impOSCar2

The impOSCar is a landmark on VSTi synths, and probably the one closest do delivering the "analog sound" most of us seek. However, it's not exactly an analog emulation per se, because the original OSCar had digital oscillators.

The basic sound is very pure and warm, rich in harmonics and very clean, but under the hood we'll find that the oscillators also support additive synthesis - something you don't get on your everyday VSTi. This is very useful for harsh sounds, synthetic bells, experimental noise and for advanced sound design. The thing with the oscillators is that they have that full-range-but-not-icepicky sound so rare in synths today - it is a colour of its own, like Eddie Van Halen used to say, a "brown" sound...

The next stop is the "Drive" feature - something I abuse on my day-to-day music making. But, just like the original, it doesn't distort the sound - it is merely an overdrive to change the harmonic response. Very useful for thick basses and leads, and the reason I don't care about the lack of an "Unisson" option.

The filters are also at an league of its own. The Separation knob is unique to this design, and splits your filter in two, giving you more control over ressonance. The basic 24db/oct lowpass is turned with two 12db/oct filters, for example . You can also crank the Q knob and use Separation to turn a bandpass (or lowpass+bandpass, or whatever) into a very rich formant filter.

Other than that, the interface is very easy to use after you get a grasp of it. I'd reccoment this software to anyone trying to learn analog synthesis, because everything is at your face, and harder features are very inviting to experimentation. The patch library contains a large number of quality sounds, and the manual explains the harder functions in detail.

Summing these three main features I must say that, in my opinion, this is the best sounding VSTi ever written.Read Review