User Reviews for Rob Papen Predator

By ozmoz2008
On 18th June 2009
Version: 1.5

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Presets

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VFM

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First, this VST synth has an excellent sound quality and a very nice playability. The presets are well done and there are plenty of them.

I have work with many different VST, and often when looking for that special bass sound or nice lead type sound, predator did the job. I do a lot of soundtracks and sound quality is a very important factor for me, but also the "organic" feel of a sound, a sound that is not too static or muddy. Predator is everything but this.

The user interface is pretty straight forward and really easy to program. There is some nice effects in it and some great morphing possibilities, also very fast and easy to adjust in real-time.

The documentation is complete...no need to go further much into details, IMO.

Customer support is great; very fast response both on their site and on KVR. They really rocks on that side!

Predator is worth every penny, after all it's really not expensive considering what it does and all the presets that are included. It is also very stable, it has never crash and never got some holding blank GUIs like some other VSTs.

One of my favorite so far....Good job Rob and everyone else that worked on it!
Should be in top 10 for sure!

By Xenos
On 10th June 2009
Version: 1.5

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2 of 3 people found
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I was fortunate to get an assignment from Rob Papen to create a new soundbank for his Predator synthesizer, of which I was given a copy to work with. Honestly, I way underestimated this synth! Do not be fooled by Predator's comparatively low cost in comparison to Rob Panpen's other synths. This puppy has TONS of neat tricks and secrets hiding under the hood which are not readily apparent until you sit down and spend some quality time with it.

User Interface:

Very convenient layout. Everything is neatly orgainized into sections, which makes learning all the functions much more intuitive. Predator is actually quite a complex beast compressed into a relatively small space and there are quite a lot of options within the modulation and LFO sections. Clicking on a slot in the free modulation area will bring up a large menu, both for modulation sources and modulation desinations. I like this a lot better than having everything all on the screen at once.

Sound:

This is where Predator shines. You can create sounds that sit very well in the back of a mix and also sounds that slice through it like a hot knife through butter. The sound quality is most certainly professional and I have no complaints here. Predator has it's own unigue quality and a very modern sound. It does not pretend to be an emulation of an analog synth or a Virus, but what it does do, it does very, very well. I would recommend Predator as a great go-to synth in your arsenal. This isn't just a Trance synth, guys :). I got some nasty growling, metallic, Robert Natus-esque leads out of this synth that I wasn't quite able to do on other synths. This puppy can also do trippy, evolving soundscape pads with complex programming. Drum & Bass and Dubstep guys would love Predator as well. You really gotta check out the effects section. Rob Papen's synths have by far the best effects sections I have ever heard in a software synth. Dubstep style modulated delay speeds with an LFO modulated filter routed AFTER the delay in the chain... oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about :).

Features:

Like I said earlier, do not be fooled by Predator's relatively simple appearance and comparatively low cost. For starters, there are a very large number of oscillator waveshapes. You are not limited to just sine, saw, square and noise. There are all manner of esoteric digital waveforms for imitating such classics as the Ensoniq ESQ-1, Korg DW synths and other digital hybrids from the 1980s.
There is also FM capability, which adds a bit of extra edge to your sounds without outright emulating a DX7. This is great for gutteral, ripping high-passed leads and deep, digital sub basses.
The modulation section is the core of Predator's magic and the place where you will find all its hidden secrets. You have 2 slots for modulating effects parameters. Just about any source you can think of can be used for this. You also have 2 dedicated LFO slots. Then, you have an 8 slot free modulation section. With your sources you have all of what you would expect, but the magic lies in some of Predator's more esoteric options. "Offset" is a great and useful example. By routing this to an LFO, you are now able to do audio-rate modulation (very fast LFOs). You can modulate one LFO's speed via another LFO, the modwheel, aftertouch, or even one of the 2 free envelopes.
The Chord Play feature is a must-have for House and Techno folks. Simply play any chord, hit "learn" and that chord will be memorized and saved as part of your new preset.
The effects section is absolutely stunning. Not only are the effects themselves of high quality, but there are A LOT of them! Chorus, Flanger, Bitcrusher, Distortion, Comb Filter, Reverb, Multimode Filter, etc, etc. Each of these effects have a very large selection of parameters -- and each parameter can be modulated! Reverb size via an LFO? Yes. Delay speed via an envelope? You bet. Flanger speed via modwheel? Count on it :).

Presets:

This is the area where I think Predator could improve. The factory presets are quite good, yes, but there are many things Predator can do which are not shown in the factory sounds (audio rate modulations via "offset" parameter, very complex atmospheres, use of white/pink noise as a modulation source, heavily modulated effects, etc).

Value for Money:

Excellent :). For $150 USD, it's a great buy. Great sound, loaded with features and very stable. This would be one of my "deserted island" synths lol.

By Feng
On 12th May 2007
Version: 1.2

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10 of 10 people found
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GUI

Sound

Features

Docs

Presets

Support

VFM

Stability

USER INTERFACE: Clear, no need to use the manual. Everything you need is at your fingertips. Only downside is that the black background can lead to eye fatigue after a long time of programming.
SOUND: This synth has an incredible sound. It's convincing in all the categories. From lush pads to aggressive leads, from deep basses to brass sound, it covers all the musical genres with an extremely high quality sound. You can get anything from this beast.
FEATURES: This beast focuses on sound and simplicity, so it has not the incredible features of some of its colleagues. In any case it's a complete subtractive synth. Three oscillators with many waveforms to choose from, each with its suboscillator. Sync, Ring Modulation and FM are implemented. Extremely flexible modulation is possible. Good quality FX are implemented. An extremely useful feature is the possibility of an intelligent morphing function that is able to linearly morph between two patches. Then it has a really good arpeggiator.
DOCUMENTATION: Really good, even if I didn't have to read it to use the synth.
PRESETS: They are made by Rob Papen, need I say more?
CUSTOMER SUPPORT: GREAT! Rob answers to support requests in his KVR forum, and goes there to answer very often.
VALUE FOR MONEY: for 149 euros you get a highest quality synth with an ever growing collection of Rob's presets. You can really take advantage of this synth in any modern style of music.
STABILITY: It never gave me problems, till now. The first version had some glitches problems, but they seem gone, with version 1.2.
CPU USAGE: while not as low as RPCX declare, is reasonably low, and is extremely low if you turn down oversampling and FX, but then also the sound quality goes down!In any case I am able to open many instances of Predator with my Athlon FX 4800.

OTHER COMMENTS:

It's a great synth! It's extremely easy to program, even for a novice. The morphing feature is not an innovation. Other synths had this feature implemented. But what's great about it is the smartness in the way it does morphing. You can take any two patches, and the morphed one is always interesting and good and (what's more important) usable.

Last edited : 21st May 2007

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