Dawesome Kontrast. Wavetable synth. Coming Autumn 2025.

[morphex]

"Open your mind, Quaid." -- Kuato

Haha, clever movie reference!

[Dirtgrain]

"Open your mind, Quaid." -- Kuato

"Consider that a divorce."

[BoogerSnot]

Just purchased, and downloaded.

Sounds very good after dumping in a sample in, locking it, and scrolling through some presets. UI is clean and easy to navigate, easy to use. I think this VST will be getting a lot of attention from me in the near future.



Heads up for people using their own samples: It really helps to use very short samples, and when I say short I mean short, like under a second. Reason being, trying to transform long samples into wavetables generally provides too much sound variation, which then results in much less variation between wavetables as they end up all sounding scratchy and distorted. In short, don't think of it as a sampler, think of it as creating a wavetable that sort of retains some of the character of small snippets of sound.

[Funky40]

......and when I say short I mean short, like under a second.

Okey, that helps !

[kraster]

I think with any wavetable derived from samples the most diverse sounds will come from things with a lot of inherent spectral variation but sounds with little spectral variation are the ones that will sound most like the sample they're derived from.

Each frame is a timbral snapshot in time. You lose a lot of information from reducing the frame down to something like 2048 samples per frame. One of the effects of that is that you tend to lose pitch variance which is why wavetables can be played as pitched instruments. You also lose temporal resolution which tends to sound smeary when you use percussive samples.

So something like a spoken word vocal sample will retain some degree of intelligibility because of formant variation and noise components. You do however lose time domain resolution and pitch cadence.

More steady state things like held flute, organs or brass notes can be surprisingly similar to samples since their spectral profile remains more consistent throughout and there's much less time domain information to worry about.

[BoogerSnot]

...More steady state things like held flute, organs or brass notes can be surprisingly similar to samples since their spectral profile remains more consistent throughout and there's much less time domain information to worry about.

Yeah, I have found (not just in Kontrast, but other wavetable synths that convert samples) that the smoother it is the closer it's going to sound like the sample.

That being said, even some slight movement in the sample can sometimes translate to noticeable movement in the wavetable. This is even true with really short samples, because you don't know for sure how the wavetable is going to get formed.

And as I noted above, a really short sample is going to be a more "accurate" as there is less room for error, so to speak.

But discovery is perhaps the most interesting part of the process! To sort of aim for a small snippet within a sample, and seeing how it turns out as a wavetable, with wavetable synthesis itself offering a different manner of deciphering and playing that noise compared to normal playback of a sample.

And then yes, Kontrast offers its own unique twist on wavetable playback, adding another dimension by not just cutting through that wavetable between the start and end in a uniform linear fashion.

Kontrast is almost like granular except for wavetables.

[zerocrossing]

No matter what you do, whether you import an image or a sample, it all sounds the same. Even if you load the patches and then import something, nothing new comes out. There was a lot of advertising for it, but the plugin doesn't make sense to me as it is.

I'm able to get a lot of different sounding stuff out of it, but I can't get it to actually sound good. I'm kind of amazed people dig it. Interesting idea, but the results are not what I'd call good.

[BoogerSnot]

No matter what you do, whether you import an image or a sample, it all sounds the same. Even if you load the patches and then import something, nothing new comes out. There was a lot of advertising for it, but the plugin doesn't make sense to me as it is.

I'm able to get a lot of different sounding stuff out of it, but I can't get it to actually sound good. I'm kind of amazed people dig it. Interesting idea, but the results are not what I'd call good.

My early, lean heavily on the randomization strategy has been working pretty well:

1. Import short samples as I noted above, and lock the sample
2. Use the preset randomizer at the top, selecting a preset category depending on the preset type you want, marking anything close to good as a favorite to come back to later
3. After finding a decent preset, use the main randomizer in the lower right both short and long presses, and if things go too far astray go back to step 2
4. If a few presses in step 3 isn't working go to the FX randomizer which randomizes the FX preset, here you can start creating your own FX chains to make use of the nice suite of FX and build up the FX presets, and the FX chain parameters get randomized by the main randomizer so from here you can go back to step 3
5. Last but not least, make use of the main OTT in the Out section on the right, which depending on the octave can reveal sounds you might not readily hear

It ain't perfect, but as the man said, perfect is the enemy of the good.

[yhvh]

No matter what you do, whether you import an image or a sample, it all sounds the same. Even if you load the patches and then import something, nothing new comes out. There was a lot of advertising for it, but the plugin doesn't make sense to me as it is.

I'm able to get a lot of different sounding stuff out of it, but I can't get it to actually sound good. I'm kind of amazed people dig it. Interesting idea, but the results are not what I'd call good.

one thing i found that helped me sort of understand what i’m doing in a way that allowed me to wrap my mind around everything was, at least for a day or two, set up a new “default” patch that simply modulates the wavetable from the start to the end along the x axis (i found around 20% to 80% roughly was enough to cover the full image) with an lfo so i’m starting from a more familiar point mentally so to speak, and building my patch from there. it sounds like a silly, basic thing but i found having that one modulation happening that made sense to me and building off it gave me a sort of perspective for everything i was doing that made all the other changes seem less foreign, even if i ultimately wouldn’t have that particular modulation in the final patch. i also found it beneficial early on to keep the number of changes on the scan page to a minimum, as it’s obviously a lot easier to grasp what’s taking place with the scanner when i only have to think about how circle interacts with everything im building rather than having to consider how circle interacts with bio and how that interacts with brute, for example. again, another simple almost silly sounding thing, but taking that approach and slowly growing in complexity as i felt more comfortable helped me to get a much better grasp on what all the parameters are doing so i could make more intentional decisions moving forward. one thing ill say is most of the parameters in the scan section are extremely impactful so using them without intent can make it easy to end up with same-y sounding patches as the method of synthesis sort of overpowers the wavetable itself. it’s sort of like how granular synthesis can get in that regard if you don’t have a lot in intent behind the parameters you’re modifying. that said, this synth is absolutely worth taking the time to learn, as it has potential to create a wider range of sounds than almost any synth i’ve come across (excluding sampler functionality). i would just encourage being as patient as you can while going easy on the scan parameters… and to that end, maybe minimizing use of the other sections as well while you’re getting a feel for things. one kinda cool thing about working with the scan section is that in a lot or cases you can work around the need for filtering by changing your scanner parameters.

while i’m here, i’d like to propose a very minor feature request that may well be something possible that i just missed, but when when applying a modulator to something, it would be really helpful if there was some kind of display somewhere of the value of whatever we’re modulating as we add it- in other words, when adding an lfo to the filter, a display of the maximum potential frequency of that modulation. that way, to stay with that example, it’s very easy to set an lfo to modulate up to 3k hz. maybe similar to phase plant where you can get an optional menu of precise modulation points to set. that’s been the one real frustration i’ve found while messing around with kontrast, as i like to set my modulators to specific values in a lot of cases. i know, “use your ears,” but there’s still benefit to being able to modulate to specific values in many situations. i apologize if this is already possible and i overlooked it.

finally, a couple quick but much less important potential feature requests: an oscilloscope or some other visual representation that allows you to see what you’re doing to the wave in a familiar context. not a huge deal, as i can open up a separate plugin for this, it would just be a convenience thing. and the other one may very well be included but is there a way to open up the lfo that allows for more detailed editing with a larger view? i get the desire to keep everything on one page so i imagine that you won’t want to use the tabs like some of the previous dawsome synths, but it can be tricky working in that smaller space sometimes- one solution could be maybe a popup or something perhaps? again, this is another minor thing, i’m just throwing it out there

if anyone is on the fence, i highly recommend demoing this (90 days is such a great demo policy, btw). this is one of the only developers left that still makes a real effort to innovate with their plugins, so imo id rather support that over a company designing yet another 1176 emulation with special “analog warmth.” i know myth and now kontrast seem to be the most discussed dawsome instruments, but i highly encourage anyone unfamiliar with the others to check them out too. i’ll definitely be adding kontrast to my collection before my demo period ends.

i wonder who is gonna be first to copy this wavetable approach in their products

[zerocrossing]

No matter what you do, whether you import an image or a sample, it all sounds the same. Even if you load the patches and then import something, nothing new comes out. There was a lot of advertising for it, but the plugin doesn't make sense to me as it is.

I'm able to get a lot of different sounding stuff out of it, but I can't get it to actually sound good. I'm kind of amazed people dig it. Interesting idea, but the results are not what I'd call good.

My early, lean heavily on the randomization strategy has been working pretty well:

1. Import short samples as I noted above, and lock the sample
2. Use the preset randomizer at the top, selecting a preset category depending on the preset type you want, marking anything close to good as a favorite to come back to later
3. After finding a decent preset, use the main randomizer in the lower right both short and long presses, and if things go too far astray go back to step 2
4. If a few presses in step 3 isn't working go to the FX randomizer which randomizes the FX preset, here you can start creating your own FX chains to make use of the nice suite of FX and build up the FX presets, and the FX chain parameters get randomized by the main randomizer so from here you can go back to step 3
5. Last but not least, make use of the main OTT in the Out section on the right, which depending on the octave can reveal sounds you might not readily hear

It ain't perfect, but as the man said, perfect is the enemy of the good.

I know what I'm doing, it's just that there's something about the output quality that seems oddly muddy and indistinct or something. Like it's aliasing and I'm hearing the reflections souring up the output. I didn't check to see if it was aliasing, but it wouldn't surprise me. It's a sort of lo-fi vibe, but not in a good vintage 8 bit way.

[PetVor]

That’s perfectly legit – if Kontrast doesn’t resonate with your ears, there are plenty of other great instruments out there!
That’s why there’s a 90-day trial – no rush, no risk.

You feel it. Or you don’t.

[PetVor]

Get your free 90 days trial here: https://www.tracktion.com/products/kontrast

[kraster]

I know what I'm doing, it's just that there's something about the output quality that seems oddly muddy and indistinct or something. Like it's aliasing and I'm hearing the reflections souring up the output. I didn't check to see if it was aliasing, but it wouldn't surprise me. It's a sort of lo-fi vibe, but not in a good vintage 8 bit way.

I don't find Kontrast inherently muddy or indistinct. It's more or less neutral to my ears at its default

I can make it sound that way by choosing wavetables and scan settings that will produce that kind of output.

If I get a sweepable wavetable from something like Serum etc. (ie. Something that has been designed to sweep smoothly across its range) and put that into Kontrast and sweep the wavetable across the X axis it reproduces that wavetable as it should be. The S button under the X axis does add more interpolation if needed and the M button under the circle adds a sine to impose a stronger fundamental.

I think that adjusting certain facets of how it scans will inevitable produce harmonics that can get fizzy or blurry.

It's certainly true that certain scanning setups work better with certain sources but that's just the nature of the beast and not an inherent flaw.

Kontrast can sound as smooth, lush, harsh, aggressive, muffled, clear, spacious, narrow as you want it to be.

[zerocrossing]

Kontrast can sound as smooth, lush, harsh, aggressive, muffled, clear, spacious, narrow as you want it to be.

As you want it to be, but I have bigger wants, I guess.

No worries, enjoy. I have plenty of great plugins of all kinds of synthesis types. What's confusing to me is that I usually love Dawsome plugins, and I expected I'd love this one as well. On paper, it seems right up my alley. It reminds me of Roland's VariPhrase algorithm. Seemed like something I'd love to have, yet something about the sound of it always bugged me.

[cake builder]

I am a huge fan of Dawesome plugins, but I'm still on the fence with Kontrast. I think the problem I have is the same one I had with Myth V1. I was expecting 90% of the magic to happen on the center stage (the Irises) but it's most effective when more of the toolkit is used.

I love making crazy scan patterns and watching them while playing, but I don't love the sound of them a lot of the time, which creates some internal conflict for me.