Product Reviews by KVR Members

When mastering, it's essential to have a final tool that does the job right, that's flexible and powerful, and not hindering ideas from becoming professional reality; this is what Clipped-MAX is to me.

The final limiting in mastering is not a easy task, it can be done easily but the results vary in directions of the final director. It's important to have a tool that gives you full control over the dynamics of the pre limited material, and even though there's many good tools out there, not many does it as good as Clipped-MAX or has the extra handy tools as this has.

The first section of Clipped-MAX is the "Shifter" which is a clipper and or compressor, you can set it to be very aggressive full on clipping the top of the material, or set the attack, release, shaper and drag the Initial fader for it to do compression before the clipping, which also can be adjusted by the End slider to not clip at all. You can even control the type of harmonics it will produce when effecting the audio, by setting the Harmoncis knob down it will produce even harmonics, all the way up is odd harmonics, and as it's a percentage, guess what 50% does.

The Second section is the "Stereo", and as you might have guessed, it's doing stuff in the stereo world, more specific, stereo dynamics, adding dynamic control in M/S independently, so you can contain very wide mixes, or vice versa, it can expand the stereo image pretty wide, while still containing it not to exceed the overall volume, bringing out details without making already loud stereo sounds too loud. It also has Balance and Width control, quite handy to have built into a limiter.

The Third section is the "M-Band", M stands for Multi and band stands for, well just band, making Clipped-MAX a multi-band limiter as well. It has up to 6 bands in total, more than enough i think, and it also has five different modes of limiting, from hard to soft, tube and distort. The point is to set a type, and then adjust amount and shaper until it feels right, i found that weird to start with, as i expected to have control over attack and release, but it's really not necessary, as you can set the shape on the soft ones to make that balance. Again you can set Harmonic here as well, and on each band, so you can set one band to be odd, and one even, and one in between if you like.

The final section is the "Master" section, and this alone is worth the plugin price of $50.00; the algorithms in this section is partly taking from the acclaimed Limited-MAX plugin, some new, and some from the Clipshifter, if im not wrong. It also has both an ISP mode and an ISP button, so choosing another algorithm will but leave you unISP, you can always just click the ISP button, and you are Inter-Sample Peak protected, and it works perfectly. It's easy to adjust the input on the Makeup knob, easy to set the threshold or Margin as it's called here, and again you can choose Harmonic character, that's it, dead simple, yet super effective, as the algorithms are super good, and the range is vast enough for most if not all types of music, a good advise is to read the manual for the specifications on the algorithms, which is quite detailed.

Surrounding the plugin is oversampling up to insane 128 times in four different quality modes, you can Autogain the output to match the input, Bypass and control the Wet/mix effect. It also has some nice visualizers suited for the task you are performing, it makes perfectly sense to visually see the amount of reduction in the Shifter or Master, and when in Stereo you see a vector stereoscope, in M-Band you see a normal spectrum analyzer which also is a wise choice, but if you disagree, you can always just change it in the bottom of the plugin, very thought out and super effective. On the right side you have some meters, one for either the amount of clipping/limiting done and one for the input, you can change which one by clicking the bottom button in the meter, and another meter which can be set to Dbfs, the k- ones or EBU integrated lufs i believe.

All in all, this is a one limiter to rule them all, it can more than most, and sounds as pristine as the best. The price, features and quality makes it a no-brainer for both newbies and pros.

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It's time for me to write a review of this one, as I've used it for quite some time, on off in between testing other EQs, always trying to find that thing that just works. I think I've bounced between Toned-MAX and others because it had minor bugs some time back, they are all fixed and more features have been added as well, so yea, here it comes.

First off it's said to shine most at mastering, and while it's excellent for that, i actually almost only use it for mixing. The reason why is because it's just so fast and easy to work with while being complex if needed. It has lots of filter types with as many slopes as possible (or usable), with 96db in pass and shelf, it has analog styled types, a new vibe style, also an analog emulation, all pass also up to 96db, constant-Q bell, notch, tilt, and of course band pass. I find it very sufficient and has not met a barrier here, no matter what i want to do, from classic analog low shelfs to super precise surgical bells, it is very handy and sounds top notch while being that.

BUT, it's not only an EQ, it's also a analog circuit emulation, with various types and saturation methods, variation in L<->R and added noise which both can be activated/deactivated according to the job and purpose. The emulations sounds pretty good, and the variation is nice, but the naming is hard to understand, at least for me, as i have no clue what it does or what it's emulating, but i can hear a difference when shifting between the emulations, so i'm forced to use my ears when selecting, which in the end is all that matters.

BUT, there's more, it also has a good gain stage toolbox, with pre or post clipping and drive gain, that effect the analog emulations as well, input and output controls is also there, making it easy to master the volume pre and post effect.

BUT, yes, even more, it also as a stereo toolbox, with width control, a low mono filter to force the low end to roam in mono, a panner, channel switcher R<->L, and a phase flipper.

And to top it all of, the EQ bands can work dynamically with an adjustable threshold, attack and release. It's not as versatile as what i would like, as there's only one dynamics control that controls all the bands that's set as dynamical EQ band, so no one band one threshold mechanics unfortunately, but it's still useful in some situations, mainly in mastering.

The interface is easy, dark mode in clear colors (adjustable), and i like it, it's not trying to look like anything else than a versatile EQ, and i love that. Its spectrum analyzer is showing current and average spectrum, but it's a bit slow, no not slow, it's just not updating as fast as i would like it to be updating, like it's running 30hz or so; it's not really a problem, it's not annoying, but still something i would change and make faster.

Adding bands is done fast by double clicking in the spectrum, like you would imagine, changing type, fine tuning and so on is easy in the bottom box, which can be hidden if needed, or by right clicking a band. They are easy to drag around, easy to adjust Q with middle mouse button, double click again and it's deactivated, very standard controls and industry demanding, so standard is good in this case.

It also has oversampling in minimum and linear modes, in LQ and HQ modes, but i never use them, never really felt the need.

I want to say it has a sound, and not really, it depends how you use it, which is the beauty of it, and i cant hear any quality issues; with that said, I've tested it in PluginDoctor, and it has a rather high noise floor compared to other top quality EQs, but when using it in a mix, and a lot, this is not audible at all, i actually find it opposite, the mix sounds crisp a clearer compared, and trust me, I've compared, as i started out saying, I've compared it with almost everything.

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The description is not lying, and it's really a top quality EQ, sounds pure and clean, but also very much alive when needed. It's hard not to use it all over the projects, replacing other ones, even big name ones.

The interface is pretty good, pair or above today's standards, nothing really exceptionally good, but certainly not bad either, it's pretty standard, which is actually a pretty good thing.

Feature wise Total EQ is showing just the right amount of useful tools for the every day work and then some. The "equal loudness" is something every plugin should have, but sadly not essential, when active, Total EQ has the same volume after eq as before, so you are not fooled by the "louder is better" phenomenon. There's also per filter analog emulation and saturation which is adjustable, and it's easy to activate and deactivate both analog and saturation on all filters at once. There's lots of filter types and its pretty easy to change if needed, there's a few ones missing to be perfect, but not something I'll give one star less for.

Overall, I was a bit surprised about how well this EQ sounds and functions, not that Hornet Plugins are mediocre, quite opposite, but the market of EQs are booming and I didn't think that there's room for one more, but I have been mistaken, there's definitely room for Total EQ.

So, Total EQ is for the ones who want's an EQ that is top notch in quality and can do the dirty saturations on demand, easy to use and with just the right utilities.

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The new Reaper 6 is a really great step up. Reaper in general is among, if not, the best DAW for every kind of music.

Working in MIDI is great, its easy to add or change notes, changing velocity, position and length, named keys great for drum samplers, MIDI cc data envelopes, including pitchbend, its like automation just for the MIDI data, something I've always wanted, its finally here, and its perfect.

Super fast audio handling, splits, glue, render, audio clip effects in real time, not rendering with effects no no, its real time on the clip as if inserted on the inserts on a track, and its automatable. Clips are repeatable just by dragging it, its looped, not just cloned to unique clips, changes operate through out the clip loop. Super easy fade in and out slope curves and easy crossfades.

Automation is very powerful, you can toggle automation for the last touched parameter, all automation points can be turned into an automation clip that you can copy-paste all over and even on other parameters over other plugins on different tracks, no limits.

The mixer is very pleasant to work with, inserting effects is fast and its super easy to clone effects just by dragging them onto another channel, and removing then just requires alt+click, bypass is shift+click. Version 6 introduced embedded effects, so you can see minified versions of the compressor or eq f.ex. not nothing i use no matter which DAW, but it works fine. Also minor things like ctrl+clicking the peak indicator digits resets all digits on all channels, solo defeat, grouping, VCA and multiple layout types just makes it the best mixer on the market i think.

Last positive thing i wanna mention is the performance, its ridiculously efficient, super low CPU usage, super fast load on both program and projects, and it sounds just as good as all the other majors, especially with the new samplerate conversation engine introduced in version 6.

Negative things, well there's not much, one thing I'm missing is auto track colouring, but it can be archived by installing SWS which is a free Reaper extension. Actually, if i find that I'm missing something, its most likely already there in Reaper, just open the Actions window and search for it, and maybe assign a shortcut for it, or maybe design a macro including multiple actions, again, Reaper is quite limitless.

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As a huge fan of the A.O.M. plugins, especially the Limiter, I was very happy to discover a new plugin from them, and downloaded it ASAP.

The first look of tranQuilizr gives you a good feeling as the graphics are very clean and nice, with an excellent coloring of bands and stylish overall looks, much better then previous plugins by A.O.M. and mingles with the top used EQs out there, in the cause of appearance. one thing missing could be a visual presentation of the incoming and out going wave, like many other good ones have and something i think many of us love.

Using the tranQuilizr is as smooth as the looks, you get your way around fast, and soon discover that a lot of attention to other high quality EQs in means of usability have been taken notice of, with ctrl, shift, left and right click combinations to do work fast and easy, A.O.M also made a little helper in the top to get quick view of the shortcuts, which is very helpful. Everything is moving and changing in a pleasant pace, making extreme fine tuning a bliss.

Feature wise the EQ have a lot of gadgets that are both useful and genius, like band m/s mode, type of EQ, band Solo, very low to very high slopes on cuts and master monitor modes with inverter etc. It is just an EQ, but the team behind this managed to do little extra here, which at this point in time is very essential in my opinion. The channel modes on bands and master and the selection of all this spectrum madness really is the most genius part of the features.

Yes, at last, the quality, it's amazing, it's.. out of words. I have never heard a better sound coming out of an EQ than this monster! I don't know how they did it, but it feels like magic? I want to be constructive and professional about his, but? it is just amazing.

On the easy quality steps, the sound is still clean and musical enough for your all around tasks, and on the top quality setting the sound is perfect for mastering, and i really mean perfect as in perfect top notch. This is one of those plug it in and make my music sound great kinda plugins.

The price is more than fair, as it is an EQ you can use everywhere, and if it only just was a mastering plugin, the price would still be fair and a must buy.

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This is an updated review(version 1.011)

So, a new synth, which does not do any new magic, no new inventions or innovativeness, just a new synth, with high quality. I took a quick peek on it and thought it look like a synthmaker "save as plugin" kind of thing, but they don't say it is, so it must not be.

Lets be constructive, It's a cool synth, it's very analog in its sound, which in my opinion is great, because not many synth in this price range has that ability (i got this with the start up 60% discount though). It's more than great for electro/techno/trance/dance kind of sounds and of course vintage 80'ish synth sounds. It contains all the essential stuff like LFO, ADSR, Filters, and they are easy to route around.

3 OSC thay say, but the 3rd is "just" a sub with few options which is a shame, all in all the OSC section is a bit lacking, as it would be nice to be able to choose between more waveforms, even though you can shape the SAW and SQUARE. I also miss a noise osc, wonder why they didn't tag this great feature along. Again it really only does contain all the essential stuff you would expect (or almost), and nothing more.

The unison is cool, up to 8 voices with detune and spread, and it really works well, it can really bring spark to doll sounds, especially after the 1.011 update.

The effects section contains a shaper, a chorus and a delay unit, very useful and easy to use, they are not surprising you, but effective for the every day usage.

The presets take the synth around and showcases it very nicely, theres not a lot presets, but the ones thats present are cool and usable for many genres.

Computer wise it's on the average of CPU heating, the update toke care of small issues, and is running smooth now. When you hear the quality and compare it to the CPU usage, the quality is in favor.

It does not need any documentation or manuals if you have used this kind of synth before, but they have a forum if you have trouble with it.

So, a new synth yeah, ONE great new synth from a new team on the scene. It does not beat the other VA's on the market, but it sure does a great job anyway, as the quality is as good as it can be, for the sounds it can produce. Tags for this synth most be words like "Quality" and "Easy", because thats exactly what it is.

Looking forward to more updates for this little monster.Read Review

Wave Shredder is a perfect naming solution for this little thing. The easiest thing to do with it is thinking that it's a distortion unit, it really is not, it is a wave shredding device, which mean, that the sound gets destroyed, digital and harsh. Sound degrading is not a new thing either, but Wave Shredder has a sound of it's own and sticks out in the crowd.

You can use it to make weird sounding effects, dis-tonal noises or to give a slight effect on few things here and there, just to get some sparks around them. You don't use it to get the super distorted 303 sound or plug it onto your guitar track thinking, that this is the perfect effect on your power chord, if you do it anyway, you end up with a new and fresh artistic sound instead.

While it is a shredding device, and it is suppose to making a wave ugly and degraded, it actually does it with a high amount of clearity, and that maybe the point of making the plug-in, as the sound turns in character instead of just sounding degraded, while maintaining quality.

It's best suited for experimental genres, psy trance, 8 bit, electro and so on, as it can really turn a sound up side down. The shredding effect gives a bass or a lead a very unique sound, so it is worth buying, but only because it is so very cheap.

The value for money is high, but not in the top, as there are many free plug-ins that comes close to this baby. The things that gives Wave Shredder the "Worth the money" stamp is, that it can degrade while it is disturbing, and it has many ways of destroying sounds, into sweet noise.Read Review

GComp is OLD! but never the less, it's great, and it's free.

I guess there's no review because it's so darn basic, and that is somehow that i love about this little piece of brilliance. It's simple and straight out, what you tweak is just what it does, without all the hyped saturation and character everybody is screaming their lungs on the border of collapsing about. Yea i love saturation myself, and i really do love character, but it's nice to have a simple plug-in thats capable of doing all the simple stuff thats needed sometimes.

We all know compressors so i don't need to review the controls all that much, so instead i will tell about the cool things about GComp, and that is the visuals of both channels, and that you can see the before and after results in a sound wave form. Another cool thing is that you can unlink the stereo, so that it can function individually on the left and right, this is maybe the best feature, and often not found in free ones.

It also have a limiter function, and although it is limiting, it's in my opinion only usable on instruments, which then again, is useless, because thats why you compress.

GComp is great on synths you want to keep at the a tightly desired level, and if the synth has a great stereo field with a lot of bouncing, GComp still gets the job done with the unlinking feature, without lowering the whole sound. It's also usable on drums and vocals, but not perfect, as often because it is just a simple compressor.Read Review

I've always been a bit of a Waldorf fan, who aren't, so i downed the demo of Largo, played around, found some great synth presets, and was sold. I bought it shortly after, full of joy and ready to play with my new toy, i unlocked the fancy synth and tweaked like hell, and from that point on, all the flaws came to the surface.

The sound is trying so hard to sound clear, that it most of the times sounds thin, and when you fiddle with EQs and stuff to calm it down, it sounds muddy and dumbly. In the pro side of the story most be the great widening unison, which raises it all up again.

I really love the possibilities to make wide bass sounds perfect for Electro and House things, but it gets hard to pick Largo from the synth pool when you get reminded by it's all so terrible tired interface, everything is slow, and it's killing your creativity. The arp feature is great, but not when you move the mouse and have to wait few ms for the slider or knob to follow your strokes.

It's packed with presets, a lot sounds good, but never really good enough, only few really stands out, and those are hard to find, as the browser really is not what a browser should be, and thats easy to use. There's no way other than searching for the word "bass" to find the bass presets, and the main preset browsing window is a big bucket of weird words with only few hints of what you could expect to hear.

Yeah, i know i sound a bit grumpy, but i am also a bit disappointed, but enough about that, lets look on all the good things.

3 OSC with a lot of waves to choose from and good balancing between them. Two great Waldorf approved filters, even though i suspect them to be the reason for the kinda harsh sound of largo (ups, i did it again), but they too have nice features like drive and nice envelope control.

The effect section is great, if the unison fails, the chorus will do the job, and it has to effect slots to fill, so when you realize that the reverb is useless, there's room enough for the sweat overdrive.

I guess Waldorf somehow made the perfect sound designable synth, the matrix section opens a world wide of options, and that leads me to the final words. Largo is great for synth geeks happy to use more than the normal amount of time on tweaking, but Largo is not for preset riders and producers who hate all too digitally sounding synths.Read Review

Ok, you have all those samples from magazines, and you bought a few CDs with the best drum sounds ever made, but now you don't have enough money to get a decent drum machine. Well, don't cry baby, guess who's in town, i can give you ONE SMALL CLUE... yea, it's Poise of course.

I was searching for a cheap drum machine to make my day, i did not have alot of money, and tried alot of drum samplers from expensive ones to free ones. Now all the free ones have good features, but the expensive ones gave me blood on the teeth for more of all the goodies i was missing, and then i tried Poise.

The looks was kinda old school and i didn't expect anything, i was even close to not installing the demo because it looked like... something not fancy, but when i tried it, my jaws dropped and got a funny feeling of shame by my thoughts of the looks.

It is so easy to use, it is so just what you expect from a drum machine sampler, it has the fx you need for drums, it can do multiple layers of samples per pad, it can do pad individual envelopes in both pitch and amp, and it IS so pristine in the sound that you can smell crystals all around you.

It has a sound browser which is fast and easy, intuitive you might say, and it can of course play the samples as you finger around in the search for the right bass kick. And when you have the right kick, and feel it could use that little extra punch from the next kick in the line, you can add that to another pad, and link them together, so when you tab c2, you hear both pads triggering.

Yea, you can get another drum sampler with a "battery" of features, which of course some love, and it has all those samples bundled along with it, but all in all, Poise costs a fraction of that acid filled thing, so it gives you a pleasent opportunity to choose just the samples you want, instead of getting stuck with a ton of rock kits when you just wanna make the next Tiësto sound alike, or vice versa. (Poise is bundle with a cute little sample bank btw).

The features poise is missing is the ones alot scream about, but somehow never use, because its leaving you out of control. Poise is just sticking to you, standing behind you while you control the front. It gives you just the right arsenal of controls to win the war.

Oh yea, by the way, Poise does have some humanizing features, if you are into that.

The up to 16 stereo outputs makes it complete, it is complete, and the kinda sloppy looks mentioned earlier are justified by the downloadable themes, i use a lemon-flavored one, and i love the looks now.

The sum of all the buzz most be, "If you are looking for a drum sampler to make your music making flow, Poise is the perfect way to go"!Read Review