Product Reviews by KVR Members
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I already have a lot of saturation/distortion plugins, but most of them I hardly ever use. So I did not expect too much, when I installed this one. But I was very positively surprised.
Wonderful sounds, which both can be used subtle and intense, the different types match the characters very well, only Bitcrusher is not so much my taste, but the setting does, what a Bitcrusher should. Class AB and Class A Tube really sound different, Tape adds more smoothness in a very musical way, while Overdrive adds the typical transistor/op-amp bite with reduced bass response.
Drive and Mix allow really perfect intensity adjustments, Tone does exactly, what it should, turned to the left, the sounds become warmer, but not muddy, turned to the right, brighter, without becoming too shrill or too harsh. The additional HP/LP filters allow even more fine adjustments, while Rip and Analog even add more flexibility.
The sound quality is excellent, as a guitarist (mostly) I could even imagine, to use this plugin instead of an amp plugin, maybe even with two stacked instances. Add a cabinet IR behind and you get excellently sounding (amp) tones easily, if you look for clean to semi-clean to vintage crunch sounds with a lot of - well adjustable - character, what you can get a some almost perfect pedal platform tones, which even standalone sound great.
What I really like are the very organically and naturally sounds, the results - if properly adjusted - do not sound digitally at all.
Also works great for bass or keyboards, synthesizers, too add some more character to the sounds. Most probably also for drums, percussion, vocals, ..
Already made some positive experiences with ViatorDSP plugins a while ago, this one is for me a masterpiece for good sounds or professional sound improvements, some kind of swiss army knife in some way for additional harmonics, saturation, overdrive, distortion, tube or tape character.
Highly recommended and for me much more than just a distortion plugin.
Reviewed By PapaDee [all]
January 26th, 2026
Version reviewed: 4.1 on Windows
As dated as Gladiator my seem to some, this little warrior can still hold his own in the arena. I like synths with their own character, and this one des that well. I have and have tried many of them out there believe me. Firstly, the ocillators, mods, and how one moves through them are unique to this synth alone. The filters sound fab. Albeit the mod matrix and effects sections aren't as robust as other Tone 2 products, there is enough there to take you to uncharted territory. Sure, there are plenty of what some may argue are more modern, feature ladened, and even free ones out there in this day and age. But to me...Gladiator just has a certain character all it's own that stands out, compared to all other synths that basically to me all do the same thing. I love Waldorf Largo for the same reason, those old PPG and Waldorf Q wavetables just have a certain sound that seemed very well thought out and give it a unique sound. I will take simplicity and character over a million features any old day. Not to mention I can run many instances of these older gem plugins without hardly any strain on 15 yr old PC. I Also have Icarus, Electra and Saurus. All of which are not the CPU hogs like the more modern synths of today, but all VERY capable of holding their own weight all these years later. The new Icarus 3 is a beast by the way. But that is just my opinion. You do you!!.
Reviewed By funk_produca [all]
January 25th, 2026
Version reviewed: 1.0.1 on Windows
this is actually a really cool idea! I know of no other easy way to create these vivid sound scapes. Ok, I could probably build my own cross-feed / side-chain / whatever setup for this, but Pentimento makes this a million times easier and more intuitive :-) Can't wait to experiment more.
Reviewed By nonsensegroove [all]
January 24th, 2026
Version reviewed: 1.0.0 on Windows
It's simple, the UI is easy to read, and it's very user‑friendly. However, the output sounded about a semitone higher than expected.
Reviewed By mikahito [all]
January 24th, 2026
Version reviewed: 1.0 on Mac
nice design and very useful plugin overall. adding textures to drums or any instruments transforms the sound in an unexpected way, great ear-candy and sound design tool.
I guess it's a unique thing... I just don't get it, it certainly has a sound, although you can recreate this effect with stock reverbs and some high end excitement. i believe this is more of a production effect than a mixing reverb.
New Synths comes and go but this little epic legend free synth still shines after all this years.
it is ugly and clumsy but the amazing sounds! the zillion presets - One of the best of all time.
Reviewed By noahrbc [all]
January 21st, 2026
Version reviewed: 1.0 on Mac
Finally! I've been wanting to use Objekt so badly in Bitwig without having to subscribe to Reason. Reason has some awesome native plugins.
I can't understand why the price. Do you know that I can find a keyboard used that cost 400, minus MIDI keyboard cost 200, and you sale in 200 hundred, so the business is to buy a used keyboard and I have everything, but, but... for those who have already a MIDI keyboard this is insane.
I have my own keyboard trinity and also a midi, so as I don't want to be changing keyboards all the time I want to record I was thinking in use the trinity sounds, now when I found it I was thinking in invest 100 ?, but you put it far for my idea.
I think how many trinity users will buy in this price? not much for sure, all the intelligent one will keep on using the trinity workstation, you are loosing many clients.
Cordially.
Luis Ortiz.
orbitranservice@gmail.com.
This is a plugin that I believe is well worth the money you spend, and it scratches my itch for granular effects. It includes many features you would expect to see, all wrapped in a very easy to use interface with good visual feedback. If you are looking for a granular effect that is cheap, easy to use, and doesn't have an invasive DRM or authorization process, this one is perfect for you.
