Product Reviews by KVR Members

-when opening more than 1 instance of this plugin in my DAWs(Cubase 14, BWS 5.2.7), sometimes the additional instances that are opened dont respond to sound. At first I thought this plugin only supported 1 instance, but after deleting and adding it back to the channels I wanted it on, it eventually worked and they all processed sounds.

-It barely works as a send no matter your input or plugin settings, and has a *very* weak effect on the sound. This can be 100% wet and also set to +6.00dB on input and you can barely hear the effect on any sounds. Switching it to an insert makes it much louder and cleaner in both my DAWs.

The filters this includes are interesting and can have a strong and decent effect on sounds, and the envelope follower does good things to drums and sounds with hard attack, as well as others. This little plugin is good and best acquired as a free add-on (Bitwig is giving it away right now, PluginBoutique gives it away, and it is often in larger bundles), but by itself $50 is probably too much for this. The sale price is $24, and this is an ok price imo.

This is weird -- Im writing a review for Fluid Chords, but I also REALLY REALLY want to review their new product "Eternal Arps" but that product isnt on the KVR product list. Too new??

Fluid Chords is a decent product, and you really should have a sustain pedal to use with it if you do not already. The Bome virtual MIDI driver that is included with FC works well as a virtual MIDI device and all of this works with DAWs or in standalone mode without any trouble. The chord bending this does is really interesting and inspiring(makes you sound like Ratatat lol), but it doesnt always work 100% well with synths and devices you connect it to. (They have to be MPE synths, but sometimes it still doesnt work right). Ive used this on and off for about 2 years now, having previously used Fluid Pitch. 4 stars for Fluid Chords.

But.... Eternal Arps is a FABULOUS plugin!!! In my opinion this is an elevated product with superior playability and features than the other plugins this developer makes, and I instantly love it!! The way it handles deep, articulate arpeggio generation from live MIDI input is a little similar to Harmony Bloom but EA is very much in its own category with features like realtime variation sliders that let you visually and audibly sense pattern timing changes and a vast preset library. It also includes tons of patters and scales, 12 fully sampled instruments, and like their other products you can connect it directly to a synth's input. 5 stars for Eternal Arps!! lmao I will fix this review and put it where it belongs when they update KVR. Sorry for the double review.

Ive been a Native Instruments customer for close to 20 years, and I had a brief 4 year love affair with the Maschine2/3 + mk3 hardware workflow in plugin mode inside my DAWs. I think that affair is probably over, although Native Instruments and their new private equity bosses could probably earn me back if they put minimal effort into smart decisions.

Maschine3 was just released, and Ive been waiting patiently for promised updates to maschine for many years now while I used 2.xx. At first routing inside a DAW was clumsy and difficult, then as time passed it improved and reached a place where I thought it was maximal yet acceptable. Then, as more time passed, the integration seemed to get worse and more problem-prone, and I found myself using the mk3 hardware in "midi mode" (without the plugin) because of those problems, and ultimately choosing new drum machine/sampler software.

Then I saw the message about Maschine3 and I rejoiced! I couldnt believe it, and I assumed the update would solve many long-standing issues, such as the lack of polyphonic AT control on the mk3 hardware despite having polyphonic AT pads, the routing struggles, maybe an update to transport control, etc etc. That's why the update costs me money, right?

Wrong. They added stem separation, a new color scheme, a handful of minor changes that mean nothing to people who use maschine inside a DAW, some stuff for marketplace support, and they ignored a list of like 20 frustrations that people have had with maschine for the better part of a decade.

Ive tried very hard to continue using this product + my NI hardware in my workflow, and I honestly *love* the mk3 control surface and workflow, but NI continue to let me down when it comes to basic stuff- and this is on TOP of all the other fires raging in my relationship with NI as a brand (their killing of important software like Absynth, ongoing scheduled obsolescence of so much hardware, etc). I wont be spending any amount of money on Maschine3, and if some day NI pull out of this tailspin and improve just a couple things here (many others have many more concerns than I do - Im only worried about like 2 things), then I can come back and try again. 2 stars for the MK3 hardware itself, which is still pretty rad, 0 stars for NI.

StutterEdit2 is a super cool glitchy, noisy, hardcore live effect player/engine that Ive probably used in over 100+ project by now. The price of this, along with how quick and easy it is to set up for your average DAW make it a great value.

EDIT: wtfffff??? When I got this, I paid $30 for it on sale. Now its $199??? I just removed 2 stars because that's just ridiculous.

Of course iZotope/Native Instruments will probably discontinue it and remove it from their product line any day without telling their paying customers a word anyway. : /.

I love this synth! Iris2 was one of my first bigger(more expensive lol) synths from ages ago, before I had much experience with a lot of other products, and even though its been a while since it was released and a LOT has happened since, I still enjoy Iris2 and throw it in a project here and there.

Trouble is, like with many other products from within Native Instruments (they bought iZotope, began retiring synths and products that represent good value, replacing them with sample instruments) ecosystem, this is also being retired.

I came to write this review for one of my favorite synths and had a hard time finding the product page because... it is no longer available. I dont know when NI pulled it from the lineup, but it isnt for sale anymore and I assume this means there is only a matter of time before my copy stops working.

Eff NI for this, and for killing Absynth, and Super8, and ruining 1000s of NKS instruments from various vendors. This is too much.

When I found Shaperbox1, it was an interesting multi effect sequencer plugin with an ok amount of effects. The sequencing of effects together in chains is a nice method of building motion into your tracks.

Then, Cableguys sent me an ad for Shaperbox2 fairly soon after Shaperbox1 was released. They claimed to be giving me Timeshaper2 as an incentive to get Shaperbox2. Ok. This felt a little too soon, but the features of Shapebox2 seemed better and the incentive was ok, so I jumped into it.

Then, Cableguys sent me an ad for Shapebox3, less than a year after Shaperbox2, and its basically the same thing?

I cant tell, but Im tired of this sort of cash-grabbing nonsense. Shaperbox2 was an ok effect sequencer with an ok list of stock presets and sound shaping abilities, but the difference between Shaperbox1 and 3 is far too minimal for all this and this motivated my review.

Note: I see the dev replied and disputes the dates their software was released. In my email inbox, I have 3 tiers of offers from Cableguys for Shaperbox 1, 2, and 3. Shaperbox 1 was new TO ME in 2020, offered to me via PluginBoutque and sent via Cableguys to my registered email - registered since 2020. Then in 2021, I received the update offer for Shaperbox 2, and then in 2023 Shaperbox 3 -- all sent to my registered email. My point stands, and all 3 of these are still too similar to be 3 entirely separate products.

I received this, um, hiphop drum instrument/pattern player plugin for free and found that it is very much like everything else in UJAM's lineup -- its not deep, after an hour or so you've heard everything it does, it likes to play itself, and it has minimal overall sonic character.The 200 presets included dont always sound very different from one another.

Your kits are "DRY, FRESH, DEEP, HIP, FAT"

Your mixes are "CLOSE, BROAD, BRIGHT, PUNCH, RATTLE, PUMP"

And your effects are REVERB, SATURATE, MAXIMIZE.

You can trigger intros, fills, endings, breakdowns, etc from this palette. For more serious drum machines or samplers, look elsewhere.

Turnado has been in my collection for a long time, and I thought I would say a few words about it.

This was, for years, my go to effects rack/live effects rig for a variety of projects and its still in most of my stuff. The interface is extremely easy to use, packs 8 effects into 8 modules, everything is documented well and just immediately useful and playable, and it sounds good.

This is a very basic, simple delay. It works. I got it for free as a loyalty gift from an online seller and added it to my growing list of very basic, single purpose plugins.

Avenger 2 is a massive synth, and can do SO much it is unreal. The stability of Avenger, the massive features(drum sequencer??!) under the hood, quality of audio, and overall enjoyment of playing this synth immediately sends this to my top 5 synths.....

But.....

I would really, really, really like more musical genre representation in the stock presets and premium packs. Do any NON house/trance producers use this synth?

Can Avenger2 do anything? Yes. Do the devs represent that in stock presets? No, and I wish they would. =P Oontz oontz gets tiring eventually.

Any criticisms I have of this awesome synth have nothing to do with playability, sound quality, features. This synth gets 5 stars for every category except stock content.