NEWS
Whip up a musical sandstorm with Synapse’s latest synth
Synapse Audio’s incredible Dune 2 has occupied one of the top-most slots in our list of go-to synths ever since it scored 10/10 in cm207’ s review back in 2014, so news of the arrival of version 3 had us fair dizzy with anticipation.
Dune 2’s VA/FM/wavetable oscillators were already absurdly powerful, but Dune 3 ramps them up even further with the new Swarm mode – a supersaw unison array with subtle per-voice modulation for added mojo. More importantly, though, the oscillator section sees the long-awaited addition of a full-on wavetable editor, with which “waveforms can be created via free-hand drawing, segments, a dedicated partial editor or by entering formulas”. Wavetables can be imported and exported in WAV format, too.
The filter section has also been beefed up, and now features two multimode filters and an insert effect, configurable in four routings, plus a wealth of new filter types including zero-delay feedback filters built on Synapse’s latest analogue-modelling technology. Similarly, you now get two Arpeggiators, both enhanced with programmable Arp Hold as well as a Random mode.
Effects play a large part in Dune’s enormous, hyper-real sound, and v3 adds plenty of new algorithms to the Distortion, Delay and other modules, as well as the spectacular new Shimmer Hall Reverb Type. The EQ, meanwhile, has been redesigned from scratch and now sports four main bands, low- and high-pass filters, and an interactive graphical display for direct manipulation of the response curve.
Upgraders will also be glad to hear that Dune 3 is fully backward compatible with Dune 2, and all the factory patches from the latter are included for a total of more than 1000 presets.
Dune 3 is out now for Mac and PC, priced £139, and we’ll most assuredly be reviewing it next issue.
synapse-audio.com