SNAMM03: Natives Ship Absynth 2.0

US Big update for a big softy. 18/07/03

Previewed a the MESSE in March, Native Instruments are now shipping this major update to the popular Absynth Software synth. See our review of Absynth 1.0 for description of the Absynth concept. What They Say About V2.0
ABSYNTH 2.0 breaks through all the barriers of conventional synthesizers and paves the way for the future of sound synthesis. The flexibility in sound shaping and design is unprecedented: never before has a synthesizer been capable of such an enormous and vivid sound spectrum. The combination of multiple synthesis techniques, granular sampling, and flexible envelope control generates everything from organic textures to rhythmic loops, from time-evolving soundscapes to vintage sounds. ABSYNTH 2.0 includes more than 800 evocative, expressive, and musical presets that cover an astonishing range of sonic territory. ABSYNTH 2.0 is now a synthesizer and a sampler. An intuitive patch window makes it easy to mix sampling, granular sampling, subtractive, wavetable, FM, AM, ring modulation, and wave shaping synthesis. Each voice has six synth oscillators (or three sampling oscillators), four filters, three ring modulators, and a wave shaping distortion function. Waveforms can be drawn by hand or created by sketching harmonics. A built in context-menu library of waveforms, envelopes, and even entire oscillator channels enables the quick construction of complex, evolving sounds with just a few clicks. Nearly every synthesis, sampling, and effect parameter can be controlled by ABSYNTH's envelopes. Each envelope can contain up to sixty-eight breakpoints and can be synced to the tempo. It's now possible to dynamically control an envelope (or a group of envelopes!) with a MIDI controller to morph and twist the sound with a single gesture. Each envelope can be modulated with its own graphically displayed variable speed LFO for creating living, breathing sounds. A new Link mode allows multiple envelopes to be chained together, with adjustable time,amplitude, and slope scaling - perfect for detuned chords, phasingfilters, or for mirroring the sample playback position with filter resonance, for instance. ABSYNTH 2.0's revised DSP core delivers warm and sparkling sounds, with many optimizations for efficient operation. Anti-aliasing can be switched on or off per oscillator to choose between smooth analog highs, or cool digital jitter. ABSYNTH 2.0 runs completely in stereo, and each oscillator can be dynamically panned by its powerful envelopes. Several new filter models are available, including an exceptional two and four pole lowpass and a multi-pole allpass filter for phasing and resonant effects. Plug-In operation of ABSYNTH has been greatly enhanced in version 2.0. Each Plug-In can open its own bank, and the Absynth Engine is no longer needed to play sounds. ABSYNTH 2.0 is now available at music retailers at a suggested retail price of $299US /£199.99. All ABSYNTH users will be able to update to ABSYNTH 2.0 for 99 Euro. You can find more info about ABSYNTH 2.0 at

http://www.ni-absynth.com

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