Rob Papen

As far as Delsane is concerned, I'll be brief: it's a full featured delay with an unusual feature that allows it to creates fx not available elsewhere. I haven't used it in depth, but first impressions are that it compares favorably with much more expensive and well known competitors. That said, I didn't find the controls for the the 'Disrupt Sphere Slider' intuitive. But at the price, it's a steal - and I got it at Black Friday pricing.

Here's the thing. Rob Papen's pricing structure is bizarre: buy any four RP plugins, and you can get Explorer 8 - the latest complete pack of all RP plugins - for a rock bottom price. I checked my Reason account, and found I already had four from a Reason bundle I picked up a couple of years ago. That allowed me to get Explorer 8 for just $74 (again, Black Friday pricing) - which is one of the best bargains I've ever had.

Just thought that was worth knowing.

Superb rich analog sound all in a one page interface that is well laid out and easily understandable that comes with a plethora of varying sounds already to go. I think one of the things that drew me to it after checking out the demo is the filter depth and the sound character. Even if it's just a one page interface the sound character is still important and it would be the same if it was an IRL synth. For me there would be 3 important queues to think about, what kinds of interesting sounds can it produce, how well you can navigate through the controls, and how that control interface influences how well you can create new sounds or edit the ones already present. These features are all present.

Mainly a good Peace of Software, but make a few tutorials how to set it up in ver. DAW's.

I can not run it in Live 11 in Classic Vocoder Mode where my MIDI Keyboard play the carrier signal.

If your DAW of choice is Reason then Predator RE is the way to go. A great synth from one of the best synth makers in the game (Rob Papen).

I've been on the fence about sinking a good chuck of money into a drum synth for quite a while. Up until now, I've gotten great results from the freebies, vsti's as well as one shot samples. I first checked out Punch about 3 years ago and have been drooling over it ever since, but I was skeptical about it's Windows XP 32-bit compatability. After a recent PC upgrade, I started weighing my options again. Tried uTonic (sounds fantastic, but IMO is too limited for an all-in-one drum synth option), tried Tremor (way too big a CPU hit, even on my 3.5 Xeon with 24G ram). Punch just "worked" for me...synthesis, sampler, sequencer, built in effects (fuzz distortion is fantastic btw, reminds me of running my hardsynth into a Boss FZ-2 HyperFuuzz at times). Within minutes, my electro drums took leaps and bounds.

Bottom line? Sounds great, easy to program, low CPU hit. Buy it.

Mike.

The description here does not do this product justice at all. Please go read the product page at the Rob Papen website.

This delay may not be for everyone, specifically people working with recorded audio, or in more "organic" genres. Basically, if you need your delays to sound "real," this may not be the best product for you. Sure, it can do "natural," but so can two dozen other delays that you probably already own. That kind of application is not where RP-Delay shines.

However, I think this could be the best delay out there for electronic / EDM, or any genre where delays and FX aren't always expected to sound "real." It really excels at highly layered, variously panned, heavily filtered and distorted delays. A total dream for creating wild effects.

It has two main delay lines (1 and 2), and each has four sublines: A, B, C and reverse, each with its own mix knob (dry vs wet), level, panning, feedback, filter type, and distortion type. All sublines can be set by sync, or by very accurate ms. Each subline can be triggered by a MIDI note. Each subline can be fed by the main input, or by any of the other sublines (see "position"). It has a master mix knob, master stereo width knob, master 3-fixed band EQ (low, mid, high). Also has master volume triggering, sequencer and Audio Follower.

It has a highly variable CPU load, depending on the patch (many, many awesome presets).

The only other delay plugin that I know of that allows such precise control over so many parameters is More Feedback Machine by u-he. The main difference to my ears is that MFM sounds more analog and RP-Delay sounds more digital. This same distinction holds true for u-he synths vs RP synths as well, imo. They both have their place. The price difference between the two is not huge, so maybe try both and see which one you like more.

Still one of my go-to-synths. At least for "common" synth sounds like subs, noises and pads. Not so for lead sounds. That's a matter of taste though. It does also plucky sounds or percussions very well.

The overall sound is very good, although I wouldn't say excellent or outstanding. I'd say it doesn't have its own very unique character. That I find great for layering, because Albino never tends to overlay the original sound, but very often suits perfectly to the main sound.

The modulation matrix is great and gives a lot of possibilities. With all the modulators you can create very complex modulations and movements.

Another great feature is the vast preset library that ships with it. Unbelievably big! And it serves all kinds of sounds for all tastes and styles.

*I give Blade a 9.5 rating and expect to upgrade it to a solid 10 after the next update is released.

Blade by Rob Papen is a flexible additive synth with an sharp, yet human edge. When I first picked up this synth, I was scared — not because it was called, "Blade," and I feared it would cut me, but because it's an additive synth. I'm comfortable with subtractive synths, but my experience with additive or anything that has to do with partials or even mentions "FM" instantly triggers PTSD. I still have nightmares about programming a DX7 and wavetable synth patches. Blade breaks it all down and makes it easy to program without loss of sleep. In short, Blade is musician friendly.

One of the key features that makes additive synthesis unique is the ability to control harmonics, overtones, and partials; however, many argue that the sound is usually thin, lacks humanity, and is limited by on-board algorithms. Enter Blade! With this synth, you not only have control over the filter and volume, but you have global and micro control over essence of the waveform itself that goes way beyond slight adjustments to an individual partial (BTW, Blade contains 96 partials). There is something called a "Harmolator." It is a means of creating new waveforms and gaining total control over the oscillators. According to Rob Papen, "The Harmolator allows oscillator spreading, fattening the sound and also square / sine wave sub-oscillator." Every Harmolator parameter is spectrally displayed on the giant XY pad to give visual feedback, which enables global real-time manipulation of partials and live recording of cursor envelop/filter paths. I'm a visual person, and it really helps me to see (as well as hear) what I'm tweaking. This is where you can make instant sweeping changes.

Blade is capable of producing many timbres; yet, I mostly use it for sweeping, evolving ambient soundscapes and FX. It's easy to modify existing patches and create your own from scratch with Blade. Once you get familiar with the Harmolator and other parameters, it's like programming a virtual analogue-style synth. Blade makes additive sound design a fast, fun adventure.

FAVORITE FEATURES

• Cool blue GUI that is scalable to 150%
• 14 filter types
• Ability to add sub-oscillator
• Standard envelope generators
• Advanced page for deep editing
• 2 effects processors
• Step sequencer style arp that syncs to host
• Easy to access banks and some fantastic factory presets (of course, it's a Rob Papen synth)
• Responsive developer (the gang at RPCX respond to inquiries and update plugins frequently)

THOUGHTS

• This synth does a lot and does it in a new way, so there is a steeper learning curve, but once you get the hang of it. .. you will be unstoppable! It's certainly easier than programming the DX7.
• Why does Blade remind me of Wesley Snipes?

CONCLUSION

Blade has all the features of a basic additive synth and much, much more. You will not be limited by multiplying sine waves and a few algorithms. You will have the freedom and ease to create sounds that range from light and wispy to heavy and haunting. And, thanks to the XY pad, you can make the overall sound as human as you are! I highly recommend Blade to any eMusician, producer, gamer, sound-tracker, DJ, or sound designer, who is looking for an inspiring way to add an additive flavor to their audio. Tommy Zai gives Blade two very sharp thumbs up! To quote another reviewer, "Blade is certainly ready to cut through your mixes." Thank you, Rob Papen et al, for creating such a versatile and fun synth.