Product Reviews by KVR Members
All reviews by vata44
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Well I picked this up quick for free with HUGE expectations I would drop it just as quick because most guitar "synths" tend to suck IMO. I am rather surprised and happy with this little plugin... for the size it actually blows my mind.
Does it sound like a real guitar? Not really, but it has the "airy-ness" and "gentle-ness" of a nice acoustic guitar. Run it through some effects and it really shines.
The sample quality could be better... Unless your a super high quality snob, you might find this to be a useful little guitar/string tool in your arsenal.
Worth a solid try, but will not replace a good guitar or pro-quality guitar sampler.
It is a CPU hog, two instances 40% CPU... ouch!
Thank you for making this free!Read Review
Does it sound like a real guitar? Not really, but it has the "airy-ness" and "gentle-ness" of a nice acoustic guitar. Run it through some effects and it really shines.
The sample quality could be better... Unless your a super high quality snob, you might find this to be a useful little guitar/string tool in your arsenal.
Worth a solid try, but will not replace a good guitar or pro-quality guitar sampler.
It is a CPU hog, two instances 40% CPU... ouch!
Thank you for making this free!Read Review
Prizm Atmospheric Synth
Reviewed By vata44 [all]
July 12th, 2010
Version reviewed: 6 on Windows
I own the PRIZM and I find the presets and sounds in general to be a convoluted mess that I neither have the time or energy to organize myself. I think quite a few of the samples included wrapped up into the Wusik engine offer a ton of potential (some though are truly crappy and make me choke), but the organization and presets included are so hit or miss (personal taste) and cluttered. I fear to delete or change the organizational structure of the presets, because with every attempt I have made I end up getting "file not found", "missing sounds cannot be loaded" errors. I have had to do more trouble shooting with installing the PRIZM than any other audio product and when your trying to be inspired and flow smoothly, those kind of technical and cluttered errors kill the mood and frustrate you, at least me to the point I ignore it completely now.
One thing with Sampler/ROMpler VSTs like SampleTank or whatever, they give you basic sounds you can then layer and edit (simple pads, basses, etc). Or they give you some nice pre-made performances (editable). However with the PRIZM you get a lot of pads for instance where the LFOs, filter sweeps are all set in stone because it was recorded that way as a WAV... not made inside the PRIZM (Wusik) with the built in LFOs or effects. So its like sampling a Virus doing a glitchy filter sweep, but not being able to change the time, depth and speed of the sweep except through changing the key on the keyboard which then changes the entire pitch/speed and timbre. That annoyance literally pisses me off and is so unprofessional it is sad.
Sampling a complex LFO gated lead and then locking the user into those gate speeds is so misleading. Use the basic lead sound and then use the Wusik's gate/W2/Arp thingy to make the sound so that it actually stays on time when you change notes.
My questions and suggestions... Where are the basic presets? Simple pad sounds, simple leads, simple keys. Why are they not organized into nice little banks like Keys, Brass, Bass, Synths? Instead they are put in a cluttered folder with some sound designers name... and even within those folders they are not organized so you really have to either remember the exact name of the preset you liked or search and search and search. Drive me nuts.
Another glaring point to note is that a lot of the sounds are not looped. You play a pad sound and it comes to an abrupt stop, no fade out, no "real" sustain. This is the reasoning for the giant library, because your getting a WHOLE sampled pad without any clever looping and processing within the PRIZM/Wusikstation itself.
*Question to ask yourself is why can a 8, 16, 32mb real rompler make such more complex sounds that are completely editable and yet take up such little space. Answer is they utilize the synth engine/sample engine itself... like the modulators, LFOs, effects, etc. PRIZM more often than not has recorded all that for you, so don't pan on changing the sounds much at all.
For me, PRIZM is a brick on my hard drive. It is huge, cluttered and completely unusable. The Wusik engine has so much potential just based off small basic waveforms, the LFOs, Gates, W2, etc... the PRIZM does not at all take advantage of this.
I would like to hear from someone other than the creator who has opinions contrary to my own.Read Review
One thing with Sampler/ROMpler VSTs like SampleTank or whatever, they give you basic sounds you can then layer and edit (simple pads, basses, etc). Or they give you some nice pre-made performances (editable). However with the PRIZM you get a lot of pads for instance where the LFOs, filter sweeps are all set in stone because it was recorded that way as a WAV... not made inside the PRIZM (Wusik) with the built in LFOs or effects. So its like sampling a Virus doing a glitchy filter sweep, but not being able to change the time, depth and speed of the sweep except through changing the key on the keyboard which then changes the entire pitch/speed and timbre. That annoyance literally pisses me off and is so unprofessional it is sad.
Sampling a complex LFO gated lead and then locking the user into those gate speeds is so misleading. Use the basic lead sound and then use the Wusik's gate/W2/Arp thingy to make the sound so that it actually stays on time when you change notes.
My questions and suggestions... Where are the basic presets? Simple pad sounds, simple leads, simple keys. Why are they not organized into nice little banks like Keys, Brass, Bass, Synths? Instead they are put in a cluttered folder with some sound designers name... and even within those folders they are not organized so you really have to either remember the exact name of the preset you liked or search and search and search. Drive me nuts.
Another glaring point to note is that a lot of the sounds are not looped. You play a pad sound and it comes to an abrupt stop, no fade out, no "real" sustain. This is the reasoning for the giant library, because your getting a WHOLE sampled pad without any clever looping and processing within the PRIZM/Wusikstation itself.
*Question to ask yourself is why can a 8, 16, 32mb real rompler make such more complex sounds that are completely editable and yet take up such little space. Answer is they utilize the synth engine/sample engine itself... like the modulators, LFOs, effects, etc. PRIZM more often than not has recorded all that for you, so don't pan on changing the sounds much at all.
For me, PRIZM is a brick on my hard drive. It is huge, cluttered and completely unusable. The Wusik engine has so much potential just based off small basic waveforms, the LFOs, Gates, W2, etc... the PRIZM does not at all take advantage of this.
I would like to hear from someone other than the creator who has opinions contrary to my own.Read Review
TS-2 Tube Saturator
Reviewed By vata44 [all]
April 28th, 2010
Version reviewed: 1.00 on Windows
Okay, so I guess I am one of those who really like that "tube" sound. I have been in love with the free RubyTube for some time now. I have also loved the BlueTubes by Nomad Factory, but I knew some day I would get that tube sound I wanted in full. I must say IMO I have found it and I am VERY happy to be the proud owner of this product. Will everyone like it? Probably not as personal opinion/preference is as varied as species on our planet...
Features are simplistic and that is something that I like... but I feel maybe, just maybe there could have been room for a little more creativity. I don't know what, but people are always surprising me out there and for $100, I would think there might be a small bell or whistle.
Documentaion... I cannot find it if it exists. However it is so straight forward that I doubt it is honestly needed. I like that as well.
Presets are good starting points... I don't know how varied you could get with a plugin like this. A little, a little more, a lot or tons of tubage... ;)
They were very prompt when asking them questions before purchase and I feel as if that is a good representation of what I should expect if I have problems.
Value... like I mentioned, this is "the" sound I have been seeking for my style of music (which is not common at all), so to each your own.
Stability, time will tell.
CPU Hog? Oh yes! 1 plugin was taking 45% of my Intel core 2 duo 2ghzRead Review
Features are simplistic and that is something that I like... but I feel maybe, just maybe there could have been room for a little more creativity. I don't know what, but people are always surprising me out there and for $100, I would think there might be a small bell or whistle.
Documentaion... I cannot find it if it exists. However it is so straight forward that I doubt it is honestly needed. I like that as well.
Presets are good starting points... I don't know how varied you could get with a plugin like this. A little, a little more, a lot or tons of tubage... ;)
They were very prompt when asking them questions before purchase and I feel as if that is a good representation of what I should expect if I have problems.
Value... like I mentioned, this is "the" sound I have been seeking for my style of music (which is not common at all), so to each your own.
Stability, time will tell.
CPU Hog? Oh yes! 1 plugin was taking 45% of my Intel core 2 duo 2ghzRead Review
