KVR Audio

Echoes in the Attic · Post by **Echoes in the Attic** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 7:04 pm

This synth deserves way more attention honestly. I just feel like it's in another league from pretty much every other VA. When it comes to classic emulation, Diva rules. But for overall sound quality and not trying to emulate anything in particular, I think Corona beats everything out there. It always has such presence and huge punch. Crisp top end and crazy bottom. It can be smooth like classic analog or nasty and dirty along the lines of Massive. It seems to bridge the digital and analog worlds nicely. And the tones you can get out of the fancy cross-modulation is pretty wild.

There are plenty of synths that pleasantly surprise me if I haven't used them in a while, with their own unique character, but Corona really blows me away with just how BIG it sounds.

The one big let down for me is that the modulation amounts aren't automatable. This is such a massive bummer for me that it prevents me from using it a lot despite it's great sound. I wish the mod sources and target menus were exposed to the host like many synths do, but I think it's a bit crazy that the amounts aren't exposed. I can't think of many synth that don't expose these, unless they are a drag and drop system like Massive or DCAM with the rings around the target parameters.

If the developer is listening - Your synth is amazing. Please finish it by exposing modulation amounts (and if possible the source and target menus).

cheers

DJMashbot · Post by **DJMashbot** » Sun Jul 13, 2014 10:03 am

To be honest, I think the gui can be a turn off for some. I know the screen shots never got my attention. But after trying the demo, I fell in love with the sound, which is what led me to buy it. I agree that it's a total beast, that low end is unreal.

Doc Brown · Post by **Doc Brown** » Sun Jul 13, 2014 12:53 pm

I have never downloaded the demo simply because of the gui to be honest. I might try the demo just out of curiosity.

Gribs · Post by **Gribs** » Sun Jul 13, 2014 1:34 pm

I think it is an is an unhyped, low profile little gem... that is not so little.

I own a license but am guilty of underuse, probably because I own too many instrument licenses.

mridlen · Post by **mridlen** » Sun Jul 13, 2014 2:01 pm

Corona is amazing. The oscillator combine algorithms, distortion models, and wide selection of waveforms are awesome.

LimboLoves · Post by **LimboLoves** » Sun Jul 13, 2014 4:59 pm

I haven't demo'd Corona yet. Mostly due to the companies beliefs that Discovery Pro is equal to or better than the nord leads. Blasphemy I say. Good company to buy from though.

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Sun Jul 13, 2014 5:12 pm

LimboLoves wrote:Mostly due to the companies beliefs that Discovery Pro is equal to or better than the nord leads.

What makes you think they believe that?

zerocrossing · Post by **zerocrossing** » Sun Jul 13, 2014 5:50 pm

LimboLoves wrote:I haven't demo'd Corona yet. Mostly due to the companies beliefs that Discovery Pro is equal to or better than the nord leads. Blasphemy I say. Good company to buy from though.

Well, as far as I can tell, he nailed the NL2x filter, added wavetables and "padsynth" oscs and managed to eliminate the aliasing the NL2x is known for. I don't think the unison sounds as good though. So... I don't fault him for being proud of his software.

Ingonator · Post by **Ingonator** » Sun Jul 13, 2014 6:02 pm

Echoes in the Attic · Post by **Echoes in the Attic** » Sun Jul 13, 2014 6:27 pm

I can see why some might overlook it because the GUI somehow looks a bit cheap perhaps. But it's quite functional and a nice layout. Only issue I have with the GUI is that you can't tell what sample is loaded because there isn't enough space to display that. I barely use the samples anyways. So much is possible with the regular oscs and cross mod.

Worth noting too that it's got one of the best arps out there as well, if not the best.

Corona begs to be played live. Please give us automation of the modulation parameters for hardware mapping!

Doc Brown · Post by **Doc Brown** » Sun Jul 13, 2014 6:44 pm

It would be great if the gui was more like discovery pro.

Sendy · Post by **Sendy** » Sun Jul 13, 2014 10:47 pm

I'd like to see some subtle colour-coding throughout the modules on the front panel. Either pastel or very desaturated primary and secondary colours. Layout-wise, I think it's brilliant, everything is where you'd expect it to be and you can see what's going on in a patch. It's just that everything is too samey. It's nice to make some knobs stand out with different sizes and/or colours - especially important ones like cutoff and sustain level.

The sound of Corona is very nice. One of the best non-VA filter sections around. Corona reminds me of Diva's alternate reality twin. The filters have a very solid, physical presence. You can get a wide range of sounds with them (yes, there are two). The oscillators are famously mad and can get awesome bit-funked morphing waveforms if you experiment with it.

Another thing about Corona is that is has a lot of excellent, subtle features that let you go that extra mile in customising your sound, without them getting in the way. For example, you can put the amp stage before the filter for a subtly different sound, you have various portamento algorythms that differ only in nuance, the arp has a lot of cool "gimmick" features IIRC, etc.

Also, 6db resonant filter. That's always a plus

Xenos · Post by **Xenos** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 9:57 pm

It's definitely praiseworthy. Not a fan of the GUI, either, but the sound and functionality are solid. He has some unique ideas in the oscillator section, which alone are worth the price. Not just a dance/EDM synth, either. I've gotten some killer hip hop, trap and dubstep noises out of it. Corona has a very modern, current sound.

Robmobius · Post by **Robmobius** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 10:26 pm

I like this synth a lot. Admittedly I'm late to discoDSP's software. I just picked Corona up in the summer sale. There's loads going on under the hood, much more then appears initially.

Beefy sound too!

Discovery Pro is also excellent (I've had that for quite a while).

Phorous · Post by **Phorous** » Thu Aug 07, 2014 12:35 am

Just picked up Corona on a 35% sale. There really is a huge amount of flexibility with all the oscillator modes and tweaking you can do. On top of that, it sounds fantastic. Not to forget the most consumer friendly licensing policy. Oh yeah, fantastic Arpeggiator as well! What is not to like?

EDIT:

Whil I am indifferent about the color of the UI, I find the UI itself to be extremely usable. Has visual parameters on the knobs in the same way Omnisphere does for modulation.

EDIT2:

It has a dark theme!

EDIT3:

Not sure if its just Reaper, but I can't right click "MIDI Learn". I have to manually go into reapers automation menu for the track and do it from there. Not a huge deal, its the only thing I havn't liked so far. The sound is simply massive and full of character

Still can't get over Corona's sound