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Triangle I
Reviewed By [all]
March 6th, 2002
Version reviewed: 1 on Windows
Pentagon's little brother may have stopped growing (for the time being?) but it's sure not retarded!
Triangle I is a perfect FREE entry into the world of analog synthesis. Make no mistake, it cannot compete with Pentagon or Cronox, but I have never come across a single free analog softsynth (and I have all of them, trust me:) that offered more features, a more beautiful, lush sound, or a more logical interface. In fact, it seems like most people (including myself) keep using it even *after* they bought PI, which alone is a testament to the rich - and unique - quality of its sound.
Personally, I am not in love with its look, but it looks like René just might update its GUI to that of Pentagon. Its only serious limitation is that it's monophonic, but nothing stops you from using several of them simultaneously. In all, Triangle I is complex and control-rich enough to give you a fascinating opportunity to learn analog sound creation, but simple enough so that you don't get overwhelmed by all the knobs and buttons (of which, BTW, there are 55 - more than the Roland JP8080 has...)
Many people mentioned the lack of documentation. FALSE! THERE IS A COMPREHENSIVE MANUAL AVAILABLE IN HTML, and while I don't know how you can access it from rgcAudio's website (it seems like René is so busy making his superb products even better, he tends to forget about the website...:) if you send him an e-mail he will provide you with the link.
Summary: if you don't download it and give it a try, you are a fool - and I do stand by that statement.Read Review
Triangle I is a perfect FREE entry into the world of analog synthesis. Make no mistake, it cannot compete with Pentagon or Cronox, but I have never come across a single free analog softsynth (and I have all of them, trust me:) that offered more features, a more beautiful, lush sound, or a more logical interface. In fact, it seems like most people (including myself) keep using it even *after* they bought PI, which alone is a testament to the rich - and unique - quality of its sound.
Personally, I am not in love with its look, but it looks like René just might update its GUI to that of Pentagon. Its only serious limitation is that it's monophonic, but nothing stops you from using several of them simultaneously. In all, Triangle I is complex and control-rich enough to give you a fascinating opportunity to learn analog sound creation, but simple enough so that you don't get overwhelmed by all the knobs and buttons (of which, BTW, there are 55 - more than the Roland JP8080 has...)
Many people mentioned the lack of documentation. FALSE! THERE IS A COMPREHENSIVE MANUAL AVAILABLE IN HTML, and while I don't know how you can access it from rgcAudio's website (it seems like René is so busy making his superb products even better, he tends to forget about the website...:) if you send him an e-mail he will provide you with the link.
Summary: if you don't download it and give it a try, you are a fool - and I do stand by that statement.Read Review
Pentagon I
Reviewed By [all]
February 17th, 2002
Version reviewed: 1.1 on Windows
I've played around with close to three dozen analog & VA synthesizers in the last decade or so, both hardware and software. PENTAGON BEATS 90% OF THEM WITH THE KEYS TIED BEHIND ITS GUI...:) Combined with the right PC & the right soundcard, it can easily outperform the 'classics' as well as the likes of JP80*0 or Korg MS2000, and even gives Nordlead II or many of the Novation stuff a run for their money. If you only buy one VA, buy this - NOW. (If you can buy two, get Cronox too.) Frankly, it even made me dream about how one should develop a standalone hardware version, with a built-in keyboard and an interface with some 80 dedicated knobs...
Beautiful sound, great controls, tons of presets - what else could you ask for? Personally, I thought the manual could use a bit more detail (although it is quite functional as it is). Oh, and recently they even started supporting custom skins!!!
At $99 it's 10% of the price of a JP or an MS2000, and you get SO MUCH MORE...Read Review
Beautiful sound, great controls, tons of presets - what else could you ask for? Personally, I thought the manual could use a bit more detail (although it is quite functional as it is). Oh, and recently they even started supporting custom skins!!!
At $99 it's 10% of the price of a JP or an MS2000, and you get SO MUCH MORE...Read Review
Cheeze Machine
Reviewed By [all]
February 15th, 2002
Version reviewed: 1.3 on Windows
The three most common problems with free VSTi's are that they are either a) cheap sounding, b) undocumented, or c) technically inferior (including the GUI). Cheeze Machine manages to avoid all three - and does it in style.
This is not a universal synth, so don't expect to use it in everything, everywhere. It does produce, however, great synth-strings that are good enough to sound real, but synthetic enough to have their own character. Beautiful interface, ease of use - what else would you want?
For a great ensemble, try loading 3 different Cheeze Machines and playing them simultaneously, but with 3 different presets... tres kewl!Read Review
This is not a universal synth, so don't expect to use it in everything, everywhere. It does produce, however, great synth-strings that are good enough to sound real, but synthetic enough to have their own character. Beautiful interface, ease of use - what else would you want?
For a great ensemble, try loading 3 different Cheeze Machines and playing them simultaneously, but with 3 different presets... tres kewl!Read Review
Crazy Diamonds
Reviewed By [all]
February 7th, 2002
Version reviewed: 0.1 on Windows
Crazy Diamond is a pleasant surprise of a 'freebie' (though you are expected to pay for it in the long run) that is both more AND less than what it claims to be.
LESS, because its sound (to me at least) is closer to a lush, deep organ than to any string - real or synthesized - I have ever heard. This is not a string quartet - you had better turn to Cheeze Machine if you are looking for that. Hardly surprising, mind you, given the author's history.:^) There is no documentation, and only a handful of presets, nice though they are. The interface is stylish; a bit unusual, but while I miss the traditional knobs, I am also happy to see the digital readouts. In any case, it is better designed than the vast majority of VSTi's out there that are fighting for attention with often outrageous and dysfunctionally funky GUI's. Some people find that categorizing the controls as 'Milk' and 'Cream' and 'Butter' are disconcerting, but I actually LIKE these rather descriptive names.
MORE because, though it is definitely a one-trick pony, that trick is AWESOME. Crazy Diamond is not designed to be a universal VA or some such beast, but a cream machine, the perfect synthesizer for a certain category or class of sounds that Pink Floyd once made their own. And that it does fabulously, offering 27 different controls for fine-tweaking the silky beauties.
OVERALL, I DEFINITELY WANT IT IN MY ARSENAL. It runs OK on a Win2K PIII450 256MBRAM SBLive! machine in Orion Pro 2.75, although changes between presets are a bit slow and buggy (takes a sec or two to visually update). Give it an update or two, and I am certain it will be one of the best niche softsynths on the market! As it is, a must to download.Read Review
LESS, because its sound (to me at least) is closer to a lush, deep organ than to any string - real or synthesized - I have ever heard. This is not a string quartet - you had better turn to Cheeze Machine if you are looking for that. Hardly surprising, mind you, given the author's history.:^) There is no documentation, and only a handful of presets, nice though they are. The interface is stylish; a bit unusual, but while I miss the traditional knobs, I am also happy to see the digital readouts. In any case, it is better designed than the vast majority of VSTi's out there that are fighting for attention with often outrageous and dysfunctionally funky GUI's. Some people find that categorizing the controls as 'Milk' and 'Cream' and 'Butter' are disconcerting, but I actually LIKE these rather descriptive names.
MORE because, though it is definitely a one-trick pony, that trick is AWESOME. Crazy Diamond is not designed to be a universal VA or some such beast, but a cream machine, the perfect synthesizer for a certain category or class of sounds that Pink Floyd once made their own. And that it does fabulously, offering 27 different controls for fine-tweaking the silky beauties.
OVERALL, I DEFINITELY WANT IT IN MY ARSENAL. It runs OK on a Win2K PIII450 256MBRAM SBLive! machine in Orion Pro 2.75, although changes between presets are a bit slow and buggy (takes a sec or two to visually update). Give it an update or two, and I am certain it will be one of the best niche softsynths on the market! As it is, a must to download.Read Review
