Summary | |
A very good analog-style synth for thick bass lines and trance rhythms. The Moog-style filter and on-board distortion are particularly good.Pros:
Cons:
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Scores | |
| Features: | Good
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| User Interface: | Fair
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| Sound: | Great!
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| Value: | Good
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| Overall: | Good
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TestTone | |
| Reviewed on: | February 16, 2009 |
| Reviewed with: | Live 7 LE  - |
This review used the free demo of the product. TestTone and its reviewers do not accept payment from developers in exchange for a review. Please see our full Review policy. | |
SB-1 Review
Ourafilmes' SB-1 synth comes from the custom plugin collection of Drum 'N Bass DJ Dr. Speaker Blower, a.k.a. Miguel Santos. With a stage name like Dr. Speaker Blower, it's a safe bet he wasn't using this plugin to create soft new age textures. Instead, the SB-1 is designed to create thick powerful bass lines and trance rhythms that can take over a mix. And if you're creating Drum 'N Bass tracks, that's exactly what you need.
Touring the user interface
The SB-1's dark user interface with bright labels and knobs insures that it's easy to use even in low light conditions, like many gigs. The "display" on the right shows the current preset name and number, the current MIDI channel number, and the current value of the most recently touched knob. Menus here also load and store preset files and select the current preset.
The rest of the user interface is filled with knobs, switches, and the chopper effect's display (which I'll get to in a moment). Visually, the audio path runs from the upper left with controls for the oscillators to the lower right with controls for the chopper and the plugin's volume control. The audio path zig-zags a bit through the user interface, but that's an acceptable artifact of a compact layout of controls.
Oscillators
The SB-1's audio path begins with two oscillators with independent pitch control by +/- 2 octaves and fine tuning by +/- 100 cents. Each oscillator has a choice of three classic waveforms: sine wave, sawtooth wave, and square wave. A third sub-oscillator provides low frequency reinforcement with a square wave and no tuning controls. Mix controls adjust the balance between the first two oscillators, and then the balance between that mix and the sub-oscillator.
Detuning a pair of oscillators is a standard trick used to create a thick sound, and it works well here. With the primary two oscillators detuned up and down a bit, and a little of the sub-oscillator mixed in, the sound is rich and interesting. While there are only three waveforms to choose between, these are the core waveforms used by decades of analog-style synthesis. A sine wave creates a smooth mellow tone with no harmonics, a sawtooth creates a bright buzzy sound with lots of harmonics, and a square wave creates a "hollow" tone with odd harmonics. Mixing these creates thoroughly classic analog synth sounds that remain a staple of electronica music genres.
A toggle switch at the bottom of the plugin's interface flips the plugin between mono and polyphonic modes with up to 12 notes of polyphony. In mono mode, a knob at the top of the plugin adjusts the speed of a portamento glide from note to note when playing legato. Such glides are, of course, iconic for analog synths and no modern analog-style synth plugin would be complete without mono portamento.
Filter
The SB-1 includes a single low-pass filter effect with controls for the cutoff frequency and resonance. There are two forms of the filter to choose between: a standard filter with a 12 dB/octave slope, and Ourafilmes' own filter with a steep 24 dB/octave slope. The steeper filter is labeled here as "MD 24" where the "MD" is short for "Mad Dog". The same filter is available in several of Dr. Speaker Blower's other plugins, including the Mad Dog Filter and Mad Dog Filter 2 effects plugins.
The Mad Dog filter is a star performer in this plugin. The developer says it's "based on the classic Moog ladder filter" and it sounds great. The difference between the Mad Dog filter and the standard 12 dB/octave filter is significant. The steeper slope of the Mad Dog filter gives it a sharper cutoff of high frequencies and a sharper resonance peak. The ladder-network design also gives it a rougher character that does a good job of reproducing the Moog sound for thick analog synth sounds.
Envelopes and LFO
Separate standard ADSR (attack-decay-sustain-release) envelopes are included to modulate the filter's cutoff frequency and note volume. The filter's envelope adds a control to adjust the filter's impact on the cutoff frequency. At mild settings, the envelope has a subtle effect for pads, while higher settings have a more dramatic impact. A common filter envelope technique for analog sounds uses a rapid attack and a decay to a mid-level sustain to give a brief accent to the start of each note. This is particularly effective with filter resonance turned up.
The SB-1 also includes an LFO that modulates the filter's cutoff frequency. When synced to song tempo, the LFO's speed varies from a fast cycle time of 1/32 note to a very slow cycle of 8 bars. When allowed to run free, the LFO's speed runs from a speedy 12 Hz to a very slow 0.006 Hz. With high speed and depth settings, the LFO creates a strong chopping effect, independent of the chopper (gater) effect I'll get to below.
Distortion, chorus, and chopping
Like all of Dr. Speaker Blower's synth plugins, the SB-1 includes on-board distortion and chorus effects. The distortion effect, labeled here as "ODrive", is an overdrive effect that's also available as the separate free OuraDrive effects plugin. Turning up the drive boosts the volume into a satisfying distortion that adds a burbly grit to the sound. The distortion effect is another star performer on this plugin.
The chorus effect's single knob selects among seven chorus presets. Each preset encapsulates settings for chorus speed and depth, from preset 0 with the chorus effect off, to presets 1 through 6 for mild to deep stereo chorusing. While I am normally frustrated when developers "simplify" a feature by hiding essential controls behind a preset menu, the presets here are quite good. The higher chorus preset choices create deep wide effects without sliding into sound effect territory and ridiculously high LFO settings. These are well-chosen settings that do a good job at adding thickness and stereo breadth to the sound.
The final effect is a chopper, or "gater" effect that uses a 16-step sequencer to gate the plugin's volume on and off in sync with song tempo. A large "display" at the bottom right of the SB-1's interface shows 16 side-by-side vertical bars for the sequencer's 16 steps. Dragging a bar up or down adjusts its volume. Beside the display, the "Contour" knob adjusts the smoothness of volume transitions from bar to bar. At low settings, transitions are abrupt, while at higher settings the transitions ease in and out for more subtle pulsing effects. The "Speed" knob adjusts the sequencer's rate from a very fast 1/128th note per step to a whole note per step.
The chopper's interface is intuitive and the impact is immediate and satisfying. It's just the thing for creating simple trance rhythms or slow sculpted volume modulation. It's a nice addition to the plugin and if you don't need it, the effect can be disabled by flipping at switch to the right of its display.
Master controls
There are only a few features left to cover. In the plugin's output section are knobs to control the plugin's volume and a stereo widening effect. The volume control is essential to compensate for the increase in volume caused by the overdrive effect. The stereo widening effect is independent of the widening inherent in the chorus effect and the two features work well together.
Finally, a switch at the bottom left turns on and off the plugin's "Analog" mode. The operation of this mode is not documented by Dr. Speaker Blower and it didn't seem to do that much. This is not a problem, however, since the combination of detuned oscillators, a Moog-style low-pass filter, distortion, and chorus creates a very analog sound as-is. I'm not sure what more an "Analog" mode could add.
Getting good results
Almost anything you do with this plugin creates iconic analog-style sounds. The presets aren't bad, but they make a heavier use of the chopper effect than would be my taste. Instead, it's easy to dive in and create great sounds on your own. For a thick analog bass, set both oscillators to a sawtooth wave and detune one up and the other down a bit. Mix in some of the sub-oscillator to taste. Flip the low-pass filter to the excellent "Mad Dog" mode and turn up the cutoff frequency and resonance. Turn up the overdrive, chorus, and stereo widening effect, and play.
Nitpicking
There are a few minor issues with the plugin, but nothing major. The chopper effect's smoothed volume contour is drawn on the display as a thin black line that is quite hard to see. The chopper's dark vertical bars blend in with the dark display background at the top, making fine adjustments difficult. The overdrive effect is great, but its increase in plugin volume requires manual compensation by turning down the master volume. It would have been nice to have an auto-gain feature to do this automatically.
Conclusions
Let's score the plugin.
- Features: good
- The plugin is not a mega-featured plugin. Instead, it has the right set of features to create iconic analog-style synth sounds. The 24 dB/octave Moog-style low-pass filter and overdrive are particularly good and the chorus is surprisingly effective, even without detailed control over the chorus LFO speed and depth.
- User interface: fair
- The interface is clear, well-labeled, and easy to use. It works as it should.
- Sound: great
- The plugin sounds very good. It is a pleasure to play.
- Value: good
- The plugin is currently sold at 15 euros, or about $22. That's a steal. For 50 euros, or about $74, you can buy the entire Speaker Blower Synth Pack with two effects plugins and six synth plugins, including this one. That's a very good deal.
- Overall: good
- Ourafilmes' SB-1 from Dr. Speaker Blower is a well-designed plugin with the right features, the right range of settings, and the right sound. It does an excellent job at creating rich, thick analog-style synth sounds from a clear user interface.
Alternatives
Almost every DAW today includes a generic subtractive synthesis plugin. The trick, though, for creating thick analog-style sounds is to use a Moog-style 24 dB/octave low-pass filter, like the "Mad Dog" filter on this plugin. Unfortunately, very few synth plugins include one. Fewer still include a good on-board distortion and chorus. The Alpha plugins from LinPlug include 24 dB/octave filters and chorus, but no distortion.
Ourafilmes' SB-2 synth from Dr. Speaker Blower includes the same filter and effects as the SB-1, but with another oscillator, filter, and envelope, two more LFOs, and three multi-effect stages.