AdrenaLinn Sync

Adrenalinn Sync by Roger Linn is a unique and inspiring beat-synced (gate type) filter groove modulator, perfect for any music that has rhythm (what music doesn't have rhythm?). I searched for a plugin that could help create the guitar effect in the Smith's song, "How Soon Is Now." I was pleasantly surprised to discover how much more AdrenaLinn Sync can do! It accomplishes the near impossible by blending fantastic control and a lack of control (randomness) to help users generate original rhythmic patterns. It was clearly designed to pulsate droning lead and strummed guitar sounds, but I had a lot of success running vocals and pads through it. This plugin was not on top of my wish list; however, now that I've experienced it. .. I can't imagine creating music without it.

Adrenalinn Sync has many cool features: control, randomness, filter mod, LFO Amplitude, effects (flanger, phaser, delay, swing, tube distortion, etc.), self-gen noise for surprising percussive sounds, stereo signal path, snap to scale (chromatic, major, minor, pentatonic, blues, whole tone, etc.). I read that Way Out Ware helped code smooth analogue filters for this plugin — they sound sweet. The GUI is as stated, "Clean & Simple." It's also big and easy to navigate. There are some great presets that immediately yield musical results and slots available for user presets. I was able to create many variations from ping pong to tremolo to wah-wah. The sound quality is wonderful and the CPU is efficient.

I highly recommend Adrenalinn to anyone making music electronically. It's especially exciting for any real players looking to join the 21st century. In short, this plugin is fun and inspirational. For $99 bucks it's hard to pass up. This is from the developer of Linn Drums. He knows a little about rhythm. :-). Tommy Zai gives Adrenalinn two thumbs up. Thank you Roger Linn for creating a wonderful, affordable plugin.

Cons: None. It's missing reverb, but I didn't miss it. I've also read reviews that claimed the preset browser was long and difficult to navigate, but I had no problem.