Plugin Boutique

Well, it's true that this is re-made old Union synth. But it has fixed serious bug that made Union unreliable on Windows (don't want to describe it longer, it's not opinion about Union after all). WaveOSC (Union too btw) sounds warm and nice, it has its own character. Few options are missing - unable to connect velocity to anythng but volume and no modwheel support. But every synth is different and I guess this one may be a nice starting point for anyone who wants to create interesting sounds.

Problem with WaveOSC is that for some reason (money?) they created it the way so old presets from Union cannot be loaded (even if format is ALMOST the same and it's probably just intentional to block that possibility). Second problem is that it's just made like "we make this synth and that's all". No updates, no new functions, no plans for development, nothing.

So 3 stars, because it can sounds nice, is not complicated and it works ok. And can be bought for a small amount of $.

This is not even worth $1. Don't waste your money. This is soundspot union synth, the same ui has been slightly changed and given a different name. You have to be online all the time to use this. Lots of bugs. But no update yet.

For the price and the fact they wanna make a cut down version that is downright awful. Rude to anyone just trya get the all in one plugin to image and place in the mi- whatever, whatever. We have free alternatives that are much better than something like this. If it was priced at five or ten mayybe fifteen? I mean for the full version; they think the cut down version deserves fifteen is rough.

I got the Plugin Boutique Big Kick plugin from KVR market at a very nice price. I already had other kick drum plugs and wasn't thinking about buying another one but I discovered that Big Kick basically is a drum sampler with options to tweak my own samples that I already have. It is possible to layer 2 kicks by using Big Kick. All of a sudden my old kick sample library got more attention thanks to Big Kick. It's easy to use with drag and drop. Big Kick also came with a bunch of kick samples.

Makes it easy to sample 30 second clips from Internet radio stations.

Choose station from a long list or your own preset list.
Select possible radio effect (makes it sound like old vintage radio) if you want.
Then select the sample from the waveform slowly scrolling by.
Then drag&drop the sample to your DAW.

There are other ways to do it, but maybe the workflow is easier this way.
Cheap and easy.

I most likely got that out of pure nostalgia! Who ever owned the hardware back in those days, will appreciate this emulation. I did love my cz 101, but as I moved early to the digital world and away from sequencers and keyboards, I sold that little beauty long ago. Now I get it back, without eating space in my bedroom studio. The UI makes it way easier to work than with the original. I can't compare the sound of it with the hardware version, but as I recall it feels the same. And I have a much better keyboard with more expression capabilities than that little mini key it came with.

As there is a lack of PD synthesis out there, it deserves a prominent place in the synthesis world. Though I can imagine a very different approach to this kind of synthesis. Maybe it encourages a developer to build a PD synthesizer with a more modern approach. Certainly it is easier to progam than FM, but has a similar potential.

Most modern synths have all kinds of effects added, to make it sound bigger when browsing through the presets. VCZ has only a chorus. I think this is an advantage, I prefer to add my own reverb, that helps to get a more consistant sound in the mix...

If you are about to look for a modern synth with all bells and whistles, this might not be for you, but if you want to explore that rare PD synthesis method, you should give it a go...

The VirtualCZ rates high among the software synths I really regret that I bought. I understand that it is a sonically accurate emulation of the original h/w and so, I guess that my disappointment should be equally directed at Casio.

I find the sound more dated and wimpy than virtually any softsynth that I own (a license for). The envelopes appear so soft that it seems virtually (!) impossible to get any 'snap' out of the VCZ and ballsy it's certainly not. I wonder what kind of music people use it for? Chorused pads?

For myself, I find that I need a whole chain of fx after the VCZ in order to mangle the basic sound into anything remotely interesting, although the lack of snap is difficult to compensate for. Comparing it with a roughly contemporary synth, the DX7, is like night and day – the old Yama is certainly snappy where I find the Casio spongy and soft.

Obviously not my sort of machine, but hey! – who am I to discuss taste? No doubt the VCZ serves the musical interests of a number of people – it's just that I can't quite identify myself with those interests.

/Joachim.

I never owned a CZ but I remember using it in the studio back in the days and this totally captures the feel of it. But in contrast to the hardware this plug-in is dead easy to operate. This is one hell of a soundsource. I've been using it for about a year now and I keep coming back to it because it's so well laid out and so easy to get good, interesting results out of.

It has tons of character just like the original and also it will not make every sound You can think of. But what it does it does great. You might need some additional plug-ins to make it sit well in a mix, but so does almost every other synth out there. Apart from a great chorus, a unison and a vibrato there aren't any effects but this might even be a good thing. A lot of synths have effects that just aren't good enough especially reverbs that don't work with the rest of the sounds in a mix. So You just might as well add them Yourself to begin with. I guess most of us have some good dedicated effects anyway, and I rather pay a more reasonable price for a really good sound generator instead.

There is room for improvement though, the preset handling desperately needs some kind of sorting or tagging system. The master section could do with more gain control and some metering (like it's sibling Carbon Electra). The stand alone version (which I really appreciate) would be even more useful with note triggering from the computer keyboard. And scaling of the GUI is almost a must these days with 4K and Retina monitors.

Apart from this I am a fan and I would really recommend it.