KVR Audio

aronahlam · Post by **aronahlam** » Tue Nov 03, 2015 3:36 am

I went to my friend's house to play with razor and was blown away by how easy and fun it was to make super psychedelic sounds. I love the unique filters (waterbed, super-customizable formant, unisono noise) and the intuitive UI.

But I don't like having to run Reaktor. I find it clunky and excessive - a DAW within a DAW. The ensemble system and folder browser distracts me. It's just personal preference. Is there another VST out there that's similar to Razor but not in reaktor?

stillshaded · Post by **stillshaded** » Tue Nov 03, 2015 3:55 am

Well, Image-line's harmour is technically similar.. it's also a totally additive engine. Like razor, it has that crazy digital shit thing going on, but it's also pretty different. It takes more time to learn for one thing, and you will just get different results in general. It is in the same ballpark though. Ultimately I reckon it's even more powerful. The resynthesis engine is pretty insane.

There's nothing quite like razor in my opinion. You'll just have to accept that IMO. But if you like the unashamed digitalness.. i would try harmour.

EnGee · Post by **EnGee** » Tue Nov 03, 2015 4:10 am

I sold it and I miss it so much but I won't buy it! It is a cpu hog and I also don't like Reaktor.

Although I couldn't find a synth similar in both sound and design but I could cover its sound and more by Air's Loom and IL Harmor.

Harmor is so powerful with low CPU usage for 'average' settings. It needs time though to grasp it.

Loom is my to go with morphing sounds. It's a very capable synth and can sound big as Razor.

JonSolo · Post by **JonSolo** » Tue Nov 03, 2015 4:12 am

I think Loom is very close.

But can't you just minimize things in Reaktor so the ensemble fills up the viewer?

GHOST19 · Post by **GHOST19** » Tue Nov 03, 2015 11:33 am

There's linplug Spectral as another quality additive powered synth.

aronahlam · Post by **aronahlam** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 8:24 am

thanks for the recommendations everyone!

218 · Post by **218** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 10:24 am

IMO none of the mentioned synths sounds as good as Razor. Dont get me wrong, they all sound good, but IMO additive synthesis in Reaktor just sounds better (also check Lazerbass). I owned Reaktor for yrs and never had any problems with it.

Numanoid · Post by **Numanoid** » Thu Nov 05, 2015 12:03 pm

thejonsolo wrote:But can't you just minimize things in Reaktor so the ensemble fills up the viewer?

+1

Just click on the magnifiying glass in the top menu, and Razor doesn't take more place on the screen than a regular VST

The GUI of Spektral reminds me of Razor

foosnark · Post by **foosnark** » Thu Nov 05, 2015 2:04 pm

Nothing really sounds like Razor, except maybe for Lazerbass in a limited way... which is a free Reaktor instrument. My guess is it was the prototype for Razor.

loachm · Post by **loachm** » Thu Nov 05, 2015 2:19 pm

foosnark wrote:Nothing really sounds like Razor, except maybe for Lazerbass in a limited way... which is a free Reaktor instrument. My guess is it was the prototype for Razor.

...Razor was developed by Errorsmith (Erik Wiegand), Lazerbass was developed by Mike Daliot...

Nightpolymath · Post by **Nightpolymath** » Thu Nov 05, 2015 3:41 pm

I like Image Line Morphine and to some extent, Rob Papen Blade, for a slightly different take on additive synthesis.

foosnark · Post by **foosnark** » Thu Nov 05, 2015 4:15 pm

loachm wrote:
foosnark wrote:Nothing really sounds like Razor, except maybe for Lazerbass in a limited way... which is a free Reaktor instrument. My guess is it was the prototype for Razor.
...Razor was developed by Errorsmith (Erik Wiegand), Lazerbass was developed by Mike Daliot...

OK, that's one half-assed hypothesis shot down

shroom81 · Post by **shroom81** » Thu Nov 05, 2015 4:24 pm

EnGee Razor a cpu hog ? Time to buy a new computer more like it...

EnGee · Post by **EnGee** » Thu Nov 05, 2015 7:51 pm

shroom81 wrote:EnGee Razor a cpu hog ? Time to buy a new computer more like it...

Nah! I assembled it last year! I won't upgrade for at least another year

Well, it consumes double of Loom and triple of Harmor. The pads and or metalic sounds use about 40% and if I play fast or try 8 notes chord, I begin to hear crackles!
So, no thanks. Loom and Harmor are more than enough for me

george · Post by **george** » Thu Nov 05, 2015 7:56 pm

Vertigo has some interesting features.

Additive engine with 256 partials (oscillators)
32 / 64-bit Audio Units / VST (Win/Mac/Linux)
WAV / bitmap re-synthesis
2 morphable layers
Dual zero-delay feedback filters / serial / parallel
FFT view
8 effects

VST most similar to Razor