Product Reviews by KVR Members

Corona by discoDSP is the encounter of (clean) Digital Operator Oscillators and (dirty) 'Analog' Filters with Distortion. This hybrid-concept became popular in the 80s with hardware synthesizers like the Korg DW-8000. Corona trumps (technically) their digital flexibility with exotic LFO shapes, [like X*(X*2-1)] adjustable envelope shapes and their dirtiness via different distortion types on two stages of the signal path plus a hard hitting limiter at the end.

Oscillator Section:

• very inspirational: I have filled a whole bank of presets using almost exclusively the oscillator section.
• with the right combination of oscillators a new patch can quickly sound like a huge pad with a lot of movement and depth while being still a mono voice that abruptly stops when releasing the key.
• using operators like XOR can give instant results of crystalline keys/plucks with unique character.
• often the sweet spot of a 'round' sound is pretty small and requires experimentation and fine-tuning.
• essential parameters can be modulated so it's possible to turn that bass into the traction engine it was before and back with the mod wheel for example.
• ships with a ton of 'vintage' wave forms and acoustic samples and has the ability to load own WAVs.

Dual serial filters:

• LP/HP/BP with different slopes.
• a 'lo-fi band-smash'-filter.
• a '303 modeled' low pass.
• Phaser with variable stages and feedback.
• can be set to PRE or POST VCA.
• 10 different types of filter drive.
• a button for engaging 'zero delay feedback' mode.
• I can confirm the developers description that the filter sounds 'liquid'.
• You can crank the resonance and keytracking up to get a playable sine-wave.

A comb filter would be a very useful addition!

Assignable modulation sources besides the 3 LFOs and Envelopes:

• 2 extra lines of the arpeggiator.
• bipolar and unipolar Random generator.
• oscillator 3 can be used as independent modulation source.

• the combined oscillators can be used as modulation source.

• both can modulate as they are or as ABS operator.

Otherworldly effects or unstable tones are easy to archive.

Personal summery:
The sound of Corona is different... but on purpose! I can recall a patch in my memory right now. Never heared such a monkey-thing before. The overall sound sometimes reminds me of early ROMplers but with high resolution. It shines on stabs, vocal-like arpeggios, bass layers and strange FM-things.

This tool is unrivaled in the field of his purpose and does an excellent job! Keeping the mono-compatibility intact when canceling out the center is pretty stunning to me. This plugin is so great! Thank you, Bertom Audio.