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Native Instruments Absynth 4
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Native Instruments Absynth 4
Adyssey Beats Adyssey Beats

« Another great Native Instruments synth »

Published on 06/25/12 at 21:00
Setting up Native Instruments' Absynth in my DAW, similar to setting up Massive and FM8, was a breeze. However, like the others this semi-modular synthesizer is pretty intimidating at first sight. With a complicated, dynamic interface, the new user is exposed to a sensory overload of parameters that may be hard to sift through. My recommendation remains static: go through the presets and tweak the parameters that are affected to see how they are affecting the signal, then use those techniques in your own original sounds. This is made even easier by the 1,200 presets that Native Instruments supplies with the program. Yet, if you are having trouble figuring something particular out, the manual though dauntingly large is well put together and informative. It should be able to help. So, in short, is this an easy plug-in? No. And it may take a while before it is easy for you to make the sounds you want to make, but is it worth it? Absolutely.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

Running on my MacBook Pro with a 2.7Ghz Intel Core i7 processor with 4GBs of RAM, Absynth works fine. I have had some issues with CPU usage if I have Absynth and Massive running at the same time on multiple tracks in Ableton Live 8, but for the most part it is a stable, reliable plug-in. I have been using this synth for almost a year and have been able to effectively implement its use in my production of DubStep, Electronica, and Hip-Hop. Like Massive and FM8, Absynth is very easy to program to a midi controller and works well in a live environment as there are many parameters to map, manipulate, and play around with.

OVERALL OPINION

Overall Native Instruments' Absynth is an expansive, expressive synthesizer that is a very capable tool for the driven producer. My advice, for beginners and experts is to give it a chance. I am a fan of Native Instruments products and have dedicated a lot of time to exploring sound through their lenses, but still feel as though I have much to learn from these plug-ins. If you are interested in sound design or just a producer for fun, you can benefit from playing around with this huge synth - there is even a demo to prove it. As far as its value compared to its price, $200 is on the low end of music production software prices and the product is on the high end of music production software, so I believe it is comparable. But I encourage you to experience it for yourself and see if it is what you're looking for. Out of all of the Native Instruments products I admittedly use Massive the most, but Absynth has made significant appearances in my productions and I would certainly recommend it.