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• Review

Appearances can be deceptive. At first glance, Curve looks like a generic subtractive synth - but get past the austere exterior and you'll find a treasure trove of inspirational features waiting within this plug-in.

Take, for example, the oscillators. There are three of them and each provides the expected selection of controls: pitch, detune, pan and waveform selection. However, instead of the typical handful of squares, saws, sines and so on, Curve offers a custom waveform generator, which occupies the top third of the GUI.

Custom waveforms can be drawn using a 'nodes-and-curves' arrangement similar to those found on multi-segment envelope generators. Nodes can be added or deleted, up to 20 per waveform. The wave's partials are displayed in light gray behind the curve. It's a fun and intuitive way to draw in waveshapes, though it might seem a bit fiddly at first.

"What looks at first to be yet another subtractive synth is in reality a semi-modular hybrid powerhouse."

A collection of buttons below the waveform display enables you to zoom in on the wave, change its position along the horizontal axis, increase or decrease levels as a group, and select from a bunch of pre-rolled 'classic' wave shapes (sine, square, saw, etc).

You can also take snapshots of the waves, which can be copied and pasted between any of the available slots. Any patch can access ten different waveforms, and those waves are saved per-patch. Not bad!

There are five quality modes for the oscillators, and overall the fidelity is great. The waves can take some serious punishment from fast modulation rates, with aliasing only apparent at the most extreme settings. You can also reduce the quality setting for some deliberate PPG-esque aliased grunge.

Putting on the squeeze

Two multimode filters are onboard, each with only two controls (cutoff and resonance, natch). There are ten modes from which to choose, including 6dB, 12dB and 24dB responses, with variations on low-pass, high-pass, peak and notch filters. The filters are hardwired in series, and that brings us to one of Curve's limitations: signal routing.

We wish we could route the three oscillators through one or both (or none!) of the filters as we see fit, rather than being forced to obey a fixed path. Fortunately, some of these limitations are compensated for in the modulation department.

Odds 'n' mods

Parameters can be modulated by a number of sources, including the usual velocity, aftertouch, key-tracking and mod wheel messages. There are a trio of envelope generators onboard, all of which are of the five-stage AHDSR variety (the H being a 'hold' segment).

One of the three envelopes is dedicated to volume, while the other two are available to any modulatable destination. The envelopes are run-of-the-mill but they get the job done.

Curve's LFOs offer some compensation for the pedestrian envelope generator design, and are the key to some of the sequenced presets in the library. On the surface, the four LFOs look like any others, with the ability to sync to host and a speed control. However, they draw upon the same waveforms available to the oscillators, meaning you can draw in some pretty wild custom shapes.