Product Reviews by KVR Members

(Not a review).

I saw demo vid of RipplerX on Synth Anatomy, and it looks like a very thoughtful physical modeling synth.

Considering that Sculpture is locked into the Logic/MainStage realm; and Objekt is locked into Reason; two powerhouse physical modelers are proprietary. Other physical modelers like AAS Chromaphone or String Studio are kind of specific. Pianoteq is even more specific-- but fortunately, has branched out quite a bit from its original remit.

More experimental physical modeling a la the old school Yamaha VL1, are kind of hard to find-- particularly with the option to create brass & woodwinds. A few rare & wonderful exceptions exist in the Reaktor world, especially from a developer called Chet Singer.

RipperX was available for a while in beta (?), and behind the scenes was being shopped. Those efforts were successful, so we'll have to wait and see when/if the commercial version sees the light of day. Looking forward.

Respiro comes with a wide range of tones. It is very strong at reed-type sounds, but has quite a bit of range with edge-blown flutes, brassy sounds, harmonica and even bass tones. You have a fixed number of "instruments" from the developer (who releases new instruments with subsequent udpates)-- but the selection is good. And, you can create your own variations of sounds using the "Macro" controls.

As of this release the included sounds aren't organized very well, but there are user tags that allow you access a sorted list. You can also edit the response, timbre and other qualities of the sound to create your own "variants" of the original sound. It is versatile, especially with regard to controls. The mod matrix is excellent. It also has a great reverb, compressor, vibrato & tremolo, and other important expressive features that sound very musical. There is a micro-tuning feature that allows you to tune the 12 notes of equal temperament for one octave (repeating octaves).

There are very few woodwind modeling synths out there. Reaktor's Silverwood, is one example of a synth that tries to replicate a specific real woodwind instrument. Where Respiro doesn't strive to emulate a specific woodwind instrument, it is more aimed at creating a diverse set of new yet real-sounding expressive instruments.

I've really enjoyed getting to know this amazing sounding virtual wind instrument collection!.