SynthMaster

SynthMaster
Developer(s) KV331 Audio
Stable release
2.8.2
Operating system Windows, Mac OS
Type Software synthesizer
Licence Proprietary
Website SynthMaster

SynthMaster is a semi-modular software synthesizer and effect plug-in in VST, Audio Units and RTAS formats, developed by KV331 Audio.

SynthMaster features many different synthesis methods including VA, Additive, Wavetable, Wavescanning, Phase Modulation, Frequency Modulation, Pulse Width Modulation, Ring Modulation, Amplitude Modulation, Physical Modeling and SFZ Sample Playback synthesis. It has multi-synthesis oscillators, analog modelled/digital filters, flexible effects routing with 11 types of high quality effects and a massive modulation architecture with 95 separate modulation sources and 650+ modulation targets.

Reviews and Awards by International Music Technology Magazines

SynthMaster has been reviewed and awarded by the following international music technology magazines/web sites so far:

  • MusicRadar website awarded SynthMaster as "The Best Software Instrument of 2012", and said "Many developers say that they've produced the one and only synth you'll ever need, but we've always felt that was a dubious claim. In SynthMaster 2.5’s case, though, it’s one that rings true." [1]
  • Computer Music Magazine (UK) featured SynthMaster in their "Top Synths 2012" special issue. In this issue SynthMaster's ranking was #3. The magazine in their review said: "This could be the only synthesizer you ever owned, and you'd still never run out of ideas" [2]
  • Computer Music Magazine (UK) reviewed SynthMaster in their February 2012 issue, giving a top grade 10/10: "If ever there was a desert island synth, SynthMaster is it, covering all sonic bases with authority and a superb tone". They awarded SynthMaster with "Performance Award" [3]
  • Future Music Magazine (UK) reviewed SynthMaster in their April 2012 issue: "If you are looking for the Swiss Army knife of synth plug-ins -a single piece of software which can turn its hand to anything- then SynthMaster is a great choice". They awarded SynthMaster with "Platinum Award".
  • Beat Magazine (Germany) reviewed SynthMaster in their April 2012 issue: "The name is entirely justified: SynthMaster is a true monster of synthesis with a high potential in creativity. It's truely addictive. The versatile plug-in is a true goldmine for synthtweakers: you get standard analog and brilliant or rough digital sounds, fat unisoni, simulations of acoustic instruments or complex soundscapes. Synthmaster is easy to use due to its sophisticated user interface and despite its complex architecture". They awarded SynthMaster with "Editor's Pick" award.
  • Keys Magazine (Germany) reviewed SynthMaster in their April 2012 issue.
  • Interface Magazine (Netherlands) reviewed SynthMaster in their April 2012 issue.

RTAS Release

On March 1, 2012, KV331 Audio released SynthMaster 2.5 in RTAS format.[4]

With this latest update, SynthMaster 2.5 became compatible with Avid ProTools 8 and above on Windows 7, Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Mac OS X Lion operating systems.

64 Bit MacOSX Release

On February 2, 2012, KV331 Audio has updated SynthMaster for Windows and Mac OS X to version 2.5.4.133.[5] In this latest update, SynthMaster became a native 64-bit VST/AU plug-in on Mac OS X.

In this update, the following features have been added to SynthMaster as well:

  • Added online presets uploaded by registered users.
  • Added a new (red) skin, created by Irion DaRonin.
  • Added new global setting to enable/disable hiding older presets.
  • Added new global setting to enable/disable bipolar easy parameters.
  • For effect version of SynthMaster, oscillator type is set to "audioin" by default now.

Version 2.5 Official Release

On October 11, 2011, KV331 Audio announced the official release of SynthMaster 2.5.[6] Since the beta release of version 2.5 in October 2010, KV331 Audio have added the following features to SynthMaster:

  • 400 New Factory Presets: SynthMaster 2.5 comes with 400 new factory presets from a world class team of sound designers: BigTone, Ümit UY (Insigna), Frank ‘Xenox’ Neumann, Teoman Pasinlioglu, Mr Shoufuku and Brian ‘Xenos’ Lee.
  • SFZ Import: It is now possible with version 2.5 to generate SFZ files by dragging and dropping multiple WAV/AIFF samples onto an oscillator waveform display.
  • Stereo Oscillators with Improved Unison: Oscillators in SynthMaster 2.5 have now stereo output. With the new “voices”, “pan spread” and “detune spread” parameters, each basic/wavescanning oscillator can have its own unison settings which eliminates the need to enable unison for all voice elements.
  • Improved Arpeggiator: The number of steps in the arpeggiator is increased to 32, while classic arpeggiator modes such as up, down, updown, downup and as played are added as well. Drag and drop of MIDI files onto the arpeggiator display is also possible now so that monophonic/polyphonic sequences can be imported into the arpeggiator.
  • Improved Modulation Architecture: The modulation architecture has been vastly improved, so that now there are 3 modulation sources available for each modulation target. A modulation matrix with 64 slots is also added. The matrix has filtering as well so that targets for a specific source, or sources for a specific target can be filtered and shown on the user interface.
  • Improved Easy Parameters: The easy parameters can now be globally linked to MIDI controllers, and they can be assigned automatically by SynthMaster.
  • Microtuning: SynthMaster now supports Scala tuning, so tuning can be set either for each preset or globally.
  • Flexible Effects Routing: With version 2.5, there is no more the differentiation of layer/global effects. Each effect can be inserted on a layer or on one of the 2 global effect buses.

Expansions

KV331 Audio released the following preset expansion packs for SynthMaster 2.5 so far:

1. Rob Lee EDM Expansion Pack 1 [7]

2. Rob Lee EDM Expansion Pack 2 [8]

3. Rob Lee EDM Expansion Pack 3 [9]

4. Rob Lee EDM Expansion Pack 4 [10]

5. Nori Ubukata Pop Hits Volume 1 [11]

6. Nori Ubukata Synth Giants Volume 1

7. Nori Ubukata Synth Giants Volume 2

8. Nori Ubukata Synth Giants Volume 3

References

  1. ↑ "MusicRadar's 'Best Tech Gear of 2012' Announcement".
  2. ↑ "Computer Music Magazine's August 2012 Review of SynthMaster 2.5 in their "Top Synths 2012" special issue".
  3. ↑ "Computer Music Magazine's February 2012 Review of SynthMaster 2.5".
  4. ↑ "KV331 Audio's press release at KVRAudio.com for SynthMaster 2.5 RTAS version".
  5. ↑ "KV331 Audio's press release at KVRAudio.com for SynthMaster 2.5 64bit version on MacOSX".
  6. ↑ "KV331 Audio's press release at KVRAudio.com for SynthMaster 2.5 official release".
  7. ↑ "KV331 Audio's press release at KVRAudio.com for Rob Lee EDM Expansion Pack 1".
  8. ↑ "KV331 Audio's press release at KVRAudio.com for Rob Lee EDM Expansion Pack 2".
  9. ↑ "KV331 Audio's press release at KVRAudio.com for Rob Lee EDM Expansion Pack 3".
  10. ↑ "KV331 Audio's press release at KVRAudio.com for Rob Lee EDM Expansion Pack 4".
  11. ↑ "KV331 Audio's press release at KVRAudio.com for Nori Ubukata Pop Hits Volume 1".

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