A sound designer’s dream
Great app for what it does and the price point is so reasonable. It’s not a synth, per-se. It’s only suited for making sci-fi background noises. But it does that extremely well. It would take hours of setting up a synth with delay loops and feedback, then slow modulation on a controller wheel, to do what this does out of the box. The presets are good so there’s literally no setup or learning curve. What you get is long modulated sounds that continually morph, with a decent amount of control on the XY pad. I like it!
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AUV3 and preset issues
Using Esoteric as a AUV3 source removes the User Preset option that is there in the stand alone version. No INIT visible to choose.
Trying to constrain the output to a key is not easy and setting each oscillator to a centre frequency is not precise, generally ending up close but not exactly the desired frequency, it’s also tedious. Sliders in different menu’s work in different ways.
The app does make some interesting noises but it’s pretty much doing its’ own thing.
It’s a shame really as the app has great potential as a drone source. I’d give Esoteric more stars but without MIDI in, constraining to a key difficulty and the user preset issue as AUV3; it makes the app look half finished.
Trying to constrain the output to a key is not easy and setting each oscillator to a centre frequency is not precise, generally ending up close but not exactly the desired frequency, it’s also tedious. Sliders in different menu’s work in different ways.
The app does make some interesting noises but it’s pretty much doing its’ own thing.
It’s a shame really as the app has great potential as a drone source. I’d give Esoteric more stars but without MIDI in, constraining to a key difficulty and the user preset issue as AUV3; it makes the app look half finished.
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Drone intricate mayhem horror meditation
Love, death and all spectrums in this insanely detailed drone monster. I am pretty sure you can either summon demons or praise angels with this thing, haha but really it’s crazy.
Not designed for the faint of heart.
I like to consider myself a somewhat experienced synthesist but getting the sounds I’m after using EsotericSynth have been challenging. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve gotten some pretty interesting sounds out of EsotericSynth. Just not what I intended. This app, it maybe best for a novice to synthesis to pass on.
The manual needs to be fleshed out because there are so many ‘how does this affect EsotericSynth’ features versus conventional synths. Like the Amplitude and Frequency Mixers. Some controls need graduations added.
AM/AM Inv, FM/FM Inv, all the Envelopes, And all Random knobs, for example. Under Oscillator/Frequency Oscillator control’s description is not in English.
It’s very difficult to make exact settings with EsotericSynth.
Saving feature needs SERIOUS work. NEVER overwrite a preset w/o asking first. Never! I lost a preset that I’ll never figure out again because my knuckle accidentally touched a preset name before my index finger touched Save. I was not happy about that. The current preset name should always default into the Preset Name text entry field. Don’t make us retype it when you save incremental changes to a default preset.
I’m still getting my head around the signal flow versus the layout for EsotericSynth. It would be nice to have a quick, single de-tune control feature for the 5 oscillators with a spread feature, in addition to the manually de-tuning each of the 5 synths, which gives precise control.
I like what I see and hear and I am excited about the ambient music, soundscapes and drones to be had with EsotericSynth. Good job thinking outside the box!
The manual needs to be fleshed out because there are so many ‘how does this affect EsotericSynth’ features versus conventional synths. Like the Amplitude and Frequency Mixers. Some controls need graduations added.
AM/AM Inv, FM/FM Inv, all the Envelopes, And all Random knobs, for example. Under Oscillator/Frequency Oscillator control’s description is not in English.
It’s very difficult to make exact settings with EsotericSynth.
Saving feature needs SERIOUS work. NEVER overwrite a preset w/o asking first. Never! I lost a preset that I’ll never figure out again because my knuckle accidentally touched a preset name before my index finger touched Save. I was not happy about that. The current preset name should always default into the Preset Name text entry field. Don’t make us retype it when you save incremental changes to a default preset.
I’m still getting my head around the signal flow versus the layout for EsotericSynth. It would be nice to have a quick, single de-tune control feature for the 5 oscillators with a spread feature, in addition to the manually de-tuning each of the 5 synths, which gives precise control.
I like what I see and hear and I am excited about the ambient music, soundscapes and drones to be had with EsotericSynth. Good job thinking outside the box!
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Good APP Major Bugs that Should Have Caught In Beta
I hope the dev see this and takes action. Once they do I will gladly upgrade my review to 5 stars.
First I am disappointed that there is no init patch. Just having the app start at init is not enough. I shouldn’t have to reload the app just to return to init if I want.
Second the app will not allow me to scroll down on the presets menu. I can see that there are other presets, but it always bounces back and won’t let me select them.
First I am disappointed that there is no init patch. Just having the app start at init is not enough. I shouldn’t have to reload the app just to return to init if I want.
Second the app will not allow me to scroll down on the presets menu. I can see that there are other presets, but it always bounces back and won’t let me select them.
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Response from developer
In version 1.2.2 I updated scroll down system preset in auv3. Do you have same problem in standalone version? If yes, could you send me an image or video? Patch init is Simple Texture in preset system. Thanks for your advice.
