Sounds
* 300 presets covering everything from pads and soundscapes to keys, basses and leads designed by many of the worlds top sound designers including Junkie XL, John 'Skippy' Lehmkuhl, Ian Boddy, Richard Devine, Big Tone, Arksun, Michael Kastrup, Beej, Summa, Xenox, Tasmodia, Jim Hunter, Antonio Blanca, Torben Hansen, Paul Nauert, Christian Kjeldsen, Rory Dow, Artvera, Bryan 'Xenos' Lee, Pendle, Dangerous Bear, Biomechanoid and Tim Conrardy
I see no reason to expect anything less than a superb set of presets. Even from a few hundred. Besides I think Alchemy is the kind of synth that simply begs to be tweaked, so really 300 presets for me would be simply excellent starting points.
* over 2GB of samples and analysed content from in-house designers Tim Conrardy and Biomechanoid, as well as designers such as Ian Boddy, Robert Rich, Scott Solida and Nucleus SoundLab
* many years of dedicated sampling sessions of both unusual creative material such as the sound of chewing polystyrene to more conventional sampling of numerous acoustic instruments and voices, including a chamber choir
* advanced resynthesis engines help keep the library small, reducing the need for a huge disk-straining sample library
Nice to see. I have the space for even larger content (much larger) but as an owner of at least 75GB of my own hand picked sounds over the years, it's nice to just have a smaller 'taster' of high quality sound sets to avoid duplicating what I already have too much.
* samples are provided in open industry standard formats as SFZ and WAV files
* intelligent random preset generation
* add-on preset banks in development
Random preset generation is not essential for me but the "intelligent" part is certainly welcome. As a user of the same feature from time to time in CamelPhat and Camel Space, it seems to largely stick to the sound you originaly pick before randomisation, so you effectively get a random version of sound you already like. So the intelligent aspect should work very well in Alchemy. Difficult to explain really but I think it works very well in CP and CS.
Performance Controls
* 16 controls per preset carefully assigned by the preset designer, for instant access to each presets most tweakable parameters
* 8 remix pad variations per preset - click and drag to morph between variations
* two XY squares
* unique 'auto assign' feature to assign a full set of performance controls with two clicks
With so much on offer that is very nice to see. Quick and easy access.
Morphable Sources
* 4 stereo sources each of which has additive, VA, spectral, granular and sampler engines
* morph between sources using advanced harmonic blending and precise time alignment
* crossfade between sounds with vector mixing
* modulatable stretch and position knobs for anything from tempo synced loops to wavesequencing
* up to 100 zones per source using any synthesis method
* easy to use file import browser with sample preview
* micro tuning support with comprehensive categorized library of scales
* highly optimized code including SSE and Altivec optimizations
Morphing...yes. With file import and sample preview...good.
Analog Filters
* up to 15 simultaneous filters
* 31 different filter types including 18 analog modelled filters, 2 comb filters, 3 CamelPhat distortion algorithms and polyphonic ring modulation
* each source can be mixed between 2 parallel main filters each of which has an effects mix control
* 3 filters per source configurable between serial and parallel modes; applications include formant filtering with free control over the frequency and bandwidth of each formant
Ok...no shortage of filters then
16 Effects
* camel reverb, acoustic reverb, 2 delays, 2 mod fx (each capable of flanger and chorus effects), 2 distortions (each has bit crusher, tube, mech and xcita effects), bass enhancer, compressor, multi mode filter, 2 bandpass filters and band reject mixers, 2 three band EQs, panner and amplifier
* all of the CamelSpace and CamelPhat effects included
* virtually all effects parameters are modulatable
* acoustic reverb with detailed control of time, damping and room design
* up to five effects blocks can be applied in any order
* flexible delay featuring two filter slots, crossover, offset and initial delay controls
* band pass filters and associated band reject mixers allow you to apply effects to specific frequency ranges for effects such as multiband distortion
CS and CP users will know all about these top draw FX. Should be great in Alchemy.
Groove Arpeggiator
* separate control of the velocity, pitch and pan of each note
* midi file import for drum patterns and melodies
* 'groove import' to synchronize to a particular drum pattern
* wide variety of modes including up, down, up/down, down/up, as played, random and chord
* many parameters including multiple latch modes, key splits, played key velocity control, octave and source controllable from the modulation system
* ability to control one source or all four
* up to 128 steps
Groove import synchronisation sounds like Omni's Groove lock. If it's anything like that, it will be great to use. Plenty of flexibility in the Groove Arp on paper.
Additive Synthesizer
* very high quality analysis and resynthesis - import vocal phrases, drum loops, ...
* up to 600 stereo oscillators
* realtime modulation of amplitude, pitch and pan spectrums by any modulator - for example, control the odd/even harmonic balance, pan partials using LFOs, stretch or contract the harmonic spectrum and lots more
* individual amplitude, pitch and pan envelopes for each partial
* easy to use additive editor with unique detail knob to simplify sounds for editing
>cough< How many stereo oscillators??????????????????
Virtual Analog Synthesizer
* PWM and symmetry control
* initial phase control
* up to 600 oscillator unison with pitch, amp and pan control of unison oscillators
* large library of single cycle waveforms from classic synths to new designs by Galbanum
Unison on a *galactic* level LOL! I guess Camel thought "just in case"
Spectral Synthesizer
* phase vocoder analysis for high quality pitch and time stretching
* noise resynthesis mode using 256 band noise shaping
* advanced graphical sonogram editing - choose from a range of brushes and select the colour and opacity
* graphical spectral cut, copy and paste - cut or copy and paste specific frequency and time regions
This looks quite unique. I really want to see this in action.
Granular Synthesizer
* sampler or granular playback modes
* freely modulatable parameters including grain size, density (up to 10 simultaneous grains), random grain time and random pan
* selectable and customizable granular window shapes
I think this demo touches on this a bit...fantastic...
http://www.camelaudio.com/music/Alchemy ... Demo02.mp3
Flexible Modulation
* up to 16 LFOs, 16 AHDSRs, 16 MSEGs, 16 step sequencers - only those you use are displayed
* virtually every knob is modulatable by up to five different modulators (including modulation-depth knobs, modulator parameters...)
* advanced mod-map feature for anything from drawing custom velocity curves to creating algorithmic random note in a scale effects
* xy-mseg shows you a vector style view of two parameters such as morph x and y position, with ability to import xy timelines
* per destination 'smooth' control
* modulation arcs intuitively show the range of modulation
* modulation details of selected knob automatically displayed
* right click on knob and select 'add modulation' to rapidly add and assign modulators
* playing speed modulation source allows variable response to fast and slow playing; for example to crossfade between staccato and legato samples
* unique flip-flop modulation source for customizable round robin effects
Pretty extensive modulation features.
Other
* personalized keyfile for hassle free copy protection
* available as a download or on DVD
* tutorial videos
* graphic interface by BitPlant
I like the look. It looks more like Camel Space which has a nice clean interface. Looking forward to the tutorial videos. Might even get Alchemy on DVD. Nice to have the download option.
anyway that's my take on Alchemy's specs. Looking forward to more info being released. 
Ooof
