Product Reviews by KVR Members

Energy Pro is for me the right synth at the right time. Let's examine it's two components.

As a synth there are several analog style waveforms, two oscillators, blend, several filters, LFO routings and the usual compliment of sound making tools that make for a good sounding synth, not exceptional, simply good.

As a pattern sequencer/programmable arpeggiator Energy Pro rocks. You can create your patterns on the grid which is monophonic or polyphonic. You can make the sequence shorter than the 16 steps or longer, up to 128 steps I believe. And if you want you can render your creations to .wav audio. Besides that you can program many sequences within one instance of the VSTi and do so through midi too.

If it were only a synth Energy Pro would be a decent deal at the $19 cost but with it's great pattern sequencer it's a steal. Besides that it's an awful lot of fun to work with.

There are expansion packs available, in essence saved sounds and patterns which can be found at the web site. Obviously you can save your own as well.

This, I'm hesitant to call it just a synth, this piece of kit is great for those old school electronic arpeggiations as well as anything current. The sound of Energy Pro works well with the sequencing which also lets you create a filter envelope that evolves with the sequence, there are also gate and other controls that make for highly expressive arpeggiations/sequences.

There is a synergy between the synth and sequencing engines which makes Energy Pro quite effective. It's a great tool, check out the free version to get the vibe of this instrument, it's well worth your time.

Delay Lama is a fun plugin, if you want correct pitch a keyboard is necessary although fun can be had mousing around.

Sound wise Delay Lama is a simple formant shifting implementation. In this case the formant, a filter for those unaware, sweeps based on voice characteristics such as the sound of "A" or "O" etc. applied to some kind of waveform.

In Delay Lama that waveform is basic but quite effective.

This is a one trick Lama :) but it's a good trick, giving the impression of a singing style timbre.

Style points for being freeware and asking for donations in a respectable manor towards a cause the authors feel important.

Works well in Cubase VST 5.1 and Orion Pro 3.02, it's easy on resources and has a distinct sound that's perfect for the ocasional lead or counterpoint line. It's also a great toy.

The score may be lower than the value of Delay Lama. I've used it on a track and can find other uses. Try playing with filtered delays and DL, it sounds great.

Vivaldi was a pleasant surprise. 4 OP FM synths can sound weak and boring but Vivaldi - in particular because of it's user interface - is easy to program and creates interesting timbres.

It has a fairly warm sound (for a digital synth) once you start working with the various tuning capabilities and can create fairly complex motion type pads along with good FX and simpler FM style sounds.

The down side is CPU useage which is pretty high when using up to 4 operators. It should be noted you can use as little as one although you can't expect much diversity unless using a minimum of 2 operators.

The presets are ok but you will be better suited programming your own.

Don't let the FM tag scare you off. The programming features are fairly narrow but in a good way.

It's free, it has an interesting sound to it.

Updated 1.7.03

Crystal, an already feature laden freeware synth has developed a lot in one version. 2.1 finds wavesequencing and sample loading. The later enables some warmth that is missing using the highly flexible synth engine. The well designed (though sometimes cluttered feeling) interface is easier to program than it might first appear.

Eight stage drawable envelopes with multiple lines and curves make for some fantastic modulations and modulations are a key here. Almost anything can be modulated, one voice can sound huge. You get up to three voices per patch so it is possible to do things that were impossible prior to (you guessed it) Absynth.

For pads Crystal is a monster as is it's CPU load. Beyond pads Crystal works well for leads although I personally don't use it for bass oriented sounds.

I find myself using Crystal mostly for ambient effects, pads and evolving, twisting mono synth lines.

For free there is nothing in it's class. It is of terrific value for all the things it does. The sound is of high quality and useful in many compositional styles. Slowly Crystal is becoming an alternative to synths like Absynth and shareware synths that while taking a different approach are not a lot further ahead on the technology curve.

Crystal is a synth worth paying for which makes it all the more astonishing that it is free. It is robust, has yet to crash in Cubase 5.1 or Orion Platinum and fits well in the kind of music I work with. If it doesn't fit for you add a sample and start creating.

Check out Crystal, the presets are excelent examples of what can be done with it. Other than the time to download and install you have nothing to lose and quite possibly you'll be amazed.

Performance improves substantially with a faster CPU but even as a monophonic synth there are timbres that can fill almost an entire mix.

Crystal is a must have synth

update 12.30.02

It struck me that there have been revisions to the interface and additional presets that give insight into the power of GalactiX and make no doubt about it there's plenty of power. Looking back having six oscillators was a taste of the future while using preset envelopes actually made programming more intuitive.

Also keep in mind this is freeware and makes some lovely sounds more in the lush 80's synth area. GalactiX deserves more attention as many of the ideas here found in simplified form have made their way to expensive shareware.

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Although the user interface is somewhat different from traditional synthesizers after a few sessions it starts to make sense. I agree with other reviewers that it could use improvement. Another area of some concern are the preset filter envelopes. In one sense they simplify programming but it would be nice to have more control.

Currently there are few presets but they are quite good and help to teach how to program GalactiX. It is difficult to determine how far this synth can go because of some of it's design choices but some of the timbres I got out of it will make their way onto future recordings.

I like GalactiX a lot and hope it continues to develop. It is great for pads - in particular voice styles which are some of the osc. types found in GalactiX.

It's free and useful if you like spacey timbres. Don't let that stop you if you like meaty basses and good lead sounds, they're available as well but require learing the quirky interface.

Triangle II is one of if not the best monosynths available. In terms of programability, intuitive user interface and great sound there is nothing out there that beats it.

Best of all it is free.

As stated below, Triange II is vastly expanded from Triangle I. Try this synthesizer out for basses and some incredible leads. Even though it's a monosynth there are FX and pad type sounds as demonstrated by the presets which make this synth far more than a one trick pony.

rgcAudio has set the bar for this type of synth let alone value. Once you hear what Triangle II can do you'll appreciate why Pentagon users have been so happy with their purchases....and Pentagon expands capability beyond T2.

A great synth that does more than you'd expect.

I purchased Wasp as a Fruityloops add-on. The VSTi is mostly similar with added effects and well designed presets. To FL's credit the upgrade was free.

I like the built in effects and EQ. The organized presets are good jumping points for programming your own sounds. In this sense it makes working with the interface less difficult. That said, I have never liked the interface and after a couple of years still don't. Although simple in my very subjective opinion the UI is unintuitive.

In general the Wasp sounds hard although it does a good job with pads and can sound warm especially when using the EQ. Pads are good but lack a certain character that is found on other synths in it's price range and below.

Amplitude envelopes are a concern. Moderate release times create a lot of CPU load. They stay active well after any sound is audible (and well beyond when they should have faded). Compared to other VST instruments this is a serious issue. In general CPU use is substantial.

In a test Reaktor running Dash's daVectorFX Wavestation clone (a fairly processor intensive ensemble) took up less resources. Three instances of Pentagon 1 took up the same resouces as Wasp playing a 3 sustaining notes. You get the idea.

This isn't meant to slight Wasp VST but it seems odd that most of the VST instruments I have are more efficient with resources.

So, where are we? I like Wasp's sound and use it occasionally in Orion Platinum - this version has better filters, envelope setting and tons of useful patches. Still the value for money for Wasp VST is reasonable. Although I am not a fan of the UI Wasp still delivers sonically.

Docked stars for CPU useage.

Check this synth out, it has a good range of timbres for a reasonable price. If you have a fast computer the resource issue probably won't be important.

Freeware is catching up to this venerable synth. Try Synth One as an alternative.

Considering LoopAZoid is free, uses little resources and is stable you've got to love it.

It's not going to be the end all of drum VST instruments but from a functional level it's good. Load up a bunch of instruments, you can't go nuts with layers, that's what your primary drum VSTi is for.

LoopAZoid is good for setting up samples and triggering. It gets the job done with minimal fuss. Orion's native drum machine is better but if you just need something simple and don't run Orion this is an excellent alternative.

I find that using Battery, my primary sample playback drum VSTi I tend to spend more time layering and tweaking. That's a good thing but sometimes you just want something simple to do simple tasks. All the outputs are extra, welcomed features.

LoopAZoid lets me work quickly. That makes it invaluable.

I like the interface on Synthetic II, it may seem a tad simple but that's a good thing. The chorus/flanger really helps out on the brittle timbres. Mind you the timbres are interesting and as stated below this will be a good synth for FX, noises, etc.

But it makes musical sounds as well. I found myself programming a bunch of presets. That's why I like the interface. It's inviting to play with. It could be better and hopefully will but as a (free) synth Synthetic II stands on it's sounds quite well.

It's an interesting synth that's modest on resources but able to create useful timbres.

All I can say is wow. I read a lot of people comparing Pentagon 1 to Pro-52 and PPG 2v. I have the luxury of comparing. Bottom line, different synths, unfair comparison.

Which is better? None, but I like the Pentagon 1 more than the Pro-52 because P1 has a great sound that ranges from Moog/Oberheim to Supernova/Virus territory. The PPG 2v shouldn't even be compared.

The flexibile, modern meets classic theme isn't groundbreaking as a synth. It really reminds me of a Nova II I used to work with. Both featured creamy sounding, fat basses, interesting pads and great leads (P1 wins here, the Nova II was more polite, P1 is both polite and rips in ways the Novations don't).

The presets are very good at demonstrating what the Pentagon 1 can do. I think I understand why people love this synth. It is easy to use.

I know there are a lot of extras in this synth but the simple fact is the most important editing functions are right in front of your face. Th newe interface functionally brilliant.

The U/I is easy to see, not too big, skinable and the sound... I'm not a big analog freak but the P1 really captures the feel and character when such a sound is desired. The FM addition makes for some great hybrid timbres. Again, this reminds me a lot of the Novation synths.

I use a fairly old system that's underpowered. I doubt I'll be able to get more than 12 notes of polyphony out of the Pentagon but that's ok because the timbres I'll be using will mostly be pads and basses, maybe occasional melody lines.

Note to Orion users, I had 6 instances running with fairly intense patches and the P1 worked fine with a 70 - 85% load. In Cubase it was a bit better.

System used:
Celeron 600, 384 mb ram, 40 gig HD, not a high end system.

So for those of you concerned, test this synth first. At $99 it is a bargain.