TAL U-NO-LX Review
Many of us are thankful for Switzerland’s Patrick Kunz and his full line of TAL (Togo Audio Line) virtual synths and plug-ins.
Very thankful. Many DAWs have been blessed with TAL audio products over the past 6 years. There has been the illustrious TAL-chorus, the reliable, ear-pleasing Tal-Reverb (II and III), the fluid, silky TAL DUB-Delays, and the easy-to-dial in TAL Effects.
While we’re listing the wealth of products that TAL have blessed us with, let’s not omit the worthy VA synths, TAL-Elec7ro, TAL-NoiseMaker and the perennial U-NO-60.
After years of giving his hard work and exemplary programming efforts away for free, Mr. Kunz now offers the FINEST “Roland Juno 60” emulation that has ever been heard ‘In The Box’ for both MAC and PC. Originally slated for a MSRP of $70, TAL made U-NO-LX available for a paltry $17 as a pre-release offer. At present, the RRP is only $60 (USD). I strongly recommend that interested parties hurry over to the developer’s web site to grab this VSTi now! Once the news gets out about just how “good” this TRUE-modelled VA synth is, I suspect that there will be a whole new generation of synth players who will consider the $70 price tag a small amount to pay.
9 Comments
Arturia Producer Pack 61 Review - Part II
** VOTRE ATTENTION, S'il Vous Plait!
This review is lengthy and quite broad in scope. The Producer Pack 61 has so much "packed" into it that in order to do it justice, our report is split into four individual segments.
[ Analog Lab ]
Arturia’s “Analog Lab” could very well be one of the audio-production community’s best kept secrets – all while being ‘wide open’ to the public. *Yes, that was a deliberate use of an oxymoron. Please, let me explain. Although most synth lovers are familiar with Arturia’s pedigree, there remains those whom have not yet actually experienced the products for themselves. Generally speaking, home producers fall in to one of two camps: those who like to tweak relentlessly, and those who just want great sounds with minimal muss n’ fuss. Analog Lab is perfectly suited to the latter group. While adjustments can be effected, per preset, to the more mainline operations, deep editing is eschewed for the sake of convenience. On a side note, if a user has a *full* edition of one or more Arturia V synth(s), then he/she can open that particular module directly within Analog Lab and tweak to their heart’s content. Analog Lab now contains about 6000 patches culled from the complete Arturia V Collection of virtual analogue synths. At the time of this publication, the following are included: Software Inspection:
The most immediate advantage that “Analog Lab” presents is that you get the complete collection of Arturia's virtual analogue synth engines within a streamlined, easy-to-use package. The cherry on top is that It can be had at a fraction of the cost of its full-featured “V Collection” brethren. This is Arturia’s congenial, cost-effective option for value-conscious and/or non-tweakers to gain entry into the domain of Arturia's mighty synthdom. Ridiculously priced at only $89 (USD), it really is one of those items that you'll want to grab in a hurry while an accomplice "keeps the car running".
OverTone FC-70 Review
Many of us are familiar with well-established, somewhat expensive modelled plug-ins that promise authentic Fairchild 670 sound and performance. UAD’s ”Fairchild® 670 Compressor Plug-In” and IK Multimedia’s “Vintage Tube Compressor/Limiter Model 670” are two of the most highly profiled Fairchild emulations that come to mind. OverTone’s recently released FC-70 also promises to be a faithful digital emulation of the famous studio hardware compressor.
A couple of months prior to this article, I reviewed FC-70’s vintage EQ cousin, “PTC-2A”, from Overtone. I was highly impressed with that offering and as soon as I heard that these lads from England were releasing a Fairchild emu, I was more than a little bit eager to give it a keen “going over”.
I was not disappointed. The wait was definitely worth it, and boy, am I ever ‘jacked up’ to bring you in on it and share my findings with you. For the very conservative cost of only £25 of her majesty’s British Sterling Pounds, this amazing performer, from ‘the other side of the Atlantic’, is a definite must-have. At the very least it is a ‘must-try’. I strongly recommend that you download the demo and find out for yourself just how ‘sterling’ this upstart is. IZotope RX 2 ReviewTo say that IZotope’s RX 2 is a respectable audio restoration suite is a grave understatement. Rather, RX 2 has become one of the most highly regarded speciality software packages available for professional-grade, forensic audio repair and restoration. RX 2 is priced very competitively, ringing in at approximately half the cost of most of its more expensive challengers. -- $349 (RRP). You may be able to find this powerful suite priced even lower at online stores such as AudioDeluxe.com or PluginDiscounts.com. And yes, it’s available for both 32 and 64 bit MAC *and PC systems.
RX 2 is delivered with a total of five distinct and powerfully effective modules: DeClip, DeClick/DeCrackle, Hum Removal, DeNoising, and Spectral Repair. These are available to the user as both a multi-function, stand-alone application or as individual plug-ins that can be used in any DAW or audio editing host that supports DirectX, RTAS or VST. To lend itself to even greater convenience and effectiveness, the stand-alone RX 2 also includes iZotope’s powerful 4 band linear-phase EQ, gain control with smooth fade in/out, precise stereo imaging and phase correction. Completing the suite, iZotope have outfitted RX2 with a full-featured spectrum analysis tool. Powerful enough for professional mastering/restoration engineers. Easy to learn for beginners. IZotope RX 2 truly is a “Complete Audio Repair” solution. Rob Papen Predator Review
Rob Papen’s Predator has become one of the electronic genre’s perennial favourites for its wide breadth of sound types and synth flavours. This dynamic synth is not as easy to pigeon-hole as some of Mr. Papen’s other famous designs. Predator will pounce on its dance-floor prey with the agility of a hungry, West African Lion, or massage your cochlea with its soothing, analog-like purrs.
Predator is the Alpha male leader of the pride in two bundles available from Rob Papen; EDM and Urban. Each Limited Edition bundle only costs €199 | $239 (USD).
While Predator may be considered by some to be ‘Bigger Game’, where it is listed at €149/$179 (USD), the astute electronic musician will be duly wary to keep an ear out for it as a very worthy cross-platform all-rounder. This synth is elusive – difficult to trap into any one genre cage. Pred is as capable of emitting piercing, phat leads, as it is to peacefully lay down bedded layers of warm, comforting pads. What’s more, Predator is as likely to be seen prowling on a MAC desktop as on a Windows PC.
As always, I’m glad you’re here, dear reader. Reviewer’s Revival would be nothing more than lonely, empty chambers if it weren’t for my ‘netizen’ friends coming and making it a home with me. Please join me and let’s go on a little internet safari, without leaving the safety of our rooms, and hunt the “Predator”. SKnote MatterTone Review
SKnote’s gentlemanly, unassuming admission into the league of transient shaping is not one that should go unnoticed or be easily overlooked. Rather, this robust, able-bodied dynamics-device merits serious consideration. MatterTone packs quite a whollop for its low, conservative CPU demands. It doesn't hit your pocketbook hard though; it’s priced at only $30 (USD). This plug-in holds up very well under scrutiny. MatterTone can stalwartly occupy the same DAW space as any of its more costly competition without shame or timidity.
Perhaps, dear reader, you're thinking that we already have enough transient shapers on the market to choose from. What makes this variant of transient shaping unique? For starters, it is a “Level-independent” apparatus. Unlike typical compressors, limiters and most envelope shapers, this plug-in does not react according to the amount of channel gain – it responds directly to the audio source. Secondly, MatterTone is truly a multi-band design, providing separate ‘attack’ and ‘release’ controls for each band. MatterTone takes typical transient shaping, splits it into three separate bands, and hands it back to you, empowered with some serious BAM! C’mon, gang, let’s get to know this new recruit better, shall we? MeldaProduction’s MDynamicEQ & MAutoDynamicEQ Review
MeldaProduction have long established themselves as one of the most avant-garde audio plug-in specialists out there. Not only are Melda’s digital wares innovative and feature-rich, but the quality of their products puts them forward, where they need not take a back seat to any competitor. MeldaProduction plug-ins are heard on mumerous, professional recordings from all over the globe.
MDynamic & MAutoDynamic EQs are yet another couple of Melda’s leading-edge “must-haves”. These binary wonders must be experienced to be fully understood! Once an engineer has been spoiled from relying on these astounding “GO TO” EQs, it would be most difficult to resort to any previous fan-favourite.
Yes, they are “that” good.
Priced modestly at €60/$78 (MDynamicEQ) and €120/$156 (MAutoDynamicEQ) , the wise, self-starting engineer who purchases these elaborate compilations of highly optimized DSP code, will be a very blessed individual indeed. Having conducted exhaustive, careful analysis, the lab reports are back. Reviewer’s Revival is very pleased to share the test results with you. LVC-Audio ClipShifter 2 Review
A recent entry into the plug-in swarm of limiters, transient shapers, saturators, and distortion devices, ClipShifter 2 by LVC-Audio is a keen little handy-dandy “Go Go Gadget Clipper”. When I first chatted with developer, Mr. Matt Witimer, about it, I honestly wasn't quite sure what a “ClipShifter” did. To nutshell it for you, this tidy, cross-platform, native plug-in is a wave-shaping unit that functions like a clipping-style limiter. The sonic characteristics of its clipping/distortion are variable; from hard, brickwall-style clipping, to soft, compressed saturation.
Draw in a deep breath. The cost of this clip shifting goodness is not to be considered by the feint-of-heart. Only the most ardent, full-time professional recording engineer would even begin to entertain the notion of applying for a 2nd mortgage in order to furnish his/her studio with this exorbitantly-priced digital weapon. Are you seated and prepared? ClipShifter costs an overwhelming $1176 (USD). Retract that order and stand down! That was a typo. It should read, $11.76 *Grin.
Ok, comrade reader, fall out! Let’s recon LVC’s sassy, satisfying, insatiable, ClipShifter. 4Front Technologies’ True Pianos Review
In the seemingly never-ending quest for glorious tone, authentic playability, and modest system requirements, many pianists are left disillusioned with many of today’s ITB offerings. Few musicians have either the physical space or the bankroll to actually invest in a baby grand; or even a high-end “Digital Grand”.
Many keyboardists struggle to keep their computers afloat in the sea of multi-gigabyte sample libraries; with each new library promising to deliver finer sound and greater piano realism.
I own a few substantial piano sample libraries, and for the most part, they are all very good. However, they consume a great deal of precious hard drive space, and available system memory. For those who own up-to-date computers housing fast hard drives, and large denominations of blistering-fast RAM, this isn’t as much of a concern . . . ‘ yet’; wait another year or two and maybe the newest sample libraries will be even that much more demanding.
But all is not lost! We can thank God and the good folks at 4Front Technologies for finally making the dream a reality. For the gracious price of only £121.55, or $180 (USD), 4Front’s suite of five modelled pianos is nothing shy of spectacular and splendorous. Furthermore, True Pianos is ‘truly’ multi-platform in that it is available for Windows PC (32 bit & 64 bit), Mac (Intel & PPC), Receptor, and vMachine! ValhallaDSP ValhallaRoom Review
Unless you’ve been comatose since 2009, when glimpses of ValhallaDSP were first seen on the DSP horizon, it is very probable that you’ve been aware of Valhalla Plug-ins. It approaches outright comedic lunacy to even contemplate comparing an independently-crafted $50 (USD) reverb plug-in with those costing upwards of FIVE times more.
Nevertheless, this true-stereo, cross-platform, algorithmic reverb plug-in deserves nothing less.
Why?
Sound quality. The resultant reverberation quality heard on audio tracks having been processed with ValhallaRoom is nothing less that breath-taking. And don’t you know, the reverberation decay can be as long as 100 s e c o n d s . . . . . L O N G & O N & O N. |
NO SPAM! IK Multimedia Group Buy
FX Pick & Mix Group Buy - up to 16 for the price of 1
Will You Help?Web hosting is getting more and more expensive all the time, and Reviewer's Revival is NOT funded nor supported by any commercial enterprise or business. A donation of any amount is greatly appreciated. Even $2 or $3 for a coffee - every little bit helps. Thanks very much.
Legal BlurbAll of the articles published on Reviewer's Revival are undertaken to be purely objective, impartial reviews. Reviewer's Revival is not owned, funded-by, nor hired by any company or individual. Reviewer's Revival is the sole property of, and solely under the discretion and direction of Brother Charles. |