[SoundToys Native Effects V4.1.8 - R2R
Saija Grzegorek
Those who buy the SoundToys effects invariably love them, but at $495 for the native package, it's not an investment to be undertaken lightly. However, with two new plug-ins included and no price increase, v4 is already looking far more attractive than v3.
Previously, the bundle included five core effects: Echoboy, Tremolator, Crystallizer, FilterFreak and PhaseMistress. Pro Tools users also benefited from the Speed timestretch plug-in, with its algorithm also available in Logic's Time and Pitch Machine. And TDM users could enjoy a further three legacy effects: SoundBlender, PitchDoctor and PurePitch.
Overall, the plug-ins lean towards time/pitch effects, with a large slice of vintage flavour thrown in. Whether you want tape-type echo, rich analogue chorus, swirling pedal phase or rhythmic stereo filtering, it's all in there. And with an abundance of presets and simple parameters, you can produce both subtle and crazy effects with ease. Possibly the most interesting of the lot is Crystallizer, which yields all manner of harmoniser-influenced weirdness.
So, how have things progressed? Well, the plug-in shell has a new menu-based preset system. All previous presets and expansions (such as the Richard Devine set) remain, but there's a 'new for v4' folder, too. Beyond that, though, it's all about the new plug-ins: Decapitator and PanMan
On the simplicity front, PanMan's five modes - LFO, Rhythm Step, Rhythm Shape, Random and Triggered (PingPong and Random Step) - enable you to set up either tempo synced or free-running autopans in a jiffy. And with simple global controls (offset, width and smoothing) and a hardware-style position meter, you've got quick control and visual feedback.
That, however, is only the tip of the iceberg. For the first three modes, the Tweak button opens the envelope/gate panel, where you'll find level-dependent methods of further modulating the offset, width and, in LFO mode, panning rate. This turns PanMan into a dynamic effect that reacts to the level of the signal - going past the threshold provides more modulation.
By contrast, in the two triggered modes, when the threshold is exceeded, the signal is panned to a new position. Here, the Tweak option opens up the trigger filter page, where you can fine-tune and monitor the trigger signal.
PanMan has one last trick up its sleeve and that's the option to effectively move signals 'beyond' the speakers (up to 105 degrees either side). This can be used either to create ultra-wide sounds, as with most stereo width processors, or simply to pan sounds past the usual limits of the speakers, which is less common and a great way to add extra space to busy mixes.
The brutally-monikered Decapitator stands as a bit of a departure for SoundToys, being a saturation plug-in. Sure, some of the SoundToys plug-ins have an analogue mode, but this is in a different league altogether.
Controls-wise, you get input drive level, output trim (with optional auto gain compensation), output wet/dry and three EQ parameters (tone, variable low-cut and variable high-cut) to shape the sound. Note that the low-cut and tone controls affect the pre-saturation signal, whereas the high-cut is post-saturation.
Further options include a steep setting for the high-cut filter (30dB rather than 6dB/octave) and Thump, which emphasises the cutoff point of the low-cut filter, described as adding a tape-esque thud to your sounds. Rounding things off is the Punish button - this piles on a hefty 20dB of input gain.
There are five saturation modes, and hardware heads will be thrilled to learn that these are modelled on an Ampex 350 tape recorder preamp (mode A), Chandler EMI TG Channel (E), Neve 1057 input channel (N) and Thermionic Culture's Culture Vulture in triode (T) and pentode (P) settings. This results in five distinct effects, from the fizzy edge of styles N and A to the warmth of T, surprising openness of E and more destructive P. However, these effects change dramatically with increased drive, and we found that flipping the Punish button and pushing each to the limit produced the most destructive sound in mode E - not what we expected after use at more moderate levels.
Decapitator can do anything from subtle drive - for warming up an electric piano, say - to sucking saturation that's perfectly suited to drum subgroups. It really sounds excellent and, what's more, it's not a CPU hog.
You can easily get by with only using the main parameters on the SoundToys plug-ins, but it's worth investigating the extended and hidden parameters. FilterFreak, PhaseMistress, Tremolator and now PanMan all feature a switch labelled Analog Mode. This brings in an additional saturation stage and includes a number of preset styles: Clean, Fat, Squash, Dirt, Crunch, Shred and Pump.
There's no actual level control, so the effect is driven by the prevailing signal level, and you'll also notice an increase in CPU hit, but it all adds to the analogue flavour that SoundToys is renowned for.
The other main extras are accessed via localised Edit or Tweak buttons that open separate floating windows within the plug-in. Options here are plug-in- or even mode-specific (such as in PanMan, as explained earlier).
Some of the most impressive options are found in the LFO and rhythm modes of FilterFreak. In the first instance, you can use the LFO shape editor to design your own wave shape. Similarly, in rhythm mode, in addition to various preset rhythms, you can open the custom rhythm editor to create your own. For those who want it, there's a great deal of power here.
At $99, the v4 upgrade is great value, though we doubt existing users will need much persuasion given the quality of the new plug-ins. For newcomers, the variety afforded by PanMan and Decapitator and zero price increase make the bundle more attractive than ever.
Rhodes piano riff: flat then with A type saturation just to add subtle edge. Then switching through the other styles E, N, T and P bypassing in between each. Then back to A and push gain, trying low cut then with thump, then some tone control and some high cut. Then adding punish, and pushing up drive, finally blending the mix control back down to taste.
Drum kit room mic: first soloing the stereo room mic then adding a medium amount of drive to add saturation. Next modifying the low cut adding some thump and then trying various tone positions finally easing back the top end. Switching through the five styles, then returning to E and pushing the drive right up finally adding the punish option and pushing the sound completely over the edge. Finishing up by modifying the tone controls and filters to fine tune.
To demonstrate the dynamic potential, first we treat a simple Rhodes part with a narrow rhythmic autopan. Next we set the pan width modulation to 'widen' and lower the threshold until we start to get a wider pan on peaks. Further lowering of the threshold results in it happening more easily and we also try a bit of offset to the right as well. Finally, easing up the threshold to return to the original setting.
Several times already, and today again, I'm opening an arrangement that "worked" before (regarding the sound assignements/vst plugin setup) and synfire is telling me "Device xxxx not found. No replacement found....". Though I havent changed anything in the meantime.
Why not offering a robust way to assign vst plugins to a track/instrument like any other DAW that I know does : A list of the available plugins , then drag one onto a track, the preset blob gets saved and done. No additional meta /definition layers. I already know the answer: "because in synfire you need it this way to achieve this and that." Well fine, but if it is not reliable enough then it has no reason for existance.
I'm sorry to hear about your frustration. Arrangements are saved and re-opened successfully all the time. It's a core function everything else depends on. Everyone uses it on a daily basis. Therefore I suspect something else went wrong with your setup.
It's difficult to tell without having a look, so if you can send me a screenshot of that arrangement's rack, your global rack, and the error message, we can fix it. Please contact me directly at support at cognitone com. You can send me your rack and arrangement (make a copy and delete all figures, if you are concerned about privacy).
This works for a DAW, because it doesn't care what notes to play. It merely needs a connection and the rest is up to you. Unfortuntely, in order to render relative figures and harmony to MIDI, Synfire needs more information ...
I should say that I have had unlimited problems with drones and loading vst or au plugins. In fact, so far I don't have a clue of how to solve it after many hours of working unsuccessfully on it, sometimes it loads with the list of all of my plugins and imidiately afterwards it stops working, some other times my list is incomplete or non existant, some other times I can see the plugins in the engine 32 list and some other times I dont, I spend hours restarting DAW and Synfire with OSX (10.12.5). What I noticed is that when everything was working I dindt have the audio engine working but now I cant make it work with or without it. Im runing 1.8 but I went back and forth to 1.7.18.
The only progress that I managed to reach is that I see the full list in the engine 32 but not with DAW1 or inside Live like it used to be. Ive tried also vst and au drones but no luck. BTW the tricky thing is that I see effects but no instruments in DAW1 or Lives drones. (Live is working good with his own vst, au or native plugins)
No luck. No progress. I have only one Audio Unit but it's weird because my AU folder is disabled for Synfire. No VST although I made this folder only for Synfire and no other one is selected so it can not interfere with Synfire.
The purpose of plugins is to be shared among all audio apps on your Mac. So renaming folders under /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins is not recommended. Mac OS will not recognize any AudioUnits that are not in the original Components folder. It may be more flexible with VST, but just to be sure, you should stick with the VST and VST3 subfolder names.
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