KV331 Audio One

The same ‘Upload preset to online library’
right-click option found in SynthMaster 2.8’s
browser is in place, but there doesn’t appear
to be any way to access said library as yet.
The two oscillators each ofer the usual
analogue waveshapes – Sine, Triangle,
Square, Sawtooth and Pulse – but, really,
SynthMaster One is all about more elaborate
digital waveforms and wavetables. While
SynthMaster 2.8 features its own form of
wavetable functionality, enabling up to 16
waveforms from its extensive onboard library to
be strung together contiguously, SynthMaster
One takes a very diferent approach. Rather than
let you build your own within the synth, it
includes 150 pre-made wavetables captured
from a Who’s Who of hardware synths by Moog,
Roland, Korg and others, and grants you the
ability to import your own. This couldn’t be
easier: simply place a singe-cycle WAV or
wavetable (deined by KV331 as a waveform
containing multiple periods, the length of
which is divisible by 2048 samples) in a
subfolder of the Wavetables folder to have it
show up in the oscillator menus. While obviously
it would be great if there was a wavetable editor
built in – like that of Xfer Records’ Serum, for
example – it would detract from SynthMaster
One’s immediacy and presumably raise the
price, so we can appreciate the reasoning
behind the omission.
Separate to the wavetables, the oscillator
Waveforms menu houses more than 150
KV331 Audio
SynthMaster One $79
More than just a cut-down version of SynthMaster 2.8, this new synth
aims to make programming wild wavetable-based patches a cinch…
“SynthMaster One
is all about more
elaborate digital
waveforms
and wavetables”
A less complicated ofshoot from their
lagship SynthMaster 2.8 (9/10,
231),
KV331’s SynthMaster One is two-oscillator
polyphonic wavetable synth with a single-
screen interface that keeps (almost) everything
in reach at all times. Generally speaking, it’s
about as beginner-friendly as a serious
synthesiser can be – which is to say, it’s a lot
more beginner-friendly than its big brother but
will still be totally intimidating to anyone who’s
never used one before. That’s not a criticism; it’s
an inevitability with any synth that isn’t
deliberately dumbed down, which SynthMaster
One certainly isn’t…
Oscillatrix
SynthMaster One ships with a healthy library
of 500 presets, designed by the likes of
Arksun, Vorpalsound and Xenos Soundworks,
and accessed via a tagged Browser (Author,
Instrument Type, Attributes and Style). User
patches can be tagged and/or added to a
Favourites list, but there’s no search function.
WAVESHAPER
13 waveshaping
algorithms
ENVELOPES
A pair of ADSR envelopes
with bendable curves and
One-Shot mode
FILTERS
Two zero-delay
feedback filters
with 13 modes
modelling four
classic synths
OSCILLATORS
Two oscillators, each
drawing on a massive
library of waves and
wavetables
MODULATION MATRIX
Make up to 12 assignments, with
Via sources for depth control
SUB OSCILLATORS
Slaved to the main
oscillators, for audible
output or modulation
EFFECTS
11 top-notch
processors can
be loaded into
six insert slots
ROUTING
Switch between three
filter routings and
turn oscillators, filters
and amp envelopes on
and off here
LFOS
Two highly detailed LFOs with
copious waveforms to choose from
2
MINUTES
WITH…
VIDEO
See us demonstrate this
amazing plugin in depth:
bit.ly/SynthmasterOne
HANDS-ON
VID EO
90 / COMPUTER MUSIC June 2017
> reviews / kv331 audio synthmaster one
CMU243.rev_synthmasterone.indd 90 3/31/17 1:44 PM