Does one ever have enough synthesizer instruments in their music making toolbox? Is there such as thing as one synth to rule them all? The newly released SynthMaster 3 is taken for a spin in Aphelion’s Orbit’s latest review.
What is it?
SynthMaster 3 is KV331 Audio’s flagship all-around modular software synthesizer.
Intro
I have never tried any of the KV331 line of products, and this synth has had a couple of iterations along with its player through the years.
Setup
Straight forward email, serial, online and offline registration. I like the fact that during the install process it gave me the option to relocate the 2gb+ library to the location of my choosing like an external drive.
First Impressions
The interface looks good and took me 10-15 minutes to understand the layout. Presets loaded quickly and the controls were responsive so we’re off to a fantastic start. After a few more hours of testing, I began to think where does this synth fit it with the music and sound I like to create. At times it felt like Serum, Phase plant and at other times it had some similarity to VPS Avenger.
Features
The reason this synth reminded me of so many others is that it features almost all the synthesis methods including VAnalog, Additive, Vector, Wavetable, Granular, Phase Modulation, Phase Distortion, Frequency Modulation, Pulse Width Modulation, Ring Modulation, Physical Modeling and SFZ Sample Playback.
The layout has 3 primary tabs. Tab view which is your primary view. Track view with your seq, and arp parts along with voicing. And last the Mix view with effects.
The filter section is nice, however for me the routing section is really good and stands out. It reminded me of the routing in Massive X and provided some really good results.
The Sound
If you have read any of my previous reviews, I think first impressions are always defined and established by sound and the presets. Yes programming and creating original sounds is a plus. However, does this synth provide me with enough well programmed and thought out presets that require minimal tweaking for an idea out of the box. I think so.
This synth is packed with over 900 ready made sounds from aggressive basses, plucks, guitars, flutes, and all kinds of exotic sequences and arps to take apart and use independently.
Some of my favorites I earmarked were BAS Core Filament, BAS Fatty Finger, BAS Housing Bass, FLT Shakuhachi Staccato, ORG Rock You, BEL ComBottle, VOC We are Not alone.
CHD Lofi Vinyl Pluck, SEQ New Information really shows the power of the synth.
Pros:
- Loads of presets.
- Routing table.
- Auto Preset Preview.
- Preset creator info data, including macros.
Cons:
- Some Presets have no preview.
- Track view could be better.
Final Thoughts
It’s a good synth that I will add to my sound palette. So, does it do all those synthesis types at a high clip, that remains to be tested. I can’t figure out what it does well and it will take me some more testing and using it to answer that. The synth feels like it’s caught in a weird space where it tries to do everything.
I did find out what synth this reminds me of, it’s Parawave’s Rapid synth. To me, it sounds like Rapid. Although, it picks up where Parawave left off, improves upon it and adds to it. That’s not a bad thing because Rapid is a top tier synth that still provides value.
You can download a free demo version of SynthMaster 3 to try it yourself, and for those who are interested in buying it, it’s offered at a 30% intro discount until September 16th. Plus, Rekkerd readers can use coupon code REKKERD at the checkout to get another 10% discount on any purchase at the KV311 Audio store!