KVR Audio

AnX · Post by **AnX** » Sun Jul 31, 2016 4:22 am

chk071 wrote:
AnX wrote:The mojority of whom will never buy it anyway....
How do you know?

Cos they would have bought it in the first place

Touch The Universe · Post by **Touch The Universe** » Sun Jul 31, 2016 4:32 am

off topic : does tone2 have education discounts?

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Sun Jul 31, 2016 4:59 am

Downloaded the Icarus beta... liking it a lot so far.

Icarus seems like it is going to be effortless to get all sorts of good sounding and compelling pads/soundscape stuff.

flakes2 · Post by **flakes2** » Sun Jul 31, 2016 5:19 am

[quote="Touch The Universe"]off topic : does tone2 have education discounts?[/quote]

I think they have. You could send an email to their Support and ask for a discount

Uncle E · Post by **Uncle E** » Sun Jul 31, 2016 4:11 pm

AnX wrote:Cos they would have bought it in the first place

You edited out the most important part:

chk071 wrote:How do you know? Urs from u-he said once that quite a few people whose warezed Zebra's GUI melted away clicked on a link after to buy it from their shop. At the very least, i wouldn't want to do the guess work on how many people really would buy it, if they didn't get a warezed version of it.

If true, this proves that people who weren't willing to buy in the first place did buy after their warez versions stopped working.

flakes2 · Post by **flakes2** » Sun Jul 31, 2016 5:02 pm

[quote="exmatproton"][quote="flakes2"]There seems to be an interesting feature that they call 'dynamic microtuning'. It seems to enhance chords. If you init a patch and then play a minor third it sound more harmonic than with another synth. Does someone know how this works? I'd like to add this to a new synth i am currently working on[/quote]

It is a microtuning specific setting, based on certain new and older types of tuning. Velotti for instance. You can look it up on the net to get a sense what is going on. Slight "detuning" on certain notes can make a huge difference in perception. It is fun they added this.[/quote]

Yes. Valotti and the other tunings detune the notes slightly. However this is always a fixed detuning. It does not work well with all chords. The 'dynamic silky' mode has not a fixed detuning. It seems to be different. Maybe something like hermode tuning?

AnX · Post by **AnX** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 5:51 am

Uncle E wrote:
AnX wrote:Cos they would have bought it in the first place

You edited out the most important part:

chk071 wrote:How do you know? Urs from u-he said once that quite a few people whose warezed Zebra's GUI melted away clicked on a link after to buy it from their shop. At the very least, i wouldn't want to do the guess work on how many people really would buy it, if they didn't get a warezed version of it.
If true, this proves that people who weren't willing to buy in the first place did buy after their warez versions stopped working.

It proves a few did, from one company. Thats not really the big picture.

EnGee · Post by **EnGee** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 8:45 am

pdxindy wrote:Downloaded the Icarus beta... liking it a lot so far.

Icarus seems like it is going to be effortless to get all sorts of good sounding and compelling pads/soundscape stuff.

You made me curious! I'm downloading the beta again and will test it thoroughly this time. Maybe I missed something from the first demo!

But, damn! I'm really broke this month

and Icarus is not cheap. Anyway, if it can replace Absynth, that would be great, as I lost hope in NI updating it to a new version. I don't know, I have only tested the plucks, bass and usual pads (no drones or soundscapes) and found that Dune 2 can cover them perfectly.

Well, let's fire it up and see then

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 8:56 am

I'm holding back - might get it if it goes on sale though. It sounds great but I don't particularly like the interface (although it is better than some T2 ones) and it really should have macro controls.

lnikj · Post by **lnikj** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 8:59 am

aMUSEd wrote:I'm holding back - might get it if it goes on sale though. It sounds great but I don't particularly like the interface (although it is better than some T2 ones) and it really should have macro controls.

Ditto. I expect it will be $50 off in November.

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 5:02 pm

EnGee wrote:
pdxindy wrote:Downloaded the Icarus beta... liking it a lot so far.

Icarus seems like it is going to be effortless to get all sorts of good sounding and compelling pads/soundscape stuff.
You made me curious! I'm downloading the beta again and will test it thoroughly this time. Maybe I missed something from the first demo!

But, damn! I'm really broke this month and Icarus is not cheap. Anyway, if it can replace Absynth, that would be great, as I lost hope in NI updating it to a new version. I don't know, I have only tested the plucks, bass and usual pads (no drones or soundscapes) and found that Dune 2 can cover them perfectly.

Well, let's fire it up and see then

With 3 Wavetable Osc's, the modulation could be a little more extensive. And the GUI aint great... not bad, but not great. No drag-n-drop modulation, some parameters in odd places, fair bit of tabbing, etc.

However, it has a good sound and is easy to create evolving sounds/drones etc. I was immediately finding some compelling results using just a single Osc. Actually, I have only made sounds so far with 1 Osc. Each Osc is very capable and just lends itself to that type of sound. And with 2 filters and a wide range of filter types you can do some fine sound sculpting.

It is mainly interesting to me for soundscapes and drones... so that is the basis for my positive impression. I have not even tried the other types of sounds.

EnGee · Post by **EnGee** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 11:26 pm

pdxindy wrote:
With 3 Wavetable Osc's, the modulation could be a little more extensive. And the GUI aint great... not bad, but not great. No drag-n-drop modulation, some parameters in odd places, fair bit of tabbing, etc.

However, it has a good sound and is easy to create evolving sounds/drones etc. I was immediately finding some compelling results using just a single Osc. Actually, I have only made sounds so far with 1 Osc. Each Osc is very capable and just lends itself to that type of sound. And with 2 filters and a wide range of filter types you can do some fine sound sculpting.

It is mainly interesting to me for soundscapes and drones... so that is the basis for my positive impression. I have not even tried the other types of sounds.

I have spent all yesterday's night with it (and of course with other synths to compare). Well, this is my second time demoing it (just presets and comparison with what I have).

It is indeed a fine synth. One of the best out there, but it is not the best in everything (of course no synth is!). As a wavetable synth, I compared it first with Serum's Demo. They are in the same league but not still have many differences in the sound/character. After more than an hour, going back and fourth and deleting/re-inserting because of the demo limitations, I found I prefer Icarus more than Serum (just a personal preference). Icarus does have some 'Tone2 Character' but that doesn't bother me at all. It has a pleasant character, but I prefer it around the middle C and lower for most presets. The higher notes are fine but other synths have more clarity (like Bazille). Still, Icarus is really great as a digital synth with a pleasant sound.

Till now, I found some unique presets (sounds) that it might be difficult to replicate in other synths like the pad "SpecJourney" by RR. The most I liked in Icarus, that made it shine among my synths collection is the Sequence presets/sounds. There are too many great ones, few of the best are: "Ace of the gods" by UT, "Blunt Force 2" by UT, and "The Legend" by BT.

It also shines in the plucks/bass but IMO it is equal (or slightly more pleasant) with Dune 2. But they are still have different characters.

For atmosphere/soundscape, I don't think it can replace Absynth (no synth can it seems!) due to the complexity of the envelopes/effects I think. Anyway, it still has good possibilities. For, the quality of soundscapes (not as complex as in Absynth), Icarus also loses to NI Razor and Prism. Those two can produce the highest quality in short soundscapes/air/atmosphere IMO.

I did compared it with Bazille as well. Bazille still wins in the raw sound and more serious presence. I know they are different syntheses, but anyway, that what I have. For analogish, it loses of course to Monark and Diva.

The nearest I have is Dune 2. It was a difficult comparison as they share a lot really. They both have something unique isn't there in the other synth. Sometimes, I preferred Dune 2 and sometimes I preferred Icarus, so it seems it is down to the sound designer skill. There is also a difference from NI Massive and Waldorf Largo, but those two are less in clarity/punch in the sound.

Anyway, I will still keep the demo this time and try to decide if Icarus would be in my future list to buy or not. It has definitely this 'Bite' that make it so unique. The question, even if I like it, will I have plenty of use for it? I don't know yet as EDM is not my main genre.

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:07 am

EnGee wrote:
For atmosphere/soundscape, I don't think it can replace Absynth (no synth can it seems!) due to the complexity of the envelopes/effects I think. Anyway, it still has good possibilities. For, the quality of soundscapes (not as complex as in Absynth), Icarus also loses to NI Razor and Prism. Those two can produce the highest quality in short soundscapes/air/atmosphere IMO.

I did compared it with Bazille as well. Bazille still wins in the raw sound and more serious presence. I know they are different syntheses, but anyway, that what I have. For analogish, it loses of course to Monark and Diva.

The nearest I have is Dune 2. It was a difficult comparison as they share a lot really. They both have something unique isn't there in the other synth. Sometimes, I preferred Dune 2 and sometimes I preferred Icarus, so it seems it is down to the sound designer skill. There is also a difference from NI Massive and Waldorf Largo, but those two are less in clarity/punch in the sound.

Anyway, I will still keep the demo this time and try to decide if Icarus would be in my future list to buy or not. It has definitely this 'Bite' that make it so unique. The question, even if I like it, will I have plenty of use for it? I don't know yet as EDM is not my main genre.

Icarus is very different from Absynth. Absynth relies a lot on granular. Icarus is wavetable. They both have a rather different character. I have Absynth but don't use it much. I tend to build ambient stuff up with multiple clips, not have a single note that is an ever evolving soundscape.

The ways you can manipulate the sample in Icarus makes complex sonic changes possible with simple movements. It does not really need the sort of complex envelopes that Absynth has. I think Icarus is a lot easier to work with. It also has some good resynthesis capabilities.

I didn't take to Razor (too sharp... heh). I like Prism for its modeling sounds...

Dune does not have the wavetable editing or resynthesis functions. In that sense it is rather different from Icarus and not so comparable. I also like Icarus better than Serum (sound-wise - Serum GUI is better)

Me, I want Icarus for pads/drones/scapes and appreciate that it is low cpu.

EnGee · Post by **EnGee** » Tue Aug 02, 2016 11:33 am

The more I play with Icarus, the more I like it. It has a pleasant sound that keeps me playing for hours! I don't feel that fatigue with its sound it seems!

I also agree, it is a very versatile synth and can come with great results fast. The main advantage of it, it sounds clean (in an excellent way!). At first, I thought it is a negative thing, but the more I play, the more I be convinced that I don't have such clean precise sounds which can give a nice feeling about the mix overall.

It has also great filters and oscillators. The ARP could be with a better interface, but it is functional at least.

The end of story, I will get it (but not soon)!

exmatproton · Post by **exmatproton** » Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:18 pm

EnGee wrote:The more I play with Icarus, the more I like it. It has a pleasant sound that keeps me playing for hours! I don't feel that fatigue with its sound it seems!

I also agree, it is a very versatile synth and can come with great results fast. The main advantage of it, it sounds clean (in an excellent way!). At first, I thought it is a negative thing, but the more I play, the more I be convinced that I don't have such clean precise sounds which can give a nice feeling about the mix overall.

It has also great filters and oscillators. The ARP could be with a better interface, but it is functional at least.

The end of story, I will get it (but not soon)!

I have to agree on most parts. However, i am not that fond of the filters. They are good and sound lush, but i prefer a more "heavy" sound. Also, i am not that fond of the fx. I don't use them at all. Maybe sometimes a small reverb for a bit of room, but no, they're not what i am looking for. Which is fine really. Where this plugin really shines (for me that is) is at the osc level. I love the tools, the clean sound, the overall possibilities. It is a really nice device.

But like i said, the filters and fx are a bit of a downer (the more i play with it), so i tend to use external filtering and fx.

Tone2 will release Icarus - 3D WaveTable Synthesizer