E-Fex Modulator

E-Fex Modulator is one of the only 3rd party FX I use outside of Live on a regular basis.

It has these modulators:

(volume) Envelope Follower
Pitch Detector
Midi Key Tracking With Envelope
LFO x 2
Step Sequencer X 2
Plus, some of the FX have built in LFOs


Which can be placed in a modulation matrix to control any parameter of any of these fx:

Autopan
Chorus/Flange
Filter
Delay
Ring Mod
Tremelo
Pitchshift

These FX can be routed in any order, either in sequence or to the main outs!



You can simulate many fun & new fx with it...


Ducking delay?

Step Sequenced Filter Delay?

Midi controlled pitch shifter that "fights" against the actual pitch your playing...


Craziness Abounds!

Now the simple breakdown to get to that stupid 1k KVR requirement...

GUI: Kinda Brown and glitchy, but it gets the job done and is easy enough...

Sound: Awesome! Not the absolute best in each category, but really nice FX...

Features: Insane! Check out all those modulators and configurations!

Docs: Pretty good, and there were some vids at one time..

Presets: Really nice, but you can make MUCH crazier stuff!

Support: Derrick is fast and friendly!

VFM: All this for almost free!

Stability: Never had any issues and CPU use is not bad.

First off I have to start by saying I'm a fan of most of the Prodyon stuff so as you can imaging this is going to be a positive review... :)

User Interface:

I picked E-Fex Modulator up as part of Prodyon's first Group Buy - In that thread someone asked for the Interface to be made bigger and a couple of hours later we had a new (Bigger) version. Its very clearly laid out, everything is logical and straight forward. On your left you have the setup menu and 8 possible fx, with each fx's screen opening in the main window once selected. The set-up screen is where all your routing can be done. Nice, clean and straight forward...

Sound:

The main reason for this review is of course E-FX Modulators sounds - to my mind they are simply stunning. Everything is here Autopan, Chorus, Delay, Filter, RingMod, Tremolo, Vibrato and of course the fantastic 8 Step Sequencer! Just turning on the filter and sequencing the cutoff / resonance while passing a bog standard drumloop through Modulator is amazingly rewarding. So when you take the next step and turn on the RingMod - your in heaven! In reality, the sounds that can be got out of Modulator really deserve a listen so I'll say download the demo and then I'll just shut-up about it :)

Features:

Again, you have your 7 FX all controllable with the Step Sequencer and almost anything can be routed anywhere - so just two words here then... Jam Packed!!!

Documentation:

E-FX Modulator is very straight forward so I wouldnt see the need for much documentation. Its much more fun to get your hands dirty and play this baby than read about it!

Presets:

The presets are what made me fall in love with Modulator! They all sound great to be honest and just a minimum of tweaking will get you great sounding, unique results. A logical randomize knob would be nice - but this could be done with most hosts or another plug-in so its not an issue. The main thing is that Prodyon have seen fit to leave the second 64 presets blank for user presets... when the shipped presets are so good its a shame there isnt 64 more out of the box.

Customer Support:

As mentioned at the beginning of this review - a potential customer asked for the U.I. to be made bigger and a couple of hours later there was a new version available :) Another user asked for a wet/dry mix knob and again it didn't take long for this to be added.. Oh that bigger Devs took a lesson from Prodyon :)

Value For Money:

I got in at the Group Buy fee which was INSANE and E-FX Modulator is worth two, if not three times its 24Euro asking price.

Stability:

Never had an issue with it in Fruity or Tracktion - it does seem to skip slightly when switching presets in Fruity but I love it and can live with this...

Overall:

Simple - I'm in love and would urge everyone to take this for a test drive. There are some amazing things coming out of the Prodyon Labs at the moment and I have not been as excited about a Devs products since the Smartelectronix guys showed up... Watch this space - Prodyon has a knack for usable, great sounding audio toys at silly prices... get them all now before these guys realise what they are worth!

Dave