By Jim M
On 4th July 2002
Version: 1
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Rumpelrausch Taips ZR-3
This is quite a nice little organ emulator. Although its sound is distinctly digital, it can simulate enough of the classic tone wheel grit to really cut through a mix. The percussive key sound leaves a bit to be desired, though. Playing in a percussive style causes some weird "envelope" behaviour and is distinctly less emulative than other sounds. That will take some getting used to.
One of the better features is the LFO/Leslie simulator. With certain settings, one can achieve the classic Leslie slowdown/speedup effect.
And since it's a drawbar emulator, it's a real easy instrument to program. Haven't tried programming in automated drawbar movements yet....
The GUI, although quite impressive and useful, causes me screen redraw problems when using it in Cubase... it's best to program the thing, then close out the GUI.
Good plug-in overall. Recommended.
Now I can go off and pretend I'm Jon Lord (and for all you young'uns out there, he was one of the first keyboard gods... the holy trinity of Keith Emerson, Jon Lord and Rick Wright).
Or even Dave "Baby" Cortez. |
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By Jim M
On 11th June 2002
Version: n/a
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Tobybear Borderliner
This makes ugly sounds. I like ugly sounds.
I have no idea how this works. Who cares! I like to play with it, slide stuff around, hear the weird sounds ooze out.
Tobybear's emblem may be a teddy bear... but this teddy has fangs and may just have made a mess in your closet... on purpose.
One damn fine, absolutely original VSTi. |
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By Jim M
On 11th June 2002
Version: 1.02
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rgc:audio Triangle II
This is a very sweet-sounding VSTi... lots of pretty presets to tweak and build on. Very thick sounding as compared to Triangle I. The filter envelope does not seem quite "deep" enough to my ears, but I've got weird aesthetics.
Good GUI, very beautiful...and contrary to so many other VSTis I been seeing, absolutely stingy with screen space... I could use just a little more space around the knobs and a larger, more set-aside main volume knob.
Looks to be fairly stable.
rgc does it again... quite a good VSTi. |
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By Jim M
On 11th June 2002
Version: 1.0
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XT Software Energy
Just OK.
Not a sequencer, but rather an arpeggiator.
Synth engine is pretty poor.
Again, GUI is just too damn big for what it offers. Good color scheme.
I've experienced some crashing. |
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By Jim M
On 11th June 2002
Version: n/a
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Mark Henning AnaMark LF
Not recommended... don't even waste your time on a download, even if it is free. I will disinstall this later on today.
But, it did point up a noticeable bugaboo I'd like VSTi developers to consider...that is, PLEASE PLACE A LARGE MAIN VOLUME KNOB IN A PROMINENT PLACE IN YOUR DESIGN!!
Otherwise, bad VSTis like this can put your monitoring system into cone-testing mode quite rapidly.
Horrid GUI... many times larger than it needs to be. Pretty neon against black however.
Not a very good sounding VSTi... if you can get over how damn LOUD it sets up.
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By Jim M
On 11th June 2002
Version: 1.01
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AudioNerdz Delay Lama
This little plug-in may have the BEST user interface in the entire VSTi canon... not for utility, but for novelty. (The little monk dude's eyebrows even go up and down... hee hee.)
It's a pretty straight-forward vocal chant formant synth.
That's it... not realistic, but recognizable.
Definitely a one-trick pony...or yak, as the case may be.
I love it, I'll show it to everyone...I might use it once or twice. |
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By Jim M
On 27th November 2001
Version: n/a
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sonicbits SynthOne
OK...it's free and it's stable... it's got a GUI. Them's the positives
This is a very poor effort. No envelopes, merely a simple note-on. Poor sound quality.
Not even worth the download time you'll spend. |
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By Jim M
On 27th November 2001
Version: n/a
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mda JX10
Probably the best freeware "synth-ey" synth. Good warm sound, decent filters and synthesis implementation. Not a real adventurous synth, but for a WYSIWSYG, can't be beat. Decent vanilla presets.
Big drawback is the lack of a GUI... but that fact probably keeps it a CPU miser. |
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By Jim M
On 27th November 2001
Version: n/a
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neXoft LoopAZoid
As mentioned before, Loopazoid is a very bare-bones sample player... what goes in, goes out. All samples play straight through after note-on, so it can give unpredictable results if you use longer samples.
But it's a great tool and absolutely invaluable. Pretty easy on one's CPU, as well. |
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By Jim M
On 11th September 2001
Version: ?
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Smart Electronix OnePingOnly
This is an odd little percussion synth... a sound of its own. Can't quite figger out the key layout.
I haven't really used it on any pieces, but I think it might be a nice addition to a dance or drum'n'bass track if one were so inclined.
Freeware and better than some of the shareware products out there. Worth the download.
Bram's a madman and you must obey... his plug-ins (Cyanide, H2O and Supaphaser) are very good as well |
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By Jim M
On 11th September 2001
Version: 2.08.04
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Dr SynC SynC Modular
A terrific modular softsynth, not for absolute beginners. A good basic idea on how to construct a synth is included in the tutorial, which can be a bit thin in its explanations of module function.
Some of the more advanced "basic" modules are pretty esoteric and some DSP knowledge would be more than helpful.
The users' group creates truly adventurous instruments on a regular basis, and although now an NI employee, Dr. Sync always lends an informed mail list hand to designers.
Very CPU conservative compared to Reaktor when used as a VSTi.
CHEAP AND POWERFUL! ($49)
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| Latest 11 reviews from a total of 11 |
