LINPLUG VIRTUAL INSTRUMENTS VST Modular Synthesizers (MAC/WIN)

Sep 1, 2003 12:00 PM, By Len Sasso

LinPlug is a German developer that offers a variety of VST instruments for Windows, Mac OS 9, and Mac OS X. The plug-ins use serial-number copy protection and are available as downloads or on CD. Conveniently, the CD ($4.99) contains all LinPlug products, so after you receive it, you can buy the serial numbers for the products you want. Beware: these synths are addictive — you'll probably want more than one.

Slot Machines

LinPlug's CronoX 2 is a sample-based modular synth. Available sound sources include a looping sampler (top left), a time-stretching sampler, a wavetable sampler, and an analog-modeled oscillator.

LinPlug's two top-of-the-line synthesizers, Albino ($149) and Delta III ($99), share the same modular architecture. They have four slots for oscillators, two for filters, eight for envelope generators, four for LFOs, and two for effects. Audio routing is accomplished with buttons adjacent to each slot. For example, the output of the first oscillator can be routed to either or both filters, or to the second oscillator for amplitude or frequency modulation. Similarly, the first filter can be routed to either or both effects, or to the second filter. A modulation matrix that allows eight source-amount-destination assignments controls routing for the envelope generators and LFOs. In addition, seven of the envelope generators are automatically routed — one for each oscillator level, two for the filter cutoffs, and one for output level.

The difference between Albino and Delta III is in the modules provided to fill the slots. Each offers digital and analog-modeled oscillators as well as a noise source, but the synths have different features and waveforms, hence different sounds. Delta III has three multimode filter modules: Delta 2 (held over from the previous version of the Delta synth), Delta III, and CronoX (from the CronoX 2 sampling synth). Albino has updated versions of the Delta III and CronoX filters, dubbed Silk and Cream, an apparent allusion to their smooth sound.

Delta III has five effects modules: chorus, delay, filter, phaser, and reverb. Albino adds a stereo delay. The envelope generators are the same for both synths — one with five time-and-level stages and an ADSFR that adds a fade stage to the standard ADSR format. The Albino five-stage envelope has a looping feature not found on the Delta III. The multiwaveform LFOs can sync to tempo; on Albino, they have a mono mode.

Albino results from a collaboration with Dutch sound designer Rob Papen, author of many of the factory presets for the Access Virus and E-mu Orbit 3. In addition to contributing custom oscillator waveforms and the filter updates, he created Albino's 550 factory presets. Both synths sound great, and they do sound different. You get a lot of programming options, but they can also take a bite out of your CPU. Three instances of Delta III brought my PowerBook G4/800 MHz to its knees.

Out of the Ordinary

CronoX 2 ($59) is LinPlug's most unusual offering. Like Albino and Delta III, it is modular in design, but three of its four oscillator modules are sample based. When you load a single sample into CronoX 2, the oscillators process it in different ways. The TimeSamp oscillator offers independent pitch shifting and time stretching, and the time-stretch amount can be modulated. The Schrader oscillator treats the sample like a wavetable. The Loop Sampler is a conventional sample player with start and loop points that can be modulated, which means that the results are not at all conventional. CronoX 2 has slots for two oscillators, which are mixed and fed into a multimode filter with a dedicated ADSFR envelope generator. An additional ADSFR and two LFOs are routed by means of an eight-by-eight modulation matrix.

CronoX 2 offers an overdrive unit and a multi-effects processor featuring chorus, filter, phaser, reverb, and stereo delay. The beauty of CronoX 2 is definitely in what it can do to your samples. The MP3 file CronovoX is an example applied to a speech clip.

LinPlug also offers a number of standard-fare instruments. Alpha ($29) is a two-oscillator subtractive synthesizer with a multimode filter, two ADSFR envelope generators, and a syncable LFO. A free, feature-limited version of Alpha is also available. DaOrgan ($39) is an emulation of a drawbar organ with a built-in Leslie. Element P ($39) is an analog percussion synth, and RM III Pro Drum ($59) is an 18-pad, 24-note drum sampler that includes a collection of drum kits.

LinPlug's instruments are attractively priced and get the job done. Although the premium synths are not cheap, if you're not already covered in those categories and you're looking for versatility and quality, they definitely deserve a look.

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Overall EM Rating (1 through 5): 4.5

LinPlug Virtual Instruments, GmbH; email support@linplug.com; Web www.linplug.com