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Reviewed By brok landers [all]
September 7th, 2015
Version reviewed: 1.09 on Windows
there are several analyser plugins on the market, most of them with a quite wider feature palette than the seven phases analyser. however, thisone here shows clearly, that the count of features doesn't play a such significant role, if developed wisely.
other than the most analysers in the plugin realm, this plugin doesn't use typical fft algorithms, which traditionally have 2 main drawbacks:
1. the frequency resolution depends on your CPU power, and the bass range, which is clearly the most important range, doesn't give you a detailled resolution to readout, exept, when you use a very high fft resolution and max out your cpu.
2. fft analysers have a so called "window" for the resolution, which determines the speed of the graphical response in amplitude. in other words - you cannot specify attack independent from release times - you alter the overall response.
the seven phases analyser is based on specialized bandpasses rather than on fft, which drastically overcomes the above mentioned problems (in fact i don't really understand, why fft is still being used for creating analysers). the attack is pretty instant, and the release time is adjustable, which makes it possible to accurately set up the analysers amplitude response to the need determined by the level structure of the input signal.
furthermore, the seven phases analyser is pink noise > flat weighted, which visually corresponds way more to the perception of the human ear, as well as this weighting spares a lot of low level headroom. in a white noise > flat weighting, often you have to set the headroom very low in level, to correctly see what is going on in the mid/high-mid/high frequency range, while the low content pretty much blows the window. so pink noise flat, at least for musical approaches like mixing/mastering/sounddesigning is the best choice.
the great thing doesn't stop here, though. you can freely resize the plugin window, you can show/edit the view of average measurement as well as peak measurement, adjust the peak hold length, set up the level range (max and min) as well as the count of bands in 3, 4 or 6 bands per octave (64 bands !!), set up an approximation curve, and set the grid to decades or octaves. furthermore you can edit the colours of mostly ever aspect this analyser offers (which can be stored in profiles or within the plugin preset) and what sometimes comes over like toyish, soon turns out to be godsent in this case.
i've tried _all_ analysers i could get my hands on in VST land, since years. and there are some good ones. but this one made my day since it saw the light of day. recently it was updated to 64-bit, and some changes towards the even better have been done, so it is ready for the future. and here comes the greatest fact of all - it is completely free (at least up to the time i was writing this review).
for someone who is not purely scientific, but needs an analyser that does its job in a real-world mixing/mastering/sounddesigning scenario, this one is imo one of the best, if not even the best choice by the time i'm writing this. i gave it a 9 out of 10 - but only because this thing screams for more bands (128 up to 256 would be a hammer), an easy built-in peak/rms meter as well as for an easy correlation meter. but the absence of those features don't really lower the value of this plugin.
there's quite some unnecessary stuff on the oversaturated plugin market these days - but if there' s very few plugins that i use all the time and that will stay in my projects as if they were host-internal, then this one is one of these rare ones - it' s fixed in my default song of every VST capable host i own, and i wouldn't want to do without this plugin since it was released. imo a must have for everyone who is serious about the stuff he does.
Read ReviewReviewed By brok landers [all]
September 28th, 2003
Version reviewed: 1.5 on Windows
in logic the sounds and the setup of this plugin will NEVER be stored within the song. you have to store the whole performance data before shutting down the song and load it manually again once recalled the song.
this is the behave with ALL edirol plugins.
SHAME ON YOU, ROLAND.
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Reviewed By brok landers [all]
September 28th, 2003
Version reviewed: 1.1 on Windows
it exactly has the features like a jx8p (exept the chorus and the layering lower-upper structure), and it even reminds me about that one in terms of sound.
it simply sounds great, and i hate it for being so featureless ... imagine this synth with enhanced filtermodes x 2,fm, filter fm and ringmodulation, more lfo´s and env`s, and a modulation matrix ... i dont even want to think about it.
come on, maxim digital audio, update this synth to what it deserves ... i would even pay for it.
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gui :
none.
sound :
a bit it reminds me to a jx8p.
features :
too rudimentary for the exellent sound. you allways hate it to be so limited.
docs :
never needed. tweak a slider and listen.
presets :
the synth is capable of what the presets show.basic but good.
support :
simply brilliant, because mostly not needed (as with all the plugs of mda), but if, the developer himself is replying.
value for money :
feel bad, its a steal(as with all the plugs of mda).
stability :
never ever crashed once on all my systems in all circumstances (as with all the plugs of mda;=).
summary :
go get everything of mda, and dont let yourself be fooled by the fact that theres no gui or its free.
its high end plugs. every each of mda.
to mda :
ENHANCE, UPDATE, PACK-FULL-WITH-FEATURES ALL YOUR PLUGS.
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Reviewed By brok landers [all]
September 27th, 2003
Version reviewed: 1.0 on Windows
user interface :
its simple. 4 tweaks. thats it.
sound :
one can hear that its not just multisampled. its heavyly processed. and im afraid to say that it doesnt sound like a wurly at all. one can hear that it should sound like a wurly.
features :
volumeslider, velocity sensitivity cutoff and drive (last 2 seem to do nothing at all ? maybe in the pro-version thats available).the cuttoff is not needed because it even sounds muddy when its all open so you probably never tur it down.
docs :
unimportant because not needed.
presets :
none.what you hear is what you get.
support :
never needed.
value for money :
exellent, if one might find it useful.its free.
i personally would not recommend it. to many alternatives by sampling cds and so on.nothing you cannot find anywhere else.
also there are some good emus out there like the evp by emagic or the lounge lizzard. both sound very good, but the lounge lizzard eats up your cpu.
stability :
never crashed at all.
summary :
if you dont use it for pro recordings its ok.
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Reviewed By brok landers [all]
September 27th, 2003
Version reviewed: 1.0 on Windows
user interface :
unimportant. there`s nothing to tweak.
sound :
well ... if you play it alone, it sounds not too bad, although wery wide and heavyly processed before multisamples. in the mix (if its no ballad) its very washy and greasy, not concrete, not at all a piano wich is higher stated.
features :
none.
docs :
unimportant because not needed. there is nothing to tweak at all.
presets :
none.what you hear is what you get.
support :
never needed.
value for money :
exellent, if one might find it useful.its free.
i personally would not recommend it. to many alternatives by sampling cds and so on.nothing you cannot find anywhere else.and it has a competitor wich is also free, the mda piano, wich imo sounds way more like a piano, even its also not what i would call exellent. but it has a few features to tweak, so you can limited make it fit to what you deserve.and also allmost no cpu usage.
stability :
never crashed at all.
summary :
if 4 front would give it some amp env and some tweaks to edit it to your needs, or at least give more pianos to choose, it could become a workhorse for me.
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Reviewed By brok landers [all]
September 27th, 2003
Version reviewed: 1.0 on Windows
user interface :
unimportant. there`s nothing to tweak.
sound :
its not a wurli or a rhodes ore vintage at all. also not a dx 7 like one. but the sound is wide and very hifi like.reminds me to 80`s ballads.the release is a little too long for me, so its not usable for staccato or funk or faster groovy music.
features :
none.
docs :
unimportant because not needed. there is nothing to tweak at all.
presets :
none.what you hear is what you get.
support :
never needed.
value for money :
exellent, if one might find it useful. i personally would not recommend it. to many alternatives by sampling cds and so on.nothing you cannot find anywhere else.
stability :
never crashed at all.
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Reviewed By brok landers [all]
September 27th, 2003
Version reviewed: 1.0 on Windows
gui :
unimportant, cause it doesnt do anything. real and pure plug and play.
sound :
it aimes to be a real electric bass, but to be honest, not the one that one might need to have an outstanding or at least neutral bass in the mix. i would call it a normal but carefully multisampled gm bass. not less but not more either.
its a little difficult to fit it in a very concrete punchy mix.the problem is that its only one bass, no way to choose between different basses.i own it a 2 months now, and i tried it allways, before i used another one. and i did allways choose another one.
the most negative thing is, that, at least in logic 5.1 it doesnt react on pitchbend or modwheel at all. this makes it allmost unusable, at least for me.
features :
none. its a one trick, but useless pony for me at least.
docs :
dont need them at all. there is nothing that you can tweak.
presets :
not possible, because of the concept. note that i dont mean to judge, just state.
support :
not needed.
value for money :
exellent, if one find it useful. its free.
stability :
didnt crash once.
summary :
if the developer would give it at least an amp env and maybe more basses to chose it could become at least an easy workhorse for me.
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Reviewed By brok landers [all]
September 26th, 2003
Version reviewed: 1.3.2 on Windows
its a nice little synth wich uses almost no cpu power.
it can do some nice, oldstyle pads.
but thats about it.
its absolutely NEVER even half wa close to a real stringmachine like the solina or the vp 330.
its just not done by putting a fast, cheap chorus after a cheap oscillator, not to mention the phaser or the reverb, if you want to call it so.
listen to jean michelle jarres equionox or oxygene.
he often fed the machines into a vintage phaser ...
this is how a real stringmachine (well, one of the best, the eminent 310u) sounds ... or listen to the strings of the old vangelis recordings, you´ll understand the important difference.
all in all a nice vsti, considering the price ;=), but since they compare it to the old stringmachines they lost it in these terms. it simply has nothing to do with a real stringmachine, which is sad, as there`s none in the vsti world that matches the sound and behave of a real stringmachine ...
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Reviewed By brok landers [all]
September 26th, 2003
Version reviewed: 2.4 on Windows
it`s a great syth packed with all features one might need. but you have to bring preknowledge about modular synthesis.
now the whining :
1. you cannot use it raltime excessively in more instances, cause it eats too much cpu power ... hopefully this will change in the near future.
2. many people work in logic, and in logic directly it
looses some parameters, even if you store the sounds in the internal patchbrowser of the plugin. you have to use the cainer plugin, then it worx.
the gui is not bad, but a little hassle to work with.
features are endless.
documentation is a little rudimentary, but its free, so we dont complain ;=)
support is good, they do anything they can for such a complex product (read this, glen ;=) and the updatepolicy is correct.on the website are many tutorials about how to use the synth (wich i found out now), there is also a userlist with over 1200 users and there are many sounds of the users you can freely download.
the presets (that come with the synth itself) are not even closely showing what you can do with it, but at all i have to say that i personally would get a synth like this for creating own patches, thats what its therefore because of its semi modularity.
value for mony is unbelievable, its great and free.
last version didn`t crash one time on my host.
green oak, please check the cpu usage !
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Reviewed By brok landers [all]
September 26th, 2003
Version reviewed: 1.2 on Windows
brok landersRead Review
