KarmaFX Synth Modular Sale - any reasons not to buy?

[2ZrgE]

Hi there,

I recently discovered that the KarmaFX Synth is on sale - though I already did a test drive yesterday I'm not sure if I will have the time to test it throrougly until the sale is over, which is in 2 days.

So could someone give me any hints why I should not buy this synth?

Some things I already discovered which bother me:

-Modules are not resizable (ok, didn't expect that). Overall look is a bit freeware-ish I must say.
-Preset handling is rather primitive (no direct patch saving but one has to put it into a bank one has to create beforehand).
- parameter reset with strg-doubleclick (not very comfortable as normally my left hand is on my midi keyboard when I patch, I prefer resetting by double-click alone)
- no direct mapping of (all?) modul controls within Live: seems that a lot of (all?) controls have to be first mapped to a macro, and then I can map this macro to a Live macro. Tolerable, but not that comfortable workflow wise)

CPU-use on the other hand seems very efficient - maybe that's because the core of this synth was programmed a decade ago? Couldn not drive my CPU above 10% with a polyphonic pad with 6-8 voices hold which is a good sign normally (I'm on an old i3-2nd gen)

Sound is very ok to my ears, but I'm often put off by those tiny little incommodities I described above...

Well, would love to here some opinions.

[wagtunes]

There is no question that KarmaFX has its quirks. But I love it. There is so much that you can do with. It may not be my best selling library (I think this is one of those cult following synths) but it is one of the most fun synths to program for.

Here's some stuff I put together that you can listen to.

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim ... new-sounds

[wickfut]

Just buy it. It's an amazing synth. Even the included soundbanks are among some of the best noises I've heard from a VA type dance synth (a lot of them are for psytrance and I like psytrance)

[recursive one]

Some of the demosongs on the synth's page sound very psytrance-ish

Do I need this synth? Never heard about it. Psytrance is my main genre, I have Spire, Sylenth, Discovery and stuff.

[2ZrgE]

Just buy it. It's an amazing synth. Even the included soundbanks are among some of the best noises I've heard from a VA type dance synth (a lot of them are for psytrance and I like psytrance)

I definitively like the sounds, and the sales price is almost a steal, only thing which always bothers me are those tiny quirks I described.

I know there's people who don't give a crap about those, but for me it's very important to have synths which are usable GUI- and workflow wise. That's the reason that I e.g. buy every U-he synth without even demoing, because those synths are supported a long time.

The KarmaFX developer seems active, but not that active as others.

[wagtunes]

Just buy it. It's an amazing synth. Even the included soundbanks are among some of the best noises I've heard from a VA type dance synth (a lot of them are for psytrance and I like psytrance)

I definitively like the sounds, and the sales price is almost a steal, only thing which always bothers me are those tiny quirks I described.

I know there's people who don't give a crap about those, but for me it's very important to have synths which are usable GUI- and workflow wise. That's the reason that I e.g. buy every U-he synth without even demoing, because those synths are supported a long time.

The KarmaFX developer seems active, but not that active as others.

Not a lot of updates are needed because, for the most part, the synth is pretty solid. Yeah, some quirks, but not enough to make me not want to use it.

After a while, you get used to the work flow.

[2ZrgE]

Some of the demosongs on the synth's page sound very psytrance-ish

Do I need this synth? Never heard about it. Psytrance is my main genre, I have Spire, Sylenth, Discovery and stuff.

This thing seems to be great for at least oldschool Goa/Psy.

Of course with a little bit of clever patching you could get the same sounds out of Zebra, no doubt.

But that's not the point when buying new synths is it?

[recursive one]

Of course with a little bit of clever patching you could get the same sounds out of Zebra, no doubt.

Tbh, I never thought that Zebra sounds especially great.

Found some youtube demos but they show a bit dated, software-ish sound (kinda like Zebra indeed). Well, will demo it myself.

EDIT: No, some other demos show more nice and warm sound







But mostly VA kind of stuff, I assume a modular synth should be capable of more?

[2ZrgE]

Sounds a bit strange, but as I said before sound is not my main concern - I could do all my Goa stuff with Bazzism and Sylenth and some 909 drum samples. I'm really not typical KVR obsessive about synths, I think Zebra/Sylenth or even Vanguard still deliver in my opinion.

Usability and expected support plays an important role for my buying decisions.

For example I made the mistake and bought Synthmaster, and even if that thing would be the best sounding synth on the planet I wouldn't touch it any longer because I cannot stand that damn GUI.

[recursive one]

I hear you, but for me the sound quality and the versatility/tweakability are the only important factors. Also I'm making more modern kind of psy and my needs are far beyond subtractive sounds.

[wagtunes]

One of the things I love about KarmaFX is how you can import samples and give them the modular treatment. Softube Modular can't do that, yet.

And yeah, the GUI is odd. For me, it's a refreshing change from the same old same old. Yeah, not being able to resize (some of these modules are huge) and having to move stuff around a lot, especially with big patches, is annoying. But you live with this stuff for what, to me anyway, is a very unique sounding synth. I picked mine up for $72. So if the sale is for less than that, grab it. It's a total steal.

[jbuonacc]

-Modules are not resizable (ok, didn't expect that). Overall look is a bit freeware-ish I must say.

how resizable would you like them to be? actually, you can condense them quite a bit, using the little buttons on the upper right hand side. you can close the waveform display, and even condense it to a small strip (many preset patches do this).

i wouldn't say it looks "freeware-ish" at all. a bit "cartoony" (which i usually like myself), but i don't think it looks "cheap" like most freeware does.

- parameter reset with strg-doubleclick (not very comfortable as normally my left hand is on my midi keyboard when I patch, I prefer resetting by double-click alone)

yeah, oh well. lots of synths that don't have "double-click to default". what's a "strg-doubleclick"?

- no direct mapping of (all?) modul controls within Live: seems that a lot of (all?) controls have to be first mapped to a macro, and then I can map this macro to a Live macro. Tolerable, but not that comfortable workflow wise)

true. again... oh well. i actually don't mind it, as it keeps a sort of "focus" inside the KarmaFX interface as to what's mapped. also nice to just control the parameters from that central location when using it (if you're not mapping to Ableton, etc or haven't yet). you can also stack/bind multiple parameters to them, though it's be nice if you could edit the ranges (would make a nice feature request). of course you can do that in Ableton, but still...

... would love to here some opinions.

i've had this for years, but never really use it. bought it when i was trying to find a software replacement for the Nord Modular G2. it's probably one of the best software modulars in some ways, but i just never get around to doing anything with it. every once in a while i'll fire it up and am always impressed with its sound and functionality. it's got a really "snappy" and "croaky" sound to it, and the oscillators/filters are surprisingly good for as old as it is. whenever i do actually spend some time with it i come away feeling happy that i own it.

it does have some quirks to it, and some things don't work quite like i'd expect (the sample player, for one). was pretty turned off initially by the Controller module, but eventually realized that it's got some really nice functionality in itself.

definitely has a lot of uses, and a ton of nice presets to dig through on a rainy day.

[2ZrgE]

[quote="2ZrgE"...

- parameter reset with strg-doubleclick (not very comfortable as normally my left hand is on my midi keyboard when I patch, I prefer resetting by double-click alone)

yeah, oh well. lots of synths that don't have "double-click to default". what's a "strg-doubleclick"?

...

My bad.

"strg', that's German for cmd, sorry...or was it alt-doubleclick?

I just remembered another thing - the controls don't react to the mouse wheel, a nice feature which you don't want to miss once you get used to it (e.g. works in all U-he synths and in the new Sylenth as well).

[jbuonacc]

"strg', that's German for cmd, sorry...or was it alt-doubleclick?

ahh, yeah... been dealing with a lot of "Ctrl-click" myself lately.

I just remembered another thing - the controls don't react to the mouse wheel, a nice feature which you don't want to miss once you get used to it (e.g. works in all U-he synths and in the new Sylenth as well).

wouldn't know, i use a trackball mouse. then again, i could probably program one of its secondary buttons to engage a scrollwheel function and don't even realize it. ehh, not sure i'd need it, the trackball acts the same way.

[jbuonacc]

... mostly VA kind of stuff, I assume a modular synth should be capable of more?

this thing can do pretty much anything that any other "modular" can do. what makes you think it can't?