KVR Audio

Forge Audio Designs · Post by **Forge Audio Designs** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 2:52 pm

simple question really. Which one should I buy!?

As far as I am aware LFO tool features the same audio functionality as Volumeshaper as well as incorporating a decent filter. I believe it also can send MIDI data to other VST's (i.e. fabfilter volcano).

just wondering if anyone uses both and can compare?

Is the MIDI control implementation setup any different between the 2?

Do the cableguy products offer deeper curve control etc??

loopdon · Post by **loopdon** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 3:48 pm

For the money i reckon you should just grab both.
They both have stuff that the other one hasn't and are both dirt-cheap
and very very much worth it.

V'ger · Post by **V'ger** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 1:54 am

LFO Tool only sends on one MIDI CC, MIDI Shaper can do plenty so if it's mostly for MIDI then the choice is easy.

But LFO Tool has a really great filter which makes me happy I have both.

Editing curves is about the same, LFO Tool has a smaller window but better snap function.

Do also try Sonic Assault's MIDISeq and MIDIMod
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jez.price/effects.htm

VibraSound · Post by **VibraSound** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 2:40 am

And you can have TAL-Filter-2 for Free

http://kunz.corrupt.ch/products/TAL-Filter

hardwinte · Post by **hardwinte** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 3:08 am

I have midishaper - it's quite a strong learning curve...in fact I still haven't figured out some of the functions for studio one ahahaha

Jakob / Cableguys · Post by **Jakob / Cableguys** » Sat Mar 24, 2012 8:10 pm

hardwinte wrote:I have midishaper - it's quite a strong learning curve...in fact I still haven't figured out some of the functions for studio one ahahaha

really? Hmm routing setup is tricky but that's just in the nature of routing MIDI CC, and is handled super easy in some hosts, and more complicated in others. But besides that, let us know if there's something you feel unsure about, we are interested to learn and to improve the product where possible!

Forge Audio Designs, I'd propose to simply try the MidiShaper demo to find out if it fits your needs, and if you like the way we implemented waveform drawing. The demo is fully-functional and has no time-limit, only saving of presets is disabled.

ferez21 · Post by **ferez21** » Thu Nov 06, 2014 11:34 pm

If your'e using FL Studio, you can imitate sidechaining using Patcher. Still great plugins though and very reasonably priced, the VolumeShaper 4 looks absolutely amazing.

ferez21 · Post by **ferez21** » Thu Nov 06, 2014 11:35 pm

double post, sorry.

Ciberithm · Post by **Ciberithm** » Fri Nov 07, 2014 12:23 am

I've got all the cableguys "shapers". They're all good, but as has been mentioned, midi shaper has a steep learning curve. I think you would be better of comparing filter shaper to LFOTool instead of comparing it to midi shaper.

billcarroll · Post by **billcarroll** » Fri Nov 07, 2014 12:29 am

What DAW do you use? LFOTool has an offset that lets you correct for Ableton Live's lack of PDC on a track. If you use Ableton Live then LFOTool is irreplaceable and a must buy.

Jakob / Cableguys · Post by **Jakob / Cableguys** » Fri Nov 07, 2014 7:31 am

billcarroll wrote:What DAW do you use? LFOTool has an offset that lets you correct for Ableton Live's lack of PDC on a track. If you use Ableton Live then LFOTool is irreplaceable and a must buy.

Well, the timing bug of Ableton Live is even worse: The offset might change when you add new channels to your songs, add plugins or change order of channels. You might then need to manually correct the offset again.

But there's a workaround which works stable in Ableton Live in all cases: MIDI triggering.

FilterShaper and VolumeShaper allow you to do that (I think LFOTool too), which gives the correct result with Ableton Live in all cases. Check our FAQ page and search for "PDC" to find out how to do it.

If you don't want to set up MIDI-triggering, you can also precisely move the wave in FilterShaper and VolumeShaper via the left and right buttons; hold SHIFT while clicking the buttons for small movements. our oscilloscope helps display the offset.

billcarroll · Post by **billcarroll** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 5:36 am

Jakob / Cableguys wrote:
billcarroll wrote:What DAW do you use? LFOTool has an offset that lets you correct for Ableton Live's lack of PDC on a track. If you use Ableton Live then LFOTool is irreplaceable and a must buy.
Well, the timing bug of Ableton Live is even worse: The offset might change when you add new channels to your songs, add plugins or change order of channels. You might then need to manually correct the offset again.

But there's a workaround which works stable in Ableton Live in all cases: MIDI triggering.

FilterShaper and VolumeShaper allow you to do that (I think LFOTool too), which gives the correct result with Ableton Live in all cases. Check our FAQ page and search for "PDC" to find out how to do it.

If you don't want to set up MIDI-triggering, you can also precisely move the wave in FilterShaper and VolumeShaper via the left and right buttons; hold SHIFT while clicking the buttons for small movements. our oscilloscope helps display the offset.

Thanks for the info. Even though the offset adjustment in VolumeShaper should have been fairly obvious, I missed it. I'll give it a shot. MIDI triggering can be cool for some stuff for sure, and is definitely another workaround for Live's lack of latency reporting. Still, I think you could add an offset adjustment that reads in samples and milliseconds, especially considering how easy it is to calculate the exact latency on a channel.

_al_ · Post by **_al_** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 8:08 am

i stopped buying cableguys at version 2 because they have no snap to grid, and he said he was never going to implement it, because he wants them to be organic (yep he wants us to be more organic too, apparently). so thats something to remember, if you're doing dance music, and need your automation tight.

never tried lfo tool, i use fl love philter and sometimes melda

Jakob / Cableguys · Post by **Jakob / Cableguys** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 10:41 am

_al_ wrote:i stopped buying cableguys at version 2 because they have no snap to grid, and he said he was never going to implement it, because he wants them to be organic (yep he wants us to be more organic too, apparently). so thats something to remember, if you're doing dance music, and need your automation tight.

never tried lfo tool, i use fl love philter and sometimes melda

Well I was wrong back then.. we have snap to grid now. (To use it: Either enable it via the menu which gets shown when you right-click in the waveform area, or hold SHIFT while moving a point to temporarily enable/disable snapping).

_al_ · Post by **_al_** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 11:40 am

then you have my apologies. nothing else i can fault your plugins with

Dilemma: Lfo Tool vs. Cableguys MIDI shaper/ Volume Shaper