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energyXT
Reviewed By Sensational [all]
August 12th, 2004
Version reviewed: 1.27 on Windows
Wow! Who ever thought that little energyXT could put such a whipping on the big giants. This little inexpensive host\VST kicks major ass. I originally bought it to have as a simple arp to us inside of FLStudio, now I find myself using it all the time for all my major music projects.
GUI: To me perfect! No fancy this or that just pure and simple icons that you click on to bring up your editors. The simplicity of the GUI keeps work space nice and tidy.
SOUND: The sound quality is excellent whether being used as a host or a VST. I have never had a problem out EXT with any of the hosts or VSTs that I have used it in (Sonar 3P, Orion Plat, FLS). I also like the fact that if I create a song in EXT in one host it's very simple to tranfer it to another host. Only sound problem I have is that setting up multiple outs using EXT as a VST is confusing and cumbersome. It needs a simpler way to choose multiple out configurations.
FEATURES: This is where EXT kicks major ass! Programable arp and chord components that you can layer and split across your keyboard. A mixer thats user defineable, create as many channels,sends and subgroups as you like.An envelope component thats assignable to any cc to modulate any control. A sequencer ( I haven't had a chance to dig into depth with it yet!), midi parts and audio parts. The features inside EXT is what makes it so great and fun to work with. You can route the components, instruments and effects any way you like making your creativity unlimited! Where in a lot of programs you build your music say linking patterns or tracks, in EXT you can do set ups where your midi keyboard can trigger your sequence parts for killer live jamming! The only thing missing in EXT is the much anticipated sampler that should be comming soon, for now audio parts do a decent job of handling your wave files. Cake Walk,Steinberg,Synapse and Image-line beware!
DOCS: This is the one major negative about EXT. It needs more detailed docs. The help files online are incomplete and kind of scattered here and there between different sites.This is understandable as with updates and new features being added like every week, how can Jorgen have time to sit down and write a manual. Id rather have him working on EXT doing amazing things with it then writing a manual. A newbie would have trouble using and understanding EXT, but music veterens should be able to get around in EXT very well.
PRESETS: There are no real presets in EXT! Who needs them, it's a VST host! You can make your own presets for the many different components or for the situations you use it in.
SUPPORT: The support is excellent! The KVR forum for EXT well answer any questions about EXT you have.
VFM: Best VST host there is for £39! It beats the pants off of a lot of $200 - $1000 ones too!
STABILITY: No problemos! Solid as a rock! Never had a crash or weird error message yet whille using EXT with my 2400 AMD XP.Read Review
GUI: To me perfect! No fancy this or that just pure and simple icons that you click on to bring up your editors. The simplicity of the GUI keeps work space nice and tidy.
SOUND: The sound quality is excellent whether being used as a host or a VST. I have never had a problem out EXT with any of the hosts or VSTs that I have used it in (Sonar 3P, Orion Plat, FLS). I also like the fact that if I create a song in EXT in one host it's very simple to tranfer it to another host. Only sound problem I have is that setting up multiple outs using EXT as a VST is confusing and cumbersome. It needs a simpler way to choose multiple out configurations.
FEATURES: This is where EXT kicks major ass! Programable arp and chord components that you can layer and split across your keyboard. A mixer thats user defineable, create as many channels,sends and subgroups as you like.An envelope component thats assignable to any cc to modulate any control. A sequencer ( I haven't had a chance to dig into depth with it yet!), midi parts and audio parts. The features inside EXT is what makes it so great and fun to work with. You can route the components, instruments and effects any way you like making your creativity unlimited! Where in a lot of programs you build your music say linking patterns or tracks, in EXT you can do set ups where your midi keyboard can trigger your sequence parts for killer live jamming! The only thing missing in EXT is the much anticipated sampler that should be comming soon, for now audio parts do a decent job of handling your wave files. Cake Walk,Steinberg,Synapse and Image-line beware!
DOCS: This is the one major negative about EXT. It needs more detailed docs. The help files online are incomplete and kind of scattered here and there between different sites.This is understandable as with updates and new features being added like every week, how can Jorgen have time to sit down and write a manual. Id rather have him working on EXT doing amazing things with it then writing a manual. A newbie would have trouble using and understanding EXT, but music veterens should be able to get around in EXT very well.
PRESETS: There are no real presets in EXT! Who needs them, it's a VST host! You can make your own presets for the many different components or for the situations you use it in.
SUPPORT: The support is excellent! The KVR forum for EXT well answer any questions about EXT you have.
VFM: Best VST host there is for £39! It beats the pants off of a lot of $200 - $1000 ones too!
STABILITY: No problemos! Solid as a rock! Never had a crash or weird error message yet whille using EXT with my 2400 AMD XP.Read Review
RMV Drum Addiction
Reviewed By Sensational [all]
February 25th, 2004
Version reviewed: 4.1 on Windows
The GUI looks really nice and compact. All the features are right upfront or on the back panel. Everything is one or two mouse clicks away.The looks give you that futuristic drum machine look.
The Sound is very crisp and clear. I tried the sample kits from the RMIII inside the RMIV and they sounded more distinctive and brighter in the RMIV. The synth modules are good too, easy to use since most are setup to give a sound for a certain type of drum,combine this with the envs and matrix and you can get all types of orignal sounds.
The features are great you have modulaton matrix,pitch,filter and time modulations,bit crusher,distortion,compresser and the varizer.Layering drums is out of this world with the RMIV,velocity switching and sample start points. On the RMIII I use to sometimes loose track of the kit I was using but the RMIV displays the name of the kits for you. I think there should be a way to save individual drum pad settings so that you could load up two or more different variations of the same drum type for comparing,tweaking and interchanging between kits. Also you should be able to preview whole kits and single drums while in use. One more thing is that it could use a built in sequencer like the Musiclab one in the DR008 to complete solidly.
The documents are top notch couldn't be better explains every detail.
The presets cover every base you can think of. I would just like to see some more up to date hiphop kits maybe some Korg and MoPhat samples.
Linplugs support has always been good, the forum and newsletters are very informative. I have never had any problem out of the RMIV yet.
The VFM can go two ways, if you had a previous drum module (RMIII,RM2) you get a really great discount because this is like adding drumsynths to the previous two. If you don't like the drumsynth or sample part then you could get the CM505 if you just like the synth engine or the RMIII if you just like samples. The latest update is just awesome the kits and grooves work like magic.Stability is like a rock! I have had no glitches,crashes or screwy looking interfaces yet in Sonar 3,FLStudio or Orion Plat.Read Review
The Sound is very crisp and clear. I tried the sample kits from the RMIII inside the RMIV and they sounded more distinctive and brighter in the RMIV. The synth modules are good too, easy to use since most are setup to give a sound for a certain type of drum,combine this with the envs and matrix and you can get all types of orignal sounds.
The features are great you have modulaton matrix,pitch,filter and time modulations,bit crusher,distortion,compresser and the varizer.Layering drums is out of this world with the RMIV,velocity switching and sample start points. On the RMIII I use to sometimes loose track of the kit I was using but the RMIV displays the name of the kits for you. I think there should be a way to save individual drum pad settings so that you could load up two or more different variations of the same drum type for comparing,tweaking and interchanging between kits. Also you should be able to preview whole kits and single drums while in use. One more thing is that it could use a built in sequencer like the Musiclab one in the DR008 to complete solidly.
The documents are top notch couldn't be better explains every detail.
The presets cover every base you can think of. I would just like to see some more up to date hiphop kits maybe some Korg and MoPhat samples.
Linplugs support has always been good, the forum and newsletters are very informative. I have never had any problem out of the RMIV yet.
The VFM can go two ways, if you had a previous drum module (RMIII,RM2) you get a really great discount because this is like adding drumsynths to the previous two. If you don't like the drumsynth or sample part then you could get the CM505 if you just like the synth engine or the RMIII if you just like samples. The latest update is just awesome the kits and grooves work like magic.Stability is like a rock! I have had no glitches,crashes or screwy looking interfaces yet in Sonar 3,FLStudio or Orion Plat.Read Review
Tau Bassline Mk2
Reviewed By Sensational [all]
February 25th, 2004
Version reviewed: 1 on Windows
The GUI is classic,no fuse Muon everything you need right in your face perfect!
The sound to me is just like the 303 I remember from the good ol' acid house
days in Chicago. I compared it to ABL and they were pretty much the same (the
demo of the ABL drops out and you can't buy the full version from the site
which I really think is super stupid!). I run the Tau2 through BBE Sonic
Maximizer and it sounds so sweet!
Features it does what it is suppose to do! All the features of the classic 303
even the little strange behavior from time to time.
Docs are perfect, covers every knob feature and CC control.
Presets you get none! It's a 303 bassline synth for the tweaking.
Support is on the money with the KVR Muon forum and fast response via email.
VFM I think I paid $17 at the time for this thing and I use it more than the
Tau Pro. Also the ABL bassline is $95 compared to this. Trust me this is as
good as they come for the money.I would have paid $95 for this one too.
Stability as with all Muon synths rock solid,never a problem in none of my hosts.Read Review
The sound to me is just like the 303 I remember from the good ol' acid house
days in Chicago. I compared it to ABL and they were pretty much the same (the
demo of the ABL drops out and you can't buy the full version from the site
which I really think is super stupid!). I run the Tau2 through BBE Sonic
Maximizer and it sounds so sweet!
Features it does what it is suppose to do! All the features of the classic 303
even the little strange behavior from time to time.
Docs are perfect, covers every knob feature and CC control.
Presets you get none! It's a 303 bassline synth for the tweaking.
Support is on the money with the KVR Muon forum and fast response via email.
VFM I think I paid $17 at the time for this thing and I use it more than the
Tau Pro. Also the ABL bassline is $95 compared to this. Trust me this is as
good as they come for the money.I would have paid $95 for this one too.
Stability as with all Muon synths rock solid,never a problem in none of my hosts.Read Review
Microtonic (µTonic)
Reviewed By Sensational [all]
February 13th, 2004
Version reviewed: 1 on Windows
I slep on this one at first, it had been out for two months before I noticed it on the KVR ad banner. I said "fuck it! I have nothing else to do , I'll try the demo". Whoa! This damn VST is the best fuckin thing I have heard in a long time! The sound quality is amazing,everything in it is tweakable. I have been looking for something like this for a long time. I just have to say I can't wait to see what Sonic Charge does next! This Vst is going to be a classic along side the Pentagon I.Read Review
Pentagon I
Reviewed By Sensational [all]
February 4th, 2004
Version reviewed: 1.4 on Windows
This is in my opinion the perfect softsynth at the moment! It's my first thought for any project and any style of music. The GUI is very up to date looking and has all the features right up front and are easily accessable. I don't have to look for things or wonder "how to do this", because it's all right in front of me.The size is perfect so I can hoover over the knobs perfectly and see everything. I like the fact that you can see the knob setting readings right on the synth when you hoover over a knob with the mouse. The sound with the 2X sampling feature is so hardware like that it's unbelievable. The FX are the best I have ever heard on a softsynth, especially the delay, EQ and spread. Nice chorus, phaser, and distortion drive too.I just wish we could have a good decimator and reverb effect added. As for features the P1 covers all the simple basics PWM, pitch EG,FM,Ring,Sync versatile filter routing syncable LFO's and everything is midi linkable. You recieve the DX,VST and Stand Alone ASIO versions all for the same price. As for features I would like to see added in the future, microtuning and a good programmable arp feature (I know this is asking for a lot, but I feel the P1 deserves it!). The docs are good and very informative but, need to be updated, as I think they are for version 1.0, a lot of the new features seem to be missing from them or it doesn't go into detail about them. The presets are very good and versatile, all you have to do is transpose them to fit your situation and poof! You are poppin out tunes. Support is excellent, I have never had a problem with the actual synth, but if I had any question on synthesis or a comment in general, I could find the answer in the RGC forum or email Rene' and get an answer instantly. There are presets and skins posted regularly.The latest versions with new enhancement are free and always majorly improved. Value for the money as far as I am concerned, this is the best sounding softsynth out there period,especially in its price range. It could go for twice the money and still be worth it. Stability: It's has never crashed my systems a 450mhz Celeron and a 2ghz AMD. In closing, to me this synth is a classic, all usable, totally intuitive and creative with out a bunch of confusing bull. I load it up and I make music.I try the latest offerings from company A or B, but always wind up returning to the P1 to get the results I need. Thanks Rene' for such a wonderful treasure.
Did I mention I love this synth! The bank F patches by BT are incredible. This synth does more and more every day.Read Review
Did I mention I love this synth! The bank F patches by BT are incredible. This synth does more and more every day.Read Review
DX10
Reviewed By Sensational [all]
June 24th, 2003
Version reviewed: 1somthin on Windows
Dx10 update by Image Line is a wonderful sounding easy to use synth. I sit down with this synth and creative songs just seem to flow from it for me. I wrote a song called bump bump bump (sounds stupid but it's really an excellent song!) using only this synth and Fruityloops for drums. This synth is really easy to program and the sound quality is top notch. The only thing is the include effects are really stiff and need more versitilaty.Read Review
Wasp
Reviewed By Sensational [all]
February 19th, 2002
Version reviewed: 2.04 on Windows
This synth sounds pretty damn good, its easy to program and has tons of really nice presets.
The tone problem has been fixed in the updated 2.04v which make this a very high quality synth for the money.The sound you can get out of this synth is fabulous.Well worth $29. Customer support is wonderful as Image-line took care of the tone problem immediately!(Thanks Frederic!).In short this synth is a real winner!
I have to say that this is at the moment my number two synth behind the Pentagon I. The filters and fxs are so great sounding that I just keep going back and forth between this synth and the Pentagon I. The presets that come with it are nothing compared to what can be achieved with this synth if you spend some time with it.Read Review
The tone problem has been fixed in the updated 2.04v which make this a very high quality synth for the money.The sound you can get out of this synth is fabulous.Well worth $29. Customer support is wonderful as Image-line took care of the tone problem immediately!(Thanks Frederic!).In short this synth is a real winner!
I have to say that this is at the moment my number two synth behind the Pentagon I. The filters and fxs are so great sounding that I just keep going back and forth between this synth and the Pentagon I. The presets that come with it are nothing compared to what can be achieved with this synth if you spend some time with it.Read Review
DreamStation DXi2
Reviewed By Sensational [all]
February 19th, 2002
Version reviewed: 1 on Windows
The Dreamstation DXi could have been a kickass instrument. It sounds good, comes with a ton of decent presets and is very easy to program. I really love the sound of the instrument, but really couldn't get into it because of the lack of support for it. I have a registered version of it that I purchased from the Fruityloops site and it generates false tones aka sticky keys. I tried to get this problem resolved at the Fruity site where I brought it but my posts go unanswered there. I tried Audio Simulations, but it only seems that they support the stand-alone. My experience with the Dreamstation DXi has lead me to advise people to stay away from it for the lack of functionality and support.
CRAP!Read Review
CRAP!Read Review
