Product Reviews by KVR Members

Surge XT is a really versatile synth that covers a lot of sonic territory....

It's a solid workhorse and it's getting better with every revision....

A great deal of gratitude and appreciation is owed to the team behind this synth....

Thanks guys....

This one's a 5 Star winner.

Bulent has a passion for making great synths and it really shows in his work...

SynthMaster 2 is an indispensable workhorse for me after many years of use...

Recently, I started adding SM One to the mix and I'm embarassed that it has been sitting idle for so long, because this synth sounds great...

It has a lot of the goodness of SM 2 in a stripped down format but it is still very powerful, with each section having plenty of options...

The oscillators can load single cycle or WT, and it has two sub oscillators for AM, FM and PM etc...

The filters, modulation and effects sections are all very good and it's easy to program this synth because it's laid out so logically ..

One of the things I like about Bulent's synths is that you can save the modules as presets which makes it a dream to assemble your own programs out of the individual presets...

The best part about SM One is the sound and just like SM 2, it sounds beautiful...

Put all of the elements together and it can be anything you want - from analog to digital...

Some peeps tend to look down at the KV331synths and think that because of their lower price point, that they must be inferior to many of the other synths available...

But make no mistake...

SM One and SM 2 are killer synths that are as good as anything out there and the're easy to program and sound great...

And that folks, is the bottom line...

4.5 Stars for SM One and a gazillion stars for SM 2.

I have developed a deep appreciation for Massive and consider it to be one of the best soft synths ever created...

Initially, I didn't like the sound, but when I started programming it for the tracks, I realised just how powerful and flexible Massive really is...

It can run the whole tone spectrum from warm analog to harsh digital and the modulation options are extensive...

It feels like a "real" instrument to me and through the the use of modulation and the macros, you can get a lot of mileage out of just one program...

Perfect for a live synth....

As a bonus, there are a million and one presets available and there are some good ones that are an excellent starting point for research and development...

It has an excellent browser, so finding a few sounds amongst the million and one is quite effortless...

There are many reasons why Massive has become a classic and over the years, it has proven itself to be a real workhorse in so many styles of music...

I have a few nice soft synths in the toolbox and after all this time, Massive is still an indispensible part of the setup...

An oldie, but a 5 Star goodie...

I've been involved with playing and producing music for a very long time and I grew up in the analog world before a gradual progression to working ITB...

There's always a little hardware involved to get the signals into the DAW, but for many reasons, I much prefer the flexibility of the digital domain...

The two most important tools for me are EQs and compressors and I'm a fan of good channel strips...

Over the years, I've tried a lot of different effects plugins and there are some great choices out there...

So when I tried the new version of the SSL Channel Strip, I was expecting it to be good....

But not THIS good...

I dropped it into a few channels of an existing project and immediately felt an openness in the top end and a clarity in the bottom...

A few touches here and there and things were sitting in the mix like never before and it was quite a revelation...

Using this channel strip has been really inspiring and extremely productive...

I read up on the SSL 9000 consoles and everything I heard is what people like Michael Brauer have been saying for years...

The sound is more transparent and less compressed in the mids than the 4K and 6K consoles and the EQ is more like a Focusrite ISA-110 to me...but even better...

So what is the verdict here ?

Well...if I could only take two effect plugins to a desert island, this channel strip would be one of them...

A comprehensive EQ, compressor, expander and gate in a zero latency plugin with a sound that is so damn good that it feels like your ears have been unblocked...

It is 100% useful in every way and I have never been as inspired by any plugin as much as this one...

5 Stars and a million kudos to the guys at SSL...

I want to start by saying that this synth really is a DX7....

I played a few notes and was immediately transported back to DX7 land...

I had a few of those synths back in the day and OPS7 nails the sound and the feel exactly...

Being able to load all of the Sysex files is brilliant because there are so many banks of great sounds available that weigh in at just a few KB each...

The editing inside OPS7 is streets ahead of what was available with the hardware and having access to all of the parameters is an invitation to actually program FM sounds...something that was painstaking with the original miniscule LCD...

On a purely practical level, OPS7 is my sort of synth...

The install is only a few MB and it uses a minimal amount of CPU, but the sound is huge with a ton of attitude...

It sits great in the mix and blends and layers well with other instruments, yet it still maintains it's sense of character and definition...

One of the bonuses, is that you can layer two independent engines together a la DX1 and create some very interesting textures with the layers...

I like the focus that Plogue bring to their soft synths...

Their focus is on the sound engine and the dynamics of the instrument with a minimalist GUI and a straight foward interface...

I'm really enjoying using OPS7 and it was easy for it to slot into my existing workflow because it sounds so damn good...

Anybody looking for an FM synth should check out OPS7 because I believe that it is the best DX clone out there and with the improved editing fuctions, one of the finest FM synthesizers ever released...

Thanks for the OPS7 Plogue...

This one's a winner and it gets 5 Stars from me :).

I agree with J1000 that this is a great plugin and one of the most useful tools that you can have in your audio toolbox...

As an EQ it is complete, but when you add a touch of compression at the frequencies where it is needed, this dynamic EQ becomes a one stop solution so much of the time...

It's not the only game in town, but it has become indispensable in my workflow along with most of the other audio tools from Toneboosters...

EQ4 is highly recommended and it's a 5 star winner in my world...

Thanks Jeroen...

This is a really well designed synth....

Everything is laid out on one page so it's easy to drive once you get familiar with the setup...

There are lots of modulation options that bring a range of dynamics into play and help to give real character to the voices and the ability to load your own wavetables is a powerful feature...

One of the things I like about Bjorn's synths is that they have a slightly "raw" sound and this is a positive thing when it comes to the mix...

I got lost for a few hours playing with WhispAir and then used it in a track and it was all good...

Tightly coded with a small install size, a powerful sound and a resizable GUI, what's not to like ?

Thanks Bjorn....this one's a winner....

ANA 2 is getting a whole lotta love in my world and it has been an indispensable workhorse for a few years now...

It's easy to tweak, sits well in the mix and sounds really, really good...

Powerful oscillators with numerous tone shaping and modulation options and a killer arpeggiator and effects section...

The guys who did the the DSP coding are no clowns and they've created a seriously good synth that is a programmer's delight...

Anybody who can't make great sounding tracks of any genre with this synth should be looking in the user error department...

ANA 2 is one of the two synthesizers that I would take with me to the proverbial desert island...

I love using this synth and it's a 5 star winner in my world....

There is not much to say about Thorn that has not already been said...

Everything about this synth is top shelf...

This is coded by a very smart cookie who knows a thing or two about DSP and the importance of having a clear and functional layout...

Because everything is basically on one page, the workflow of Thorn is fast and efficient...

This synth is capable of producing so many different sounds - from warm analog to harsh digital - and it has it's own "character" which blends well with other instruments in the mix...

Because of it's unique nature, when you are tweaking things to sit it in the mix, you can find so many nice surprises and that makes this not only an enjoyable, practical tool but a fun toy as well :).

The glitch sequencer is extremely cool and you can really dial up some rhythmic goodness there...

I am a fan of Tantra, so to basically get Tantra built into a synth is a serious bonus...

One of the smart features is that you can save the presets for the sections separately, so importing those into other patches is really easy and so helpful...

This is a desert island synth for me...

I have some solid soft synths that I use and most of them have been with me for some time, but Thorn has quickly become a real workhorse and part of the handful of synths that I consider indispensable....

5 Stars to Dimitry for coding such a wonderfully inspiring piece of software...

Thank you...it is greatly appreciated....

The B4 II from Native Instruments was the very last x86 plugin in my toolbox and I was hanging onto it until a replacement finally came along...

I tried EVERYTHING out there and nothing hit the spot for me and I can't stand the sampled organs...Truly horrible...

I almost pulled the trigger on the original Blue3 and although it was close, there was no cigar...

But after just a few moments with v2 of Blue 3, I knew that I had finally found the B4 II's replacement....

This organ is wonderful to play and it has that really organic sound of the tonewheel organs...

From angelic purity through to dirty, filthy grime....it's all there...

I just wish I had a double manual keyboard with pedals to capture all of the magic wrapped up inside this plugin...

I remember a few years ago being backstage and watching a keyboard playing with a top international act closing his laptop and taking his B4 II home to the hotel...

I was impressed and I thought..."Man, that is so cool and it sure beats lugging the beast and the Leslie around everywhere"...

Nothing can truly replace a real B3 with a revolving Leslie, along with the service charges and the chiropractor sessions, but GG Audio's Blue3 is the closest yet...

I'm pretty sure that Jimmy is dialing up some soulful sounds on his Blue3 at his Chicken Shack gig in the heavens :).

5 Stars to GG Audio for this magnificent virtual instrument....