OK, I'm gonna get a Pulsar. Now, what're YOUR favorite dev

witchstar · Post by **witchstar** » Fri Jan 18, 2002 9:14 am

So I've decided to bust out a Power Pulsar (Seth, I'll be givin' you a shout). I'm also definitely getting the STS-5000, and I can probably squeeze out a couple more devices. Here's where I could use a little help - what are YOUR favorite devices?
Here's a list of some that I'm interested in:

- OptiMaster
- Psy Q
- EarlyFirst verbs
- Vectron
- Poison
- EDS 16i

Thanks for all of your input and help in me making this decision.

Looks like snow... GO PATS!

Mark

minipax · Post by **minipax** » Fri Jan 18, 2002 11:20 am

well,sts-5000 and poison registration keys come free with the card,so that narrows it down by one i guess

subhuman · Post by **subhuman** » Fri Jan 18, 2002 11:57 am

I think only STS3000 comes with it, STS5000 comes with SCOPE/SP only (and some version of STS5000 comes on the new PowerSampler II card)

witchstar · Post by **witchstar** » Fri Jan 18, 2002 12:10 pm

Actually, I think it's just the STS-3000 that comes with the new Power Sampler II as well.
However, it's nice to know about Poison!

So do you guys have any personal favorites?

subhuman · Post by **subhuman** » Fri Jan 18, 2002 12:14 pm

Well if it's STS3000 then it's STS3000 with some of the tech from the 5K.

Composing another post with my favorites/dream list now..

subhuman · Post by **subhuman** » Fri Jan 18, 2002 12:22 pm

Lets see here...

I think the 31-band EQ is a good value for $35 - it's not like a Sony Oxford EQ or anything - but it's very precise, useful to pulling out a few problem frequencies in a final mix, etc. I find a use for it in almost every project...

I think the Zarg Prophet Plus is one of my favorite synths, but I can't step to the price for a couple more months. I think I'd just go for the Prophet Plus + ProOne bundle for a little more $ since it seems to be a good deal, you get the new custom atoms in the oscillators and filter, they sound really nice to my ears (definitely some flavor of Sequential is in there). And I have always thought the Zarg Ambient was really cool, and that Zarg SemiModular device thing with the switchable filters looks fun too.

EarlyFirst reverbs - the newest versions I've been testing sound really good (free version beats masterVerb and exchanges punches with my STW 4080L) Looks like all sales have stopped on the old versions until the new versions are out. I think the larger versions based on the new engines will still be a little while, I want to ask about that after NAMM.

PsyQ/OptiMaster - I haven't tried these yet. Waiting to see what /SP V3 brings before I buy anything

A few other guys have, and they all tell me they love these tools.

STS5000 - very, very cool device. Not perfect - it would be cool to enter BPM in numbers sometimes on the timestretching - but still really useful. I would say depending on the type of music you do, it could even be essential...

I am sure more will come to me later, that's all I have to write at the moment.

BTW - Not sure if poison comes with PowerPulsar (didn't with mine), I thought it was just for "new" Pulsar2 people. No problem though, because I think I would probably rather have wavelength/hummel's "freakMod" synth instead for cheaper anyway.

minipax · Post by **minipax** » Fri Jan 18, 2002 12:40 pm

oh...i didn't see powerpulsar there,yes,it comes with a pulsar 2,sorry...

witchstar · Post by **witchstar** » Fri Jan 18, 2002 1:30 pm

subhuman, thanks for all your valuable input!

Do you guys mean to tell me that you get some free stuff with a Pulsar II that you DON'T get with a Power Pulsar?!?!?
That would be really silly.

subhuman · Post by **subhuman** » Fri Jan 18, 2002 1:34 pm

Not sure about Poison, but to be honest I am not a huge fan of it anyway. I think a lot of cheaper/free synths beat it, wouldn't worry about that too much. But it might come with a PowerPulsar, I actually just have a SCOPE/SP with Pulsar key, so that might be different.

algorhythm · Post by **algorhythm** » Fri Jan 18, 2002 3:08 pm

here are the devices I like best that are a good value or very exceptional:
o zarg ambient
o zarg rotor 48
o zarg prophet (just get the zarg bundle)
o pro-pac (this way, just upgrade to sts5000 instead of paying full on + mod2, mixer and fx)
o defintely check out wavelength's freak mod for FM before the poison
o huchuilty's ZS404 and wavelength's dub sub (for wierd stuff)
o planetz zfilter - best filter on pulsar and cheap
o de-vice robostrobe - great autopanner and cheap

sandrob · Post by **sandrob** » Sat Jan 19, 2002 10:14 am

i like celmo's bass synth goofy! it's verry useful and FREE!
i don't use much synchrotron for my production but i think that's realy good one!
sandro

Spirit · Post by **Spirit** » Sun Jan 20, 2002 2:06 am

I love Celmo gear. The BassmanIII has a rich analog feel that gets a lot more than just bass. The Deep Blue is Waldorf-based and gets a wide range of textures. I'd probably go for the Celmo Supreme as a "best of both worlds" compromise. Celmo's sound is very rich and thick. Also check out the Celmo Guitar Amp Simulator. I use it all the time on drums - great for industrial / cyberpunk / gothic / hard techno / soundscape.
http://www.celmo.com/page_accueil_plugins2.htm

The ZS404 does gets some odd detuned fx and is well worth checking out. Nothing has the speed of these LFOs !
http://www.huicholity.com/free.html

I'm also a big fan of the Synchrotron and for the price it's hard to beat - good nasty sounds and a powerful 16-step sequencer.

If you're buying a new Pulsr that means you'll get the Lightwave free with the ProPack. It's a top synth. Lightwave and Prisma are among my favourites - unlike most of the other default Pulsar synths which (IMHO) are quite forgettable.

If I was feeling rich I'd definately go for the Pro-One / Prophet-Plus deal. I keep fiddling with the demo versions of both, but the price.... That holds true for most of the Zarg range - a touch too expensive for me. If they were about 50% cheaper

I'd have the Ambient and Dark Star (at least). Of course all the Zrag synths - because of their exceptional sound quality - are hugely hungry for DSP. If you intend to run most of this as MIDI then don't count on having many voices.
http://www.zargmusic.com/

Wavelength have got some interesting products and recently dropped some of their prices. Their new FreakMod is excellent if you like friendly FM and people say good things about the Wavelength Lite devices like the Juicer and Thrust. For me they're a bit raw but it depends what you want to achieve. A popular new device from Wavelength is the DubSubII - this is super-low and very dirty. There are quite a few machines on the Wavelength site but they seem to me to keep a curiously low proile - it's worth a good poke around.
http://www.track0.com/wavelength/wave%20frameset.htm

I'd give the Poison a miss and also forget about the EDS16. Both are easily beaten by FREE patches of the ModularV2. Have a look on the PlanetZ list and try here too:
http://www.modularsynth.co.uk/

And there are masses of free devices and good demos. Have a look at the 15 pages of devices here:
http://212.118.205.36/SEITEN/New_pulsa_devic15.htm
And don't forget here:
http://www.neutron7.com/

There are loads of great devices!

cheers,
Spirit

witchstar · Post by **witchstar** » Sun Jan 20, 2002 4:23 pm

Thanks Spirit (and everyone else)!
I really appreciate it!

Mark

krizrox · Post by **krizrox** » Sun Jan 20, 2002 5:33 pm

I couldn't live without the Optimaster and PsyQ devices. I've been using them the past few weeks and they are truely addicting. Same with the SPL attackers. Pretty cool stuff. I do a lot of mixing and mastering so these are my favorites.

kensuguro · Post by **kensuguro** » Wed Jan 30, 2002 4:53 am

Krizrox, I've been looking all over Planetz for reviews on PsyQ and Optimaster. Would you be kind enough to give us a detailed overview about them? (like in the device forum) I'm pretty sure lots of people are curious to know. (sometimes creamware's creamy "brochure"-ish words are hard to understand)
I'm especially curious about how thier "analysis" thing works.. What do you think?

krizrox · Post by **krizrox** » Fri Feb 15, 2002 11:25 am

Sorry for the delay in responding kensuguro. Actually, I thought I had posted a review once before but maybe not.

I'm not sure how much of a spin to put on these devices quite honestly. Why not just download the demos and try them for yourself? 60 minutes seems like enough time to get a pretty good feel for the usefulness of the devices. Take a couple of your previous arrangements and run them first through the PsyQ and then finally the Optimaster. If you're pressed for time, just use the Optimaster Wizard settings. I find that works for great for 75% of the work I do.

I will say this: both these devices are clearly aimed at a full bandwidth arrangement. If you are recording a full band with drums, bass guitar, keys, vocals, etc. you'll really be able to see the results. Simply plopping these devices onto a bass track for example won't prove much. I think I mentioned this once before, the devices clearly work best with a full range of frequencies. If you have some simple keyboard tracks you might not see an improvement. I really think these devices shine when used with a full band arrangement. Well, check it out and see for yourself. If you're not doing too much mastering work, then I doubt these devices will buy you much. If you already have an outboard Finalizer, then don't bother.

Don't know if this is helping or not.

madmod · Post by **madmod** » Sun Feb 17, 2002 5:53 pm

The Optimaster is a very cool device,
I put one up agaisnt a TC finalizer and was most impressed..
The vectron is very cool..
and the Zargs well .....rock
Regards

w_ellis · Post by **w_ellis** » Sun Mar 17, 2002 3:18 am

Noticed that krizrox mentioned SPL Attacker in his message. What's the difference between that and the Transient Designer. I'm quite interested in buying one of these, but there's not much info about them and CW's 60 minutes demo is going to have to be carefully planned for!!

marcuspocus · Post by **marcuspocus** » Sun Mar 17, 2002 10:33 am

well, with SPL Attaker you can change the Attack, lower attack (smoothing sound) or raise attack, (give PUNCH to drums or bass).

The SPL Transient Designer are VERY VERY good... I use it in EVERY mix, any percusive sound benefits ALOT from this...

The SPL Transient Designer can modify Attack and also release... Nice for dry and dull sound... Make them alot richer...

Anyway, i cannot imagine myself not having this device no more...