KVR Audio

Dirtgrain · Post by **Dirtgrain** » Mon Jul 12, 2021 3:06 am

Children's TV show? The crap you say sometimes . . .

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Mon Jul 12, 2021 3:20 am

What? It's all very lightweight happy, happy, joy, joy sounding, sort of plasticky. Nothing I heard has any balls. It was completely and utterly not what I expected and definitely nothing that we could ever use in what we do. I don't even know why anyone would think to compare it to Concept 2 - they might both be granular synths but they are nothing alike.

Tj Shredder · Post by **Tj Shredder** » Mon Jul 12, 2021 6:59 am

Tastes are different obviously. The two synth should not be compared, as Abyss is a totally new synthesis method with never heard sounds (no granular in its original sense, though some sound get in that direction), and Concept has a unique innovative approach to modulation and a nice collection of known synthesis methods. I do like both, and are happy that Abyss fitted my budged over Concept… I dig new stuff… And I insist on MPE…

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Mon Jul 12, 2021 7:56 am

Even for simple basslines? 5D Touch has it's uses but I don't need every single instrument I own to support it. One good synth is plenty and my MPE controller came with the best one going, Equator. I think a lot of devs are likely to wait for MIDI 2.0, rather than futz around with implementing MPE, just to have it made obsolete in a year or two (or 10). The Haken Continuum has been around for a long time now but MPE hasn't really caught on and Roli don't appear to be making any more Seaboards (all models have been out of stock for months on their website). It's unfortunate but I think it will go the way of 3D TVs.

Autobot · Post by **Autobot** » Mon Jul 12, 2021 8:09 am

BONES wrote: ↑Mon Jul 12, 2021 2:58 am I played around with Abyss last night and hated it. The choice of sounds for the factory bank is abyssmal (see what I did there?), the sort of stuff you'd use if you were scoring a children's TV show. And tweaking the patches was a less than enjoyable experience, too. Even the font they've used for the name looks like something you'd put on a kid's toy, not a musical instrument. I uninstalled it pretty quickly.

I think the same. In fact I think all Traction synthesizer suffering from bad UI. Some of the synths are really interesting but the choice of color, font and how things are laid out are always putting me off. Especially F'EM was a horror in usage for me. Similar to he Plasmonic. It's a shame when bad design kills a good synthesizer.

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Mon Jul 12, 2021 8:46 am

I was more put off by the sounds Abyss made, the GUI just confirmed my impression.

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Thu Jul 15, 2021 2:04 am

Sonic State have done a "deep dive" video with Nick Batt and someone from Krotos, if anyone is interested -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qXxjaA ... sonicstate

bermudagold · Post by **bermudagold** » Thu Jul 15, 2021 11:04 pm

BONES wrote: ↑Thu Jul 15, 2021 2:04 am

Surprised how much its been ignored online since its launch a month ago...the first version won the NAMM award and others for its immediacy and tiered random system....in a convo with the developers back then, I said if they added a sampler with an eye towards sample mangling, and some more functionality to the convolution processor, they would have one of the fastest workstation workflows out there...the only thing close I had seen at the time would be vectorspace/Frame...this was before pigments,rapid, phaseplant,vital mind you....i think they missed their window....but we got a granular oscillator instead...it seems cleaner and more versatile than ur average granular engine...but still a hard sell in the current market IMO
the factory videos are much more useful than any of the reviewer's I've seen
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6wxHe ... XCPTt1PVoA
https://www.krotosaudio.com/concept/

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Fri Jul 16, 2021 12:56 am

I have both Pigments and PhasePlant, and I have tried Vital, and I prefer Concept to any of 'em. It has a quality to it that I really like and it's so quick and easy to work with. I can see it featuring all over our next album.

There is a new series of short videos up, too - https://www.krotosaudio.com/made-with-c ... i-tension/

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Tue Jul 27, 2021 5:57 am

I can't believe this thread, about an absolutely amazing synth, has fallen to page 3 of my recent topics list. What's wrong with you people!?!

tonedef71 · Post by **tonedef71** » Tue Jul 27, 2021 9:33 pm

BONES wrote:JP6K, Hexeract, bx_oberhausen, ARP Odyssey, TRK-01, Vacuum Pro, Knifonium, Thorn, Equator, VG Carbon, Invader, Concept

Are the virtual instruments in your forum signature listed in any particular order?

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Wed Jul 28, 2021 1:35 am

Pretty much in order of how much use they get. I update my signature fairly regularly and, right now, I should probably add GR-8 to the list, as I've started using that a bit, and Invader and Concept could move up ahead of Thorn, which I should probably swap for Viper, which I am also using more and more.

EDIT: Updated to include my new laptop as well.

tonedef71 · Post by **tonedef71** » Wed Jul 28, 2021 2:33 am

BONES wrote: ↑Wed Jul 28, 2021 1:35 am Pretty much in order of how much use they get. I update my signature fairly regularly and, right now, I should probably add GR-8 to the list, as I've started using that a bit, and Invader and Concept could move up ahead of Thorn, which I should probably swap for Viper, which I am also using more and more.

EDIT: Updated to include my new laptop as well.

Has SoundSpot Union fallen off your most-frequently-used list? Have you found a role for HY-POLY?

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Wed Jul 28, 2021 4:17 am

No, it was a simple oversight that I had just realised myself. You only get 256 characters, so it's a juggling act. Fixed now (sadly at the expense of Knifonium). I haven't really used HY-Poly that much, It's one of those synths that I try to use whenever I can but often find something better for the same part. A bit like I was with Hive.

morphex · Post by **morphex** » Thu Jul 29, 2021 12:33 am

I've been into all things granular recently so I picked this up at a great price. I'm interested in importing my own audio source material to repurpose into completely new sounds and Concept 2 doesn't disappoint. I would say the first attribute that stands out is its ease of use, including an intuitive workflow and quick drag and drop functionality. There's also a decent amount of presets to get started if that's your thing.

At first, I kind of thought the big rectangles in the middle of the interface looked a little toy-like. But I quickly learned how you can customize your sound with LFO's, X/Y Capture (really cool), and the Randomize button can totally alter the sound, making for an enjoyable session with 'happy accidents'. I do also like the fact that you can adjust the parameters that are to be randomized for a little more predictability.

I like how the effects are integrated into the instrument, but I'll have to spend more time actually comparing the sound to other plugins that I use regularly to see which sounds better. So after a couple days of use, I see Concept 2 as a strong contender for creating cinematic sounds relatively quickly. I can also see the potential for those that produce different forms of dance music since you can get your patches moving with the different modulation options with ease.

A nice overall package. A little pricey but worth it if the company continues to improve and update it. Cheers!!

Krotos Audio Concept