NUSofting

I have a lot of delay effects and I was a skeptical about getting another one. This one is different, and more importantly - sounds differently.

My version is free. I use it for a long time now. the sound is good, no 32-bits version.

I use it a few in my productions.

I have too many synths. Correction: I have too many synths that are similar to each other and encourage me down a particular creative path. Sinmad is not one of those synths - I don't have anything else quite like it.

What I particularly like it for are percussion sounds and the physical modelling end of synthesis, although it can also do most of the things you would expect a synth to be able to do. The resonators and the feedback options are the most eye-catching elements of the design and this enables something else which I've not seen anywhere else, which is the capability to create guitar feedback in a semi-controlled way.

Also check out the randomise function which is particularly useful for creative serendipity. It's not simply a 'randomise everything at once' button - you can introduce levels of randomness to changes based on whereabouts on the panel you click. So you can almost tweak the settings with the randomise function, rather than throw out everything you've got, which means that you can feel your way towards a particular sound a bit more before you take control and adjust things yourself.

Full disclosure: I was given a free NFR licence of Sinmad for taking part in the 146th One Synth Challenge.

At the outset, I would like to make it clear that my sound designing skills are pretty rudimentary at best and I am someone who depends heavily on software synths with readymade sounds (presets) to produce my music. Luigi from Nusofting was generous enough to provide me a free copy of Sinmad VST as I took part in using this synth in KVR OSC challenge.

One of the thing that I really liked about Sinmad was its relatively simple and straight forward user interface (even for a sound deisgn noob like me, could meddle with the default sounds to tweak to my own preference). Another plus of this VST is Sinmad's load on my 3 years old Laptop. It is very light on hogging resources (even with multiple instances, the CPU hit was bare minimum).

IMHO, the presets that comes with Sinmad are more than sufficient to make a decent electronic track. I personally believe Sinmad have great potential for making tracks that are heavy on sinister drone sounds with industrial electronic vibe.

Highly recommend Sinmad for those who are looking to make some slick/menacing DRONE sounds.

It's a strong synth that pushes you in different directions.

Sinmad's great strength is its diverse and unique feature set. While no individual element had me absolutely amazed, the combination of all of these different approaches to synthesis led to some very creative sound design when I used it for the One Synth Challenge.

This doesn't uproot a powerhouse like Vital or Surge in my toolbelt, but it does fill some creative niches I didn't know I needed.

If you're starting to feel like every synth you've used is the same, give Sinmad a try. It has all the comforts of a subtractive synth but it places its focus on less standard features like sync, FM, RM, and of course the burst and resonator sections.

The missing 5th star in this review acknowledges that 1) this synth is fairly new at this time and may still have a few bugs and crashes, and 2) there are other synths that I will use more often, just because they draw me towards different styles of music making.

I had the chance to use a Pre-Version of Sinmad in the KVR OSC 146. This synth is fun. It is capable to create very unique sounds, because of the mix of good old subtractive synthesis with physical modelling and the use of a complex polyphonic delay matrix.
It can sound so damned harsh but can also produce soft, whistling, aetheric sounds as well. In my opinion Sinmad is a perfect tool for creating sound FX and complex cinematic soundscapes. The GUI is great, you can choose between a bunch of nice themes and it is resizeable according to your wishes. For a quick start you can choose one of the nearly 300 interesting presets.
Give it a try, you will be surprised. And by the way, at the NUSofting website you can also find two great, very original freeware synths: Sinnah and Noisetar.

First let me start my review with this from the manual:

Introduction

EMM Knagalis is a specialized AU and VSTi sample-based synthesizer, modelled around the structural elements of the Sitar, the famous Indian lute. But the same elements also work for bagpipes and other "ethnic" instruments.
Its basic sound set includes various stringed and percussive melodic instruments, such as the Santur (Indian salterium), the MBira (thumb piano), and the Shamishen, as well as many Bagpipes, a wind instrument which was included in the sound set because its legato playing style and drone accompaniment fitted the design of the synth.

The EMM Knagalis sample set includes three layers:

Lead Layer(monophonic)

Sympathetic Resonance Layer (polyphonic)

Drone Layer (monophonic)

Using this design, it is possible to emulate any melodic instrument which features sympathetic resonances and drones.

The Drone and Sympathetic Layers are also used to enhance the emulation of different ethnic instruments; for example, in the MBira sound, the Drone layer is used to simulate the buzzing effect produced by tiny metal pieces nailed to the wood box of the instrument. Similarly, the Sympathetic Layer adds the rich polyphonic resonance of the other reeds of the thumb piano.

EMM Knagalis brings you an experience beyond that of standard ROM players. The clever architecture, and the unlimited

custom and ethnic scale modes of this VST synthesizer can give you sounds much closer to real world ethnic instruments.

If you are still reading I can tell that to my ears, it is very easy with no or little knowledge, to create realistic sounding ethnic instruments.

The plugin comes with 30 soundsets (instruments) and 111 presets and 99 different scales so there is plenty to start with.

It is also possible to make user defined scales and even though you can't load your own samples you can blend the existing soundsets.

The manual explains this in a good and understandable way.

I can highly recommend this plugin if you are looking for that ethnic flavour in your tracks, and don't wanna use static samples, but instead create your own melodies and have a lot more control over the sound and feel of the instrument(s).

Installation went smoothly and it is very friendly on the CPU too.

I gave it 4 out of 5 stars because you know the five stars are reserved for that mythical plugin we're all forever waiting for :-).

Amazing tool for deep atmospheric background and Special FX.

The sound is very crisp and high quality.

Comes directly as DLL.

Definitely a must have if you don't want to use Samples.