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• Review

Aetherizer and Cloud Filter

The next big new addition is the Aetherizer effect. As existing users will know, one of Absynth's major strengths has always been the vast range of sounds you can coax from any one module, and this new one certainly lives up to that standard.

What is, on the surface, a simple grain slicer with a couple of delay loops, actually turns out to be an incredible sound design tool. Everything from dense, glitchy sound clouds to long, swirling delay lines are possible, and when the randomise controls and Absynth's famous envelopes are brought into play, things start to get really interesting.

In short, it's a top-notch effect that broadens the range of sounds you can get from this already hugely versatile synth, and it's fantastic as an effect plug-in for external (ie, non-Absynth) signals too.

"Aetherizer is a top-notch effect that broadens the range of sounds you can get from this already hugely versatile synth."

Aetherizer's little brother is the Cloud Filter: basically a stripped down and simplified grain effect that can be selected in any filter module – ideal if you want to create granular effects on only one channel of your patch.

Elsewhere in the new filter department, we have the Supercomb: basically a more extreme, intense version of the Comb filter, which excels at creating metallic, harmonic-rich tones.

Several of Absynth's filters now also feature a feedback loop that enables you to run some of the filtered signal back into the filter's input via a waveshaper, frequency shifter or ring modulator. This can not only create some really frightening distortion sounds but also feedback loops that have a brilliantly volatile, analogue quality to them, further solidifying Absynth's reputation as one of the most organic of sound design instruments.

What's missing?

Disappointingly, Absynth 5 bring no major improvements to the interface, and aside from a few tweaks to bring modulation and filter menus in line with each other, it can still feel fussy, algebraic and over-complicated.

This is most apparent when dealing with the envelopes, as other than using the Envelope and LFO tabs, there's still no way of seeing at a glance which controls are being modulated by what. Even a tiny visual clue that a control is being modulated by an envelope or LFO would go a long way towards being able to decipher a patch without getting a headache - something like Ableton Live's red automation dots, Reason's little green boxes, or indeed, the modulation system used in NI's own Massive synth would be well employed here.

Summary

The issue of usability is our only real frustration with this update. While version 5 has certainly brought some great new features (the Aetherizer and filter feedback features alone will be worth the €69 update price for most users), the effort to make the synth more accessible has been misdirected in creating the Mutator tool – it would have been better spent on revising the interface, we'd say.

Overall, then, Absynth 5 is still the mind-blowing synth that it always was, and if you're a serious sound designer, it's a must-have. However, we're left with the feeling that it could have easily been improved even further.

Listen to a mutated flute preset

Original

Mutation 1

Mutation 2