Ok what the...new REV Revolution ??

[EvilDragon]

Is there some rythmic/percussion/drums reverse samples and related paradigms ?

For instance à step sequencer locked to the attack of the reversed drum samples, and is there a lookahead fonction to fix possible synchronisation issues ?

No step sequencers are used in the library at all. Delay and LFO modulations can be tempo-synced or not, and lookahead is not necessary for this functionality.

Just listened to two videos in backwar...erm...forward mode.

I bet one example in the loops vid is made with good ol' Steampipe from Reaktor. I'm almost sure, say 92%.

Edit: -link deleted-

Oh wait, the may sue me for this short excerpt (reading from the watermark feature description).

No virtual instruments were used in production of samples for Rev.

And no, you posting an audio example has nothing to do with watermarking. NKI, NKX and NKR files are watermarked - the audio itself is not watermarked.

[Krakatau]

Is there some rythmic/percussion/drums reverse samples and related paradigms ?

For instance à step sequencer locked to the attack of the reversed drum samples, and is there a lookahead fonction to fix possible synchronisation issues ?

No step sequencers are used in the library at all. Delay and LFO modulations can be tempo-synced or not, and lookahead is not necessary for this functionality.

.

I see...so i assume that synchronisation of the loops are just locked to time-stretch algorithms of Kontakt engine ?

[EvilDragon]

Yes, we're using Time Machine Pro.

[tq]

Yes, we're using Time Machine Pro.

Are the "instruments" and the "timed instruments" the same samples - one tempo locked, the other free running? Or is this a different set of instruments/samples?

[EvilDragon]

Yes, they are same samples, TI are TMPro, I are regular Sampler mode.

[elxsound]

But since this thread started on such a disparaging tone and defensive replies, wouldn't it be better to start a more positive thread for the product and in the proper forum for samples instead?

I actually didn't want to sound too defensive, really, but I am not a native speaker, so not getting the tone right is to be expected... Anyway, you are right about starting a different thread for the product itself.

And,in my book, you were not (defensive). Just re-establishing facts VS people claiming that it could be done by just reversing their sample folders.

Instruments tend to be more complex nowadays, and its not rare seeing people (over?)reacting to a few words they have extracted of a global blurb, and making fun of it, because well, its a nice way to spend time. We've seen that for many products, including a lot of the products that try to offer something -more or less- different.

So adding information is usefull, and pertinent. Not defensive ( wich also implies some people have been offensive btw, wich is their right, after all )

Tbh I've myself seen some products where my first impression was " Hmmm We've already seen that". To finally find out that differences and uniqueness there were, inside.

Not directly related, but still : The instrument market is overcrowded, and it is -just- my opinion that some people try to reinsure themseleves in the fact they have choosen the good "standard", the graal of some particular needs/desires they desperatly search answers for, the thing that makes it all etc etc ( like reversing samples). For this kind of people, difference is not a plus, its a failure. To me its not : Difference = richness = life = music.


Fwiw.

I think responding to marketing claims is fair game.

I also think that slamming a product can bring about the correct response, as in what's so different, special or unique about it.

Remember we're talking about a product without a demo version to use, so responding to marketing claims, and promo materials is all you can do. And before anyone suggests that someone should completely research all promo material before making statements, I'll be the first to say that's what marketing is all about. The idea is to grab the attention of potential buyers, and unfortunately marketing can have an adverse affect by turning off some users as quickly as it turns on others. It's a risk that has to be taken with releasing products (especially with words like "revolutionary").

Also don't expect any potential users to understand the hard work put into any product. On KVR you can expect users of walks of life and disciplines, including those just wanting to play pretty sounds.

[dogzilla]

their product is revolutionary when at it's lowest level

Muted samples could be the next big thing. Turn that volume back to 0!

[Lotuzia]

But since this thread started on such a disparaging tone and defensive replies, wouldn't it be better to start a more positive thread for the product and in the proper forum for samples instead?

I actually didn't want to sound too defensive, really, but I am not a native speaker, so not getting the tone right is to be expected... Anyway, you are right about starting a different thread for the product itself.

And,in my book, you were not (defensive). Just re-establishing facts VS people claiming that it could be done by just reversing their sample folders.

Instruments tend to be more complex nowadays, and its not rare seeing people (over?)reacting to a few words they have extracted of a global blurb, and making fun of it, because well, its a nice way to spend time. We've seen that for many products, including a lot of the products that try to offer something -more or less- different.

So adding information is usefull, and pertinent. Not defensive ( wich also implies some people have been offensive btw, wich is their right, after all )

Tbh I've myself seen some products where my first impression was " Hmmm We've already seen that". To finally find out that differences and uniqueness there were, inside.

Not directly related, but still : The instrument market is overcrowded, and it is -just- my opinion that some people try to reinsure themseleves in the fact they have choosen the good "standard", the graal of some particular needs/desires they desperatly search answers for, the thing that makes it all etc etc ( like reversing samples). For this kind of people, difference is not a plus, its a failure. To me its not : Difference = richness = life = music.


Fwiw.

I think responding to marketing claims is fair game.

I also think that slamming a product can bring about the correct response, as in what's so different, special or unique about it.

Remember we're talking about a product without a demo version to use, so responding to marketing claims, and promo materials is all you can do. And before anyone suggests that someone should completely research all promo material before making statements, I'll be the first to say that's what marketing is all about. The idea is to grab the attention of potential buyers, and unfortunately marketing can have an adverse affect by turning off some users as quickly as it turns on others. It's a risk that has to be taken with releasing products (especially with words like "revolutionary").

Also don't expect any potential users to understand the hard work put into any product. On KVR you can expect users of walks of life and disciplines, including those just wanting to play pretty sounds.

Yes there would be a lot to say on all these matters, but globally I agree with you 99,99%

[Krakatau]

Just watched the videos. sounds and looks like a hard and honesrt work done, right on a usually unexplored area



I just hope for xou good success, it's clearly some unique additionnal colours for arranger and producers . IMHO !

[tq]

Hey guys, I took the plunge and bought it...

I already spent some time with it, and I have to say: It's excellent, and surprisingly versatile. It's *not* just reversed loops! Not at all. Actually, the whole 'reversed samples' idea is just a starting point. They use the reversed sample sources as the basis for some pretty clever sound design. Some of the categories in the instrument aren't 'reversed' sounding at all, but they are looped and used as pads, impacts etc. The 'reversed' basic material gives these pads and sounds a pulsating, semi-acoustic character.

The sound design is really really good, and comparable to other quality producers (like Heavyocity, 8Dio, Sample Logic ... I have a lot of these libraries, so I can compare them). However, it has its on aesthetics - so there is no overlap in sound with other libraries. It really sounds unique and adds a new colour to your palette.

What I also like about it is the organization of the library: The four engines give you four different options and can be used for four different things.

The 'instruments' engine offers a lot of pads, drones, synth sounds, but also very 'organic' sounding hybrid sounds (comparable to some of the psychoacoustic sounds in Omnisphere). The interesting aspect is that we somehow still perceive the reversed sounds as something 'natural', so they always resemble their 'real life' sound source, as they have a lot of organic sounding variation in them. So some of these sounds resemble acoustic instruments, like Violins, Cellos, Pianos, Gongs - but different. There are also some really cool 'Ambient guitar' like sounds in there, that you could use for a lot of genres. Oh, and some interesting Mellotron like sounds. Basically, the instruments engine offers hundreds of presets, and most of them are really usable and not fillers.

The 'timed instruments' can be used in situations where rhythm is important, as they are tempo synced (half/normal/double tempo). These can be used to make drums and rhythmic parts richer, and add background atmosphere to rhythmic tracks.

Then there is a 'loops' instrument with several themed loops banks. The loop banks seem to be based on the same sample sessions or sample sources, so they somewhat match the sound of the instruments. The loops in the bank can also be played chromatically (mix & match), to produce rhythmic atmospheres. While this is really good sounding, I think the overall number of loops is somewhat limited. I could imagine that if other people out there use this more often, these loops might be recognized in your music (although you can mangle and destroy them with the engine).

The 'risers' are - well - risers! Again, they are based on the same general instruments and sounds. These risers are very good and organic sounding, but not as 'epic' sounding as some of the other libraries out there. There are also some aggressive ones in there, but overall, the tone is really somewhat 'organic' (not necessarily 'acoustic', as some also have a 'synth' like character).

A big plus of the library is the really good organization and the great interface. In contrast to many other libraries with hundreds of sounds, this library offers descriptive sub-categories, and the preset names are mostly not fantasy names, but also tell you something about what to expect.

Overall, I am really pleased with the purchase. There are a few things that could be improved or expanded, though: The timed instruments eat CPU power for breakfast, as they rely on Time Machine Pro. If you play many notes at once, you might overload your core or get some strange 'processor stress' effects. Furthermore, the number of basic sample sources is somewhat limited. I wish there would be more basic sound sources - there are about thirty different instruments that were used for this. They really dissect these sounds with their prests, mix them, and make completely new things out of them - but still: There could always be more...

The price is not too high for what you get - but that's just true if you like the general sound of this thing. Listen to the Walkthrough and the examples on their website - if you like what you hear, then you get tons of these sounds, and many really usable variations for all kinds of applications. If you don't like that sound, and don't know what it's good for - well, then you shouldn't buy it, because it's not for you.

O.k., I hope this review helps a bit. And sorry for the somewhat odd descriptions, but I found it pretty hard to describe sounds that somehow sound "natural" and "real", but somehow "different", too.

(P.S.: And please don't flame me for buying something that you think is stupid. It really took me some time to write this little review, and maybe it's useful for some other people...)

[Andrew Souter]

Holly epic marketing video! Did James Cameron film this? I'm actually a little (OK a lot) jealous! Congrats on the video! Seriously...

The product looks fun. Nice GUI too.

[BBFG#]

Hey guys, I took the plunge and bought it...
I already spent some time with it, and I have to say: It's excellent, and surprisingly versatile.
The price is not too high for what you get - but that's just true if you like the general sound of this thing. Listen to the Walkthrough and the examples on their website - if you like what you hear, then you get tons of these sounds, and many really usable variations for all kinds of applications.
O.k., I hope this review helps a bit. And sorry for the somewhat odd descriptions, but I found it pretty hard to describe sounds that somehow sound "natural" and "real", but somehow "different", too.
(P.S.: And please don't flame me for buying something that you think is stupid. It really took me some time to write this little review, and maybe it's useful for some other people...)

All in all, a very nice review tq. I don't think it stupid, just pricey. And while I haven't done the walk through, I do like some of the sounds I've heard.
I'll probably explore it a little more when I get around a Starbucks to eat their bandwidth.

So what kind of CPU hits have you experienced so far tq?
(and of course, what CPU was it hitting)?

Personally never a big fan of the mellotrons like others except for the fact you could reverse sounds even back then. I remember always wanting an 'improved mellotron' without all the tape hiss and short loops and we have that now (and for quite some time in fact). There seems to be to be something in the human psyche that hears reverse sounds as natural and begs to be explored. And I am one of those 'lazy types' that really doesn't like to spend the effort in reversing them. So while this should be something for me, I can't see being able to justify the price is all. (It suddenly looks cheaper next to NI's new set though)!

And for anyone going for it, I think it is probably a good product one can find good uses for. Especially after that great review by tq.

[EvilDragon]

Thank you for your review, tq, I'm glad you're liking Rev!


Time Machine Pro can indeed chomp any CPU out there, provided enough voices are played.

[Tricky-Loops]

Now let's buy it all and celebrate the revolution!

(If I have too much money maybe I'll buy it in 10 years...)

[tq]

So what kind of CPU hits have you experienced so far tq?
(and of course, what CPU was it hitting)?

It's a Mac Pro 2.6 Octo Nehalem, 2009. Not really brand new, but still a pretty capable machine. It's not the fault of the library per se - TM Pro is very CPU intensive. You can certainly play a few notes before one core is maxed out, but not too many at once.

Btw, the problem is the multiprocessor handling - I think even though Kontakt has multiprocessor support, it is not really working with Logic, which uses it's own multiprocessor handling. I can max out one core with the active instrument - and still have 7 completely idle cores (at least that's what the CPU load display says).