Cableguys

I really like this one allowing me to play with the pan as I wish. I really like it on a single instrument like trumpet, but be careful as it can work against the music rhythm of the music. But great.

The continuous development and dedicated care that go into the wonderful ShaperBox make it a true role model for how a great plug-in company should operate. The fair and very reasonable update and upgrade prices perfectly reflect this philosophy. I'm more than happy to pay for the passion and attention that fuel this plug-in's evolution. Expecting everything for free may be a valid opinion, but in this case it feels inappropriate - if not downright disrespectful. All the better that this level of quality and innovation is rightfully recognized in the KVR Readers' Choice Awards - a genuine seal of excellence in creative development.

When I found Shaperbox1, it was an interesting multi effect sequencer plugin with an ok amount of effects. The sequencing of effects together in chains is a nice method of building motion into your tracks.

Then, Cableguys sent me an ad for Shaperbox2 fairly soon after Shaperbox1 was released. They claimed to be giving me Timeshaper2 as an incentive to get Shaperbox2. Ok. This felt a little too soon, but the features of Shapebox2 seemed better and the incentive was ok, so I jumped into it.

Then, Cableguys sent me an ad for Shapebox3, less than a year after Shaperbox2, and its basically the same thing?

I cant tell, but Im tired of this sort of cash-grabbing nonsense. Shaperbox2 was an ok effect sequencer with an ok list of stock presets and sound shaping abilities, but the difference between Shaperbox1 and 3 is far too minimal for all this and this motivated my review.

Note: I see the dev replied and disputes the dates their software was released. In my email inbox, I have 3 tiers of offers from Cableguys for Shaperbox 1, 2, and 3. Shaperbox 1 was new TO ME in 2020, offered to me via PluginBoutque and sent via Cableguys to my registered email - registered since 2020. Then in 2021, I received the update offer for Shaperbox 2, and then in 2023 Shaperbox 3 -- all sent to my registered email. My point stands, and all 3 of these are still too similar to be 3 entirely separate products.

It saves me a lot of time on automation clips and LFOs, but it is a bit finnicky to work with and has a bit of a learning curve if you want to get EXACT panning. It does what its supposed to, and does it well, but the difficulty when first operating it is a bit off putting.

Cool Autopan plugin.

I like the active visualizations and the editing options to shape the curve to one's own desire. Also the up to 10 shapes per plugin instance is great for testing which one is the most suited.

Now, the vertical design is unique but however feels a little incomfortable when editing to be honest (even if it actually gives a better immersion of how the sound is traveling between L and R). Having a metric to time or beats/bars on the x-axis is my preference. I wish there would be an option to swap PanCake to 'horizontal mode'.

Another thing: The text of the parameters and its values as well as some elements are extremely small and very hard to read on modern desktops. And on other location, many space is useless wasted at the interface.

The design in general could also be improved. The modulation to be stronger visible and beat divisions (maybe by numeric values) a little bit better to notice.

After more than 10 years, an update would be really appreciated.

This VST is great for trap melodies/getting counter melodies via the half speed effect. For $12, this is a great plugin to have in your back pocket.

Simple, effective and full of interesting/unique panning presets. Slick and clear GUI. Does exactly what you want it to do and more (if you want).

Curve 2 is a very compact but also versatile and powerful sounding synthesizer. Compact because it comes with no additional FX. So you only get the Oscillators, Filters, Envelopes, LFOs and semimodular Routing Matrix. But that's a cool concept and works astonishingly well. The only drawback might be the lack of a manual. That's why I gave it only 9 Points.

The Name is program. It's all about curves. You can have up to 10 different curves at once. They are both: oscillators and LFO waveforms at once. All standard waveforms are on board and you can draw your own pretty easy and comfortable via dragging the mouse over the grid. With Rightclick you toggle between spline mode, edge mode and delete point mode. The grid is actually very helpful and awesome when designing rhythmic LFO patterns that can be further used on your Osc Volume for eg. gated pads. The LFOs can be synced or not synced to gate in, beat sync or free running up to audio (set it to note) so your LFO can now be used to modulate things via FM in the Routing Matrix. Great feature.

Curve2 has 3 Oscillator sections. There you can load two different waveforms from the Curves window which can be be mixed via LFO and Envelopes. Each section can be routed to the Filter section with the two Filters in different ways: 1 into 2, 1 and 2, only 1, only 2, 1 and 2 L and R, bypassed. The Filters are 6dB, 12dB and 24dB, all LP, then some BP, HP, NOTCH, PEAK (I love this one). 12dB and 24dB can selfoscillate - use keytrack in the matrix and have some fun. The Filters sound great and are per voice. Lovely resonance.

Last but not least the Envelopes. Instead of SUSTAIN you get a LOOP knob. Click the ZOOM TOOL in the corner and have some fun with Curve 2 own ENVELOPE DESGINER. :) Really great feature. So easy to come up with the perfect envelope. I wished all synths would have something like this.

The Matrix is semimodular and comes with lots of modulation and cross modulation possibilities. On top of it some features are only available only via Matrix (eg FM). Then you will get 4super controller hotkey thingies you can connect to mostly everything in Curve2 via drag & drop and control it via eg Modwheel, Aftertouch or something else.

Then you will get a pretty stunning and clean sounding Unison and Detune Feature with additional Spread parameter and a cool Damping option which balances out the sides vs the mids. And when you choose a odd voice number one voice will always be dead centre mono. Then some easy MIDI touch routing automation feature, some quality settings (oscillators are bandlimited or with aliasing, Eco mode etc), up to 32 polyphonic and an OUTGAIN dB option (pretty helpful if you press lots of keys and have lots of oscillator action going on so lower that to avoid clipping).

I surely missed something but the overall sound is pretty great and catchy: funky short arp basses are possible, lush stereo pads with lots of bass or even classic noisy supersaws. You don't need any fx because this can sound very fat on its own and gives you lots of control over the stereo field.

Awesome synth if you like to design your own waveforms or emulate classic stuff like 303 saw square waveforms or draw a MS10 50% square on your own. I dunno if it sounds like the real deal but it sounds great anyway.

Highly recommended. Lots of fun.

Regards.

Sebastian.