TERA 2 is out and the improvements are massive, instead of faded out controls there are multiple interfaces including such standouts as formant, spectral, FM, analog synth and more. Think of them as templates that make the job of creating patches in this magnficent synth more direct and simpler than the 1.x interface. Beyond this the sound quality has actually improved, a feat in itself as this is one of the best sounding synthesizers to be found. There is more of everything yet it is easier to work in TERA 2. Without hesitation I can recommend this synthesizer as just about all you will need in synthesis. If you can afford the $230 street price this is the synth to start with and build from there.
I should also note, I have and like a lot of VSTis out there. There is a large spectrum of sounds and how to make them. While TERA 2 won't cover all, it will cover a lot of areas, some not yet touched by other synths. The review below is mostly specific although everything is much easier
VirSyn is perhaps the most flexible all around synth available . It is flexible - check out the stats at the top of the page. It sounds great and is exceptionally capable in it's routings through it's modulation matrix.
The interface is functional and mostly straight forward. The term modular refers to the sections of VirSyn Tera you actually use and what configuration you use them in. Smartly only the actual sections of the synth used are computed which is good because VirSyn Tera is somewhat CPU intensive.
On a test system of a Athlon XP1700 w/512 ram VirSyn Tera played 32 notes of polyphony using about 60% of CPU power.
There are around 800 (1200 in TERA 2) presets most being useful ranging from leads, basses and pads. There are few synth sounds Tera can not accomplish although with an additive oscillator it's really down to sample playback.
Drums sound great from electronic squelch to near realistic. The filters are well designed with an elegant sound that can get as rough and dirty as you like. Creating one oscillator pulse waves are but one of the luxuries to Tera's feature set. FM and a host of other synthesis forms are another. There is a nifty 12 channel, 64 step polyphonic step sequencer. This is part of a four page interface, 8D Access - 4 2d controls for fast user programmable synthesis changes, Synthese - the main window where all modules exist and are patched, Mix - a 16 channel mixer with excellent reverb and chorus models along and the step sequencer.
VirSyn Tera occupies the space between synth monsters like Reaktor and VSTis like Z3ta+ or Rhino. In TERA 1 I disagreed with those that compared it to Absynth. While taking different approaches TERA 2 meets Absynth head on although Absynth still owns the soundscape/exotic/otherwoldly timbres, especially with Absynth's 2.0 sample capabilities.
The manual is clear although you will need to spend time with it. Currently othing touches VirSyn TERA 2 for versitility.Read Review
