A Perfect 10 | Soft Synths

Feb 19, 2010 5:14 PM, By Geary Yelton

EM ROUNDS UP THE LATEST SOFT SYNTHS

In less than 13 years, virtual synthesizers have completely changed the way musicians interact with electronic sound sources. EM reviewed just one software instrument (Seer Systems Reality) in 1997, and just one more (Propellerhead ReBirth RB-338) in 1998. By 2000, however, EM’s first soft-synth roundup covered 19 products and noted that more were available.

Now it’s practically impossible to keep count. What a difference a decade makes! In 2010, increasingly powerful software continues to challenge synthesizer hardware. Now that almost every classic synth has been modeled, computer-packing musicians have an ample selection of virtual instruments. It’s been a few years since EM published a soft-synth roundup, so it’s finally time to investigate the latest crop.

For this article, I limited my selection to six synths and one four-synth bundle, each from a different manufacturer. All are cross-platform, and all run as plug-ins in popular DAWs without DSP host hardware. Only three emulate specific hardware synths; most others draw their inspiration from vintage hardware by modeling circuitry in a more general fashion.

FabFilter Twin 2.2 ($174, download, AU/RTAS/VST)
Twin 2 is a virtual analog synth that supplies three audio oscillators with independent panning, four self-resonating multimode filters, and (dare I say it?) unlimited modulation capabilities. Likewise, undo and redo are unlimited, and the plug-in comes with more than 1,600 varied presets, most of them excellent (see Web Clip 1). Twin 2’s icon-based GUI is a snap to maneuver (see Fig. 1). If you ever need help, holding your cursor over any parameter quickly summons a descriptive popup.

The two main filters borrow their 11 types from one of my favorite filtering plug-ins, FabFilter Volcano 2. Clicking on the filter icon reveals additional controls. You adjust filter cutoff and resonance peak by simply clicking and dragging on an image of the filter curve; that’s more intuitive than adjusting knobs, which are also provided, because you more immediately grasp the one-to-one relationship between what you see and what you hear. Holding the Command key (Control key in Windows) as you drag changes the filter panning or response type (lowpass, highpass, or bandpass).

Likewise, clicking and dragging on an oscillator icon changes oscillator octave and detuning, and Command-clicking and dragging changes sync depth and waveshape (four basic waveforms, plus pink and white noise). Clicking on an oscillator icon reveals knobs for the same parameters, as well as pulse width. You also get right and left delay processors with similar click-and-drag functionality and an additional pair of multimode filters. Maximum delay time is a generous 5 seconds, long enough to build Frippertronics-type loops.

Twin 2’s modulation capabilities are most impressive. A scrolling bar lets you slide the GUI’s contents to the left and right to see all the mod sections, which include X/Y controllers, 6-stage envelopes, MIDI routings, and more. Anytime you need an extra modulator, just add it.

FXpansion DCAM Synth Squad 1.0.1.2 ($249, download or boxed, AU/RTAS/VST/standalone)
Synth Squad is a collection of three analog-modeling soft synths—Strobe, Amber, and Cypher—bundled with a fourth synth called Fusor that hosts any combination of the other three. Although Strobe is a traditional synth firmly rooted in familiar territory, Cypher and Amber offer some fresh approaches to computer-based synthesis. Even the most experienced synthesist could learn new techniques and create some original timbres in the process.

Synth Squad’s synths have many commonalities, most obviously in their GUIs. All offer an arpeggiator and glide, and you can stack polyphonic voices to create fat unison sounds. Each has a browser for searching presets, filtering the results, and aurally previewing any sound before loading it. Though some of the mod routings are hardwired (virtually, of course), all these plug-ins share a modulation scheme called TransMod, which provides eight slots for routing one source to several destinations while allowing one source to scale the mod depth of several others. A Visualizer Scope near the GUI’s center displays the waveform most appropriate for the onscreen control beneath your mouse cursor. For example, if your cursor is over the Oscillator section, you’ll see the audio waveform, and if it’s over the Filter section, you’ll see the response curve.

Strobe. Strobe is simple and straightforward, designed for ease of use and quick access to subtractive-synthesis parameters. Even though it has just one main oscillator, you can stack multiple voices in unison and detune them, and tune the 4-waveform sub-oscillator as much as three octaves lower. Strobe’s flexible filter offers 22 modes, including 1, 2, and 4-pole lowpass, highpass, bandpass, notch, and peak filter types and various combinations. Strobe also has one LFO, two ADSRs, and a ramp generator serving as mod sources, but it has no effects processing.

Amber. Emulating classic string machines is Amber’s domain, and it takes a novel approach. Rather than simply playing samples of the ARP Omni, Elka Rhapsody, and the like, Amber models their paraphonic sound generation, which traditionally relied on 12 top-octave frequency dividers. Vox Continental and Farfisa combo organs used the same technique, but surprisingly, you won’t find simulations of those in Amber’s patch collection (see Web Clip 2). Consequently, some of the parameters are slightly out of the ordinary.

Amber has two sections, Synth and Ensemble, which are layered to produce a blend of their sounds. In addition to each section having its own 1-pole filter, Synth has a resonant multimode filter, and Ensemble has a tunable 4-band formant filter and a versatile chorus effect. Whereas Synth has an ADSR envelope, Ensemble has an attack-release envelope with a button that disables sustain, effectively turning release into an initial decay. A second ADSR, a ramp generator, and eight TransMod slots are available as modulation sources for both sections.

Cypher. With more of just about everything, Cypher specializes in analog-style FM (unlike Yamaha’s DX-style, multi-oscillator FM) and traditional subtractive synthesis (see Fig. 2). It also functions as an effects processor for external audio even though, like Strobe, it has no onboard effects of its own. Because it’s meant to handle FM and other forms of audio-rate modulation, it furnishes a few parameters you wouldn’t see on a typical analog synth, including controls for Scale, which tunes the oscillators and filters in harmonic ratios rather than semitones—especially useful for FM and wave-modulation programming.

Although Cypher’s three identical oscillators are more complex than you’d normally find, they produce only the four standard analog waveforms, but you can continuously modulate their waveshapes using any TransMod source. You can adjust oscillator detuning by fractions of a beat and then use the beat frequency as a mod source—a technique I’ve never seen before. You can also trigger modulation with MIDI note-on or note-off messages.

Cypher’s dual multimode filters have both shared and independent parameter controls and can be arranged in series or parallel. In addition, you get two LFOs, three ADSRs, a ramp generator, and—another innovative touch—sample-and-hold at audio frequencies. With so many programming resources, Cypher delivers a sonic playground like no other. Dozens of factory patches cover all the bases, with an emphasis on electronic sounds rather than traditional instrument simulations (see Web Clip 3).

Fusor. With three slots for inserting Strobe, Amber, or Cypher, Fusor lets you layer and split any combination. Its effects suite, step sequencer, and extra mod sources add considerably to Synth Squad’s power (see Web Clip 4). Additional mod sources include four LFOs and four envelope followers. Eight macro controls let you modulate practically any parameter in real time using MIDI controllers.

Each slot accommodates three insert effects, and you can apply three effects from the same list to the master bus. There are 27 effects choices including 4-band EQ, 4-band distortion and comb filtering, an SSL-style bus compressor, a granular freeze effect, and a selection of reverbs on loan from Overloud Breverb.

Any of Synth Squad’s synths are well worth having. Amber and Cypher open the door to synthesis techniques that stray from the mainstream. Fusor lets you combine all of them in a single powerful plug-in with more modulation routings than you’ll know what to do with.