The Yamaha DX7 is a classic synthesizer often cited as the sound of the 80’s, this site uses a specially trained AI to create completely novel preset cartridges.
If you are interested in the code it can be found here though it is mostly undocumented.
Haven’t tried but apparently you can import the sysex files it generates to a Volca FM and get (hopefully) neat sounds
I might play with this. I love the Volca FM so much, but I am barely scratching the surface of it. I did pick up an Arturia Keystep to control it with and that is lovely.
Oh it really does. like the touch pad is fine for messing with it, but it’s so much easier to control with something external. The Keystep was probably a bit of an over-reach for that, but yay Covid money, I guess?
i had not realized how little i’ve used synths that aren’t monosynths because i got a hold of a microfreak and the cool thing about paraphonic synths is you can run a lead pattern and a bass pattern through the same synth and it’s totally fine?
also @boojiboy7 i haven’t forgotten about the beatstep i will be sending it soon
Plugin Alliance is having a big huge sale through the end of the month. I own most of their stuff so probably won’t be getting anything but I feel like writing about plugins in a casual but critical tone tonight.
Please note that I have never payed full price for any of these. I have been a patron of the company for a long time and enjoyed the relaxed stance they once took to combined promotions and vouchers. In fact, I didn’t pay for a good number of these at all. Despite this, I believe their plugins are worth the asking price compared to other prestige plugin companies and still happily receive deals via email that compel me to buy on a regular basis.
These are all the ones I own that are on sale. Stars are stand-outs at the current prices.
PEX-500 - Minimal EQ with nice filters Instant Delay - Great delay with no-nonsense UI and killer modulation options***
$20 G8 - A very feature rich gate. Can do simple tasks but there are better free options. Only recommended for experts.
$30 Sandman Pro - Same company as Instant delay but with a crazy amount of controls and variety. I used to use it a lot but there is too much going on in the UI for me to just pull it out for rote delay tasks. If you just want one delay plugin to do about everything this could be it though. Aslo has very extensive internal modulation capabilities. Fault - Same company as Sandman with same modulation capabilities but for distortion. Great for glitchy weird effects but a bit unruly. TE-100 - A really esoteric model of an esoteric passive filter bank. I really like this and should really pull it out more. Has a good vibe and some of the buttery-ness of old all-pass filters when pushed to extremes. *** E765 RT - Great heavy amp model with solid speaker and mic impulses. GAV19T - A great model of a small vintage amp. It’s an odd choice and some of the sounds sound bad but in a weirdly desirable way ** bx_rockrack V3 - The jack-of-all-trades Brainworx amp emulator. Does everything pretty well without sounding over-hyped. I use the Jazz Chorus emulation all the time since that is what I play live and it performs admirably. *** bx_rooMS - Killer do-everything digital reverb with good tone control and some modulation too. **** bx_shredspread - Kind of a one trick pony but it is a cool trick and allows for some measure of mono compatibility. bx_opto - Solid and simple opto compressor with some built in side chain options. bx_megasingle - This thing sucks to play guitar through. I got it with a voucher a long time ago when they didn’t have many other amps. bx_limiter - As simple as the classic Waves L2 but up to current snuff. It’s a simple brick wall. There are many others but this is the Brainworx one. bx_delay 2500 - I really like this delay. Like the bx_RoomMS, it is one of the newer Brainworx inventions that doesn’t emu a specific piece of hardware but feels like it does. Vibey-er than the other delays on this list.*** bx_bassdude - Bassman amp. Simple sounding like a loud clean amp that can growl. *
$40 karacter - Elysia’s distortiony exciter thing. I don’t like using stuff like this but I got it with a voucher and it is pretty good at different distortion shapes. I’ve used it but it doesn’t bring me any fond memories. Kind of an EDM trick.
$50 VSC-2 - Vibey VCA compressor that is hard to get a bad sound out of. Really good to just toss on drums in a pinch. Probably my second or third most used comp. Achieves grooviness without a ton of distortion. * TRIAD - This is a multi-band modular effects bin. If this sounds like too much check out BYOME (for the same price!?) which is the single band version. This is a wild multi-effect playground. ******* Magnum-K - This is fairly new to me but it is another high quality compressor and has the Brainworx TMT tech and MS processing. Transparent and mastering focused with a Baxandall-on-meth style shelving Eq that runs parallel(?). I plan on attempting to master my next record with it as I usually run a clean comp followed by a Baxandall. MC77 - The MC77 hardware unit was a re-creation of the 1176 Rev E which was the black face model and my favorite real life compressor that I actually use regularly. Classically, engineers say these were real good on rock guitars but they are pretty good an anything. I just got this a month ago (for the same price) and haven’t done any real mixing with it but it sounds real good on individual tracks. Very colorful and nice dimension. Also, It’s really bright purple. * DS-40 and BE-100 - These are emulations of Fuchs mods of an old Fender and an old Marshall amp respectively. I find Brainworx amp emulations to be darker and better to my ears mostly because of the speaker and mic impulses. With any of the BW amps you get similar speaker emulations that are good on their own if you bypass the amp. These are good warm amp sounds. * museq - Emu of an Elysia equalizer. A really nice approach and a simple sound shaping eq. bx_console SSL 4000 G - Model of the first big desk I ever worked on. I really like it for both having a similar sound and a similar workflow. Also has TMT for 72 different channels that actually do sound different. This is a crisp sounding channel. For better or worse, SSL eqs really let you dig in take big broad plastic-y swipes at the sound. I appreciate how BW captured that feel whereas other models I’ve tried from Universal Audio and Native instruments have taken a more sheepish approach. ** bx_console Focusrite SC - Brainworx seem to be progressively improving their their modeling and this is their second newest venture into sampling an entire board. Like the SSL above, the workflow lends the feeling of working on a big desk while also imparting the sonic vibe on it aided by the TMT. This desk was designed by Neve in the mid 80s and has a good transformer-y true mid-range punch to it. Slower than the SSL but not as slow as the other actual Neve console in the BW line. This one has some heat. Looking forward to using it more.***
$70 Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor - Emulation of the Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor. Super esoteric but a nice sound and subtle options for coloration. IMO, not worth $70 but it looks amazing. There is a very new version of this that probably sounds way better.
how is it that in 2020 teenage engineering is re-releasing the op-1 with no changes for 300 more dollars while korg is out here fixing tons of things on a 5 year old sample box and throwing it out there at the same price they did 5 years ago
