Regular contributor Aphelion’s Orbit is back with a review of Time Off Audio’s first audio plugin.
What is it?
A transient splitter which according to the developer gives you the ability to process the transients and tonal components of your audio as completely independent tracks. Instead of limiting you to a set of built-in effects, the transient splitter allows you to use your own 3rd party effects.
Intro
There are some really good transient tools on the market. I have a few, even one that I go to often is Sonnox Oxford Envolution. Let’s take a look and see if this new transient tool can cut through the market.
I ventured out to the creator’s website and looked at their rollout video to try and understand what they were offering and trying to convey with this product. The website is cohesive and explains fairly well what the product can do. There may be more here than meets the eye.
Setup
The VST installation was straightforward. However, the online license authentication took a few tries. Secondly, the VST will needs to scan your VST folders for all available FX. If you have a lot of VST plugins this can take a while.
First Impressions
After a few hours with this plugin it performed exactly as the creator designed. But I felt the plugin was really a VST FX hub, with some tonal and transient shaping second. That’s not a bad thing because there is a secondary use for this plugin, if the transient, tone shaping functionality isn’t to your liking.
Functionality and Controls
It only takes a few minutes to wrap your head around the layout and controls, they were well thought through.
Adding your FX is as simple as selecting the + sign and searching through your available VST plugins. The top effects will control the transients, bottom effects control the tone. There some quick learning controls to left that allow the VST to learn your FX parameters.
All the way to the right is your balance control for mixing between transients, and tone.
Recap
This plugin does have some transient and tone shaping capability. However, the extent of that shaping is really going to be subjective. The tone and transient controls felt more like I was using Output’s Movement, or Fragments from Arturia or any of the motion-based effects out there.
Now, can you get some creative results from this tool, yes. The ability to import your own FX plugins and access them all in one view with full control over them makes this a useful FX hub.
Pros
- Use your own FX
- FX Hub capability
- Ease of use
Cons
- Can be CPU intense
- Slow load time of some FX
- Disappearing FX names in slots or stuck loading
Final Thoughts
This transient splitter does some nice things. I think it can be used as a sound design tool, and as a hub for a few FX you add to a single track or bus. It’s worth taking for a trial run to see if it can be added to your tool box.
A free trial version of Dime [tt] is available to download from the Time Off Audio website, and you can purchase the plugin at an early bird price of $30 USD until December 1st, 2024.
