Product Reviews by KVR Members

I'm one of the guys that upgraded from OmniSynth to Sonic Synth, and have got to say WOW was that totally worth it. Let me start with the Pianos which are just great, I also own the Piano ROM (which could not be any better), and these compliment that package so well. Gorgeous pianos that actually sound like they were mic'd and sit amazingly well in a mix with no effort. The Bonus disc's harpsichord is also fantastic as well. The organs are also very nice, I find myself occasionally using MDA's leslie instead of Sampletanks but that doesn't take away from the quality here. Combo organs have also been included since the 1.2 rev and they sound great, though they make a chirping noise when sustaining a few notes at once. The Synths in Sonic Synth can certainly save you a lot of programming time as you've got a bunch of great out of the box sounds. Next up is the strings, a nice diverse collection of strings, that were just better than I was expecting they truly are one of the highlights in this collection of sounds. Since getting the 1.2 rev and the Bonus disc the horns/winds now range from useable to fantastic, a nice cross section of each. Another highlight for me was the tuned chromatic percussion stuff, I've always wanted some nice Vibes samples (these are great), and you never know when you need a nice glockenspiel, clestia, or Cymbalon (best kept secret of the SS patchlist). The I-Map drums sound great once you get a hang of the map, and the Bonus Discs orchestral section is just too sweet for words. Anyone who's ever had to deal with Sonic Reality knows that thier customer support is probably the best anywhere. In closing you're not going to find a better set of sounds for the cash. The overall quality/quantity is just amazing, and enough to keep you busy for months. This package very much filled every gap in my musical arsenal.

I've had this freebie on my hard drive since I first heard about it, and I gotta admit I didn't start giving it much useage until I tried the Pentagon demo, at which point I thought hold on there might be something to that Triangle thing. Well it wasn't quite that drastic, but it certainly was underused. Well since then I've wisened up and gone back to Triangle and I gotta say at times I find Triangle more useful than Pentagon. It's just easier to deal with than Pentagon at times, due to the less knobs, plus having limitations is nice. If I need a nice lead that I know will be a monophonic melodic line I'm going to open up Triangle before P1, sure P1 has a great mono mode but Triangle is a lot more user friendly for quick leads, and even bass lines (the one time I wrote a tune with a synth bass it was provided by Triangle). Just concider this thing to be a super moog of sorts, it can create those classic Moog leads and bass sounds, but do soo much more. As far as the GUI goes I like it, it's friendly on the eyes, a good size, and I dig the color scheme and overall design. All and all this is too good to be a freebie, don't overlook it.

Well anyone who had some GUI complaints about this bad boy, just got their wishes fullfilled (and should update their reviews). Version 1.2 is out, with a different skin and the option to create your own, or download new ones. There's not much else to say about this synth that hasn't already been said. What can I say I gave it perfect tens? It sounds like a an absolute analogue gem, has more features than I'd probably ever use (but it's still nice to have them), it's rock solid as far as stability, and has a nice manual. As of late I've found myself creating a small army of my own presets, and I've never been much of a tweaker. At first Pentagon seemed a bit intimidating as far as programming goes but everyday it becomes easier and easier to use, and after time you realize just how well laid out this synth is. Plus Rene is just absolutely great as far as customer support goes. After having Pentagon for months all my other virtual analogue synths, have been pretty much sitting in a virtual closet, as P1 is consistantly the first thing I reach for when I need a synth part. Plus the DXi version runs like a racehorse in Sonar. If you can only afford one virtual analogue it should be this one, it's just that versatile, and sounds that good.

This is a nice recreation of a classic instrument. There's not much to say about the sound, aside from it really does sound like a mellotron. If you're familiar with the sound of one you will not be dissappointed. Most of the stability issues have been cleared up in the most recent releases, and the customer support has greatly improved in the last few months as well. I've been in contact with G-Media a few times as of late and they've always been quick to reply, and get on top of bugs. Also it took me a few tries to get it to install in Win XP, the install would hang during the conversion process but there is a converter on the g-media site which will fix that problem, it just makes no mention of this being a workaround for an XP install. If you like Mellotrons than this plug-in is probably the one for you. Another nice thing about this plug is that if the original disc doesn't have enough tron sounds for you more Tape Banks are available.

This is one of those "I Can't Believe it's Free" instruments. I was really impressed with the authenticity of this instrument even in it's early beta version, and the final release just added to this favorable impression. I've never played a real D6, but have heard them in countless records, and this recreates that sound extremely well. Just to put it through it's paces I grabbed a midi of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" and ran the output to TrickyClav and I just have to say how great it sounded. The wah/effect section is a nice bonus too. I'm sure that some Clav purists who own a D6 would find something to nitpick over this instrument, but it's better than the clav samples I've come across so far. If you're into classic keyboard sounds and need a clav to add to your collection, this is it.

I really like this little synth. It's a low frills analogue snyth that's capable of some real nice sounds, and is etremely easy to program. I have to admit, at first I wasn't too impressed, after running through all the presets I found them to be way to generic (too many less than great basses and not so great pads) and not all that representative of some of the finer points of this synth. The most impressive thing about this (besides the sounds, it really does sound pretty good), is just how simple it is to program, I'm really not that good at programming patches but with this thing I was getting great sounds quickly and easily. Again this is really a low frills instrument, but if you're looking for something to compliment your arsenel this is definately worth an issue of Computer Music (even if your in the US and need to spend $12 for an issue).

This is one of the few VSTi's I find myself loading up and just playing for hours not realizing where the time went. This instrument provides the warm Rhodes sound, that we all know and love. I was concidering purchasing the EVP77 after being impressed with it at a friends house, but after finding this absolute gem I see no reason to. The EVP77 sounds digital and cold (not to mention overly bright), where this is warm in all the right places. Sure these two instruments generate their sounds in diferent ways where one is trying to create a physical model a Rhodes (EVP), and another is playing off of samples, but the end goal is the same: a good Rhodes sound. And as far as I'm concernced MDA's E-Piano wins hands down. Plus it's free, making this instrument an absolute necessity.