All Reviews by grymmjack

By grymmjack
On 15th November 2007
Version: 1.9

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GUI

Sound

Features

Docs

Presets

Support

VFM

Stability

Tone2 FireBird

[UI]
the interface for firebird is awesome. there are several skins to choose from and they are all very well done. a LOT of attention to detail and TLC went into the UI. the simplicity of layout and the beautiful tactile feel of the controls is really great. the setup screen is dead simple and it's very easy to use this synth to achieve great sounds quickly. everything important is on one screen and all of the complexity is hidden away from you leaving you only to worry about your sound (the way it should be IMO). the only slightly confusing thing is how the modulation wheel mapping is in the setup screen. it's odd only because setup is usually a global thing, but in firebird there are patch based settings in the setup screen. not a deal breaker for me though at all :)

[SOUND]
firebird sounds incredible. it's got some huge sounding filters and the distortion / drive is particularly awesome. the sheer number of filter types on offer is quite insane - but coming from tone2 we expect nothing less than greatness. the various waveforms available are versatile and cover a very wide variety of sound creation possibility and it's simple to quickly change and sculpt the sound by combining them in different ways. my *favorite* part of this synth is the FAT and ANALOG knobs in the sound source section, simply twisting these two at various degrees (which are obviously tuned with TLC to really be useful) is so much fun. you can alter the brightness, tone, and thickness of the sounds to be much more intense as needed, or back it off (which i find myself doing more of because firebird has so much balls) to make things fit more into a given mix.

[FEATURES]
the features available are very good and easy to use. there are all the staple features you'd expect from a great synth and a few you wouldn't like an advanced IQ micro-tuning system that actually makes a significant difference to the sound output. it's this kind of attention to detail that firebird has all over. there are governors for polyphony and quality for machines that are older or slower as well. i have 0 complaints about the features. Markus (the developer) even added a feature that I requested to allow for my inacurate pitchbend to work better.

[DOCUMENTATION]
the documentation is adequate. i didn't really need it though. it's available in 3 different languages, which is nice.

[PRESETS]
the factory banks (3 of 128 each) are awesome. the 3rd bank is a nice touch as it is the "init" bank so you can roll your own sound bank with ease. bank A and B have some excellent sounds for electronic music. really good ones that illustrate what this synth can do. the sounds range in category from bass to lead to pad to others and are useful and organized by prefix so it's a snap to dial in a sound you are looking for without hunting around too much. i've already mentioned the fat and analog knobs but i need to mention them again because with those 2 knobs every preset gets a new life. the randomizer is quite a cool feature too that is built into firebird and 90% of the time provides something new and interesting and somewhat useful.

[SUPPORT]
customer support from tone2 in my experience has been great. i've not had any issues with the synth besides the one i mentioned with my pitchbender and that was addressed in v1.9 after almost 3 months of no word from the developer it was quite cool to get a personal email announcing the availability of the new version with that support added in. it was an excellent gift and will keep me a customer of tone2 for a long time to come.

[VALUE FOR MONEY]
the cost for this synth is €59, $79 which is a total value in my opinion for what you get. after spending quality time with this synth you can tell that a huge amount of effort and insight went into it's plans. the price is fully justified and then some. well worth the outlay.

[STABILITY]
i've had no issue with firebird in the following hosts: cantabile 1.2, orion platinum 7, tracktion3, energyxt 1.x, ableton live6, flstudio 7, and renoise. i have not used firebird in an extreme scenario yet though, mainly i use it for bass and lead sounds to compliment other synths when doing electronic music.

[SUMMARY]
if you need a good synth with very high quality sounds for a modest price you can do a hell of a lot worse than firebird. if you are new and want to learn about synths and how to program sounds firebird is an excellent choice as it's so damned easy to use and easy to get a good sound out of. it is very encouraging to design sounds when the sound coming out is beautiful to your ears.

this is quite a great synth!

Last edited : 15th November 2007

By grymmjack
On 26th September 2007
Version: 2.0

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GUI

Sound

Features

Docs

Presets

Support

VFM

Stability

Image Line PoiZone

[UI]
Very good interface. Clean and simple. Great response and smooth animations. Easy to read high contrast, and has status with readouts. Mousewheel support and built in preset management and MIDI mapping capability make this a real joy to use.

[SOUND]
Sounds good. Big phat basses, seering leads and soft lush pads can be achieved. The filter is very good and tuned well; is musical sounding to my ears. Great effects on board for delay chorus and gate.

[FEATURES]
Everything that matters can be tempo-synced; gate, arp, delay, and LFO included. The built in effects are excellent especially the chorus but the delay aint too shabby either - lots of options. 4 voice unison with 32 voice poly, and excellent glide implementation. The unison is particularly good with separate controls for detune and pan. This synth is definitely geared towards modern music it seems.

[DOCS]
The PDF manual is good and explains everything well. There are bookmarks in the PDF for quick jumping around. Nice big screen shots and usable design in the docs.

[PRESETS]
The presets are excellent. Very diverse groups of sounds represented by some of my favorite sound designers. Categories include ARP(pegiated), ATMO(mosphere), GATE, BASS, KBD(Keyboard), LED(Lead), RYM(Rhythm), SFX(SoundFX), and SYN(Synth). Some huge sounds in here to be sure.

[CUSTOMER SUPPORT]
Image-Line has always given me world-class service and treated me fairly, with respect, and has been very generous providing this 2.0 version free of charge to existing owners of the 1.0 version.

[VALUE FOR MONEY]
I would say good to great depending on your needs and the type of music you make. If you need a good bass/lead synth with unison and good onboard effects for modern electronic music the VFM is very good.

[STABILITY]
I have not had a problem with 2.0. v1.0 had a few growing pains that seem to be non-existant in this latest and greatest release.

Last edited : 26th September 2007

By grymmjack
On 16th May 2006
Version: 1.1

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Topten Software Cantabile

This is probably the coolest little host since MiniHost. It's very simple to use, and the manner in which it can record and playback using automatic filename generation is a great feature that turns cantabile into a cool little sketchpad. Because it works with both DirectSound and ASIO it can be used on a greater number of machines -- including notebooks that have proprietary drivers and wont work with ASIO4ALL etc.

I find myself constantly using cantabile to try out new banks, new instruments, and so on more and more. It records much nicer than MiniHost in that it senses when your input has stopped and after a predefined timespan will automatically stop recording.

I initially had problems with this on my notebook, and helped Brad to test the DirectSound fixes he implemented. The fixes now allow my notebook to work very well with cantabile and I have had no issues.

Plugin scanning is pretty good, better than other small hosts that I've used including MiniHost which is much less stable in my experience when scanning plugins.

The favorites and presets manager is pretty good too, but not as comprehensive yet as MiniHost for example where you can move presets from bank to bank and so on. Perhaps a future update? :)

What else to say? It works, it does all that it is supposed to do and it does it in obvious and reliable ways. If you are looking for a great scratchpad for ideas and want to perhaps record both the midi and audio data for later review, cantabile is the one to use. No other host can automatically record what you are doing AND name the files in such an intelligent and helpful manner.

It's free with no nag screens, so what are you waiting for, try it out and see for yourself!

Last edited : 16th May 2006

By grymmjack
On 20th January 2006
Version: 6.0.8XXL

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GUI

Sound

Features

Docs

Presets

Support

VFM

Stability

Image Line FL Studio

FLStudio is one of the most versatile hosts you will find. Once you get familiar with how it works, you realize how much ingenuity went into it's design and appreciate it's bold step away from the traditional oldschool sequencer/multitracker concept. It truly has a great workflow, which can adapt itself to the skill level of it's user.

There is a step sequencer, a piano roll, an event editor, a waveform editor, a playlist, a mixer, and a browser, all in combination with over 20 great generators (another word for instruments in FL) and tons of effects. You truly get all that you need to make great music out of the box.

All of the generators serve a unique purpose, and the full gamut of electronic instruments; synthesis, samplers, emulators, is represented. Some of the generators sound better and are easier to use than commercial VSTi equivalents. While not 100% of the generators are included by default, the XXL producer edition includes them all. Along with lifetime free updates the price you pay is worth it. Additionally when you purchase an add-on that has a VSTi version, you also get the VSTi version of the generator -- for example DX10, Sytrus, and SimSynth all have VSTi versions. This lets you work with them in any host you like.

I started off with a regular edition long ago, and had bought each of the add-on generators such as Wasp, DX10, the Soundfont player, and SimSynth over a span of years. When ImageLine (the company that makes it) released the new XXL stuff, they automatically took into consideration what I had owned already and gave me discounts on buying new add-ons which I felt was very honorable and courteous. The support for the product is excellent and anytime I have had a problem a day and a forum post at looptalk (the official FL forums) later, and the problem was solved/answered.

FL exceeds all other hosts at simple-automation. The ease of mapping and auto-learn features for it's own internal generators and effects is outstanding and this feature is extended to VST/VSTi plug-ins as well using the "last tweaked parameter". Basically you touch a knob in the plugin and use this feature to map it to any external or internal controller for automation. Thus even older VST/VSTi's can be automated even if they dont support automation internally themselves! Add to this power the internal controllers and modifiers which use mathematics, randomness, and LFO or X/Y grids, and you have true power for automation unlike any other host.

The channels and the mixer are incredibly intuitive, powerful, and easy to use. Everything is right in front of you and nothing hidden away. As you adjust parameters a status display reads out what the values are. Middle clicking returns a control to it's default state, and there are modifiers for adding more sensitivity to the controls, etc.

I come from a background of tracking (screamtracker/impulse tracker) and found the transition to FLstudio especially easy in the way it works. While there is no tracker-like microediting, there are patterns and a playlist (so 2 things that I was already familiar with). The playlist is a powerful and flexible tool that also allows for live experimentation when flstudio is configured in live mode.

The piano roll implementation is excellent and so fast to use compared to other hosts. Keyboard modifiers and 'common-sense' design make the FLstudio piano roll my favorite of all piano rolls. There are lots of little unique features that over time you come to rely on that enhance productivity and creativity.

The mixer is versatile and simple to use. Any input can go to any output and so on, you aren't limited to what the signal path is. There are 64 channels to work with and you can colorize/organize/move things around easily.

The browser is a great feature that adds to the whole package. It contains channel presets, generator presets, automation data, samples and loops, and whatever else you want to organize or use in your productions. The ease of use of the browser is by far one of the best features of the program. Dragging and dropping things from the browser to the step sequencer to the mixer to instruments, to the playlist, really makes for rapid creation tool.

The generators and effects are great all around, with the presets for them all also being pretty good. Sytrus is the star and it sounds incredible, but the other synths like SimSynth, and Wasp are also great. The generators that come with the program are excellent and serve a unique purpose, you have a string simulator, piano simulator, bass guitar simulator, electronic drum simulator, etc, the list goes on. The effects are great as well and with each new version they seem to be getting better.

Version 6 adds DirectWave which is an incredibly useful sampler that can do amazing things.

It's the most productive, versatile, easy to use, fastest, of any host i've tried. It comes as stand-alone, VSTi, and rewire (slave/master).

Last edited : 20th January 2006

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