Reviews of anything music related thread

[FlyingNinjaBannanas]

This is a thread where you can post your opinion on anything music related, from software, to instruments. So people can see what's worthy of there consideration and what isn't even worth trying.
I figured this would be nice to have around here. Sometimes there are some amazing underground music related items that only come out to people through reviews. Plus I've been acking to do a review or two.

I'll probably edit this as time goes on with some of the reviews that get posted being here, on the main post, to make life a little bit easier.

Only two rules.

1. Please put time into your review. Don't just go "OMG this is so awesome". Back that up a bit, talk about the interface, what it can do, etc.

2. Please put what you reviewing into the review. Don't write a 5 page review on Nexus without saying it's a ROM Synthesizer.

Example:






This is my review on "Sonic Charges' Synplant" An experimental VSTi Synthesizer.


User Interface: Sleek, nice, and not a burden to the eyes. You know where everything is.

Design: This is where this synth shines. You grow your own sounds. It a very interactive, addictive, and fun way to make sounds. Plus, the gene manipulation "settings" screen is just awesome. A treat for beginners and pros.

Sounds: From nice light leads, to basses, to pads, and just fucked up sounds all together. Synplant does it's job. If you need an ear-catching sound, this synth won't disappoint. All high quality to boot. Not for the hardcore artist however. Not a lot of hardcore sounds. If any.

Gliches and Performance: No gliches. This synth works fine on my computer, and it's pretty outdated.

Tutorial: Very helpful, gives you everything you need to know when you first start out with it.

Overall: Get this synth. It will not disappoint. I know this one will become a secret weapon in my arsenal. It is worth the price.

Pros: High Quality Sound
Fun and well designed interface
Highly different sounds
Runs great
Cons: Way too addictive.

5/5: A must.



Mods: Feel free to delete this thread if it's unnecessary.

[the4thImpulse]

Review of the Antress Modern Plugins (Free, Windows only)
(This is not one plugin but a collection of plugins from Antress)
You can get them here: http://www.kvraudio.com/product/modern_ ... by_antress

This pack includes diffrent types of compressors, Limiters, Exciters/EQs , and Reverb/Spacing effects. Each one has a kind of 'warmth' to it the gives audio more character and color, like what you find in analog equipment.

User Interface: Very simple and easy to use, they somewhat emulate a hardware look. Some have VU meters (which I dont use and cant spreak for accuracy) and an on/off toggle (quite usefull to have right on the plugin). They are all straightfoward in design and functionality, you dont need a tutorial or someone to show you how they work.

Sound preformance: These are free and have imperfections BUT they all work amazing! If you push them to far they will distort and muddy up the sound a lot. A few have output gain control which is really good for boosting the audio a bit, these can be delicate but when used right have powerfull result.

The reverbs/Spatial effects I am not a fan of because of their simplicity however they do sound good (not great)

The Compressors and Limiters I absolutly love and use on most tracks. They are simple to use and cover all the basics of compression but what I love is that they have a character to them that I dont find in abletons stock compressors.

The EQ's I dont use as they require more work to use then your typical eq vst. They are all knobs and have no visual reference of the whole eq curve. They work and sound great though so I wouldnt say they are usless just not usefull.

The Exciters are awesome to give your sound a unique flavor to them. You wouldnt use them all the time of course but espically for leads they can fatten up the sound and make them stand out in a mix.

Preformance: I have experienced no glitches or anything of the sort. They are made to be simple and use minimal CPU load. They are Windows only. These plugins for the most part blow my mind in preformance for being free, I would even be willing to pay for these too.

Overall: They're free and awesome! I use these on every track I make now, I highly suggest getting them and tring them out here and there.

Pros: Great Quality
Easy to use and understand
Has their own warmth to them, they feel unique
I have never had a problem with them
FREE!!!

Cons: Windows only
Simplicity (when you need something complex)
The EQs I find useless

8.5/10 They are free and have very minor flaws in sound and design. They are a must own in my book.

[Random111223]

Allrighty, i'll review a plugin i love since i'm bored. Also because i've seen that alot of FL users use the default reverb.

Ambience!


The user interface is very simple. I'd say it has an easier learning curve than FL's default reverb. It also has tons of presets to get you started. I like to pick a preset which i think will sound good, and tune it to sound perfect.

It has basically 5 things you can control: Gating, Decay, Shape, EQ and Damping. These are represented on knobs which are very simple to understand. The frequency of the EQ and Damping can be modified with ease, which i love, since you can easily make the reverb "blend" to the sound.

I can't really compare this to other reverb plugins, since i've only used 2. But it's because this has done the job. I haven't found any glitches from this. I heard it's heavy on your CPU but i haven't noticed it. (i have a dual-core 2,6ghz)


Pros:
- Very simple to learn
- Alot of presets, for example; presets imitating different rooms and presets giving some shuffle to the sound thru gating.
- Can create very diverse reverbs
- Free!
Cons:
- Heavy on your CPU, i guess.

DL: http://magnus.smartelectronix.com/#Ambience