impOSCar2

I bought the impOSCar in the last deal that GForce was running for 3 weeks. Even if you didn't had the opportunity to get in in that period, I do believe that this synthesizer is a must-have for everyone that is looking for a synthesizer full of character. It's always good to remember that this plug-in was released 6-7 years ago and I really wished I would've discovered it earlier.

User Interface
The interface is based on the original hardware and you can get your head around it pretty easy. It's a single page interface, while you have to turn a knob to edit the user waves or enter the MIDI learn function of impOSCar. It's straight forward and fun to use.

Sound
The best part of impOSCar got to be the lovely sound. This synthesizer never sounds bad and truly shines, thanks to his own and unique character.

It's still considered one of the best analogue sounding synthesizers out, while the original OSCar was mainly digital, beside the filters. I don't really care for those topics and I probably will never touch a real OSCar since there are only like 2.000 pieces made. The only thing that matters is how it sounds and I do think that impOSCar is one of the best sounding plug-ins ever made. On top of that its very light on the CPU. 1-2% per instance on a little dated dual core system.

Features
The additive feature adds another flavour to impOSCar and gives it a wider range of sounds than any average subtractive synthesizer. The different LFO sync rates, like internal, clock or MIDI are useful to make some really nice modulations on different or unusual tempos. I really like slow filter modulations.

You can imagine the filter separation to be like 2 filters but it's hard to describe, how many different shapes you can get out of this feature, together with adding some nice drive to the filters too.

The 2 effects, chorus and delay, can sweeten up a sound in no time.

Documentation
PDF in 6 different languages to get you started, while I still think you can just dive into this synthesizer to explore it the best.

Presets
500 presets in the factory of impOSCar with some sounds made by a guy that made sounds for Jean Michel Jarre, if I'm correct. Plenty of others to download from the GForce site and KVR's Bank & Patches section. I do have to say that I like the factory sounds a lot, but impOSCar is just that much fun to play with that you always will find yourself tweaking it.

Customer Support
I purchased it via PayPal which was obviously supported by the GForce shop, but after some e-mails and a manual payment to their PayPal I had my impOSCar waiting for me in my account. I also read that some people had issues with the installer under Win7 64bit and Dave (from GForce) did uploaded the single files so they could pass the installer, so the support really seems to be decent.

Value For Money
Like I said, I did get in in a deal period and so it was one of the best purchases ever, but even the original price is still a real bargain, considering you like the flavour of impOSCar.

Stability
Not one single crash in 3 weeks.

Summary

A truly sweet synthesizer with some sweet filters and character. It's just that much fun to play around with it and get lost for hours and in the same time the simplicity is raising creativity, becoming more and more a part of my sound and productions.Read Review