The Dune instrument thread at KVR currently stands at 45868 views and 655 posts and a comparison poll with a highly regarded competitor's soft synth currently has Dune tied with 110 votes each.
Do a bit of searching and you'll quickly realise that this is a beast like no-other. A true gem in an overcrowded sea of sub-par soft synths.
The threads at KVR got me interested but it wasn't until I spent a bit of time with the demo that I quickly realised that I was playing with something very special indeed.
To put it simply, Dune sounds absolutely amazing. It has a tone and richness that sets it apart from the vast majority of soft synths on the market today. It sits effortlessly into any of my mixes and this in itself is one of the best qualities of Dune. I've gone through an unhealthy amount of soft synths over the years and I quickly see Dune becoming my goto synth for straight-up warm analogue richness.
A few of the demo presets that blew my mind with the possibilities of Dune were 'Big Fade MK' by one of my favourite sound designers, Michael Kastrup. This lush soaring synth pad perfectly captures the depth and warmth of Dune's sound. 'Protonica Kick PK' is quite simply the best kick drum I've ever heard anywhere in about 17 years of music production. Yes, a kick drum!
Dune sounds spectacular but it's also a joy to use thanks in part to it's unfussy, clear and well designed interface. I love the large central display with the patch name centre stage. All of the knobs are clearly labeled and large enough to tweak without having to page through tabs of options like other synths. Everything you need to tweak existing presets and create your own is immediately available. My only gripe is that the graphics feel a tiny bit soft and could do with being a little sharper.
Overall Dune is a fantastic experience. It sounds fantastic and is already geared-up to be my goto synth for a variety of sounds including warm analogue basses and pads. This is my first written review on KVR. I just felt I had to pop down in words how blown-away I was with this little beauty. Dune arrived from no-where with very little hype but quickly gathered a lot of attention here at KVR, and deservedly so.
Dune looks great, sounds sublime and is a hell of a lot of fun to use. I couldn't recommend it any more.Read Review
