Emvoice, leading voice synthesiser developer and VST Plugin maker launches site-wide 40% OFF Black Friday 2021 sale, beginnging today! Musicians can now get the world’s most realistic vocal synthesizer on their computer for a one time fee of $119 per voice.
From now until December 1st, musicians can buy a perpetual license of any voice for $119, a 40% discount off of the standard $199 price point.
IF YOU LIKE THIS EMVOICE BLACK FRIDAY 2021 SALE, WE RECOMMEND YOU ALWAYS AND REGULARLY CHECK OUT OUR CATEGORY OF DEALS BY CLICKING HERE – WE REGULARLY KEEP YOU UPDATED WITH THE BEST OFFERS THE MARKET HAS TO OFFER.
To create vocals with the software, users simply enter one note for each syllable of lyrics. Both voices, Lucy and Jay, run on constantly improving, state-of-the-art voice engine technology. Developed by deep-sampling recordings of pro singers, the company hopes to empower musicians with instant access to vocals directly from their DAW.
Still unclear as to what these VST Plugin products do? Never used a vocal synthesiser before? Check out the two youtube videos below, with Lucy and Jay, the two voices offered by Emvoice:
Meet Lucy!
And this is Jay
Hinting that this is “only the beginning,” the company plans to release more voices in the upcoming months while continuing to advance the realistic quality of every offering. The free tier includes unlimited access to eight notes per voice. Head over to emvoiceapp.com to try it out for yourself.
“Musicians have been able to recreate just about every instrument other than the human voice with perfect accuracy for well over a decade now. Imagine how much creativity could be unlocked if wecould change this.” says the company’s CEO and founder, Rodolphe Ollivier.
Additional Emvoice Features:
● DAW-style piano roll note editor – just add words for instant sung vocals
● Sophisticated cloud-based engine recombines thousands of samples as you work
● Full custom control of pitch, glissando, and vibrato patterns
● Breath sounds are generated to work realistically around programmed notes
● Choose from common pronunciation options or create your own words from phonemes
● Export/Import project files to collaborate with other Emvoice users
● Available as a VST, AU, or AAX virtual instrument
● Lucy’s paid tier has a natural range of E2 – A4. Demo limited to C3 – G3.
● Jay’s paid tier has a natural range of E1 – C4. Demo limited to F2 – C3.
● Each paid tier includes an extended usable range of C0 – C5.
2021 is almost over, and whenever this time of year hits us, it hits us with discounts and bundles. Today we bring you a whopping 93% to 96% discount on Izotope products, to make your Christmas really memorable. This 2021 holiday sale is extremely huge, and covers almost all of Izotope’s product lineup.
So moving on with the subject of this article, the three Izotope Holiday Sale 2021 bundles available on Pluginboutique.com until the 31st of December 2021 are:
This one is supposed to be the entry level product line-up, with the highest discount so you can get to know the Izotope brand. With the Izotope Holiday Bundle Gold Edition sale you get a huge discount on the basic tools: Izotope Ozone 9 Elemements, Izotope Neutron 3 Elements, Izotope Nectar Elements plus some basic sound design tools including the sample-based synth Izotope Iris 2. You can get this deal here.
This discount is the highest in the range for this Holiday Season, so if you are building a new production studio or have been hunting for a serious Izotope Bundle, this is the time to get it!
This one is for the advanced music production and sound design techniques. Choosing one of the three bundles that are on offer this Holiday season is mostly dependent on the needs of the user. The discount on the Platinum Edition is again mind-blowing: 95%.
The products that are on offer are one step higher in the range than what’s available on the Gold Edition Izotope sale: Izotope Ozone 9 Standard, Izotope Neutron 3 Standard. You also get all the sound design tools in the Gold Edition plus some new ones including Izotope R2 Stereo and Izotope Excalibur. Catch the sale while it lasts on Pluginboutique.com by clicking here.
The Izotope Holiday Bundle Diamond Edition sale for 2021 is composed of only the best plugins that Izotope Offers, plus all the previous sales’ offerings.
Highlights include Izotope Nectar 3 Plus and Izotope Neoverb. Check it out here.
If you ask us, we would recommend going with the intermediary offer, the Platinum Edition. it has the most bang for the buck with a highly desirable discount rate.
Whatever you choose tho, you will get the time tested quality of one of the best rated lines of VST Plugin products.
Oh boy, it’s that time of the year. Starting with Black Friday and ending with Christmas 2021, we are here at idesignsound.com to bring you the best deals on plugins and VST products. This time we showcase Izotope, a company that needs no introduction in the music production tool marketplace.
This year they bring a great selection of their individual products that are listed on Pluginboutique.com. They also feature discounts on upgrades and crossgrades.
We always invite our readers to focus on the Deals category on our website, since we always update it with the best finds in the market.
What they propose is a nifty collection of products. This is great because compared to most of the other companies that offer bundled deals, Izotope offers to sell you only what you don’t already have, which is always desired.
Here is our personal highlights list on the Izotope Black Friday and Holiday Season 2021 offer:
Upgrades: Izotope offers very special offers if you already have one of their products, check them out first as the prices are extremely good: Izotope Nectar 3 Plus, Izotope Neutron 3 Standard, Izotope Tonal Balance, Izotope Music Production Suite 4, etc. Check out the upgrade deals here.
Izotope Iris 2 – 93% off. Iris 2 is a nice nifty sample-based synth which is currently on the second iteration. You can consider this a very advanced sampler or a synth with sampling capabilities. The build it effects are great and the interface is extremely well built. Get Izotope Iris 2 with a huge discount of 93% here.
Izotope Ozone 9 Standard – 68% off. Ozone 9 is Izotope’s all inclusive mastering suite of products. A lot of mastering engineers swear by using it’s products, especially the limiter. Even if you do not do professional grade mastering, or use hardware to do it, you should check it out as it can be very useful. The deal can be accessed on Pluginboutique here.
Izotope Neutron 3 Standard – 68% off. As Ozone 9 is the go to bundle for mastering, so is Neutron 3 for mixing. This is again a bundle of products (that unfortunately cannot be bought separately) and it aims to help you balance each of the channels that compose your finished track. We recommend you use both Neutron 3 and Ozone 9 as these two complement each other pretty well. Check out the 68% discount here.
Yes, the end is in sight for 2021, and with that comes the busy holiday season, starting with Black Friday. We fully recommend you check our “Deals” category for more 2021 music production deals.
This year’s Black Friday offers start a little early, with Soundtoys coming up with the current news: they are offering some pretty good deals (up to 70% off), with the top spot being taken by their suite of five plugins, the entire range of audio effects, at a jaw dropping price of 229USD (52% off).
If you would rather opt for other vst products and audio plugins this Black Friday 2021, and not the five stereo audio effects from Soundtoys, there are other offers on the website:
Individual effect VST plugins like Soundtoys FilterFreak, Soundtoys PrimalTap, Soundtoys Radiator, Soundtoys EchoBoy, Soundtoys Decapitator, etc with up to 70% discounts – click here
Soundtoys Effect Rack FX Bundle (Soundtoys Rack multi effect system + 14 Soundtoys audio effect plugins) with 54% off – click here
The offers expire on the 1st of December 2021 so make sure you get them until then!
Soundtoys Sie-Q Parametric EQ
Soundtoys are making one of the best lines of VST Plugin products that most studio-heads rely on for their music production and sound design. They specialise in stereo processing, but certainly go even further than that, offering eq, colouring and dynamics processing too.
We certainly recommend Soundtoys Echo Boy in case you need a vintage sounding stereo processing emulation. It’s engines are capable of replicating all types of analog reverb and delay that you can use in classic house music plus other non-electronic genres.
We also recommend Soundtoys Crystallizer, if you are more into sound design and experimentation with music production techniques that are more modern and esoteric. This vst effect is like a delay with extended controls and cater to the more techno and minimal oriented crowd.
End of summer sales seem to be norm right now. While we cannot possibly cover all sales, we are here to bring you the best of the best. So if you were looking at Native Instruments Kontakt expansions, now is the time to get in.
Until the 13th of September 2021, you are entitled to a whopping 81% and 71% respective discount on Soundiron Collection 2 and Vocal Suite 2, on .
Basically, you can get a great sound design library for Kontakt, excellent for sound design and scoring, stand alone at 279 eur, and you can even have the discount if you upgrade from a previous version, priced 89 eur.
The same type of offer is available for the vocal collection, 239 eur for stand alone, 79 eur for upgrade.
Hey guys! Today we are bringing you an ever-updating list of MPE VST products available right now on the market. While the MPE specification has been with us for quite some time, only recently have we seen very good implementations. Ableton for example has implemented MPE in its DAW called Live in version 11, which was released in 2021. Hardware synths, while not the subject of this article, have even less offerings that support MIDI Polyphonic Expression. While some relatively older hardware products have included MPE support via firmware updates (the modern synths from Dave Smith – Prophet 6 and the collaboration with Tom Oberheim – OB-6), there are more and more new instruments coming out with support out-of-the box.
By the way, we are also pleased to announce Ableton’s MELD.
MELD is a bi-timbral synth that is masterful at sculpting tones. It’s ideal for deep sound-shaping at the granular level, and allows you to layer the sound of one oscillator over another to give super colorful, textural sounds. At least, that’s what we’ve heard. We’re still waiting to see when Live 12 will drop, but when it does, WE DO PROMISE YOU a fantastic in-depth review of this and many more new features.
In this article we will only focus on the virtual side of things, with the VST product marketplace being much more dynamic in terms of MPE support than the hardware counterparts. If you want to know more about MPE in general and also if you want to do some research into MPE devices, this article should do the trick.
So, here we go with our picks on the BEST MPE VST products :
ROLI are the makers of the first ever MPE controller – ROLI Seaboard. While mostly used by keyboard players that want to sound like a guitarist, the Seaboard is actually quite nice to play. So why not pair it with the proper, powerfull sound engine that it deserves? If you want a more in-depth guide and review, check out the excellent article on musicradar here.
The Equator2 is actually great as a stand alone tool as well, as long as you pair it with your favourite MPE controller. It gets stellar reviews and boasts four types of synthesis: Wavetable, Sample-based, Granular and Noise. It also has a lot of emulations of classic subractive synths and the control possibilities are virtually unlimited.
This one, while officially another ROLI product, was developed by FXpansion. We see that all the stores are selling it as FXpansion Cypher2, so this is the name that we are also using. Still, the ROLI badge grants this MPE VST product more weight. Again, getting excellent scores and reviews, this one is an extremely good value proposition.
While not built from the ground up as 100% MPE, it has a lot of MPE compatible presets. The workflow is similar to modular synths, and to be honest it is extremely fun to play with. You can also use MPE to modulate rhythmic controls like the arpeggiator and the sequencer.
Initially a new development, sound design is now at the point where any great synth worth its salt should have at least some level of MPE capacity.
However, as a relatively new technology, we realize MPE synths aren’t always cheap. Even in VST form, it’s hard to find something that is high quality, creatively designed, and accounts for the reasons MPE was such a big development in the first place.
That’s why we want to spotlight the Surge XT.
This is hands down one of the best FREE MPE synth vsts. Yes, a free mpe synth VST that has legions of diehard fans Why? The Surge XT is open source, created on GitHub, and as a result, it has some of the most creative and outside-the-box features of any synth out there.
The XT has been famous for challenges undertaken such as the times that successful musicians have made tracks ENTIRELY with this one synth. If you want the versatility and creativity of Arturia Pigments but don’t want to break the bank, this is the synth for you. To check out the full range of reasons why the XT has such a big fanbase – apart from its unique concept, you can access it here on their website.
U-he HIVE2
U-he is no small name in the VST synth market. We are very happy that they implemented MPE Support on all their main virtual instrument products. This is no under statement, they make some of the best sounding plugins on the market.
While previously, their plugins were notoriously resource hungry, now not only did the machines we use became much more stronger, but the VSTs themselves have been optimised. Still, do manage the poly count as going above 12 voices can kill your CPU.
Another U-he superstar, this time in a more Virtual Analog flavour, is Diva. They also updated it so that it has MPE support. Diva is a staple in all studios, mostly because of its superb sound quality. If you like the analog sound that hardware synths produce, you will love Diva. Also, there are a lot of under the hood things that make it stand out of the crowd.
Three oscillator goodness! Again, while in the past Diva was known to hog even the most expensive CPUs, today this issue is mostly resolved due to optimisations to the product. Also, note that there are a lot of nice presets available right now for Diva, that could use a bit of expressive play made possible by MPE.
Again coming to the land of software emulations of the analog synth sound, Repro is U-he’s line of Sequencial/Dave Smith Instruments Prophet line of instruments. Again, updated to support full, per-note expressive play with MPE. This one is either hit or miss, if you want the Prophet sound then yes this is for you, but if you already have a hardware Prophet synth (especially if you have the Prophet 6 which has received the MPE treatment via firmware update) or another emulation then there is no point in getting this.
Specifically, the Repro 1 is actually emulating the monophonic line of Prophets, mimicking the Pro-1 and to some extent the DSI Mopho.
U-he Repro-5
This is basically almost the same thing, but with a polyphonic dimmension to it. Sure, the sound is a bit different because it imitates a different line of gear, the polyphonic Prophet 5, Prophet 6, the Rev-2 and to some extent the DSI Tetra. Still great with MPE, but there is no point in getting this if you already have access to the sound it emulates.
You may have noticed that indeed U-he updated all their flagships to support MPE, with enhancements coming everyday. Bazille, for those that don’t know, is their modular-like synth approach. Here, MPE shines due to the sheer parameter tweaks and combinations possible. Just assign, and use.
MPE and real. hardware modular synths don’t really work well because polyphony in modular is extremely difficult to achieve in the way it works with regular synths. Still, if you want very deep sound design, you should give Bazille + MPE a chance.
Before we go onto the best mpe vst samplers, to round up this list of best mpe synth vsts we must mention you can check out some comparisons between synths here.
It would be extremely difficult to go into every single great mpe and empe-compatible synth out there, but in the above article we also consider options like the XFER Serum and UVI Falcon, so check it out.
However, without further ado, let’s move onto the best mpe vst samplers
B. MPE VST Samplers
Audio Modelling SWAM
Going into the composer and traditional sound design, SWAM is a collection of sample-based (well, actually physical-modelled sound but let’s just call it sample-based for the sake of simplicity) plugins replicating real acoustic instruments. MPE is a huge added touch, because like actual musical instruments, you get to imprint your own play style and technique to actually sound unique. If this is your cup of tea, you can check out the extremely detailed review below:
Audio Modelling SWAM includes strings, brass, and other acoutstic instruments and comes in an extremely diversified product line-up.
For those that want the MPE collection (and not only the MPE sounds) from ROLI but don’t need the full customisation that can be achieved by Cypher2 and Equator2 (discussed above in this article), ROLI were kind enough to give you a sample-based variant. Equally useful if you are looking for MPE on a budget.
With a huge collection of 500+ sounds (out of which more than half support MPE), this one is your one-stop shop if you are just getting into the world of Midi Polyphonic Expression sound design.
This MPE VST is a granular synth, so it is more sampler than synthesiser. Yes, you can do a lot of things with it, probably more than you can do with a regular subtractive, but still the source sound is based on samples so it fits in section B of our article on expressive plugins.
As with most granular synths, they encourage a rather “wild” approach, never “mild”. Experimentation is key with Quanta as well, and the fact that it supports MPE gives it extra edge over other plugins.
While in no way a full list, this article shines the spotlight on which MPE-compatible plugin is actually great to use. There are other offers of course that did not make our list, and also there is the possibility to setup other VST products to work with MPE signals, but we will discuss this in another article.
Ok, sometimes you may want the best plugins out there but your budget doesn’t quite cut it. Especially with popular plugins like the Serum synthesizer, you may want to know your other options. We have broken down some of the BEST free alternatives to the MOST POPULAR paid-for plugins.
We offer you RC-20 free alternatives, ANTARES free alternatives, free alternatives for Effectrix, and more. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, for today iDesignSound.com will bring you our own favorite free alternative vst plugins to the most popular digital music production tools on the market.
Sure, VSTs are great, and VSTs are usually much cheaper than actual hardware music production tools. Still, when it comes to digital products, there will always be a free option. To some analog purists, digital does have its downsides. But it’s in cases like this that it really has its benefits, too.
This is because digital is literally, well, digital meaning without physical form. This means that once some effort has been put into development, copying and distributing the product can be free of charge. This has in turn provided never before seen accessibility and democratisation of the music landscape.
Now, all you need to make music is basically talent, a (fairly cheap) computer and your DAW of choice (which can also be free, of course). Let’s dive straight in and see what’s on “offer” – plus we have added some new options as of 2024 due to there being marginally more choice and variety on the market now.
Thus, finding an alternative is a bit hard, but it is possible. Without further ado, we present the closest match in the free vst market for a Serum replacement: Vital. It comes pretty close in terms of power and sound quality, albeit it does have some bugs.
Back when we wrote this article in 2021, Surge XT had not yet gained all it’s accolades. However, this free Serum alternative has a huge variety of synths and quickly became very popular for good reason. While Vital still stands as one of the most established alternatives on the market, Surge XT is a close and creative competitor that’s worth investigating if you want more options.
One of the downsides is it is only available for MacOS. On the plus side, it gets pretty creative with its offerings, such as MPE, and microtuning.
Step into the world of sequenced effect units. These are a great addition to your home studio because they apply effects only to certain parts of your sound, and you control which part you want to modify with a simple and known interface. The resemblance is not there, but trust us, it is basically the same thing. The effects are on par in sound quality, and there is even a randomiser on board for those that like to experiment.
Glitch is available free of charge here. Glitch is still by and large the best and only free Effectrix alternative out there on the market. However, we’d be lying if we said it was the ONLY viable option for low-budget musicians.
Did you know that FL Studio’s Effector feature can also act as a POWERFUL EFFECTRIX ALTERNATIVE, free of charge if you already have FL Studio?
Sometimes, all you need is a bit of creativity and resourcefulness.
RC-20 Retro Color free alternative vst: Izotope Vinyl
This is one of our favorites. It is soo simple to use and the results are extremely good. What we like about Izotope Vinyl that is comparable to RC 20 VST is the instant gratification element. You just slide a little fader and the sound takes so much color and character, a smile is guaranteed to appear on your face.
Sure, the graphical user interface is extremely spartan compared to the RC2o plugin but who cares, as long as the results are comparable. And they most certainly are. You even have the wobble from RC-20, represented on Izotope Vinyl as the “warp” control, with the added bonus of actually controlling the warp shape. On the RC-20 there is the “Digital” and “Distort” control which is basically a bit reduction and a form of distortion that can be replicated in any daw with built in effects, it’s really nothing special.
If you really must have a 3rd party VST alternative, any distortion and bit reduction plugin works. Also, the “Space” control on the RC-20 is just a normal reverb, there are a lot of free reverb options out there. If you don’t know any free reverb, bit reduction and distortion plugin, let us point you in the right direction with this free vst mega list.
As of recently, the popularity of vintage and analog effects has dramatically increased. Depending on how faithfully you want a plugin that replicates the RC-20, there are a host of other vintage FX out there FOR FREE beyond just using the effects in your DAW. We can’t share them all, but one we would like to highlight is Superfly DSP’s Lost Vinyl plugin.
Whilst it may not be precisely as similar sounding as RC-20, it does do a superb job at giving you a range of ways to reproduce those vintage sounds and imperfections that fall under the name ‘lo-fi’.
Otherwise, we hope this section gives you a bit of an overview as to how you can replicate this sound in a variety of ways. Although they may not have the qualities that earned Izotope its fans, they do at a pinch – and in some ways have their own charm.
Guitar Rig alternative: Amplitube
Well, kind of. Yes, Amplitube is a paid/licensed piece of software that has a free-of-charge version. Guitar rig also has a free version, a demo mode. Still, we consider that Amplitube is a good contender if you want to find a Guitar Rig replacement that is also free of charge. We decided to do a whole article on comparing Amplitube to Guitar Rig here.
Why do we also list this? This is because Amplitube Custom Shop, while not free, gives you more flexibility in your investment into plugins through its credit system. Another low-cost option is the rent-to-own model which many plugin manufacturers have now adopted. Again, whilst not free, it offers you a cheaper price and more flexibility with the same number of options as big FX bundles like Guitar Rig and Amplitube.
Antares Autotune free replacement: Graillon 2
Ah Auto-tune, the effect we really love to hate here at iDesignSound. That is because we consider ourselves serious music makers who don’t really like pop and the pop sound that you can find in basically all mainstream music including a lot of hip hop.
Still, if you must use it, there is really no point in getting a paid plugin unless you really really need all the very pro features, But if you just want to tune vocals without ruining the sound qualities then the alternative vst called Graillon 2 will work just fine, and you can find the free version here.
That was it, we hope we managed to make your music production journey a bit more budget-friendly. Still, if you want to use the paid plugins like a pro, sign up to our newsletter. We always provide our subscribers the best deals on the market!
We truly love Arturia Pigments 3. We actually love all Arturia software here at idesignsound.com. Today we bring you an update on the new features of this full fledged “polychrome” VST synth. And for a full fledged review, our friends at musicradar.com have a very nice review.
Introduction
Arturia Pigments is a very nice and very modern VST instrument. It initially started out as a wavetable synth with a lot of features. What is striking about the Arturia Pigments is the visualisation of the modulation sources. Thus, it is very very intuitive and also very easy to learn.
Other than this, it has some very nice effects onboard, a great sequencer and the option to load your own wavetables. For a detailed review, you can also check our article here at idesignsound.com.
Version three, which is free for existing users, brings incremental updates like more sound engines, more wavetables, more effects and so on, but there are two features that are brand new and strike out, we will analyse them below:
Arturia Pigments 3 – Additive mode
Dubbed the “Harmonic Engine”, Arturia Pigments 3 introduces one of the earliest forms of sound synthesis, additive synthesis. The very early experimental synths had this, where each oscillator would create the fundamental and each of its partials to create a complex sound. So if you would imagine a spectrum analyser, the highest spike (usually the lowest in frequency) is the fundamental frequency of the sound, and then the next ones (usually to the right, higher frequency) are the partials. Together, they form the timbre or the style of the sound. Regular synths, or “subtractive” create this frequency pattern with a single, complex oscillator, then use a filter to reduce the partials. But this has some issues, namely you can mostly reduce partials to the left or right, it is very hard to fully remove partials in the centre of the frequency spectrum (you can with an EQ, but not fully and you more than often reduce other partials than the ones you want to).
But if you really want to design timbre, it is much better to not include what you don’t want than to filter it out. The problem with additive synthesis in hardware form is that you need a lot, and we mean A LOT of oscillators to add up. This is why subtractive is preferred from a practical standpoint, even if filtering the oscillator it is not really adequate for full control of the oscillator timbre. Of course, we are talking about hardware synths, so for VSTs it was a real shame that no real, serious additive synths were made.
In Arturia Pigments 3’s additive engine you can add up to 512 partials and you can also modulate them. This should bring a brand new sound palette for your productions.
Arturia Pigments 3 – Utility Engine
This is more of a fine tuning addition to your ability to design complex sounds with the VST. This new feature is not that “in your face as additive” synthesis but it is, in my humble opinion, at least equal in importance. Usually, it is the subtle things that make us like something.
The Arturia Pigments 3 Utility Engine contains two individual distinct noise sources and a virtual analog sub oscillator. This will make your sounds fat in no time. While you would be able to have this in the past, it would also meant you would sacrifice valuable space in the for of one of the two slots the VST has. Now, the Utility Engine is separate, so you get to keep the two original sound sources.
Other new additions come in form of new effects and filters (legendary analog emulations from Roland), plus pitch delay and multi-band compression.
Wow, we live in such interesting times. VSTs are getting better and better, and now they can almost, and we really mean almost emulate the hardware sound. No wonder Arturia delayed emulating the Roland Chorus Dimension-D (aka Roland SSD-320). I am guessing they wanted to do it just right, because wow! – this thing is a killer tool to have in your arsenal. They done it, we think they did a good job, and you can get a nice discount right now here.
Ok so this one is pretty simple, it is a chorus effect. Chorus makes a single, simple sound sound much more complex. If it is mono, it expands it in stereo. If it is stereo already, it widens the stereo image and makes it much more complex.
Think of chorus as in a church context, or when multiple human voices sing to the same tune. Basically, they all sing the same musical note, but each voice has its own timbre, which actually makes the same note sound much more complex than if just a single voice would sing it.
Sure, sometimes you want just a single voice, but sometimes you want to add depth, which is precisely why you need a chorus – to add depth.
Chorus gets your sound source, multiplies it creating clones, detunes the clones and shifts them in the stereo field. It can sound drastic, it can sound fulfilling. It can also sound heavy and imprecise, so always be sure to set just how much chorus you want by ear.
How I use the Roland Dimension D
So basically I am not a fan of stereo chorus. I don’t think that a chorus is meant to just widen the stereo field, if you want that, you can find simpler tools to do it, because chorus can have an impact on the overall sound as well as the stereo image, in some cases for stereo material, making it muddy.
Here is my processing rack, with the Dimension D on top position
That does not mean you are not allowed to do it, just make sure that your stereo sound retains it’s original precision and presence after you treat it with chorus.
I think that the Dimension D chorus (both Roland and Arturia) works best for mono signals, and is excellent for bass sounds.
Sometimes you have to work in mono. Your favourite synths do not work in stereo, and if they do, it’s mostly because they have onboard stereo effects like delay and reverb. Sometimes you are recording your guitar and there is no point in doing it in stereo. Most bass sounds are recommended to be used in mono, and you mostly have a mono source.
The Dimension D expands this in stereo, but in a very subtle way. There are four settings on the VST (and multiple settings on the hardware because you can have more than one button pressed), each representing the degree of chorus being applied and also the level of stereo expansion. But believe me when I say this, the stereo expansion is subtle, even on the red (four) setting.
So what I usually do is take my bass sound which is always coming from a mono synth, and run it in parallel from the mixer to the Roland Dimension D adjusting how much I send (main channel is going in the box via the Empirical Labs FATSO compressor and tape emulator – excellent piece of gear, review coming soon). The chorus gives my bass much more presence because of the stereo field and a degree of extra complexity. It makes it stand in the mix, and I would be lost without this treatment to be honest.
Using the Dimension D on synths in general on the lowest setting, just to get a bit of saturation as an alternative to compression.
Other use cases are of course for polyphonic sounds like pads and piano which has been recorded in mono, just make sure you do it with moderation as the chorus will load your sound with a “swirly” effect and can make you feel a bit dizzy.
Last use case for me would be on stereo material, mostly because I feel that the Roland hardware lacks a dry/wet knob and can be too much, even on the lowest setting. Arturia has included a dry/wet knob so you can use it on stereo sounds just make sure you use your ears and don’t overdo it.
So of course, having your tools in software has some advantages and disadvantages. What you get with the VST has been summed in the list below:
Dry/wet knob for parallel use
Presets
Color (saturation) ajustment
Chorus Oscillator Shape (Chorus has an internal LFO that modulates the pitch of the clones)
Stereo widening ajustment
Price (Roland gear can be expensive, we paid 1200 EUR for the hardware unit)
Reliability (VSTs do not break down and do not require maintenance)
Total Recall, each DAW project has it’s own Arturia Chorus Dimension D settings
More than one instance of the chorus effect in the project
Of course what you don’t get with the Arturia Dimension D VST clone is the stellar sound that the Roland hardware is known for.
Yes guys it’s time to discuss sound. Do I like Arturia’s chorus sound? Yes, I do. Is it similar to Roland’s? Not really. They did a good job emulating the sound and the feel of the effect, and the use cases are there, but the sound is just a bit different. Enough for me to notice, and enough for me to keep the hardware with the obvious limitations. But this is just me, you can decide it’s not worth buying the hardware just for the sound alone. It is vintage so you have to maintain and service it. You can spill beer on it. You can have an electrical issue and loose it. Not to mention that you don’t have any control over it, you just select the algorythm.
The best part of the Roland hardware, after sound of course, is the fact that you can have a combination of algorithms by pressing more than one button.
Still, it is 2021 and you have options. Obviously if you want to start collecting hardware, source gear like synths are more important than processing, so we only recommend getting a vintage Roland Dimension D chorus at the end of your gear collection effort, if the space and budget allows. If not, you can get the VST for the obvious ease of use and maintenance boost. Just keep in mind that while the Arturia Chorus sounds great, the hardware sounds much better.
Wellcome to our periodic round-up of the BEST DEALS available on music production VST Plugins. Here, we help you spend your hard-earn money on new toys and virtual gear. So without further ado, here is our list of five of the BEST DEALS on VST Plugins and their end date:
Izotope Complete Your Suite Sale – up to 80% off. Yes you heard that right, up to 80% off select Izotope VST Plugins in order for you to have more of the same quality and usability. There are also offers for upgrades here. Deal ends February 16th 2021 and can be found here.
Iceberg Audio – The Sub VST Synth – 33% off introductory price. This one is also on the usability side, and it’s a straightforward sub bass synth. For 33 Eur you get one envelope, glide and drive, so not that much BUT the sound quality is out if this world. It is an instant favourite our ours and the deal can be found here. It is only live until Februray 10.
. If you’ve been waiting for a great deal to get into Komplete, now is the time. They have heavily discounted their bundles, including Ultimate and Collector’s Edition. They did this also for the starter packs, and you can get them for as low as 199 Eur for the Select bundle. , and there is no end date specified, so go ahead and try your luck.
W.A. Production has a 68% off sale on preset packs for the most popular synths out there like Serum, Spire, Sylenth and much more. If Techno and House are your things, then this is for you. All major VST Synths are supported on this preset pack, and the deal ends on the 28th of February. Shop here!
55% Off Eden2 by UJAM and Bassroom by Mastering the Mix. Again, if dance music, especially Techno and House are your things, These two tools are indispensable. I am particularly fond of Bassroom, it is very useful on the master channel to round out and smooth your bassline. UJAM is a very nice drum machine too. This deal ends on 14th of Februray.
So there you have it, enough to get you through the end of Winter. Make sure you subscribe to our newsletters for more deals:
