Product Reviews by KVR Members

I have been playing with the Beta for about a month, and version 1.0 has just landed. It claims to be a monster from the deep, and it is. It just sounds great. It does two main types of synthesis (classic subtractive and Phase Modulation [FM]). It does not do Hard Sync, but does a similar sounding, and more versatile thing called "Fractal Synthesis". It does PWM but you need to learn how to patch a modular to do it - it is not hard wired. Ring and AM are also possible as is limited wavesequencing and waveshaping, but you'll need to read the manual to figure out how.

While it does not have "unlimited" modules, it has enough to make you smile and bring your CPU to its knees. The most fun are the 8x16 step sequencers and the Mapping Generators that can be used to generate custom modulations or oscillator shapes. All the important MIDI/Controller functions and a few wierd ones can be routed to any module.

The inbuilt effects are a mixed bag. The Delay sounds great with independent Mid/Side controls. The distortion has some interesting flavours but may not do everything you want in the tone mangling department. The Pre and post distortion slope controls and the Low and High shelving mean the Distortion unit actually functions as a quite powerful tone control at low levels. The spring reverb is springy, sometimes useful but more flavours would be nice. However, don't whinge, be a hero and use an external reverb if you need it. That's why I rated it 9, rather than 10.

You can argue about whether it sounds analog or digital, but to me, it just sounds great. It has 1700 presets included as well as extras through the website and forums. But the real fun is dragging those cables yourself and making your own sounds.

While it is CPU intensive, it is not as bad as it could be. It runs OK on an i5 provided you use all the tricks (limited voices, HQ off and multicore on or off according to your computer). Unison (stacked) voices with big chords and long releases will crush your CPU - be ready to bounce/freeze.

Bazille has made sound design fun again. Here's a short sample of some ambient sound effect stuff: https://soundcloud.com/marv_from_dapto/bazilledemo.