2008 EDITORS' CHOICE AWARDS

Jan 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By the EM Staff

SYNTHESIZER (Hardware)

Yamaha Motif XS6
($2,199)

Although dozens of synthesizer workstations have come and gone, Yamaha's Motif line has evolved considerably since its launch in 2001. In a field filled with worthy competitors, all three models in the latest Motif XS series deliver serious music-production firepower, but the XS6 stands out as the model that gives you the most cluck for the least buck. Its versatile timbral palette can handle just about any type of music you throw at it, from lounge standards to full-tilt rock 'n' roll, from folk songs to fully orchestrated film soundtracks.

The Motif XS6 furnishes most everything you'd want in a sample-playback synthesizer workstation. Its big, bright color LCD is easy to read, and you'll have no trouble navigating its well-organized operating system. Loads of real-time controls, from front-panel sliders and knobs to assignable footpedal inputs, invite hands-on operation and suggest all manner of expressive possibilities. Thanks to built-in Ethernet and USB 2.0, the XS6 can directly access computers and external drives, and you can download software to extend its parameter-editing faculties. You can also add as much as a gigabyte of RAM for 16-bit stereo user sampling, and install an mLAN expansion card for 128-channel MIDI and 6-channel digital audio connectivity via FireWire.

The XS6 puts a huge assortment of lifelike sounds at your fingertips, from a General MIDI bank to a full concert grand piano. Yamaha's Mega Voice and Expanded Articulation presets add to the realism. The XS6 does everything a synth can do to make songwriting and composition as trouble-free as possible. Its onboard 16-track sequencer records audio and MIDI data, and you can quickly switch from linear multitrack sequencing to arranging patterns with as many as 256 phrases each. Edit sequencer data in an event list with 480 ppqn precision. Four intelligent arpeggiators tap into more than 6,000 patterns, simultaneously and in sync. Put it all together — great sounds, versatile sequencing, excellent effects, computer interactivity, and plenty of hands-on control with lots of visual feedback, all at a reasonable price — and you have this year's Editors' Choice for Hardware Synthesizer.

SYNTHESIZER (Software)

Native Instruments Massive 1.1
(Mac/Win, $339)

u-he Zebra 2.1
(Mac/Win, $199)

Software Synthesizer is a perennially tough category for the EM editors because there are always several stellar competitors. This year we decided to award a tie to two quite different wavetable-based virtual instruments. Beyond their incredible sound, one important factor in choosing these two synths was their extensive factory preset libraries — more than 500 presets for Native Instruments Massive and more than 1,000 for u-he Zebra.

Zebra is a wireless modular synthesizer; you fill cells in its patch matrix with sound generating and processing modules and then right-click on those modules to choose other cells as their input(s). Modulation is accomplished with drop-down menus on a module's control panel, and virtually anything can modulate anything else. Four onscreen, MIDI remote controllable and automatable x-y controllers facilitate real-time performance.

Zebra offers a full spectrum of sound generators and filters, the most unusual of which is the WaveWarp oscillator. It is based on a table of 16 waveforms through which you either morph or crossfade using built-in modulators, MIDI, and automation. You draw in your own waveforms by waveshape or by additive spectrum, and the ergonomic user interface makes the process relatively easy. Zebra not only gives you your money's worth, but also offers plenty of fodder for those who don't want to program their own sounds.

Massive is a bit less modular than Zebra, but it stays true to its name. It has a typical subtractive-synth configuration of modules, but a signal-path block diagram allows for some rerouting. The oscillators use 89 preconfigured wavetables. Several wavetable traversing options, along with several configurations for Massive's two multimode filters, add considerable flexibility. Beyond that you get a noise source, a dedicated Modulation oscillator capable of audio frequencies, a programmable feedback path, and four effects (two inserts and two at the output).

The key to Massive is its unique, user-friendly modulation scheme. Modulators — four looping breakpoint envelopes, four LFOs that double as pattern sequencers, eight Macro knobs, and various MIDI messages — are numbered and color coded. To apply a modulator, you drag its handle to a slot below the knob or slider you want to target. Dragging up and down on the number produces a ring or bar to indicate the range of modulation. It takes only a quick look at the panel to decipher the modulation scheme, and modulation is the key to this synth.

Whether you stick to their extensive factory libraries or roll up your sleeves and create your own sounds, Zebra and Massive are worthy additions to your virtual rack. Both offer fresh sounds and novel approaches to wavetable synthesis, MIDI modulation, and automation.

SYNTHESIZER WORKSTATION

Propellerhead Software Reason 4
(Mac/Win, $399.99)

Every couple of years, Propellerhead Software gives Reason users something to celebrate. This was one of those years, and true to form, the EM editors broke out the champagne.

Reason's flashiest new feature is the semimodular synth, Thor. Not only can you fill its six sound-generator and filter slots with different models, but you also have a fair amount of control over the signal path, you can process audio from other devices, and anything can modulate anything else via Thor's robust modulation matrix. For good measure, the company has thrown in a step sequencer with lanes for pitch, Velocity, gate length, step duration, and two controller curves. Each lane has a back-panel output for driving other modules.

Reason 4's other new module is RPG-8, an excellent arpeggiator with selective note muting and the option to arpeggiate only when two or more notes are held. RPG-8 also functions as a MIDI-to-CV and -Gate converter, a much-needed addition. On the enhancement side, the Combinator and NN-XT sampler get some new programming features, but the big news is the major redesign of Reason's sequencer. Tracks now have separate lanes for notes, automation, and performance data, and all data is organized in clips, making it much easier to manipulate. A 32-channel ReGroove Mixer lets you impose the groove of played or imported clips on other sequencer tracks. Reason just keeps getting better.

VIRTUAL ORCHESTRA

Vienna Symphonic Library Vienna Special Edition
(Mac/Win, $445 standard, $595 extended, $1,040 full [MSRP])

Vienna Symphonic Library (VSL) has earned its excellent reputation by offering some of the best-sounding samples around. Great recordings coupled with a highly intelligent playback engine won the company's Symphonic Cube an Editors' Choice Award last year. But who knew that VSL would wow us again quite so soon? This year's release of Vienna Special Edition was a great move on the company's part; with a high-quality sample collection at a great price, the package was the obvious choice to win in the Virtual Orchestra category.

Vienna Special Edition comes in several flavors and offers fewer layers and samples than its big brother. But there's more than enough here to get excited about. The collection covers all the traditional orchestral families nicely, and you'll also find saxophones, acoustic and electric guitar, and samples from the Vienna Konzerthaus organ if your scoring needs require those resources. In total, the complete library puts 80 GB of 24-bit, 44.1 kHz orchestral samples on your desktop, awaiting your creative direction. Vienna Special Edition also includes the company's vaunted performance-detection algorithms, which make transitions between sampled notes especially smooth and lifelike.

Whether you're doing orchestral mock-ups to demonstrate your orchestration chops or creating ready-to-lay-back scores for films, you'll find all the sounds you need in Vienna Special Edition, at a price that will keep you smiling.

THE WINNING MANUFACTURERS

Andyware	www.andyware.com
Apple	www.apple.com
Celemony Software	www.celemony.com
Dangerous Music	www.dangerousmusic.com
Digidesign	www.digidesign.com
Dynaudio Acoustics	www.dynaudioacoustics.com
Frontier Design Group	www.frontierdesign.com
HandHeld Sound	www.flyinghandpercussion.com
Korg	www.korg.com
Kurzweil	www.kurzweilmusicsystems.com
Line 6	www.line6.com
Modartt	www.pianoteq.com
Mojave Audio	www.mojaveaudio.com
Native Instruments	www.native-instruments.com
PreSonus	www.presonus.com
Propellerhead Software	www.propellerheads.se
Redmatica	www.redmatica.com
Roland	www.rolandus.com
Sibelius Software	www.sibelius.com
SoniVox	www.sonivoxmi.com
Toft Audio Designs	www.toftaudio.com
u-he	www.u-he.com
Universal Audio	www.uaudio.com
Vienna Symphonic Library	www.vsl.co.at
XLN Audio	www.xlnaudio.com
Yamaha	www.yamaha.com

THE AWARD WINNERS IN REVIEW

All of our award winners have been reviewed in our pages or soon will be. For products with reviews still in progress, we have completed enough tests to feel confident about our conclusions. Published articles are available online at www.emusician.com.

Andyware Analog Box 2	Feb. 2007
Apple Logic Studio	Jan. 2008
Celemony Software Melodyne Studio 3.2.1	Oct. 2007
Dangerous Music D-Box	in progress
Digidesign Structure	in progress
Dynaudio Acoustics BM 6A MKII	Nov. 2007
Frontier Design Group AlphaTrack	Oct. 2007
HandHeld Sound FlyingHand Percussion	Aug. 2007
Korg MR-1000	Aug. 2007
Kurzweil SP2X Stage Piano	in progress
Line 6 GearBox Plug-In Gold 3.10	Dec. 2007
Modartt Pianoteq 2	in progress
Mojave Audio MA-100	Oct. 2007
Native Instruments Massive 1.1	May 2007
PreSonus FireStudio	in progress
Propellerhead Software Reason 4	Dec. 2007
Redmatica Keymap	in progress
Roland MV-8800	in progress
Roland VG-99	in progress
Sibelius Software Sibelius 5	in progress
SoniVox Muse 1.04	July 2007 (Web)
Toft Audio Designs ATB 16	Jan. 2008
u-he Zebra 2.1	Nov. 2007
Universal Audio DCS Remote Preamp	Nov. 2007
Vienna Symphonic Library Vienna Special Edition	in progress
XLN Audio Addictive Drums	in progress
Yamaha Motif XS6	Jan. 2008