Review: Luftrum 9 soundset for u-he DIVA

Ever since hearing some of his patches for Camel Audio’s Alchemy, Søren Hybel aka Luftrum has been on my radar.

With Luftrum 9, users of u-he’s virtual analog DIVA synthesizer now have a chance to get 64 sounds from the Danish sound designer, field recordist and electronic experimentalist.

Luftrum 9 contains 64 presets ranging from smooth ambients pads to gentle arpeggios, berlin school sequences and synth emulations inspired by Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, Royksopp and Jean Michel Jarre.

Luftrum 9 patches:

• 21 Ambient Pads
• 19 Arpeggios
• 15 Synths
• 4 Soundscapes
• 3 Sound Effects
• 2 Strings

The patches make use of Diva’s onboard effects, sometimes quite heavily. Still, the CPU usage is really good on most sounds. Luftrum designed the presets in “fast quality mode”, so that’s great when using Diva on older machines. The patches includes information on what parameters are controlled by mod wheel, velocity, aftertouch, etc. The set is geared towards ambient music, and the patches generally sounds warm and dynamic.

It is interesting that the soundset includes arpeggio patches, as Diva has no arpeggiator. Of course nothing stops you from using these patches to create your own sequences, but Luftrum designed them for use with an arpeggiator. Kirnu was used in the process, so you could pick that up from Arto Vaarala.

Reaper users can also get a playlist for Kirnu, or download an archive of fxp/fxb for use in Kirnu with other DAWs.

Check the audio demos below to hear some of the sounds of Luftrum 9.

So what do I think?

Did you listen to the audio demos, and you are still here? This soundset is stunning. From start to finish, each and every single one of these 64 patches is a beauty.

I am truly inspired by the sounds and sound design of Luftrum. A first pass on the patches had me sucked in for over an hour, it’s just that good. Classic sound and modern day quality combined, what more do you want?

I love everything in this set (yes, also the R2D2 emulation), with the pads section being my favorite. These are simply gorgeous, beautifully crisp, warm, evolving, completely drawing you in.

This is my favorite Diva soundset to date, highly recommended! Customers can use promo code REKKERD at the checkout to get a 10% discount on any purchase at the Luftrum store.

More information: Luftrum / Diva soundset

Hey there, I'm Ronnie and I run Rekkerd.org. I'm a bedroom music producer and guitar player, and I love chicken vindaloo & all things glitch.