Product Reviews by KVR Members
All reviews by ViktorW
Review Something or Find Reviews
This, Ladies and Gentlemen, is one of the top analog-sounding synthesizer plugins on the market (as of april '07).
It's very mid-70s analog, different from the likes of e.g. "Sylenth 1", a quite modern analog sound.
In terms of organic warmth and overall vintage feel I would put it right next to the GMedia stuff like the Oddity and the Imposcar. I tried most of the plugin demos out there, and this is one of the handful that I actually bought. Flabbergasting :-)
Also very nice stereo sound options, very fat and broad sound. Please try the demo!!!
The GUI takes a little getting used to because it's quite 'crowded', but the good thing is there are no extra pages of knobs hidden elsewhere. It's all right there in front of you.
Now with version 1.1 you can get many excellent patch banks from the developer's site, and the one's supplied with the synth are great (check out the banks from The Coktor, Construkx and Cosmus). There's also not much documentation, but whoever knows how synthesizers work shouldn't have the slightest problem. Plus, Customer support is excellent, as the guy from Admiral Quality answers everything and quickly.
It also never crashed on me, though sometimes I get clicks when I play with it and at the same time move the mouse over GUI. But it's a fresh product, and there will probably be quick updates in the next weeks.
It's heavy on the CPU I have to say, but what a sweet sound it produces, made my neck hair stand up.
This plugin produces an excellent anaolg sound, albeit with some aliasing in the higher registers, but I rarely go there. I urge you to check magazine reviews in the coming months to see that I'm right.
And then, start believing. And spread the word!Read Review
It's very mid-70s analog, different from the likes of e.g. "Sylenth 1", a quite modern analog sound.
In terms of organic warmth and overall vintage feel I would put it right next to the GMedia stuff like the Oddity and the Imposcar. I tried most of the plugin demos out there, and this is one of the handful that I actually bought. Flabbergasting :-)
Also very nice stereo sound options, very fat and broad sound. Please try the demo!!!
The GUI takes a little getting used to because it's quite 'crowded', but the good thing is there are no extra pages of knobs hidden elsewhere. It's all right there in front of you.
Now with version 1.1 you can get many excellent patch banks from the developer's site, and the one's supplied with the synth are great (check out the banks from The Coktor, Construkx and Cosmus). There's also not much documentation, but whoever knows how synthesizers work shouldn't have the slightest problem. Plus, Customer support is excellent, as the guy from Admiral Quality answers everything and quickly.
It also never crashed on me, though sometimes I get clicks when I play with it and at the same time move the mouse over GUI. But it's a fresh product, and there will probably be quick updates in the next weeks.
It's heavy on the CPU I have to say, but what a sweet sound it produces, made my neck hair stand up.
This plugin produces an excellent anaolg sound, albeit with some aliasing in the higher registers, but I rarely go there. I urge you to check magazine reviews in the coming months to see that I'm right.
And then, start believing. And spread the word!Read Review
Sonik Synth
Reviewed By ViktorW [all]
October 4th, 2006
Version reviewed: 2.0 on Windows
I am not a fan of this product. I bought it because it claimed to have a comprehensive synth sample library. The acoustic sounds are quite okay, though not too real sounding for my ears (I know it's a matter of taste).
For the price it actually is a good entry into the "software-workstation" market. I covers all the basics and has much to work with.
But first things first:
The GUI is usable, but could be a lot easier to use, esp. for tweaking the sounds. Everything's too small for me, and switching between the synth parameters too unclear. Yes, usable, but much room for improvement.
The sound of the sampletank engine is basically good, the FX are indeed very good, and it's multitimbral, which I like.
But the sample content is only average to my ears, especially the praised synth patches. They sound weak, thin, and all sound largely similar to my ears. Too little variety, and what's there is too thin. Again, a matter of taste, but I don't use SS2 anymore since I bought "Ultra Focus" which has all the solidity and quality and richness I need.
The acoustic sounds, the keyboards and guitars, are quite good, and I use them often. Not the drums though, good hihats but the rest sounds like toy-drums.
Strings are okay, but the rest of the orchestral stuff isn't great.
Presets could be better and more varied (in the synth department), again the acoustic presets are okay.
I have tried customer support only once, but that was okay, even though it took almost 2 weeks to answer an email. But then they helped.
It did crash on me twice so far, but that's okay I guess.
Documentation is okay.
As you can see so far, a quite "okay" software, but I am not too thrilled about it. I replaced every sound category with better ROMplers, because overall, Sonik Synth 2 just sounds too artificial.
I bought it second-hand, and for that the overall value is okay, but I wouldn't buy it new. And I hardly used it anymore, so it's kind of disappointing to me.Read Review
For the price it actually is a good entry into the "software-workstation" market. I covers all the basics and has much to work with.
But first things first:
The GUI is usable, but could be a lot easier to use, esp. for tweaking the sounds. Everything's too small for me, and switching between the synth parameters too unclear. Yes, usable, but much room for improvement.
The sound of the sampletank engine is basically good, the FX are indeed very good, and it's multitimbral, which I like.
But the sample content is only average to my ears, especially the praised synth patches. They sound weak, thin, and all sound largely similar to my ears. Too little variety, and what's there is too thin. Again, a matter of taste, but I don't use SS2 anymore since I bought "Ultra Focus" which has all the solidity and quality and richness I need.
The acoustic sounds, the keyboards and guitars, are quite good, and I use them often. Not the drums though, good hihats but the rest sounds like toy-drums.
Strings are okay, but the rest of the orchestral stuff isn't great.
Presets could be better and more varied (in the synth department), again the acoustic presets are okay.
I have tried customer support only once, but that was okay, even though it took almost 2 weeks to answer an email. But then they helped.
It did crash on me twice so far, but that's okay I guess.
Documentation is okay.
As you can see so far, a quite "okay" software, but I am not too thrilled about it. I replaced every sound category with better ROMplers, because overall, Sonik Synth 2 just sounds too artificial.
I bought it second-hand, and for that the overall value is okay, but I wouldn't buy it new. And I hardly used it anymore, so it's kind of disappointing to me.Read Review
UltraFocus
Reviewed By ViktorW [all]
October 4th, 2006
Version reviewed: 1.1 on Windows
I love Ultra Focus! I have read some good reviews of it in "Computer Music" and "Sound on Sound", tried the demo , loved it, and decided that it was too expensive (almost 400 Euros). It has become cheaper a few months ago, I paid roughly 200 Euros for it. Great!
The GUI has a very solid feel to it and is nicely laid out, no sub-menus, you can see everything you need right away.
The sound is absolutely great, they sure used some great equipment to record those synths, and the patches sound solid, deep, in-your-face, and great to work with. The highs and lows are there, it's punchy and precise. I LOVE it! They covered every kind of synthesis method and chose the greatest and most influential and recognizable synths for this product.
The effects section sounds superb and adds even more depth to the sound. Everything feels "high class". Average CPU load (with FX), not easy on the machine but not too much either. Absolutely usable for me.
Since it's a sample player with quite a few editing options, you can change a patch a lot, but the sample of course stays the same, so possibilities are limited compared to a proper synthesizer. But then again, where do you get so many great sounds in such great quality?
There are a few other products like "Sonik Synth 2" (which I own too) that claim to be a comprehensive synth sample library, but to my ears none of them sound so powerful and mighty as Ultra Focus.
Presets are great and more than enough, value for money is now unbeatable, no problem with stability so far, and customer support has always been friendly to me.
Ultra Focus is highly recommended!Read Review
The GUI has a very solid feel to it and is nicely laid out, no sub-menus, you can see everything you need right away.
The sound is absolutely great, they sure used some great equipment to record those synths, and the patches sound solid, deep, in-your-face, and great to work with. The highs and lows are there, it's punchy and precise. I LOVE it! They covered every kind of synthesis method and chose the greatest and most influential and recognizable synths for this product.
The effects section sounds superb and adds even more depth to the sound. Everything feels "high class". Average CPU load (with FX), not easy on the machine but not too much either. Absolutely usable for me.
Since it's a sample player with quite a few editing options, you can change a patch a lot, but the sample of course stays the same, so possibilities are limited compared to a proper synthesizer. But then again, where do you get so many great sounds in such great quality?
There are a few other products like "Sonik Synth 2" (which I own too) that claim to be a comprehensive synth sample library, but to my ears none of them sound so powerful and mighty as Ultra Focus.
Presets are great and more than enough, value for money is now unbeatable, no problem with stability so far, and customer support has always been friendly to me.
Ultra Focus is highly recommended!Read Review
