Product Reviews by KVR Members

Through the years I've tried many great synthesizers with great sound and many features, but this is the first one I think it's worth to write a review. First day of the demo periode I made the mistake that I didn't read the short manual since I'm mainly a so called preset junkey in synthesizer things. I tried the presets as usual and thought that it is OK but nothing special in sound because I have licenses of a few good sounding big boys.
Second day I read the manual and was very surprised when trying this thing in depth again.
I was mostly impressed by the nice FX and fine pads it can produce (although it does many more from basses,drums,leads.....).
Maybe it´s not an ultra-fat analog instrument with trance gate and arppegiator, but you can do full arranged compositions just with this thing, in short said: very inspiring.
So I ended up in buying an official license, although my parents told me not to spend so much money on toys when I was younger:)

My positive impressions:
1) Most innovative synth/GUI I´ve ever seen - yes it´s a synth that lives
2) Very low CPU and stability for its quite good sound
3) You can automate almost every parameter (all in the DNA string) the same time without any problem
4) It´s very easy to create new good sounding presets just on the main GUI. A few synths also offer a random button for presets, but here it is really clever made so almost every CTRL-click on the seed gives a good fresh new sound.
5) Preset management is very good and what I really like is the possibility in previewing an external preset without loading it (just select it and play the keys to try it).
6) Different sound on different keys
7) Switching presets/patches while playing gives no dropouts and makes this synth an ideal instrument for playing live
8) Manual is well written, short but informative (you need to read it only once).

My negative impressions:
1) none so far (what should I say on such a well-thought instrument)

Tips:
- In any case read the short but very informative manual as suggested
- Move the Mod-Wheel on your keyboard while playing
- Rotate the rotation control (maybe via Midi-Controller) while playing
- Turn on the Help=? in the DNA window to see functionality of every slider
- Don´t judge the presets (although it comes with many of them) and make new sounds for yourself (every child could do it)
- Listen to the demo song on the SonicCharge homepage to get an impression
- Try to blow on a full-grown plant while playing some keys :)
- Don´t add water to the plant (your monitor will thank you)
- Now stop playing and make music !

In summary my formular: Price/(Quality + Stability + Fun^10) = Steal :)Read Review

My Voxengo Soniformer review (tested version 2.4.1):
If you are looking for the holy grail in mastering compression maybe this is it (although it doesn't color the sound = no valve compressor)!
It's a 32-Band Spectral-Compressor (think of it as a kind of Multiband-Compressor) with additional features described later. It could be a little bit confusing when you use it the first time, but once you get familiar with the interface you will notice that the GUI couldn't be any better.
You can adjust Threshold/Attack/Release/Ratio/WetMix/OutGain/St.Link/Width/Pan for each of the 32 bands individually in a graphical way by envelopes. You have several monitoring options as help to adjust each band (especially Threshold/OutGain) in an easy way. It is possible to perform Mid/Side processing for adjusting only the Mid(Mono)- or Side(Stereo)-part of the signal. Further you can switch compression mode to "Normal" (all above the Threshold will be processed) or "Inverted" (all below the Threshold will be processed). Detector mode can be switched between "Peak" or "Envelope". Input slope of the analyzer can be adjusted if you want to concentrate more or less on a certain frequency range. Since version 2.4 you can change the processing order for Comp/OutGain/Width/Pan.
Hint: You can use Soniformer not only as compressor but also as a superb Stereo Widener (Width/Pan envelopes) and/or as a kind of 32-Band equalizer (OutGain envelope).
As alternative to envelope editing (and if the 32 bands are too much for your brain) you can switch Soniformer to a 3-Band compressor in knob mode.
My tipps for beginners:
- Start with the presets and adjust the Threshold curve to your needs. Just right-click in the Threshold envelope to select all points, then move the curve up/down.
- If you want a non-pumping single-band compressor just set all envelopes to a straight horizontally line (by clicking on "Reset"), then right-click to select this line in each tab and move it up/down to your needs.
- Use the analyzer in Monitoring mode "In+Out" to set the threshold visually and switch sometimes to Monitoring mode "Gains" to see the reduction/enhancement for each band.
- Read the manual for detailed description

Be aware: Soniformer uses 45% CPU on my P4 2.8GHz, but this is normal for the heavy precise processing in this plugin.
What I miss (I don't know if it can ever be implemented):
A "Solo" listening mode for each band.

All in all it's a great value for money: $59 (sometimes I can't believe it). Further the customer support for all Voxengo products is perfect.Read Review