VST Thread

[SweetIshDub]

Was browsing through the Weapons of Choice thread, among others, and found it pretty interesting to see what everyone is using. I think it would be pretty cool to create a list/discussion of all the pros and cons of software that we have experience with and why you use what you use.

For example

Toxic Biohazard

Pros

-Six wave generators

-Ability to load your own custom waveforms

-64 step sequencer

-Easy FM synthesis. Waveforms can be put into FM with any other waveform allowing for a ridiculous amount of combinations. Not a unique feature to TB but Its definitely a selling point for me.

-Unison and individual wave atck/rel/dec/sus, detune and sterio width

-Relatively inexpensive compared to others. Typically goes for about $50 during the Image-Line holiday sale.

-Hipster appeal, not too many people are vocal about using it

Cons:

-While each waveform/mod wheel/pitch wheel can be individually assigned to an LFO, there are only two LFO's available

-LFO tempo sync is pretty bad. It counts the beat from wherever you press play in your project and not from when its midi note begins so unless you started playback exactly on beat, the LFO tempo will be off. While this is somewhat minor, the 3/4 and 3/8 tempo syncs also have a pretty large rounding error and go off beat within a few bars.

-Limited effects to select from: phaser, reverb, delay and lofi. Each of the four is pretty bare bones as well for example there is no low shelf filter on the reverb.

-Limited pre loaded waveforms. I think there are less than 20 which is plenty to work with when you have unlimited FM combinations but lacking compared to other products out there.

My take on it:

I bought it two years ago because of the price and it looked badass but I still use it today because of the FM interface. I have found it pretty good stand alone for pads and atmospheres but not so much for gnarly bass leads. It definitely needs a ton of work in the effects chain but can provide a solid preliminary sound. While the LFO situation is a pain in the ass, I ended up abandoning trying to use it early on and it got me in the habit of never using any LFO's and automating EVERYTHING in the project which I actually prefer now.

[Mitch]

Will be keeping a keen eye on this thread. I'm still very much a beginner and looking at what plugins I want throw my cash at beyond the basic few that everyone has (massive etc.)

Nice post / review too

[LabRat]

I saw this thread and thought I'd bring it back to life. It could be a good reference once there's a few posts

Trash 2 by iZotope

*parts taken from iZotope website*

- 60+ distortion algorithms, perfect for transforming your sound into something never before heard.

- Unique distortions, from massive to mild and everything in between, with a new, customizable, multiband Waveshaper.

- Make your audio speak and growl with two redesigned Filter modules, each one featuring new vowel formant filters, screaming peaks, node modulations, and more.

Pros

- Quick and easy to learn

- Clean and animated waveforms

- Big, crisp sound

- Solid preset library

Cons

- It's not the cheapest if you're working within a budget. $250 US ($278 AU)

It's still early days with the plugin and from what I've used of it, it's pretty powerful. Don't have much against it at the moment but if I find something that's a bit weird I'll update the post

Here's a simple electro baseline just to illustrate the power potential of this thing. This is mild processing too, basic wave shaping, small filtering and some dynamic processing, resampled with fabfilter Pro-C compressor and Pro-Q equaliser, to take some of the bottom end out.

https://soundcloud.com/spitfiremusic/trash2_off-on-16bit-44100/s-5DjmQ