Product Reviews by KVR Members

Diva is my favourite sounding VA and she's a real game changer in the world of soft synths...

The Spice emulations come at a heavy cost to CPU consumption,but the sound is absolutely sensational..

I have never heard a soft synth with this amount of dimensional depth and the soundstage is HUGE....

We are getting closer to "analog" in the digital domain and Diva has raised the bar and got us the closest yet...

In fact,with the increased versatility of the digital modelling,I would say that Diva has transcended the physical constraints of the analog world and surpassed it....

Now that's something for the analog snobs to consider :)

u-he is on a bit of a roll at the moment with a great development team and some 3rd party sound designers who know how to make these synths sing and things are only getting better all of the time...

I have all of the u-he synths and every one of them fascinates and inspires me...

Zebra and Rapture are my main workhorse synths,but Diva is quickly becoming a daily driver :)

There's some elements of great instruments that are intangible - a little difficult to define in exact terms... But every instrument - both soft and hard - have these elements... It's got nothing to do with specs and everything to do with tone,"feel" and touch....

Diva has a very "organic" feel - really seductive - and you feel like you are touching the heart of something very special when sounds are pouring out of her....

Diva is the most impressive soft synth I have ever played....

5 Stars and much kudos to Urs and the team at u-he for such a wonderful creation...

UPDATE : The v1.1 update has significantly decreased the CPU consumption by introducing a Multi core mode and other optimisations...The improvement is really noticable...Also - the "touch" has also been tweaked and is even better than before...Diva really is a very special musical instrument and anyone looking for something extra ordinary should put this one at the top of their list :)

This has to be the best VA freebie out there right now and it is extremely generous of Urs to code such a wonderful soft synth and then release it for no money down - drive away - with nothingmore to pay....

That makes it a no-brainer right there...

I think of this as a mini version of Diva which is my favourite VA of all time and a lot of the goodness in Diva is trickling down into Tyrell...

Like Diva - Tyrell is a bit of a CPU hog,but that's the price you have to pay for a such a wonderfully deep and dimensional sound...

This synth has real character and a "coarseness" to the sound which is exactly what you need most of the time..

All those prissy synths with their fruity FX just get lost in the translation and clog up the mix.....

This one is straight foward,has real punch and it sounds great !

The only thing they got wrong is the name...It should really be called the "Uno Slix" :)

Ohh...and it could use the reveb and a few other FX from Diva...There's room to slot them into the GUI...

Urs is on a bit of a roll at the moment with a great development team and some 3rd party sound designers who know how to make these synths sing and things are only getting better all of the time...

Zebra,Ace and Diva are all fantastic synths and the freebies - Tyrell N6 and Zebralette are no-brainers....

So grab Tyrell N6 v2 and a new skin and give it a whirl...

It's a winner that will put a smile on your dial and make you feel like a winner too :)

5 Stars and much kudos to Urs and the team at u-he....

SynthMaster 2 is a very powerful synth and it sounds great ..

It can be so many things - from digital to analog - with a multitude of programming options every step of the way...

You have to take your time and dig in a little to get the full benefit of this synth, but you're rewarded with a full range of sounds that will cover all of the bases ...

UPDATE 2022-12-05 : There have been significant improvements since I first reviewed SM2 and it's getting better every step of the way...It sounds fantastic and there is so much power under the hood.. This is one of my two most favourite soft synths and it has proved itself to be a real workhorse for over 10 years now...That's a pretty faithful horse.

This is a wonderful sounding synth...Very expressive and very musical and it never fails to impress me....

I love wavetable synths and this one and Z3TA+2 are my favourites.....

Rene's creations have always been inspiring and Rapture is the evolution of many of those ground breaking ideas...

The open architecture of this synth with the importing of single cycle waveforms and sfz files,provides you with an almost infinite number of possibilties...

There is a real zen like quality to Rapture - where the instrument becomes invisible and you are absorbed inside the performance....

Mmmmm ....what a pleasant way to pass the time....

The sound engine is one of the best ones out there and the filters in this instrument are impressive...

Then you have the envelopes...Multi stage envelopes for Amplitude,Pitch and Pan plus Cutoff and Resonance for each of the two filters with an LFO and key tracking - for every element...

You can layer up to 6 elements - each element also has a 3 band parametric EQ,an FX insert,a multi stage DSP section and a step generator...

Then you have the global section with a dual FX insert,Master FX,another 3 band parametric EQ and a global step generator....

And let's not forget the modulation matrix and the XY pad....

So much of the time,we are bombarded with specs that are meant to impress us,but we are often disappointed with the actual outcome...

Well - Rapture has all the specs,but more importantly - it's got soul and there's a real magic about this very musical instrument...

It's the perfect companion to z3ta+ 2 - smoother and a little more refined.

Rapture and z3ta+ have stood the test of time and it's testament to Rene's inspired genius,that they will continue to stand tall forever..

When the mechanics at Cakewalk get around to tweaking this synth and releasing a V2,as they did with z3ta+ 2,they can advertise it as "Rapture -The Second Coming".....

Not a bad wrap for a God-like synth :)

5 Stars all the way....

I just wanted to say how much I am enjoying using z3ta+ 2...

I've had all of Rene's synths since back in the RGC days and they have always been special creations for me...

We know that he's a genius and his ideas are groundbreaking and inspiring...

But I must say that the new mechanics who worked on z3ta+ 2 have done a wonderful job in both paying homage to the original and bringing some new features to the table and everything is working perfectly for me...

I like the new library system and the GUI layout - both a big improvement on the original...It's easier to "drive" the new model......

The architecture of the synth engine is very similar to the original,but there's some new coding in there and the synth engine sounds better ...Top marks

The new filters and all the extra doo dahs are so cool and once again they sound great....

z3ta+ has always had a great vibe - it's got character and a real "mojo" about it and the new version loses none of that vibe...It's sounds great by itself and it's got attitude in the mix......


z3ta+ 2 makes many other soft synths out there sound soft alright ! Like limp lettuce :)

This synth is really deep and extremely versatile...Loading a few waveforms can transform it into whatever you want it to be - as Francesco showed us with the Virus mod...So cool and so many great possibilities...

Thanks to all involved at Cakewalk for the great work and especially to Rene for the original inspiration...

EDIT 12/18/2012

I'm using Z3TA+2 almost every day and the deeper I dig into it,the more I like it...

It doesn't do everything,but what it does,it does very well :)

It's one of my main workhorses and it would be an asset for anyone involved in synthesis and music production...

This one's a classic and it deserves the highest rating that I can give it...

This is a great sounding piano that really sings...

It is perfectly placed in the sound field and the definition is excellent...

I like this piano with just a touch of limiter - no EQ or reverb....

The slight ambience you get with the "dry" mix is spot on...

This piano is dynamic and you want to dig in and play this instrument..

Unlike many sampled pianos,the notes don't compress when you thump them...There's a "lyrical" quality to the tone - bell-like in the top end and the lower registers speak clearly with real definition at all times.

The soundstage is perfectly maintained across the entire range. There is only one perspective - but it is the right one :)

The actual piano samples are about 7GB - not so big by today's standards -but it is the quality of the recording and the "musicality" of the instrument that is the appealing factor here...

This is a beautiful sounding instrument and anyone looking for a sampled piano that really feels great to play should give this one a listen...

UPDATE : Nov 10 2011...Sonivox have just come through with the request for an x64 install (for PC only at this stage) and it is now 100% stable in Sonar X1 Pro x64...I believe that there were some other small tweaks in the UD also...

I like this piano...She sings softly with a beautiful sweet voice...

Kudos to the people involved in engineering and producing this instrument.

It is mellow and intimate - a "parlour piano" - and the attention to detail really shines through.

With a HPF,a little EQ and some compression,this is a very good "pop piano" with more warmth than most of the C7 offerings out there...

I have a friend with a beautiful sounding C3 supplied through an artist deal with Yamaha and the AK reminds me so much of that particular piano...

It's also a little easier to cart around and keep in tune which is the main reason Alicia decided to get this project happening anyway...

This is the perfect alternative to my other favourite pianos - the Ivory Italian Grand II and the Sonivox Eight Eight Steinway...

All of my other sampled acoustic pianos have got the flick because there's no need to jam up the hard drives with pooh :)


I did change the velocity levels to suit my requirements and you really do have to install the 1.2 update to get this running smoothly...

The only negative I have about this piano is the "girly" wallpaper with some flowers,a lamp and a drink bottle thrown in,but this is Alicia's baby and that is a small price to pay for such a wonderful sounding instrument.