Native Instruments Absynth PC

This is a review of Absynth 2. It's more stable as a plug-in in Cubase, so I mainly use it in that form, although the standalone form is convenient. I would classify what I do as ambient electronica.

Makes a lot of synth power very easy to use. The most unique thing about it is the extensive envelope-shaping capabilities that result in some amazing rythmic sounds that previously would be obtainable only with several tracks in a sequencer. But personally, I am more interested in pads and I'm giving it less than 10 because for some reason, I have a harder time using Absynth to make pads that strike my fancy, compared to say, FM7 or Pro53. If you had to buy only one soft synth and are mainly interested in gentle pads, I would recommend FM7 or Spectrasonics Atmosphere.

Very, very rich, meaty, sound. Especially impressive are the expansive bass sounds. Listening to music like Autechre, I sometimes think "wow, I didn't know my speakers could make sounds like that." Well, Absynth makes me think the same thing on a regular basis.

As part of Komplete 2, which was about $1000, it is an excellent deal. Between Absynth and Reaktor, you have more synth power than all the hardware synths ever made put together!

I give it less than 10 though because it crashes constantly, especially when using samples as inputs, which is a bummer because that is you get some of the most unique sounds out of it.

Playing music since i was 5. Play guitar,bass, synth, drums. this version is 2.0. I use it with Cubase SX (don't remember which version). Make all kinds of music. From classic rock to electronic music. I use it for recording or just doodling around. Computer is Intel Pentium 4 2.6 gig with 500 megs of ram (should upgrade to 1 or 2 gigs). I am using a Tascam US-122 audio/midi interface & a Korg Microkontrol.

It takes a while to master the controls, but once you get it right, this thing can do awsome sounds.

Sounds good. this is good for ambient sounds, electronic music, movies, & tv & more.Not as fat as my Pro-53 or moog modular V, but fat enough.Lots of lush organic sounds.

This is a must for people who are collecting soft synths. It does what no other synth can do. It is original! The moog modular 5 & Pro-53 & this one are way there on top along with the cs-80V, minimoog, Korg Legacy Collection. All those soft synths are all getting better by the version.

Using a custom pc designed just for musical applications and Alesis Monitor ones, roland ma-8 and sony 7506 headphones. soundcard echo gina.

Right out of the gate the sounds here astonished me. Not the usual blend of presets, most are very 'out there' . Installation a breeze. I am using an Edirol PCM usn keyboard and no latency problems yet. Once in a while the program might drag just a bit if i play too many keys at once but it's quick to correct itself.

Sound quality kicks ass. Extremely intuitive and down right fun to use. Results happen as fast as your mind and mouse will allow. I could do things with this one within minutes getting totally wicked scraping metal from hell sounds that you could never get with a convential synth.

I would say this is more suited for someone who needs cinematic or ambient-industrial sounds rather than pianos and such. It can do those 'normal' sounds no problem but the real fun here is creating sounds from scratch or warping a preset beyond recognition. Great percussive sounds too.

Would buy if I had to! I have played and owned quite a number of synths over the years and this was my first soft synth. I was skeptical of the soft synth but Absynth smashed that stereotype real fast. Crashes once in a blue moon, ,no big deal. It does use much of the cpu but the sounds here are worth it. Dont waste 3 grand on an alesis andromeda, get one of these!

A drummer by training with some piano and theory as well. I have fallen into the pit of home electronica from about a year before. Currently, I dabble in DnB, ambient, experimental music. For these genres, Absynth is perfect. It is capable of more traditional sounds given the right patches. Recently, such patches have starting sprouting up on the Yahoo user group. In my own work I use a PC with AMD XP 1700 and 512 MB RAM. Sequencer is Fruity Loops. Acid 4 can use Absynth but I prefer FL for VSTs. Playback is done on an M-Audio Audiophile through Roland Mini monitors.

The interface is rather bizarre and alien looking. I still don`t know what everything does. Part of that is my ignorance of basic synth technology. Still, there are plenty of cool patches out there that let you easily create amazing sounds with a little mucking about.

The app asks for the CD and serial # upon installation and the first time it is launched as a VST in another program. This can be annoying everytime you need to do a reinstall.

There is really nothing out there that makes ethereal, alien, ambient sounds with such movement and texture. It`s the kind of tool that gives you new ideas every time you open it.

Absynth was well worth what I paid for it. I use it a lot in my own tracks and find it to be an inspiration. It is a must for serious sound designers.

I have not the adequate facilities at this time to either confirm nor deny, but I do foresee P4's above 2Ghz with
the nature of its Bus Architecture really augmenting the legitimate usage of Sofware synthesizers (especially
Absynth) in productions alongside Reverbs and all the paraphenalia competing for the attention of your
processor.

I have put money on Logic 4.8.1 (I hope the issues are only inherent to the Mac version and no, I am not
starting a war) and I am awaiting to use it on a sequencer that isn't prone to crashes. Nothing regarding the
features hasn't already been mentioned I am only affirming the attributes of the envelopes & pipe effect, which
seems similiar in nature to comb filtering, also included (was that afforementioned?) I am looking forward to
a stable system with this and Emagic ES2 as the centrepiece (More bread and butter, but to my mind a brilliant
synth in itself, one of the best filters on Software let alone V/A, check it out). It really seems something out of
this world and I do not foresee it being sidelined for ubiquity as that silver box was because of it's
open-minded architecture, the onus relies on your patience

I am using Demo Version 1.3 on a PC, experienced a few crashes, but that aside, it seems fairly intuitive. The
trick seems to be in pushing yourself to learn rather than go with what you think you know. That aside, I
would love it if they made a wizoo guide as I would buy it in a second. Has a product key, would love a
keygen, but would seriously buy this if I don't find one as I hear they are bundling this with FM7 at a really
good price.

Not an issue I have had to face with this being a Demo

Trance (The Trance iducing kind, not Ferry Corsten Ibiza annual Eccy dropping Cheese) Ambient, Techno, in
fact anything with depth to it will benefit greatly from Absynth. I was skeptical to the reports of it's rhythmic
possibilities, but it can make a shpongle out of any dongle which seems like a double edged sword.

I am Selling my microQlite soon as it has already been made obsolete in regard to where I envision I would
like to go, Not an indictment on the microQ as I have found it unique and flexible in itself, I dislike issues of
latency between the Virtual and Tangeable & would prefer my interface to be intergrated in one box, I never
really believed it possible before. I soon will have Absynth, ES2 & EXS24 doing all of the work, on a P4
with 1GB DDR Ram & with Dual Processors with P2.5 Ghz on Each with A Tascam US428 Interface,
unless Firewire gets a similiar entity (FW2 will be 800Mbit/sec).
The only synths left in the Tangeable world that I would consider a worthwhile endeavour are the
Andromeda A16 & The Nord Modular. Although the new Creamware Synth is very intruiging in its
upgradable nature an the Neuron is also intriguing but will be modelled computer-wise within a year or two.
The Times they are a-changin.

Presets are not so good. I would prefer to use my own. Patch editing is fairly straight foreward. I didn't need to use the manual but it took some experimenting.

Works great as a soft synth. Latency is dependent on you audio card and if you use a low latency card (less than 8ms - Creamware, MOTU) this can be used live.

One of my favorite soft synths along with VirSyn and Reaktor. Really great sound. Probably indistinguishable from hardware depending on the preset.

This is one of the ONLY useful vst plugins out there. Don't waste your money on others.

Crashes about once every six hours (PC version). Fairly unstable.