Review: USE Audio Plugiator
A hardware/software synth emulator with a decent pedigree is always worth a look.
By Brad Watts
8 July 2008
During the late ’90s there was a particularly adventurous audio products manufacturer that was one of the first to realise that synth emulation was best attacked with the aid of dedicated DSP. It was one of the first to offer sonically pristine emulations of some classic synths, along with sound cards that were more than a cut above the average. The company was Creamware, and it made many inroads into the Windows-based audio market, and later expanded its products to run on the Mac OS. From memory, the Scope systems were one of the first to offer 24-bit and 96k operation from their PCI soundcards. Come the 21st century and Creamware was building hardware DSP-based synths such as the never-to-be-released NOAH keyboard and rack, and the ASB series of knob-driven stand-alone and software controlled synths.
Unfortunately, Creamware has since disappeared in a cloud of insolvency. But from its ashes have risen two firms. The first is Sonic Core, which carries with it much of the Creamware product line. The second is Use Audio, which makes its debut with a completely new line of products based around the same synth emulations that were so brilliantly executed by Creamware.
Use Audio’s flagship is the Plugiator – a strange name for a flagship it must be said, but hey… all the good names were already taken that day, apparently. It’s a USB-controlled DSP-based hardware synth engine, with the facility to accept eight different synth engines. Initially the unit ships with only three of these engines, and a fourth vocoder engine is downloadable when you register. A further three engines are available online for a very modest US$39 each (a fourth ‘drums & bass’ engine is still in development, and Use Audio has declared there are more in the pipeline).
The unit itself is designed to sit on your desktop and is built from sturdy 2mm sheet metal. Connections to the unit include a pair of 1/4-inch output jacks, a 1/4-inch microphone input jack, headphone jack, MIDI In and Thru ports and a USB port for linking to your computer. The supplied installation software is fully compatible with the Windows world, meanwhile Mac OSX users will have to be content with the soon-to-be-released public beta version. This is, in fact, the software I had for testing the Plugiator so I can already attest to its stability. In fact, it took me a while to cotton-on to the fact that the protocol used for editing and programming the Plugiator is via MIDI continuous controller messages and poly aftertouch. I’m more used to seeing this style of device arrive with AU or VST plug-ins to edit the unit. The Plugiator, meanwhile, doesn’t offer this type of plug-in software editor, although it does come with Cubase controller panels. What this means is that setting up software control panels in your favoured sequencer or DAW isn’t such a difficult task. Otherwise you can catalogue and edit patches from the Plugiator control software itself – you’ll just have to flip between it and your DAW program. Logic Pro aficionados can get busy building an environment window to drive each synth if they like, but they’ll be missing out on the virtual wooden panels and pseudo drawbars. It all depends on what you’re into.
NEED TO KNOW
The B4000 with a massive 91 notes of polyphony.
A four operator FM synth for those glassy bell tones.
A vocoder thrown in for good measure.
The Pro 12 – an epic synth.
Wavetable synthesis.
The very quirky Arp Oddysey – emulated beautifully.
Worth the admission price alone – primo Moog modelling.
PLUGS AWAY!
The initial set of plug-ins include a Minimoog-style synth, Minimax, a wavetable synth called Lightwave, and the B4000 engine which replicates a Hammond B4 organ. The downloadable Vocodizer rounds out the package and demonstrates just how simple it is to install additional plug-ins into the Plugiator. The Minimax is honestly worth the admission price alone. It’s an extremely authentic recreation that will give you all the bottom end and ‘girth’ that you’d expect from a Minimoog. The emphasis (resonance) control can really get the filter rattling away. The Minimax is capable of 10-note polyphony – plenty for a unit that was originally a monosynth.
The B4000 goes to the extremities of polyphony with 91 voices. It’s a very nice emulation, with the initial edit screen consisting of the typical drawbar controls and control of vibrato and rotor speed. A second edit page lets you adjust the tone-wheels through various stages, from new to ‘in need of repair’, microphone balance and distance placement and to allow drawbar leakage and distortion. Again it’s a faithful emulation and also worth the admission price, if B4 organ sounds are what you’re after.
Lightwave breaks away from the emulative sphere and morphs the Plugiator into a wavetable synth much like its Korg and PPG forebears. Here you can build glistening pads and rhythmic sequences, or pull out some retro sounding electric keyboard sounds. Polyphony stretches to 12 notes for those folk with extra thumbs.
The Vocodizer vocoder is a tasty addition and manages to sound smooth & sweet. None of that harshness you get with software based vocoder plug-ins. There’s a bucketload of control options with two oscillators available as carrier signals. Oscillator waveform choices are the same set of waveforms as found in the Lightwave synth engine and polyphony is set at six notes.
All internal processing is done at a healthy 172k and the final output is at 44.1k. For realtime control there are eight rotary encoders on the Plugiator’s hardware unit, and you can select synth engines and patches from the front panel. All synth engines can avail themselves of the onboard chorus/flanger and delay – entirely syncable and providing up to 1365ms of delay per left and right channel. Adding extra plug-ins to the Plugiator involves purchasing additional engines directly from Use Audio. Again, for a mere US$39 each you can choose between an ARP Odyssey emulation, the Prodyssey, a Sequential Circuits Pro 12 aptly named ‘Pro-12’, and a four operator FM synthesis engine called FMagia. For the 120-odd bucks I reckon it’s worth getting the lot – they’re very good impressions of the originals and combine to make the Plugiator quite a versatile synth. Plus the actual unit is quite small. You could easily lug it about with you for an impromptu source of sounds in any recording situation. When you consider the purchase price of about $600, you get a lot of grunt for your dollar. Compare that against the price of most instrument plug-ins and the Plugiator looks like a jolly good bargain. Incidentally, if you’re running a CME keyboard there’s the Plugiator ASX card that transforms your (UF or VX model) into a Plugiator keyboard. Hardware at software prices! Brilliant.
RESPONSES