Chainer

My first review - noticed all the other reviews of Chainer and it is one of my favourites too so I wanted to add what I think is great about it.

Most people have covered the basics so I won't repeat what they have written - but there are a few really special features I wanted to draw attention to.

One is the fact that if you have Logic it is the only VSTi that enables you to access and automate ANY other VSTi on your system - Logic also has its own patch handling system and not all synths have internal ones so Chainer enables you to use the fxb/p patches properly too (this might also work with Orion too which also has its own preset system and issues with some VSTi's I believe).

Everyone knows some VSTis don't like to be wrapped as a DXi - however if you just wrap Chainer you can play them all and without having to wrap every VSTi in your system and the resultant conflicts and registry additions.

Chainer can load multiple directories so it is good for testing out synths before adding them to your main directory. I find it useful for troubleshooting problems with a synth or effect. That makes it a central place to play and test out your synths.

Because it works with "chains" of synths and effects you can create multiple combinations of synths and effects and then save them (with the full version)- effectively making a new modular synth. The only limitation here is that the chain is linear (unlike say the TC Spark machine). Try using even a basic synth sound with something crazy like GRM tools or an Ohmforce effect and it opens up a whole new vista of sound design. You can even save the results as a soundfont or wave file to use in a sampler.

And you can generate even more crazy and useful sounds with the innovative preset lab.

Chainer is the most stable host I have come across, and it lends some of this stability to the host you load it up in - I have been able to load up synths and effects in hosts they normally crash using Chainer.Read Review