Discover the latest industry news and audio post production.
RFX Room Tones, the latest Sound Library from the experienced Ville Sorsa, offers a useful variety of room tone effects to Freelance Sound Designers and Post Production Houses.
November 23, 2021
Company: Ville Sorsa
Product: RFX Room Tones
Our Rating: 4.5/5
Price: £38
Upon opening we were glad to see a nicely organised, well named and simplistic file structure. We also liked the amount of content on offer, each file is in stereo WAV format at 5 minutes long and has metadata which means you have more than enough content for atmosphere tracklay. The files were named accurately and had the feel of a much more expensive library. A small gripe was that when the package was unzipped, I would have liked to see a parent folder with the name of the library.
Bare in mind that most people are not going to get excited about a room tone library, but you should. I was sceptical at first, but upon listening, I found each sound to have no extraneous noises or clicks unless stated. This means you are getting the pure noise floor of the room, which is what this is all about. The sounds have an element of rawness, but are still clean in the right way. They are balanced with each other, when editing with them side by side in tracklay, you'll notice there are no frequencies standing out and minimal level difference.
No audible spectral processing has taken place and care was obviously taken when picking the locations to record. These sounds are especially useful when the client wants 'silence' within a scene. Usually when the dialogue track sounds too dry and you need that extra magic that fills the gap. I also think it could be useful for dialogue editing, certain sections can be very time consuming to generate 'fill' and often, a similar room tone from RFX will save you lots of time. The sounds here are perfect for designing Sci-Fi ambiences and the like, as they're so clean and well recorded. At 96kHz there will be minimal quality loss when pitch shifting.
For the library, I would have liked to see both a mono and stereo option, but can see why this didn't make sense given the file size. I also would like to have seen external ambiences with the same vibe (no extraneous noises), but it would be more difficult to achieve consistency and reduce extraneous sounds; maybe in RFX 2: External Tones?
The price doesn't seem expensive once you open the library, but also doesn't feel like exceptional value, it is priced according to its worth. It is arguably more of a utility tool than a creative library, which is why I think it had to be priced at this point. Anything that can add to the perceived value in future products would be great.
For a good price you get a tool that does it's job extremely well, it has had care put into it and is demonstrating demand with high sales rates. It's pretty much a must have tool for all Sound Designers who need to tracklay atmosphere effects.
Zero Dawn, the latest sample library from David J St Hill at Audio Verge provides Composers and Sound Designers with a variety of Cinematic Loops both Rhythmical and Tonal
November 23, 2021
Company: Audio Verge
Product: Zero Dawn
Our Rating: 4.2/5
Price: £19.99
When initially opening the files, it was nice to see the wide range of formats available. Kontakt, WAV and Apple Loops are provided, giving users a lot of sound editing capabilities. For the review I used the loops within Kontakt (the full version is required). This library has beautiful graphics and a user friendly interface which doesn't clutter you with options, allowing inspiration to roam free. The backdrop is nice but I would have liked to see nicer looking knobs for twiddling and maybe another page for further loop mangling, however the low price point reflects this. I would have also liked to see tuned patches and velocity sensitivity. A further addition to speed up the workflow could have been to sort patches keyboard mapping by their frequency content, having low elements on one side and high on the other would have worked great.
Now for the most important part, how does it sound? Each loop and element has a level of quality that will please composers old and new. They are mastered in a way that sounds great out of the box but also leaves room for additional processing. A blend of truly modern audio assets, some offering unheard sonic textures and others offering bread and butter elements used to inspire and begin score cues. There are a nice blend of pulses, percussion, arps, drones and pads which cover a lot of ground for a low price point. I particuarly like the warm and fuzzy sounds of the atmospheres which have vocal layers, bringing that widescreen sound to your cues. The percussive patches give a gritty and dark glitchy texture to your 8 bar loops. I like that the atmospheric pads and arps have been mixed rather brightly, allowing the user to control the clairty via a mod wheel filter, which adds further variety and movement to the patches. The sounds here are most suited to Sci-Fi, Horror, Action and Drama cues, offering basic tweakability within the Kontakt engine. I like to pitch certain sounds by a couple of octaves to discover new ways to use them; adding distortion can range from a subtle crunch to walls of noise.
Loop libraries have a bad reputation for encouraging laziness but I don't think this library promotes that. It is clearly an inspiration tool and should be treated as such. Cues can be started and enhanced within minutes and I would encourage users to process the sounds to find new sonic ground like I did in the demo track. The price point makes this library a steal for all Composers, especially those who want that Cinematic sound without the huge price point. The quality of sound far outweighs the small gripes I had with the workflow. You also get Audio Verges great customer service and support included.
Inspire a new cue today and visit Audio Verge to purchase Zero Dawn with our 20% off code: zero344
Oeksound’s Spiff is an intelligent transient shaping plugin that offers precise, adaptive control for dialogue, music, and sound design—perfect for professionals seeking a powerful and nuanced mixing tool.
November 23, 2021
Company: Oeksound
Product: Spiff
Price: £139
Our Rating: 4.8/5
Here at 344 Audio, we are constantly on the lookout for the tools that will help us do our jobs more effectively and efficiently, and from many years of experience we have developed a critical ear when it comes to assessing the quality and usefulness of a plugin.
We have always been big fans of the products that the team at Oeksound have been putting out, and so naturally we were thrilled when they presented us with the opportunity to test and review their adaptive transient plugin Spiff.
On the surface, Spiff appears to be yet another addition to the range of transient shaping tools that are on the market, but upon diving in deeper, it's clear to see that Spiff does things a little differently than the competition.
The main function that sets Spiff apart is the way its EQ behaves. The EQ contained in Spiff is in fact a side chain EQ which analyses the incoming audio and applies a boost or cut to the transient components of the signal. This allows Spiff to process audio adaptively and with a lot more nuance than some of the other available tools within its class, making this product more akin to a scalpel than a sledgehammer. Intelligent stuff indeed.
Whilst at first Spiff may look a little confusing, once you get to grips with the layout of the GUI and how the different parameters operate it quickly becomes a very intuitive tool to work with. Sound shaping with a very tactile experience and one that rewards experimentation.
Using different colours depending on boost or cut is a subtle but very nice design feature, as it makes it easy to get a visual snapshot of what's going on without having to study all of the controls.
The EQ bands are extremely flexible, and there are very few limits on how far you can push things when searching for the desired sound, so don't be afraid to get a little wild when using Spiff, just be careful to not have the depth control set too high when pushing the high end or else things can get a little harsh on the ears.
Spiff is a versatile and potent mixing tool that will be highly applicable to a range of different applications.
We would use it to control harsh plosives when editing dialogue, to balance levels in a sound with wide frequency content, and as a precision mixing tool during trailer sound design.
Some other great uses of Spiff include:
- Removing mouth noises from dialogue recordings. - Adding brightness to dull recordings.
- Processing drum kit recordings.
- Cleaning up live audio recordings from bleed, unwanted sounds etc.
- Adding more impact and sweetness to drums, guitar pickings etc.
- Subtle cuts/boosts during mastering.
Yet again, Oeksound has delivered a plugin that stands above the competition both in terms of its effectiveness as an audio processing tool, and the quality of the user experience. There is a real depth to Spiff, and it seems like the kind of plugin that would keep revealing new facets to its operation even after months of working with it.
What we especially love is that Spiff bridges the gap between compressor and EQ, achieving similar audio results that you would commonly expect with a multiband compressor, only without compromising any of the dynamics.
This is a versatile mixing tool that is equally suited to pro mix engineers, composers and bedroom producers. Its fair price of £139 maybe places it just out of the reach of novice users but makes it an ideal purchase for anyone from intermediate level and above.
For more on Spiff and Oeksound, as ell as their website and purchase information follow this link: https://oeksound.com/plugins/spiff/
You can check out our recent review of its sister plugin Soothe 2 here: https://www.344audio.com/post/review-oeksound-soothe-2
We hope you enjoyed this review!
Tonsturm's SPCTRL EQ is a powerful, creative EQ and filter tool that offers precise frequency manipulation, modulation, and dynamic sound shaping—perfect for sound designers seeking bold and experimental audio transformations.
November 23, 2021
Company: Tonsturm
Product: SPCTRL EQ
Price: $99.00
Our Rating: 4.8/5Overview
Tonsturm have established themselves as a company who like to break the mould when it comes to their effects plug ins, offering users something a little different from the norm in terms of both the design and functionality of their products.
Today we are excited to bring you our review for their new SPCTRL EQ plug in. This tool, which combines elements of an EQ and a filter, gives users unapparelled control and precise manipulation of the frequency spectrum in one user friendly package.
At first glance, SPCTRL EQ shares its DNA with the previous Tonsturm product FRQ-Shift, so if you have any experience working with this plug-in then you should feel a sense of familiarity with SPCTRL EQ, particularly when working with the modulator and LFO windows. Speaking generally, SPCTRL EQ is most definitely a sound designers EQ and is best suited to the weird and the wonderful, with crazy alien/robotic effects and things of that nature being what it excels at the most.
SPCTRL EQ lets you filter, shape and control sounds with frightening levels of precision, allowing users to craft complex and intricate EQ effects and inject instant excitement into otherwise "dull" or "flat" sounds. Users can then further shape and sculpt their sounds across up to 4092 frequency bands, and add motion through the use of the built in modulators and LFO parameters.
In their own words, Tonsturm gives us an overview of SPCTRL EQ.
There are several key features that sets SPCTRL EQ apart from similar products within its class, with the vast number of modulation bands on offer, and its flexible curve editor being the most compelling.
SPCTRL EQ contains the same cutting-edge modulation system that we saw in FRQ-Shift, only this time it gives users many more degrees of precision thanks to the 4092 frequency bands, shaping functions and detailed visual display. Users can also manipulate the left and right channels independently or have them working together.
The depth of control that this product offers is superb, and its great to have such a wide array of features at your disposal, and to use them so fluidly in tandem with each other to transform sounds and take them to the next level.
In addition to the aforementioned features, it is worth noting the quality of the user interface. Tonsturm products are always laid out in a very easy-to-use way, but its interesting to see how the UI is continually being improved over multiple iterations as they release new products. We especially love the inclusion of a built-in undo button, which is a small but often overlooked feature that really shows the level of thought and consideration for the end-user that Tonsturm have put into SPCTRL EQ.
SPCTRL EQ has a hefty bank of pre-sets which can be easily accessed through its in-built navigation window.
What its useful for:
SPCTRL EQ is useful for a wide range of creative sound design applications including but not limited to the following:- Adding interest and tension to "static" and "uninteresting" sounds.
- Quickly transforming a voice or vocal recording into something robotic and electronic.
- Creating, risers, build ups and drops from "ordinary" sound sources.
- Use as a more interesting filter than a standard lpf, hpf, bp etc.
- Add motion and movement to sounds through modulators and LFO.
- Twist and bend sounds into new concoctions that you couldn't imagine or didn't think were possible.
In the above playlist you can check out a range of audio demos that show off how SPCTRL EQ performs with different sound sources.
SPCTRL EQ is most definitely a sound designers EQ, so users who are looking for something more traditional in design should definitely look elsewhere. This is a creative EQ first and foremost and therefore rewards users who are open to experimenting, breaking the "rules" and putting it through its paces. Overall this is a powerful and diverse product that definitely fits into the "premium" tier in terms of its quality. With a very accessible price tag of $99, we would recommend SPCTRL EQ to all audio professionals and sound designers who are still in the beginning stages of their career. This is an excellent tool in terms of its functionality and design, and it can help you get to grips with some of the more advanced techniques of frequency modulation.
We hope you enjoyed checking out this review!
If you like the sound of SPCTRL EQ you can find out more product details as well as purchase information on the Tonsturm website VIA the following link: https://tonsturm.com/product/spctrl-eq
Klevgrand's Degrader is a versatile bitcrusher and distortion plugin that delivers vintage hardware emulation, crunchy lo-fi textures, and intuitive controls for both music production and sound design.
November 23, 2021
Company: Klevgrand
Product: Degrader
Price: $39.99 (iOS $12.99)
Our Rating: 4.7/5
Degrader is available on Mac and PC in AU/VST/AAX formats. The GUI is very pretty, and consists of controls for Bit Depth, Sample Rate, Jitter, Saturation and more. Degrader allows the user to resample a signal anywhere between 250Hz and 96kHz, with a low pass filter including pre and post fader controls. Bit depth can be altered continuously between 3 and 24 bits resolution, resulting in some very crispy, hairy noises. Parameter linking is also useful here, a feature that can really speed up your automation when designing complex sounds.
The overall sound is rather crunchy, and somewhat reminiscent of more desirable bit crushing experienced on older hardware samplers (the presets offer emulation of vintage hardware too). There is enough range to go from AKAI emulation to all out computerised mutation. It works well for futzing, creating 8 bit effects or even simulating a video game environment by placing it on your sound effects bus. In a musical context, it sounds great for drum processing. We used it on a recent project where we had to vocalise a robot, Degrader added a tasty dose of extra spice to the mix that helped make the voices more believable.
It would be nice to see some convolution added to the plugin, reminiscent of that featured in McDSP Futzbox. Impulse responses of hardware units could add an extra dimension to the sound, that for the most part is already exceptional.
Most DAWs can bitcrush a signal, but not all have the interface, ease of use and classic sound that Degrader has.
