Vanguard2 by Refx out 25th of November!

[SLiC]

OK, no demo so I just took the plunge…probably worth it just for the preset packs..I have been impressed with the updates from ReFx, I’m happy to buy in for the intro price…

[grymmjack]

Basic synth with easy to use GUI and great sound. It's nice that they didn't go overboard with features. Not sure if it's anything spcial for anyone in 2022, though.

While scalable interface is nice, I don't like how they changed the style into something completely different. And very generic.

There are going to be skins I think.

[grymmjack]

did anyone test it yet with old projects/instances? i kinda doubt it is fully backwards compatible.

exactly, the GUI is not my cup of tea either, but im having an up to date 64 bit version of this vst which gets support again and is PURCHASABLE than nothing!

Should be 95% compatible. The reverb is new, so it needs to map old params to new params, so that might sound a bit different. Everything else should sound the exact same.

The UI uses the same skinning system as Nexus, so if you own that, you can copy all the skins over and most of them work ok. Otherwise you can make your own skin, I'm sure somebody will do a classic skin soon.

This is a WIP:

Beautiful!

[grymmjack]

Well I have to give credit where credit is due. I found my ancient Vanguard 1 reg codes and sent an email to support asking if I would qualify for the upgrade price.

I did not expect to receive a positive response since I had some rather unpleasant dealings with them (Mike in particular) years ago but to my surprise they merged my old account which I had long forgotten about with a new one I just created today and I did qualify for the upgrade price.

The response was lightening fast and much to my surprise was very pleasant and professional.

So even though I don't really need Vanguard 2, the upgrade deal was in impulse buy territory so I went ahead and purchased it just as a reward for the great (and polite) service I received.

I'm so impressed with their change in attitude I may even put Nexus on my radar in the future.

So I'm off to install Vanguard 2 now.........

Teksonik Vanguard2 bank soon ?

(hi)

[grymmjack]

If things run smoothly with Vanguard2 I'll give Mike a go for Slayer and PlastiCZ if he should ask me.

That would be awesome. Like a VST rockstar reunion tour

You guys are legends.

I wish X-Phraze would be remade.

[grymmjack]

i more hope they will re-release quadraSID i love this and still use it...

That would be rad too. I had an NFR of that one (because Mike is a nice guy) and it wasn't until I got my C64 Maxi and was bitten by the C64 bug that I truly appreciated how excellent that plugin is.

Maybe it can happen!

[grymmjack]

So for the uninitiated what was special about Vanguard 1?

To me it was simple. It was the first synth I made sounds for, and it was really easy to use. It was easy to knock up all the sounds you could think of at the time. Unison and detune and all that way way back then was a big deal. It had also all these creative wavetables.

For me the killer feature was the package of it all. The arp, the trancegate the reverb and the wavetable with all those envelopes and LFOs (albeit limited by todays standard), it was a real masterpiece back then. Spoiled for choice today, but when it came out it was a real gem for those reasons.

Also, the support for it by sound makers was great. I think it may have been (along with pro52 and fm7) one of the first commercial soundware successes?

Anyway, it's a great synth, has loads of character and will surprise you if you let it.

[grymmjack]

During the next year the GUI of Gladiator, Electra, RayBlaster, Saurus and Nemesis will be reworked. It will get a zoom-able interface and WQHD/4K/8K support. Also the blurryness on Mac on certain scales will be gone.

Great to hear! I upgraded to 1440P this year and have hard time seeing the plugin UIs to the point where I've used magnifiers. Thanks Markus.

[JamminFool]

not with stuff like Viper going for free anyway....

huh? where?

[Atlatnesiti]

Thanks reFx for Vanguard excellent update, or should I call it upgrade since it contains so many new features
$49 bucks upgrade from version 1 is right on the money.
Bought it in a heartbeat
Btw; Thumbs up for superlative updates

[SLiC]

not with stuff like Viper going for free anyway....

huh? where?

coops sorry- I meant Vital not Viper.... (https://vital.audio/)

Also Surge XT...maybe even the free DSP Clone of the Virus (depending how you feel about that https://dsp56300.wordpress.com/ ) which is sort of like a free Viper!

Lots of good free stuff now that people could only have dreamed of 10 years ago...

I bought it anyay , worth it for the pre-sets IMHO

[chk071]

I bought it anyay

Addict!

[JamminFool]

not with stuff like Viper going for free anyway....

huh? where?

coops sorry- I meant Vital not Viper.... (https://vital.audio/)

Also Surge XT...maybe even the free DSP Clone of the Virus (depending how you feel about that https://dsp56300.wordpress.com/ ) which is sort of like a free Viper!

Lots of good free stuff now that people could only have dreamed of 10 years ago...

I bought it anyay , worth it for the pre-sets IMHO

thanks for clarifying. definitely a lot of great free stuff these days.

[SLiC]

I bought it anyay

Addict!

More VST More VST

[LoveEnigma18]

I bought it anyay

Addict!

More VST More VST

I canceled a few BF purchases, so may consider getting Vanguard2. Based on your brief experience so far, do you think it is only suitable for trance style music or are presets usable for multiple genres? Of course, this is subjective and depends on how you use it, but just for some general feedback. Also, I have Nexus4 plus few paid expansions, so does it still make sense to buy it is what I am wondering.

I don't make trance/techno and probably can do without this synth completely since I own a lot already. But I have some nostalgia about using (pirated!) Vanguard1 years ago and I used to like it.