Sampleson Things

[tonedef71]

There is no demo version of Sampleson's Things available to download. I took a chance and picked this one up at the introductory price of $19.

When I first saw the graphical user interface for Things, it instantly made me think of Output's Arcade. The approach to sound creation is different; I remember feeling the same way about encountering an atypical method of sound creation when I first played around with Eisenberg's Einklang virtual instrument. In Things, you manipulate between one to seven different sound characteristics (Air Stream; Alien Talk; Arcade; Clouds; Crystal; Horror; Rubber Bands) and mix their individual volumes (gains) to taste. With respect to sound creation, I am not sure how much audibly-noticeable variation is possible with Things.

There are currently just 31 factory presets; I suspect there will be expansion packs to follow. There is no quick way that I could find to cycle through the different sound presets; you have to go back to the Presets menu every time you want to switch to a different preset.

After the introductory period ends, the price will go up to $39. Things is fun to play around with, because of the ease with which sounds can be created. The sounds that come out of this plug-in do sound quite good to my ears. The built-in arpeggiator/sequencer is quite usable. The built-in effects (Saturation; Reverb; Stereo Width) are more than adequate.

All things considered, I am still not sure I would be willing to pay any more than $19 for it though. Just my $0.02; take it for what it is worth. Your mileage may vary.