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The
Plugiator is an innovative affordable hardware/software
hybrid synthesizer
module that enables you to call up to
eight different instruments!
I viewed it at the NAMM
show and was so impressed I decided to put it on the www.melodicas.com site. (our first synthesizer)
Here's why-
Most
hardware synth modules are fixed-architecture, providing
one fixed sound engine and presets which cover the range of the given
architecture. In contrast, the Plugiator can store up to eight
plug-ins featuring very different synthesis architectures – expanding the sonic possibilities.
Sample
players play back recordings of different instruments, the
Plugiator emulates and models the actual instruments themselves.
Compared to samplers, the sound is
more lively, more intense and just more “
” !
The
Plugiator can store up to 8 different DSP plug-ins and can load any
one at a time at a push of a button. Each plug-in comes with 100 presets
– allowing you to store up to 800 different sounds.
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Another
unique innovation is the elegant integration of an online sound
database – which allows you to listen to new user-uploaded
presets with just one click of your mouse! Yes… No need to
download and install sound banks: actually listen to new sounds
from the internet instantly; it just does not get more
convenient than that.
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8
encoder knobs allow you to control sound parameters while playing,
and the 10 “quick buttons” let you quickly store and recall your
favorite preset for live
performence.
Overview
The unit is designed to stand alone like a regular
synth module,
though its parameters can be edited via the PIM software,
via any MIDI controller or, some parameters, directly from the
front panel.
3 synth engines are contained within
the box as you buy it . The MiniMax, B4000 and the LightWave. An additional bank,
Vocodizer, can be
downloaded, free, once you've registered the warranty.
Additional modules for the Prodyssey, Pro-12, FMagia and Drums'N'Bass instrument can be purchased
separately via website. Once you've done this, they're 'transferred' to the
hardware unit via USB and operate just like the default banks.
The sounds
Sound is subjective and I have only had a chance to preview the
Organ, Moog, and Lightwave. All are great to my ears and I use to have a
Mini Moog and a Hammond B3.
The Plugiator can store 800 presets.
Plugiator is brilliant in more ways than we can adequately describe.
Even if you choose not to expand, you've got the sounds of
3 separate synths and a wonderful vocoder available for a fraction
of the cost of the ASB technology from which they are derived or the
real instruments they emulate.
The
Plugiator box provides LED display, which is used to show preset
numbers and other parameters as they're being edited. MIDI In and Thru connections, USB, a microphone
input, stereo line and a headphone output. On/off rocker switch and the power
inlet on back.
The Price
$425.00
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Price
$425.00
The software
Below photos of what you see as you edit sounds on
your computer
Hammond B3 clone
Polyphonic Mini Moog
LightWave synthesizer
Vocodizer
Vocodizer, is
free but can only be
downloaded once you're registered
Additional plug-ins
Pro 12
Arp Oddesy
FM synthesizer
Drum/bass kit (no photo)
The other half of Plugiator is its software, which is
compatible with both Mac and PC. Once installed, the Plug-In Manager
acts as a control surface, providing an editable GUI for whichever synth
engine is currently active. To
edit a sound, you first select the instrument in the main screen.
The plug-in's GUI then
loads, while a list of preset sounds for that instrument is provided. As Plugiator is
a DSP synth which doesn't rely on
samples, the only thing that changes from one patch to another is the
position of the MIDI control knobs. Patch changing is immediate and
switching synth engines takes no more than a few seconds.
You can
audition sounds by clicking on the 3-octave virtual keyboard and keep tabs on MIDI control numbers.
This is really cool, the moment you touch a dial, the screen
positively reveals relevant control change numbers, which allows setting up
and assigning hardware sliders. (I highly recommend the Behringer
units.)
The History
Creamware was one of the first companies to put hardware
synths into software with its Scope system. The same company then built hardware units that were
powered by some of their software engines and called them ASB modules.
Creamware ended in 2007 and rights to its technology
were split between SonicCore, and Use Audio, which has picked up the ASB technology to
develop new products. Introducing the Plugiator.
The Future
If you thought that software instruments were the only economically
viable way for you to expand your sound, think again. The synth world
just became a much more interesting place.
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