvantages, limitations and problems, that come with Synthmaster.

So instead of singing a hymn on the sound and things it's capable of, I'm gonna focus in this review on the opposite and will try to point out some issues and expectations, that aren't fulfilled .

General:

1. The very first thing that got my attention, was the rough, inaccurate parameter handling in Synthmaster. Values displayed in the panel don't change, while the knob indicator does. That means for example, when you're changing a filter cutoff frequency, the knob indicator counts from 34.0 to 34.1, 34.2, 34.3 etc while the related frequency value remains all the time the same with 87,7 Hz. At 35.0 then it immediately switches to 92.9 Hz. What happens in between? I've tried to setup my own formant filters this way, which turned out to be an impossible taks with a parameter handling like that. On higher frequencies the gaps between the displayed values have a size of up to 1kHz! Why aren't the values in between displayed? How is anyone supposed to do accurate settings this way, like e.g. absolutely essential and necessary for formant filters? It's simply impossible.

The even worse thing is, this inaccurate knob behavior goes for absolutely ALL knobs spread over the GUI. Working with something like this in a production is a plain horror to me.

2. No matter what natural instrument you play, if you plug a string, play a key or hit a drum. It usually is a single sound that comes from the instrument on a hit, strike or what ever you want to call it. No instrument does any layering of the ADSR from the former played notes, when you hit the exactly same key again and again and again. The sound would always start over from the beginning. Maybe with a variant sound, but: it starts over! And that's exactly NOT, what Synthmaster does everytime a ADSR phase hasn't arrived at its end. Synthmaster just keeps playing the sound and simply layers a new voice over the exactly same note. The support confirmed this unlogical and unnatural instrument behavior. In practice this produces amplitude layerings without any need and can easily produce volume peaks and other sound problems without any intention or anything wrong in the actual sound design or usage. And of course the result is also redundant CPU usage without any need.

Layers:

1. There are three filter structures offered in the Layer section: split, parallel and series. The fourth possible configuration (split series = OSC1 -> Filter1->Filter2, OSC2 ->Filter2) for some reason is completely missing. If you're heading for this config, this forces you to waste the second Layer and also setup all the things like filters, envelopes, etc. a second time. Though you'd actually require all these only once. But more on THAT later.

Oscillators:

1. The Detune knob has its own life. As soon, as you switch to multiple voices for a unison sound, the dedicated Detune-parameter loses its bipolarity and you instantly get a pitchwise 50% spread sound. Okay. If you now go the other way around and change back from a non-spread and well pitched unison config to a single voice, the result usually is a horrible detuned single voice. That'd make a kinda sense, if there wasn't any Fine Tuning knob and the Detune knob had a double function. But there IS a Fine Tuning knob and the behavior of the Detune appears like pure nonsense. Simply deactivating the Detune parameter, when only 1 voice is selected, would easily solve this. In the Layer section the Detune works exactly like that. In the Oscillator section instead you get these off-pitch results, that make your eyes look cross over your nose, as soon as you hit a key.

2. The Modulators
This to me is one of the real disappointments. There is no real modulation matrix. The modulation routings are predefined by some fixed configs, instead of offering a completely flexible and open matrix like in FM8, Toxic Biohazard or Sytrus for example. And more sad, you can't modulate your carrier with any resonance filtered modulators. Instead, with the "Tone" knob only some kind of very simple (and non-resonant) lowpass filter on the waveform is available. Cross-Oscillator or Cross-Layer modulation isn't possible at all. Most of the currently hip FM growl and scream sounds are actually almost impossible to do with the usual standard waveforms and these limitations.

Beside that there are bugs like for example this one:
When selecting "mod 3+4" as modulator for an oscillator, the display says "mod 2+4" then. Is this a typo or a real misconfig now? I have no idea. I didn't feel like figuring out, how it's now handling this.

3. Synthesis Types
- For the "Basic" synthesis, if you need to inverse your waveform, you have to render it handish yourself and add it to the user library. Way too complicated and time consuming, when a simple "Inverse"-button could easily solve this for all waveforms. Additive Synthesis has this button.

- "Additive" synthesis comes with 8 bands only. An old Hammond B3 organ has 9. The well known Kawai K5000 from 1997 had 128. Of course you could simulate more bands using prepared waveform cycles, but that's not really additive synthesis anymore. The additive synthesis engine in Synthmaster is a VERY basic aproach only. To me this part appears more like an 8-part waveform layering engine. Useful in a way, but far away from being an additive synthesizer with a practical use as such for complex, really additive sounds generated with sinewaves.

Filters:
1. What I'm missing really bad here, is a vowel/formant filter, capable of at least the standard vowels. Like described above, the rough parameter handling additionally makes it impossible to setup your own.

Envelopes & LFOs:

This to me was the main reason to buy Synthmaster. It appeared like a huge, damn LFO modulation monster. And in some way it is indeed. But have you ever tried to sync your LFOs?

1. Multi-Stage LFOs (Mstg1+2)
These are actually very powerful tools and helpers. Actually. It turned out, in Synthmaster they are completely useless. At least if your trying to create something else than insane and random chaos in your sound. NI Massive uses this kind of LFOs to achieve accurate sequencing of varying filter sweeps and wobbles for example. Those typical moving and driving dubstep sounds you can enjoy by pressing a single key. If you try to do something like this in Synthmaster, you'll find yourself very soon near a mental crack-up. Absolutely nothing on these LFOs makes any sense or works like expected. Manual timing doesn't work because of the above mentioned rough parameter handling, so you're unable to set accurate timing by hand. Using the Sync option also has absolutely no effect. What you get then, is a kinda grid, that doesn't make any sense at all, nor obviously is related to accurate host timing. Activating the Sync option also doesn't tell you, what you are synced to now. 1/1? Per single field of the grid? 1/16, 1/8? Per loop points? How do I set the speed of these LFOs? None knows and meanwhile having tried everything I can imagine, I'd actually think, these LFOs are synced to the moon phase of some random planet far far away, or maybe your neighbours VST host tempo, inverted and divided by Pi. Adding "Stages" in these LFOs adds spline curves, with absolutely no relation to the synced timing. Start & End of the loop are related to what? The stages? Sync Points? Again something none knows, because their settings lead to results, that don't make any sense at all. Using two Stages and setting the Loop start to 1 and End to 2, with infinite loops should actually repeat these two stages then, right? Well, it doesn't. Setting the end to 3 does, so this might be related to the Stages end points. Maybe. But then, even with Sync enabled and considering the Stages end points, your totally unable to get a synced sound.

I've reported the whole thing as a bug and got the response, I'd get a proper working example preset sent. Well, I didn't receive any till today and am not really surprised about it. The whole Multi-Stage LFO-feature is a total fail on absolutely all levels and does absolutely NOTHING of what you'd expect it to do.

2. LFOs
A quite standard thing you'd think, right? Well, they are and they work properly, when you're using them for unrelated stuff. But then again there's that thing about host syncing. Since the Multi-Stage LFOs don't work, you'd have to use the standard LFOs for some less complex wobbles, right? And of course these would have to be synced again. As you might already expect, this too isn't as simple, as it might seem. First let me say, at least some of the expected syncing works, if you regard a few things. For the standard LFOs you can choose a sync resolution, set the LFO speed knob to 127 and... that's it. End of sync story. Your LFO will work accurate only with exactly that speed you chose and you're not able to change that speed while keeping the whole thing in sync. Setting your sync to 1/16 and changing the LFO speed via button to 50% would lead to 1/8 you think? Well, it doesn't. The result is something near 1/8. Just the rough paramter handling you already know from the rest. This is just one example with some obvious values. It also doesn't work with other values. Okay, what now? We could modulate the resolution setting instead, right? Wrong! You can't change it, neither from within the synth, nor from the host via instrument automation. Accurate wobbles with changing speeds in Synthmaster? Dream on and enjoy your dream. Because reality has an ugly face.

Each and every synced wobble sound with varying speeds you get on synthmaster will be out of sync. And it's not the sound designers fault. It's a pure Synthmaster problem. I've also reported this as a bug and got the response, the sound designers hadn't complained about this yet. Well, I'd guess it's about time then.

3. Synth LFOs & envelopes
Why I make this a point is, I can't understand why it's possible to spend global LFOs to the synth, but no global envelopes. I find it quite annoying, to be forced to setup the exactly same ADSR envelope twice, when I actually only need one. Why aren't there global Synth Envelopes, when LFOs of the same state are possible? Another thing, that doesn't make any sense to me. And even if it's necessary to stay with separate envelopes, a copy or transfer functionality from layer to layer would be a nice help. Which actually goes for all component paramters of layers and oscillators, that could be shared. But it's not there.

-------------------.

Okay, enough for now. This became already longer than intended. :) But I guess, this gives a good view on the "less shiny side". In fact it's not all 10/10, if you're caring about designing sounds yourself. Withotu a doubt, the things Synthmaster does like expected are done really well. And it sounds outstanding in many ways and for several reasons. But there really isn't only light all over the place.

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BitArts
BitArts
29 May 2013 at 2:28pm

Just some clarification, refering to my posting above. :).

This was/is just very detailed description of some momentary issues remained. Remained in a very complex project. Happens. Period. Because of these things, that are constantly debugged anyway, Synthmaster still and for sure has no reason to hide. In fact it is, easily despite the things I mentioned, my absolutely favorite synth atm. And believe me, I'm really using it on hardcore level. Most "normal" users probably won't even ever come along half of the issues. And let's face it: Describing all the positive things on the same detail level, would easily have taken tens of multiples of the space the issues required.

So please, don't fool yourself by reading my recent posting in a way it's not meant. I agree on almost all positive things the users before me listed and just didn't want to repeat them all. Still it's all there. And I appreciate it all. so, if you've got the chance to get your hands on Synthmaster, I strongly recommend to get it! You hardly will find something better for your money atm.

The passion kv331/Bulent works with and the frequency he provides enhancements and updates with, makes me feel confident to give Synthmaster 11/10 with my next review in a while. ;))) Okay, that was kinda bootlicking. :-D.

But seriously, I felt the need to avoid misunderstandings and clarify that. Cheers.

GhouledKS
GhouledKS
4 August 2013 at 12:33am

I just purchased this two days ago and I still haven't picked my jaw off of the floor. After spending 12 hours on it straight today, still haven't encountered any obstacles preventing me from making the sounds I want... and just when I come up with another whacky idea for a sound, I find KV331 has already provided the means to achieve the routing. I truly think it's safe to say that everything seems to have been thought of in advance!
Okay, I'll admit that I too was a bit daunted by the GUI at first, but after I figured my way around it, there's no going back. If I could post a review, I'd give this a 10/10. Since I can't, this will have to do:
This VST is worth every damn penny and more.

DigiArc
DigiArc
11 August 2013 at 1:03pm

I just purchased this for myself and my daughter. I've been producing for years but she is 14 and I wanted something we could learn together and for her to have one versatile synth to get deep into. I'm in to program rock and she is in to Dub and EDM. Synthmaster has us both covered with tremendous versatility. I want to say thanks for a very reasonably priced, very powerful softsynth. I'm looking forward to further development. Particularly in the wavetable area.

I have one big feature request that I'll post over in the forum: Please move the settings and presets to the user appdata area in Windows like the majority of other synth makers.

Thanks again.

tonytungsten
tonytungsten
12 August 2013 at 3:37am

I am having some exxxxxxtremely annoying issues with this synth, which really pains me because i am trying to master this synth and make it my go-to. One glaring issue i am having right now is that i am copying the patch FX Tri-Pipe by Insigna to study. I have copied every parameter, and i mean eeevvvry parameter exactly the same as the original but my patch sounds a lot duller in comparison. One thing i am noticing is when i copy the parameters for the easy controls, the settings to not match up at all. In the original they are set to (+) modulation as are mine but for example my delay wont start affecting the sound till the knob is at 50% and passed that the delay cascades like crazy, whereas in the original the delay begins affecting the sound withing the first 50%. Does this have anything to do with the way the Dry/Wet settings are set prior to assigning the easy controls? Could somebody else please try to copy this patch and get back to me cuz i am literally dieing right now haha. I can't figure this out and i feel like i've wasted so much time programming on a faulty synth. another thing that happened when i was building this sound is that the original sound completely disapeared and all that was left was reverb, regardless of the dry/wet setting. did not work again till i reopened synthmaster. And when i try to map an ADSR envelope to the frequency of the multiband eq in order to sweep the band, synthmaster crashes, as soon as i select the envelope as a modulator. Your help is greatly appreciated, i want this to be my favorite synth again... I am pretty sure i am using the latest update 2.6.3, is there a way i can tell from the GUI? and i am using the current generation 15 macbook bro, fully loaded.

P.S. I am absolutely positive i have copied all parameters the exact same. such a pain....

Your assistance is GGGGRRRREEEEAAAAAATTTLLLLYYYYY appreciated.

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kv331
kv331
14 August 2013 at 12:32pm

I think I know what the problem is: His easy parameter settings are unipolar. i.e. between 0 and 1. Later on we made the easy parameters bipolar between -1 +1. So when copying his easy parameter settings, please add offset to the easy parameters.

For instance if the easy parameter value was at zero, you set it to 64 (12 o clock).

I hope this helps, I'll try to fix this in general.

djdocrok
djdocrok
3 October 2013 at 7:58pm

I really like the way this synth sounds. UNFORTUNATELY, I cannot run it for more than 5-10 minutes at a time without it fatally crashing Ableton. Every. Single. Time. So, it is now completely useless. Plus, tech support is a complete joke - emailed them numerous times about the problem, got 1/2 of one response, and now nothing for months. What kind of show are you guys running here? I use a number of other VSTs with no problems - Massive, Nexus, Komplete, Sylenth, you name it - ONLY this plug in is guaranteed to crash my system within minutes of use. I can't speak for how well it works with other DAW's, but their lack of customer service would make me wary regardless. It's really too bad because it DOES sound good, but that's not much use if you CAN'T USE IT.

kv331
kv331
12 November 2013 at 10:02am

I asked for step by step test case to reproduce the issue. Unless I have a reproduceable case I can not fix the issue.

djdocrok
djdocrok
12 August 2015 at 12:48am

As an update, the 64-bit runs flawlessly in Ableton, so there's that. Recently re-discovered it after switching to an all 64-bit system and it's been working great. Not sure if the customer service has improved but they certainly seem quick on the reply on here at least.

vintagefly
vintagefly
14 January 2014 at 9:45pm

I like Synthmaster a lot. It has a great sound which is really warm and smooth, great possibilities and for me as a wavetable fan, I can load any waveform I want and switch through them easily in the basic oscillators. It would be great though to have that back and forth button for waveform selection in all other oscillators that can use waveforms too! And I would find it REALLY inspiring if Synthmaster would have a "select random waveform from all waveforms available"-button wherever waveforms can be used. Now that would be great.

Most people complain about the GUI here, I find it absolutely straight forward for what Synthmaster can do it pretty much allows me to access everything quickly. I like it a lot! I also didn't need much time to get into it. You just have to get your head free of the "it must look like all other synthesizers or it must look like an analog synth".

dawisk
dawisk
21 March 2014 at 7:41pm

Anyone know a simple way to make favorites a selectable bank? I have a lot of them...Thanks.

BlackWinny
BlackWinny
22 March 2014 at 1:18am

A preset yes.

A bank no.Maybe for a next release...

MadAnthony81
MadAnthony81
21 April 2014 at 5:22am

Id like to say first of all, synthmaster sounds excellent. Its great for electro. I find that synthmaster is tedious to program because theres of little buttons to push. It would be nice if buttons wre consolidated and larger. It freezes on me and takes lots of CPU.

All in all, im a proud owner of Synthmaster for my dubstep and electro. Its possible with work to get real real gritty, but it is still a smooth synth right to the end.

MadAnthony81
MadAnthony81
21 April 2014 at 5:40am

Id like to say first of all, synthmaster sounds excellent. Its great for electro. I find that synthmaster is tedious to program because theres of little buttons to push. It would be nice if buttons wre consolidated and larger. It freezes on me and takes lots of CPU.

All in all, im a proud owner of Synthmaster for my dubstep and electro. Its possible with work to get real real gritty, but it is still a smooth synth right to the end. Real even.

kv331
kv331
21 April 2014 at 6:10am

Have you downloaded latest update 2.6.15 ? We changed the unison implementation a little bit to limit polyphony further. We have lots of presets with unison AND analog filters and they DO consume a LOT of CPU.Reducing polyphony, or using Osc Voices instead of Unison DO help a lot.

kv331
kv331
21 April 2014 at 6:10am

Have you downloaded latest update 2.6.15 ? We changed the unison implementation a little bit to limit polyphony further. We have lots of presets with unison AND analog filters and they DO consume a LOT of CPU.Reducing polyphony, or using Osc Voices instead of Unison DO help a lot.

okrra
okrra
22 April 2014 at 5:28pm

ok so i chnaged the skin to the grey player and cant change it back?

was really enjoying my seesion until then.

mikemusicked
mikemusicked
22 April 2014 at 5:39pm

Okrra,.

Several of us did the same thing. Bulent posted the solution on their Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/synthmastersoftsynth

It's easy to go back to the SynthMaster skins: On the top header (of Player), click on the left/right arrows to change the current displayed parameter, until Global Skin is shown. Then, click on the skin name to select the new skin from the dropdown menu. Close/reopen the plugin window and you're back!

Make sure you go to GLOBAL skin not the first skin page you get to.

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matteogk
matteogk
10 July 2015 at 6:48pm

It's always a matter of "how it sounds" and how comfortable I feel when I use a plugin: and Synthmaster sounds great to me. Whatever else counts nothing. It's a matter of taste, of course.

My 2 cents.

Maddcow
Maddcow
12 July 2015 at 10:00am

I tried SynthMaster yesterday and as a wind controller player, I fell in love with the modulation options. I'm not keen on all the Echo on a majority of the factory patches but that's dead simple to adjust. I'm probably going to buy the Everything Upgrade now.

HoosierGuy
HoosierGuy
11 August 2015 at 11:57pm

Awesome Synth with almost unlimited capabilities...also a great value for the money. A little slow on responding to email requests for tech support though.

kv331
kv331
12 August 2015 at 12:37am

Hey, when did you contact us? did you do that through our website ?

gaf_thit
gaf_thit
10 November 2015 at 8:52pm

Great review, mastrcode. Inspiring to read and just cured my GAS. Will try to go in-depth with synthmaster ;-)

And thank you for your great plugins too.

hempelr
hempelr
27 November 2015 at 7:10pm

I've bought synthmaster player and one expansion pack on 21st of november, last saturday and wouldn't download because my music-pc wasn't ready yet. Now I would use the mailed download link today, but it runs into nothing, a failure site comes. What the hell is that? Is my money lost? I'm very angry about that - and nobody did answer till now on my emailqestion.

I feel cheatet - 15 Dollars are burned...

How can I get my payed software? Who can give me a new, but functional, link to download, what I have payed?

Hope, that someone can solve that big problem.

kv331
kv331
27 November 2015 at 9:11pm

Did you contact us at http://www.synthmaster.com/contactus.aspx.

We can not help you over here without knowing your name and email address.

hempelr
hempelr
28 November 2015 at 12:06pm

Thank you - the support was 1st class.

That have to honored - because this is not selv-evident, that on complaints will be so fast and satisfactory answerd.

Now I can try synthmaster and fiddle around it ;-)

Nice Advent to all.

hempelr.

tommyzai
tommyzai
23 May 2016 at 5:25am

Top-notch support! Very responsive.

moono
moono
20 March 2017 at 9:32pm

Could I use Synthmaster for new patches inside Fishman TriplePlay ?

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kv331
kv331
28 December 2017 at 8:16pm

so the other 999 never crashes your DAW? OMG! I sent you a PM so that we could resolve your issue quickly.

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VELLTONE MUSIC
VELLTONE MUSIC
9 January 2018 at 1:51pm

Against every logic i still develop sounds for this beautiful synth :)

JohnnyWhite
JohnnyWhite
19 June 2018 at 1:14pm

I enjoy both SM1 and SM2, have not come close to tapping their power. One thing I like, however, is vibrato. This would be vibrato activated by the mod-wheel. Lush 101 has numerous, if not most, voices already programmed with a natural-sounding vibrato, and I don't know why SM has so few voices with vibrato, let alone natural sounding, and not lurching or goofy sounding. I prefer to use presets and perhaps tweak them, but I don't want to spend any time programming a sound, and I wouldn't know how to create vibrato anyway.

Rumdrum
Rumdrum
28 September 2019 at 7:31am

To Godly:

There are a lot of skins out there already. Guess one of them is already to your liking.

What I miss the most in Synthmaster: A better browser. It does not "pick up" all the libraries and display them in a unison way.

zisser
zisser
27 November 2019 at 2:54pm

Really love both SynthMaster and SynthMaster One.. created couple of tutorials:
SynthMaster One: https://youtu.be/HPlAeEZfa9o
SynthMaster: https://youtu.be/LHtTDWyR8Rk

All three three synths (including the player): https://youtu.be/Lah8_r-c-oI

jan-sandahl
jan-sandahl
2 May 2022 at 6:24am

The SM One review is still online, but the video for SM 2 is not available.

I thought I'd chip in and add a less than 3 minutes short tutorial (no talking), on how to use SM 2 as a standalone fx unit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJELltEHNr4

ubailey
ubailey
23 December 2020 at 1:39am

There are no new skins in 2.9, it just shows the old ones.

kv331
kv331
23 December 2020 at 8:29am

Are you really really sure that we did not include any new skins ? Did you install v2.9.9 ? Do you know how to change the current skin? It's written in the user manual. Thanks.

ubailey
ubailey
23 December 2020 at 9:02am

I did not have SM2 installed so i installed a fresh copy from your website and it was the old version. I found out that this only worked after opening sm2 and choosing to update from the software.

kv331
kv331
23 December 2020 at 9:09am

Ok so we confirmed that there are new skins in v2.9.9 :D.

ubailey
ubailey
23 December 2020 at 3:41pm

Yes, the update is spectacular sir. It looks like serum but better imo.

jan-sandahl
jan-sandahl
2 May 2022 at 6:47am

I jumped onboard with SM 2 around 2015/16 (I think), and have since then bought many of the VSTs out there.

The biggest ones being Reaktor and Melda SoundFactory. SynthMaster remains a favorite, that I gladly fire up. While the sound quality isn't as refined as in in, say Pigments or SoundFactory, these two simply can't sound like SynthMaster and I like it and return to it for it.

That, and the CPU efficiency have been the top reasons, apart from an enjoyable programming experience. It has a great toolset, and SM3 looks to further expand on the status of "Swiss army knife" status of SynthMaster, with promised granular capability, new layers functionality and the ability to load SM One (and perhaps simple SM 2?) patches into each of those layers(!). Well, there goes CPU efficiency out the window, but what can you do? :) Of course, using it as it is now (May 2022) will stay as an option, so the low tug on resources remains of course.

Here's a less than 3 minutes short tutorial (no talking) I did some time ago, on how to use SM 2 as a standalone fx unit, as they are of high quality and holds their own ground:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJELltEHNr4.

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