Product Reviews by KVR Members

I won't go into all the features on this little beauty, as it's already been said, so I'll say why I use it so much as a solid workhorse for stock analogue synth sounds.

a) it has an accuracy feature - turn it down from 100% and you get progressively more subtle instabilities in the sound - which gives a very analogue feel to it - it becomes far less sterile than many VSTi's out there.

b) it's warm sounding - no nasty bright high end (which many people like) but nevertheless wasn't a feature on most analogue synths. The blurb says they tried to get that warmth, and Linplug got this right. The filters lose some of their effectiveness on high notes, but I like that - so do most genuine analogue synths.

c) very easy to programme - it's laid out simply and sensibly - no menus and switching between pages.

d)The mod matrix - excellent for a freebie. Not as many options as I'd like, but it's free, so you can't expect the world. And it often surprises with it's gritty edge if you modulate the oscillator symmetry - sounds like a kind of oscillator sync (very useful) for leads.

e) the filters - maybe it's just me, but I actually prefer the Freealpha filters to the ones on their DeltaIII which is alot posher. DeltaIII filters sound a but white-noisey in high resonance to me, but the Freealpha ones self-oscillate comfortably and musically.

f) it's a workhorse - you can get all the standard analogue sounds you need and know that it will sit in a mix properly. The Roland Junos were popular for this - thay weren't amazing, but you can find a use in any track for it. Same with Freealpha - it maybe won't have your jaw dropping, but you come back to it again and again, for basses, pads, e-pianos, brasses etc.

It's one of my most used VSTi's. It won't sound like Darth Vader, no arp, no amazing character, but it's very well programmed and very musical and warm which is what makes a useable synth.

I thought there'd be more reviews of this one, which maybe shows how the 303 is going out of favour with the dance crew.

And that somes Claw up really - it is designed as a 303 clone. Does the world need more 303s? Well, if you like that sound, then short of actually shelling out and buying a real one, this is the next best thing. To my ears it is THE most realistic 303 plugin. I have Rebirth, and I now use Claw in preference (even though I don't use it that often - after all, you can't have a 303 in everything). I used to own a 303 way back when, so I know what they sound like - Claw gets that difficult to obtain lemon-sucking edge when on pulse wave and filter down, which is the real test of a 303 clone. It can sound very hollow but also has the true 18dB/Oct Curtis chip squelch.

A very useful addition is the hi-pass filter to obtain that hollow sound. Without it, Claw can be just a little too bassy. And that is actually a bonus - with one flick of a switch you get 303 squelches that sit ideally in a mix. A real 303 lost its bass end with the resonance up. You can do that with Claw too, but if you want to retain the bass content you can - and there aren't many true analogue synths that could achieve that particular trick.

I still own an MC202 (same circuits/filters as a 101) and Claw also does a very good 202 emulation when the resonance is further down. So it's alot more than a one trick pony - sure, it's aimed squarely at the techno dance-heads; but that just shows how ReFX got it right again - they give (for free!) one of the best 303s AND the best 202, all in one package.

There is midi automation, a good set of presets to start you off, and it is very easy to use. Very little CPU useage also. Stable as a rock bolted to the ground.

It won't do pads, it's not polyphonic, but so what - if you do dance, you NEED Claw, and that's what Claw sets out to give. And it does with bells on.

Top marks to ReFX again.

Initially I wasn't overly impressed with Triangle, but it's grown on me. I liked the smoothness of the sound straight away, but felt it wasn't too versatile. But after using a few times, I've had a good range of sounds from it. It has a very musical filter (in that it will still sound good when self-oscillated) which is not too common in VSTis. I find it good for mid range sounds, and good in the higher range too. What lets it down is the bass response of the filter - it seems to be common in VSTis that it's hard to get filters to work in the bass range. Sure Triangle will give nice rounded warm basses, but it won't resonate usefully down low - it's good for warm bass, but not if you want to do spikey bass with fast decay/attack times.

But I'm being picky really - only classic synths such as 202 or SCI Pro-One have really fast decay portions to the envelope - even Junos etc are a tad slow on that front, and old Korgs are even slower. But Triangle holds up against most common analogue hardware.

In fact, I mainly like it for some of the more delicate sounds - it's not a power house, but careful programming will give some rich filter sounds when you modulate to get movement going in the mids. It doesn't sound anything like a Korg MS series synth, but it reminds me of the type of hollow haunting sounds you can get with those. Which is praise for Triangle - you CAN compare it with analogue synths (unlike alot of VSTis).

The layout is good - obvious and logical with no frills to brighten it up too much.

Not too hard on the CPU, and rock-solid reliable.

The FX are a good addition to the sound - nice chorus and decimator. They complement the patches rather than overpower them.

I don't use it in everything by any means, but it's a good workhorse for those general-duty sounds and some occasional flourishes. Not an in-yer-face character synth, but good quality at what it does.

Quality is the main theme - won't set you on fire, but you can rely on it.

I have to admit I've only tried the demo version (played with it for 2 days), but I will be ordering the full version asap.

JunoX can't do everything, but if you want to do any hardhouse, trance, anthemic dance tracks then this synth is an absolute MUST have.

It has a very full and fat sound - perfect for stabs and hard edged pads, or as lead lines and a good range of basses (although the lower to upper mids are it's real strong point). It has an amazing set of filters on it - it can be very versatile with some careful tweaking to pull out some of the fatness. The formant filters are great for special FX, and the specials are huge, or you can do basic boingy sounds if you want. This synth is what the Alpha Juno should have been (but Roland cocked it up with lack of filters(s)).

I use a Juno 106, Alpha Juno and 202 amongst others, and the JunoX honestly beats these (with maybe the exception of the 202 for acidy subs). Junos are sought after and well used, but JunoX can do far greater ranges of sounds, and generally has an awful lot more power to it.

My only complaints are the LFO seems to not do too much, and the filter loses alot down in the basses - but JunoX isn't really a bass synth, and it more than makes up for that by the sheer power of the mids.

If you're into presets, it would take alot of time to get bored with these, and if you're into programming, it will repay your efforts many times over - and it's well laid out - you don't need a manual at all. Another VSTi that makes me play for pleasure.

$30 !? If that's still the price, it's a bargain - my wallet is out already.

Not a do-it-all synth, but essential for dance music in most forms. It is one of the most analogue sounding VSTis I've heard so far, and I will use it in preference to most of my hardware synths, including most of the collectable ones. It's so good, you need good Eq - simply to take out some of the fatness for a balanced mix.

Technoheads can't go wrong with it.

Difficult one to review really, as it actually produces a decent warm sound, no audible glitches or zipper noise. It is quite useable as a very basic monosynth for warm basses, and it doesn't have any pretentions of being a complicated highly editable synth. I guess it is released as a taster to interested customers for the pro versions of their synths - but to be honest it hasn't made me too interested in trying them out.

The reason why - it says it has an 18dB/Oct resonant filter, and the layout and design is obviously meant to convey the impression it's some sort of 303 clone.

Well it ain't, and the filter isn't very resonant. Personally it sounds like a 24dB/Oct filter to me (and not a very good one either). I use a Juno 106 (which has a pretty weak filter), an Alpha-Juno (which doesn't even have a self-oscillating filter), and an MC202 (which is the dogs b******s if you can't afford a 303 for proper acid lines) - and the Tau won't sound anywhere NEAR any of these synths. It is in no way anything like a 303 - if you want one then shell out for Rebirth. If you want Roland 80s style synth sounds there are numerous freebies out there that do a far better job, and some that you pay very little for that are good synths.
You could even pick up a JenSX or similar for next-to-nothing that will sound better than the Tau.

However, it's free, so I shouldn't knock it - but it irritates me to think that some might shell out for the pro versions thinking they're going to get something capable of 303 sounds. Uh-uh! The GUI (to me) speaks of false marketing and I don't like it (just one of my personal pet-hates). Muon have lost any custom they might have had from me.

However, if you want a free very basic synth (that actually DOES sound analogue and smooth) then d/l it for a try, but it is not a Roland silver box and never wil be.

A very simple to use VSTi that does exactly what the name suggests. There aren't huge numbers of presets, but who need them for a piano? There are enough parameters to tweak for a bit of variation, such as 'hardness' and 'muffle' and flat or sharp tuning, so you can get a good-ish reproduction of pedal use and timbres, and nobody would need a manual with this thing - it's too straight-forward to need one.

It sounds better than any S+S workstation piano sounds I've ever played with (including the famous Korg M1 - which was excellent, but only suited certain styles IMO), and can be used in almost any mix or style. It can't compete with a full sampler, but for most people it will be perfectly good enough, and only true orchestral types will complain about the sound.

Add a little reverb and it will cover over any imperfections you might hear (not that I had any complaints with the dry sound anyway). Considering it's free, it is an amazing VSTi, and competes with most of the piano rack modules that came out a few years ago.

It's very reliable and you'll barely register any CPU useage, so no need to save power and record to audio.

I've always wanted a decent piano sound and can't get it on any of my hardware synths, but never considered it worth the several hundred bucks to buy a module. This fills the gap perfectly.

Everybody needs a piano at some stage, and this is it. I scored a few points off it for features and presets, but really that's irrelevant, as it is a piano - if you need envelopes and filters, then put it through some plug-ins to make it un-piano-like (?) but why would you want to?

Simple, reliable, uncluttered, clean and a VERY good emulation of a piano - it does everything it should.

It's aprox 8 months since I did a review of Crystal, and it's evolved so far since then. It was previously a very Wavestation-like synth (at least it could make very Wavestation-like sounds). Now it has overtaken the Wavestation by leaps and bounds and has become a master-of-all-trades-jack-of-none.

Crystal can now use Soundfonts in .SF2 format, so it has become a sampler with hugely impressive facilities (when you consider that there are plenty of apps out there that you can use to make your own .SF2 files from .wav files)

The modulation matrix now has doubled, which gives you 12 destination/target options + double the number of envelopes. This was my one bugbear with Crystal in the past - it could make very distinctive and unique sounds, but was limited to being merely a very capable synth by the smallish number of mod options available. Now there is almost no sound that you can imagine, that Crystal cannot make. There are modulations galore, and the number of synthesis options is almost overwhelming - granular, FM, resonant subtractive etc. with a hugely improved set of filters that add some serious oomph under the bonnet.

It has reverb FX alongside the other delay lines (which can give phasing, flanging etc anyway) so you don't even need to use FX plugins with this beast.

Hard sync on oscillators, and no doubt other additions soon, continue to make this a breath-taking piece of work.

That is one of the stunning things with Crystal - Glenn continues to make note of all users suggestions/bugs and implements all of the best ideas with amazing speed. It just grows and grows, each version almost transforming the synth before you've had a chance to get to grips with the huge synthesis capabilities of the last version. There is no equal for user support, period.

Every time you sit down with Crystal, you get lost in the myriad possibilities and wonder why you don't use it for everything. Not easy to programme, but huge in scope and sound.