Product Reviews by KVR Members

Toolroom Records' Infinite is a transition app akin to Dada Life's Endless Smile and UJAM's Boost. Like those apps, Infinite can affect audio either in their solo tracks or collectively in a master bus. This differs, of course, with traditional transition apps which simply adds risers or downers to tracks alongside other audio tracks.

In terms of audio quality and features, Infinite sits between Endless Smile (only 11 riser settings) and Boost, but because it's highly tweakable, it's much closer to Boost. One thing that makes Infinite attractive is how customizable and automatable every effect is. The sky's the limit with the number of presets you can create.

TugGlicento 2.0 was already a very capable and effective glitch sequencer akin to Effectrix, Looperator and others. The dev upped his game with 3.0 and added automation lanes as well as a new distortion effect. No, there is no oversampling feature as far as I know, but since glitches are quick sound bites, it's probably not necessary. The automation lanes, for the master as well as each effect slot, is a very nice touch, allowing you to tweak parameters such as panning, cutoff frequencies, distortion depths, etc with ease. You can easily see where to set your curves because there's an outline of where you've placed a glitch. Even though all of TugGlicento's presets can be counted on the fingers of just one hand, randomize buttons all over the place gives you quick variations if you're in a hurry.

I'm not familiar with the first Vanguard, so I can't compare them. Taken for what it is, Vanguard 2 is a powerful softsynth with a plethora of filters and interesting sounds. Its gray-on-gray lettering makes reading the controls difficult, though. Also, the lack of a mod matrix limits which controls can be modulated as only a few controls are hard-wired to the envelopes and LFO's. Maybe I shouldn't compare it to Thorn, Diversion, Serum, etc and just accept its limitations as they are. Makes it a hard sell, though.

There are many reasons I consider Dawesome Novum 5 out of 5. I'll list five of them.

1. The developer, Peter V, is very responsive to suggestions and takes his customers suggestions to heart.

2. The ability to create synchronized rhythms out of the grains is worth its weight in gold.

3. The ability to create standard notes out of atonal material via the comb filter is a welcome feature.

4. Since you can import your own waves, the sound palate of Novum is endless.

5. From shimmering, ethereal pads to gnarly, abrasive soundscapes, Novum has you covered.

When I first tried Spiff, I wasn't sure how it worked or what it could be used for. After checking out some YT videos and demoing it, it's become so useful to me that it's a staple in my toolbox. I use it mainly to suppress transient attacks. I like that it's multiband. Other transient designers I've auditioned go too far in muting transients and actually dull the sound. Spiff is pinpoint accurate, zeroing on those pesky blips without affecting the surrounding audio. It's especially helpful when I'm using arpeggiators that has a glitch effect. Some of those glitches can cause audible unwanted clicks, that's when Spiff comes to the rescue. I also use it to smooth out plucks in my ambient tracks. It's a very valuable and transparent tool and definitely a keeper.

Waves set out to enter a growing field of harmonizing software by upping their game to the max with Harmony. You can tell they were serious by enlisting over 70 sound designers for presets. I'd say their main competitors in the pitch+delay category are Eventide, Antares, Cubase's Modulator FX, Loomer Shift2, and even themselves. Where Harmony shines, however, is it doesn't look complicated like Eventide's machinery-resembling plugins. And, unlike Modulator FX, it doesn't stop at a 5th. It goes up or down 2 octaves. It's got more taps than Shift2's 5 or Antares' 4. And, unlike Octavox, you can sync the tempo of each tap in regular timing (1/4, 1/8, 1/4D, etc) and not just ms like Octavox. On top of all this, Harmony has extensive modulation of its parameters. You can watch pans, volumes, and notes fly around for days especially since its chord function comes in handy for creating harmonic textures. I didn't try Harmony on vocals, just keys. I was trying to get a lush Noire Particles effect. It's achievable but requires a bit of noodling. Waves got themselves a winner. Not crazy about the brownish colour scheme, but hey, at least it's functional and the price is right.

Fascinated with the rhythmic/echo-y/reverb-y sounds of the particles engine in Noire piano, I sought out similar multitap pitched delays I could use on synths. I tried the free Chow Matrix but it was not only finicky but sounded grainy. Cubase's own multitap delay, which does sound smooth, only goes to a 5th (7st). Loomer's Shift2, with it's five pitched delay lines, was also a contender for top spot, but Octavox with its eight taps, multiple scales, and easy to use interface, was the winner. Too bad you need a little math for this plugin. Instead of allowing you to set the taps at intervals such as 1/4, 1/8, 16, 1/16 dotted, etc, it uses ms. That means, if you're working at 120bpm, you'd have to know 62ms=1/8 note, 93ms=dotted 1/8th note, 125ms=1/4 note, 250m=1/2 note, 375ms=dotted half note, etc. Pretty tedious, but since Octavox allows you to save presets, that's a plus. I really like pitch intervals, too. Using it, you can never go wrong in what every key you're working in as the proper scale is already set for you. Hopefully, in Octavox 2, they'll add traditional timing in addition to the ms.

I'd been a Diversion user for some time because it's loaded with useful features such as all parameters being modulatable, great sounds, gate sequencer, full-featured sequencer and arpeggiator, oversampling, one-page design, etc. It's only drawbacks are it's smallish GUI and anti-click feature which sometimes doesn't work. I'm not sure Thorn is the successor to Diversion, but in all probability, it could be since it contains a lot of the same parameters as Diversion in addition to a full-featured glitch sequencer. At least here the anti-click feature works, but not perfectly. When I use glitching, I get sharp clicks that I sometimes have to smoothen out with Oeksound's Spiff. I've tried other transient shapers but they're not as effective or transparent as Spiff. Definitely, another selling point with Thorn is how silky smooth you can make pads without bringing your CPU to its knees like Diversion does. There seems to be no shortage of presets for Thorn, either, if that's your thing. For a sound designer, there's a lot to work with in Thorn. The possibilities are huge.

Why am I reviewing this dinosaur since it's already been discontinued? It is an oldie but is definitely a goodie. I'm an ambient producer and am always on the lookout for creamy delicious textured pads as well as powerful arpeggiators, and CrX4 delivers on both counts. Because it's a sampling/synth hybrid with those features, it reminds me of ANA2, albeit a simpler version. Like the older HG Fortune synths, CrX4 is a mainstay in my arsenal and is worth seeking out.

I think everyone has a favourite mastering weapon, that last minute icing for the cake. For me, I'd say it's Venn's V-Clip. I don't use it for all projects, but when it comes to taming transients and smoothing out levels transparently, V-Clip is it. Its visualization alone is worth the price of admission. The fact that there's also oversampling makes it a winner, especially if you use V-Clip for its distortion and saturation abilities. Definitely a keeper.