Product Reviews by KVR Members

Extremely versatile sound design, has many capabilities not found in many plugins today.

Unique Features:

Curve controlled or phase morphing wavetable generation (as oppose to Crossfade in Serum/ Vital). Detailed curve editing and morphing that also applies to MSEGs.

Full Additive Wavetable Oscillator. Morphs either a Waveshape or Spectrum and includes Spectral Distortion which detunes the partials into inharmonics. And with unique wavetable warp FX.

Crispy and realistic sounding Comb/ Modal resonator. The Comb filter is not just a comb filter, but a reverb/ chorus / karplus-strong string synthesis.

Ring modulator capable of FM/ Frequency Shifting modes (Sideband filter).

FM module with unique FM modes other than just linear/exponential.

Repro's wavefolder with teeth amount.

Large library of Filters with analog modeling and Filter FM that can be modulated by an Oscillator

Good sounding effects including granular cloud reverb and tap delay

CPU usage is significantly optimized, though can spike on heavy patches.

Unique modulators such as a Math modulator and a Mapping modulator which allows for quick sequencing or psuedo-random modulation.

Exciter Generator for realistic physical modeling impulses

4 lane Modular Setup

Cons:

No Feedback, the modular setup is Up to Down with side inputs for parallel processing.

No Granular Oscillator or Sampler, if you want an all-in-one plugin, this is one feature that is missing.

Non-intuitive UI, such as the confusing FMO generator.

Long learning curve for mastery

Verdict:

Absolutely worth it if you like hybrid synths that combine many different modes of synthesis into one package. For example, rather than taking say Harmor/ Razor / Parsec/ etc and routing it into FM8 or some other FM effect, this synth gives you the ability to FM an additive oscillator in the same environment. Or perhaps you want to stack physical modeling resonators and analog filters with fast decay and high res to create percussive metallic sounds? The possibilities will make you feel like a mad scientist, combining completely different synthesis capabilities together and experimenting with sound in new ways.

The Additive Wavetable oscillator is the greatest selling point and adds new sound-generating capabilties evolving on the now-passed Wavetable era. Wavetable synths are restricted to harmonic and periodic sounds, but Additive Wavetables allow you to control every sine partial so that they aren't just integer ratio. Combining partial control with deep waveshape editing is something that no synth has ever done and adds new capabilities to a sound designer.

Before Serum there was Massive, and before Massive there was the Access Virus TI.

Pros: Very powerful analog-digital hybrid character with access to Wavetable synthesis and powerful granular/formant shifting wavetable warp modes. The wavetables built in are very spectral sounding and create very nice resonances and basses. The Filter is very warm. The oscillators are very crunchy. The init Saw wave has the signature curved shape and minimal Gibbs attenuation (as per emulation of VA synths). Capable of the signature Super/Hyper saw. There is a huge selection of distortion types, and powerful analog-modeled FX including Tape delay/ Dispersing Phaser/ Plate Reverb/Freq Shifter etc.

Unbelievable that this existed decades before the other synths that are used today.

Cons: Work flow is old school - I really can't stand Modulation Matrix routing in 2026. Otherwise a perfect synth.

I never experienced the Virus TI until this emulator came out, but I now understand the power of the Virus TI. There is a reason why this synth was responsible for most of the Trance and complex synthesis in that era before software synths caught up. Those who have never experienced this era of analog-digital hardware synths finally have the ability to emulate these synths, and the Virus TI is my absolute most recommended of that list.

Selling Point: Very simple/fast/easy/low CPU and quality modal resonator effect. Fastest workflow i've seen in any BP modal resonator bank.

This is basically a huge bank of digital BP filters in parallel. When tuned based on their spacing and pitch, this is basically a very complex Comb filter whose resonances are not necessarily Harmonic (based on integer overtone series).

Users can also bend the inharmonics, choose their spacing, and their decay times over a spectral envelope.

Cons:

-As mentioned in another review, no key tracking is a big issue. This cannot be used to uniformly affect the timbres of all MIDI notes, so it should not be used as an instrumental modal resonator. As an FL studio user, I can use Patcher, but I am adverse to using that software.

-Limited to what you can create with BP resonators only. No String/Bowed/Comb Filter resonators.

-No Exciter or any control to what goes into this effect. This is purely for Processing, and cannot generate an Impulse.

-Very simple and doesn't have too much control over the exact tuning of the BP resonators. Though simplicity is also a Pro.

-Does not self-resonate. This is my greatest gripe, at high intensity the decay is large but the resonances of these BP filters do not have self-oscillation or enough amplitude to create more crispy/organic/realistic sounding Modal Resonators. The resonators do have quite a bit of resonances, but it needs more character and self-oscillation to compete with Chromophone/ Zebra 3/ etc.

This review depends on whether you owned Absynth 2-5 or not.

If you owned old Absynth, and don't care for MPE, this is a 1/5 terrible update. $100 skin with no new features.

If you never used Absynth, this is an amazing revival to the old beautiful synth! 5/5


I've used Absynth 5 extensively both before and after the discontinuation. After demoing Absynth 6, I can confirm that there are basically no changes other than GUI. This update is almost like a very intricate skin. The work flow is the same, but with more graphical features such as replacing number sliders with rotatable knobs. The modulation is still a slow work flow, as you need to swap to the modulation tab and use drop down menus to assign modulation, almost like a modulation matrix.

non-GUI changes:

-You can now create waveforms by drawing them, which is okay.

-Modulation has more features, but the same slow workflow as Absynth 5.

-New "analog filters", but they are basically the same HP/LP/BP/notch that was already present in Absynth 5. Honestly not really a new feature as a user could just use saturation on the old filters to mimic the "analog" feel.

-The MPE support is new and a great feature for performers and Kontakt users! Personally I don't care for this, but if you use MPE, then this is a good update for you.

-Graphical Preset selection, technically a GUI feature, but strikingly different from Absynth 5's old library.

-32 Grain density adds a bit more smoothness to the sound of granular synthesis, the only change involving synthesis.

The real selling point of this synth are the unique effects. Each are very detailed physical-modeling /reverb/echo type effects that add extreme depth and ambience to any sound design. My biggest problem with this was that you could only select 1 effect per instance, and they never fixed this Absynth 6. Still, I would highly recommend this synth to new users just for the effects.

Absynth was always a king of creating ambient sound design, and the update does not take that crown away. If you need a high quality Ambient synth, this is perfect for you. I am happy that the synth has been showed love and revived for new users to enjoy. I am just sad that I cannot justify upgrading my Absynth 5 just for a GUI make-over.

TL;DR / Disclaimer: This absolutely deserves a 5/5 rating.... IF it was a usable product. Right now, buying this product is the equivalent of buying air (Air Music technology, get it?).

The Good: One of the top 3 staples of all additive synths, contesting with Harmor and Razor. Beautiful and simple synthesis, everything is pretty much on 1 tab/screen. When this synth isn't constantly crashing, it sounds amazing. This would be one of the greatest VSTs one can purchase and own... if it weren't for the cons.


The Bad: Do not waste your money on this bag of Air. You can breathe oxygen, but you can't use this software. Loom is unusable abandonware that Air Technology has no right to make money off of. Not only does this thing crash every 2 seconds for random reasons, but the GUI is completely messed up on every computer I've used it on. Granted, I don't use the standard 1080 resolution, but I have never had any other VST synth with a completely messed up GUI. The knobs are out of resolution, I can't even tell what I'm doing because some knobs are hidden and blocked by the GUI.

Honestly I don't have anything else to say, it is unacceptable for a company to SELL a product that is this broken/ abandoned. Do not be fooled by the 75% off sales that Air is spamming on all of their software.

An Absolute Masterpiece Design of a Synthesizer. Perfect distance between all knobs, minimal necessary menus, many new synthesis capabilities, free update, best workflow out of any plugin I have ever used. 100/10

Serum 1 and 2 are both puzzle-boxes that have very simple and fast synthesis workflows, but also have extreme depth inside for experimenting with the infinite rabbit hole of synthesis capabilities. Serum 1's depth involved resynthesizing and perfecting wavetables, but now Serum 2 is a Hybrid Wavetable synthesizer that can resample into a Sampler/ Granulizer/ or Spectral Synthesis Oscillator. The Spectral Synthesis is especially rare among hybrid synths.

The Bad: Serum 1 was always a bit of a CPU hog, but the granular engine is especially difficult to use without being forced to bounce to sample. Also quite a few random bugs. I can't explain how to recreate them but some bugs involve having random audio spikes. The PV SVF filter feels especially bugged, as any filter I create creates a huge Bass shelf. I'm sure these bugs will be fixed, they are minimal and hardly impact the quality and performance of using 99% of the synth's features.

The Good:

New everything, a new oscillator, a second filter on the front face, second warp mode with new distortion warp modes, new spectral warp modes on spectral oscillator, new filters including a Disperser (Diffuser) that can turn into a super all-pass phaser at 50% mix. New Analog filters. Everything about the Serum 1 UI and workflow has been fixed and cleaned up nicely.

New Bode is a lushious and filthy frequency shifter that has delay feedback and a "blur" knob that I do not see in other freq shifters. Easily creates brain morphing sounds.

New Full-Modular Synthesis: Remember when Massive had a revolutionary workflow due to the ability to Drag and Drop modulation sources like LFO's/ Envelopes/ custom Seqs onto any knob? Now Serum 2 has evolved this workflow again by allowing the ability to Drag and Drop Oscillators on to any knob. Audio-rate modulation combined with quickly creating custom sequences/ LFOs/ new Chaos Modulators allow for the easiest Modular synthesis I have seen in any synth.

New Spectral Synthesis: This is the greatest new addition to the plugin. Spectral synthesis is almost like Additive synthesis by controlling partials by using a sample, however due to the diffuse and inaccurate FFT methods, some of the sounds can be messy/ cause pre-ringing/ or sound random. Spectral synthesis essentially creates the type of sounds that you would expect a cross-mix of granular and additive synths to create. There many new warp modes for this oscillator, including the ability to Mask or Vocode from another oscillator. Wavetables or custom-drawn FFT filters can be used with a cutoff control. Recorded samples can easily be dragged and dropped onto any Spectral Oscillator for deep sound design. Definitely try to experiment with this oscillator as much as possible to create new sounds that other synths have yet to create.

New Granular Synthesis: Other than the bad remark above, the granular engine is very smooth sounding and very simple to use. Audio-Rate and other easy modulation can be used to create very experimental sounds. The workflow is the fastest out of any granular engine I have used despite CPU hog.

New Sampler/Multisampler: Serum can now be a rompler taking real instrument or drum/ creative FX samples with velocity sensitive mapping.

New Arpeggiator and mini-DAW-like Sequencer: Any key played can easily be turned into a quick midi/arp with modulation and velocity sensitive mapping. The Arp section is especially useful for quickly turning sound design into actual music.

The effects can also have a 2-3 Multiband or Mid/Side FX processing section (Multipass in Serum).

Serum 2 is the new revolutionary plug-in of the decade.

Firstly, Ana is NOT a sound design tool. You will not be creating crazy Serum/Phaseplant wavetables and you will not be using much wavetable warp modes. Instead, Ana is essentially a contemporary Subtractive-synth, but with the timbres created with wavetable synthesis.

Tl;DR Ana is an excellent cheaper substitute than Spire/ Avenger. Amazing for all Trance genres and such. It is primarily a Work-flow horse, which helps you create music fast.


Now for the main selling point. I use Serum/Current/PP and all the other best wavetable synths yet I still have use for Ana 2.5. Why is this? The selling point is the Arpeggiator. Not only is it easier to use than Avenger, but this arpeggiator can be used to modulate any parameter. Ana also includes all of your basic essentials from HQ wavetables + large list of Analog filters + All Pass filters for Phase Dispersion and Physical Modeling + Tons of useful FX + FM synthesis + LFOs/MSEGs can modulate anything + PWM + Sync + Drift. Like I said this is not for in-depth sound design, but rather for quickly and effortlessly using sound design techniques to make a Trance Arp/ Psytrance lead sequence/ Techno sequence/ etc.

Additionally many people find the midi-chord feature useful. This basically remaps your MIDI keys into chords, which can be useful for quick harmony if you have trouble with music theory. I don't find this that helpful personally.

Complaints:

-Swapping between Octaves in the Arpeggiator is cumbersome because I can't see which Arps I have created in other octaves. This causes me to constantly flip up and down between Octaves before I can create my Arp sequence. This is my biggest complaint, considering that Ana is primarily for speeding up work flow.

-The FM synthesis tends to create "crackles" when you turn the index knob. It re-windows your waveform everytime you adjust the FM index knob. This issue is common in older FM software synths (Sytrus for example). Not much of an issue if you use Step modulation.

Do you like Diva but don't want to spend $179? This is the closest analog synth to the Fat and Saturated sounds of Diva, absolutely worth the sale if you get it for $25

PolyMax is a very fast + simple + low CPU Analog emulator. The emulation is based on Oberheim filters, but I would say the sound is closer to Moog/ Diva. The oscillators are very clean, rich, and fat. The 2 Oscillators include smooth transition for PWM/ triangle to saw waveshape/ FM/ and sync. The compactness allows for very quick workflow for creating smooth analog patches. Additionally, a lot of Analog synths tend not to have a deep-sounding Notch filter (Diva included), yet Polymax has both 2 pole and 4 pole settings for deep-notch sounds. The FX section is very limited, but uses the high quality FX in-house from UAD. The Spring/Hall reverb is very lushous, there is also a JP chorus/flanger and tape delay. The Arpeggiator is also very easy to use, just turn it on and jam.

Despite owning just about every popular Analog VST (Diva/ Repro/ luSH/ etc), I still use Polymax for it's timbre. All analog synths are not created equal, and they produce different timbres and overall feelings (just like real acoustic instruments). Polymax's main flavor of timbre is Bright/ Punchy, while also having the fat analog saturation in its algorithm.

Minimal Audio's Current has clearly demonstrated that the Wavetable Synthesis era is far from over. This review is written before the actual relaunch (after the drama dealing with rent-only pricing), so the bugs mentioned may not be present in the future.

The Good: A whole plethora of new unique wavetable spectral warp knobs that give you endless possibilities even with just a Sawtooth. Combining them and resampling into the wavetable importer is a clean process. Current also has a large selection of morphable filters as well as complete access to Morph EQ and Rift Filter for very quick yet powerful subtractive synthesis. Morph EQ allows you to create custom filters as well as quickly modulate EQ parameters. The rest of Minimal Audio's best FX such as their Distortion/Delay/Reverb/Chorus are also included. Not only are the FX unique in quality and capabilities, but you can stack multiple of the same FX in any order; In comparison to synths like Serum/Vital which can only have 1 of each effect.

The Bad: FM section is a bit weird to use, you have to replace the filter window with the FM matrix. Feels like it could be better placed in my opinion. All other bugs I mentioned in my previous review have been fixed for the most part!

(Edited Verdict - March 2024): I initially rated this 4/5 due to bugs. All synths come with bugs on release. Since then I've purchased the full version and the plugin runs smoothly now. Infact... this plugin is starting to become my absolute favorite. This plugin really feels like Serum/Vital version 3.0. The filters are amazing and unique; the formant filter is way better than most other synths because the cutoff goes much further, and the morph knobs give you tons of creativity when combining with Rift. The Harmonic stretch warp mode and phase disperser have far higher quality compared to Vital's. Some of Current's warp modes are even additive (although Vital still has a better spectral filter since you can draw the shape). The wavetable importer is so clean and easy, and easily takes in Serum/Vital/Phaseplant tables. Overall, beautiful wavetable synth. 5.0 stars.

THIS SYNTH NEEDS A SEQUEL.

This is a super old plugin that has definitely stood the test of time. This plugin has a high skill ceiling due to it's many features and poor outdated UI, but sounds crystal clear and is still very useful for producing just about anything a producer of today would want. I still use Sytrus alongside with newer VSTs such as Serum/Pigments, and will continue doing so as this synth is unique in the way it produces sounds. I really hope we get a Sytrus 2 one day that fixes all the outdated problems Sytrus currently has.

This synth has a fixed modulation setup that cannot be altered, and can be viewed by one of the icons in the top right corner. First a waveshape is generated additively through an Oscillator's wave editor. You can choose between analog sine/tri/square waves, and then edit those waves by shaping them with the tools provided. The real unique and amazing part of Sytrus is that you can then add non-Sine harmonics based on the waveshape you created. You can even wave-edit a 4 harmonic oscillator and then "convert to sine-harmonics" to further edit the spectrum, however this process becomes laggy with more than 4 harmonics (imagine if Sytrus 2 allowed for endless harmonic edits). No other additive synth I've seen can do this while ALSO being able to FM/RM between the 6 oscillators. After FM/RM, you can further edit the sound through 3 subtractive filter oscillators which are each equiped with a powerful editable Waveshaper. Unfortunately the modulation ends with filters and FX, so you cannot FM a filtered wave (FM8 and most other FM synths can do this). The FX are limited to a metallic reverb, a decent 3 layer delay, and a decent chorus. I personally don't care for VST fx as I usually use other fx anyways, but others might find this limitation a problem for sound design.

Sytrus really needs an update, after 10 more years this plugin probably should deserve 4 stars instead of 5. For now it certainly deserves 5 stars.