Super-powerful FM synth plugin
Lovely synth. Endlessly flexible. Great interface. The matrix and modulation options are deep. The sounds range from familiar to deeply strange. It’s worth spending time with this: it’s a playground you don’t want to leave.
Forgot one simple feature…
…Key latching or note hold. Standalone that’s a killer.
Organic fm…
I love modulation and especially when it adds life to sometimes sterile digital/fm synths. Nambu has this in droves, tons of modulation baked in to every possible nook and cranny and it feels like it’s alive in there… get it.
Accidentally Aphex
as a novice in his stages of becoming intermediate, i decided to spend what i assumed would be a brief project crafting up some presets for my iceWorks collection. all of them were impressive while gorgeous in their own way... but let's just say i'm relieved that i saved what i understood to be King, Nambu, for last...
rest assured: the hype is well-deserved. a massive stretch from their earlier synths; with Lagrange being the stepping stone. endless micro-customizations you could fiddle with for hours (and hours)... it felt like i began with a harmonious ambient dreamscape which somewhere delightfully shapeshifted into pure Breakbeat Hysteria.
if you're seeking an underdog in the ranks of top-tier iOS synths, bow your head to Nambu.
rest assured: the hype is well-deserved. a massive stretch from their earlier synths; with Lagrange being the stepping stone. endless micro-customizations you could fiddle with for hours (and hours)... it felt like i began with a harmonious ambient dreamscape which somewhere delightfully shapeshifted into pure Breakbeat Hysteria.
if you're seeking an underdog in the ranks of top-tier iOS synths, bow your head to Nambu.
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Presets 💯 uninspiring, AUM DSP 📈
The presets are absolutely underwhelming, and I depend on presets to a) give me a large palette of unique sound options, and b) to learn from in trying to craft my own sounds. This set does neither. I’ve heard all these sounds before. Maybe this synth offers something unique, but you’d never know it from the factory presets ☹️
🚨On top of that, DSP in AUM maxes out whenever a patch is changed, or even when particular parameters in a patch are switched. This is a problem and makes it practically unusable in AUM.
Truly regret spending $20 on this app
🚨On top of that, DSP in AUM maxes out whenever a patch is changed, or even when particular parameters in a patch are switched. This is a problem and makes it practically unusable in AUM.
Truly regret spending $20 on this app
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very deep and capable synth
It’s a very deep and capable synth that really reward those who explore it… Brilliant FM synth, this is how it should be done - bravo Icegear ! The interface is well thought-out and makes patching fun. Sweet touches like envelope grouping, and the ability to give every envelope stage its own velocity response. It sounds top-notch. I'm coaxing some gloriously expressive pads out of it.
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An awesome synth
I love this synth, very versatile, very intuitive, and pretty to look at! I have a small request: would you please release a name list for all 128 samples on the texture osc? I hope it is possible:) all my best from Venezuela!
Very Good
Very good almost perfect but way to easy to i initialize instead of save :(
This is really special
This has quickly become one of my favorite synthesizers, not just on IOS but in general. Seriously, not even hardware matches what this can do. The fact that it’s usable on Mac makes it even better. The only sad part is that my desktop daw of choice (Bitwig) doesn’t support Audio Units. I’d genuinely pay $150 for a VST version. This synth is so good, I might even start using Logic more, just to use it on my Mac. Bravo to the dev, you deserve much more recognition.
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Wow!
This is not only a FM synth, but also very rich subtractive synth. It has six operators that can function as FM, oscillators, or even very rich filters. I still only scratched the surface of this product, but it is very intuitive, and I honestly think that this is the best software synth that I ever bought. Amazing idea and the implementation!
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Lush modern FM synthesiser (and beyond)… 🪼
I’m a huge fan of IceWorks with ‘Cassini’ being the very first iOS synth I ever bought (over a decade ago) and I still love and use it to this day (a beautifully designed synth)! Now it’s 2023 and the iceGear portfolio has expanded like a universe unto itself! Naturally I really *adore* crunchy phat FM sounds but Nambu takes FM to the next level by combining other features of synthesis and sound design with a unique approach allowing you to explore new unchartered sonic territories. The design is lush (as always) and it’s feature rich; yet intuitive to understand and explore. It also runs on Apple Silicon too! I’ve been teasing some wild experimental sounds out of Nambu as it’s capable of generating a wide gamut of sonic nuances, shapes and textures (in addition to more classic forms like bass, pads and leads)… a very cool modern FM synth!
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Finally Hit it Out of the Park!
These guys have created many beautiful sound generators in iOS but with Nambu they broke the mold. This was the best synth to come out of 2022 and second place wasn’t even close. This FM monster is so versatile and smart that you CAN produce any sound that your brain can think up. And it does it with a beautiful GUI that melds capability with intuitive ease.
Really, there are simply not enough superlatives to appropriately describe this beautiful beast!
Really, there are simply not enough superlatives to appropriately describe this beautiful beast!
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Incredible Synth Architecture. Highly expressive and original.
This synthesizer fuses FM, traditional Subtractive, and non traditional synthesis elements into a infinitely connectable and expressive melting put of genius and inspiration. If you love synthesis but need to go beyond the traditional in a highly expressive manner, then this is a go-to synth of pure beauty. It is so well though out and highly flexible.
I would definitely recommend checking out Jakob Ham’s feature overview and feature tutorial by searching YouTube for ‘my Nambu one synth app Jakob Haq’
I would definitely recommend checking out Jakob Ham’s feature overview and feature tutorial by searching YouTube for ‘my Nambu one synth app Jakob Haq’
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# 1 iOS Synthesizer of 2022
Thanks Iceworks for such a brilliant synth. The amount of features packed into Nambu is mindblowing. The only thing I can think of to add is more nature sounds for the textures. I would like to ask you Iceworks to make a granular synth for your next project. Please consider this and thank you for making Nambu.
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Excellent !
This synth is really fantastic ! But it seems that midi cc messages are not taken into account after cc120. Is it or a minor bug to be corrected ? I mapped entirely Nambu with a faderfox EC4.
The Best FM Synth I’ve Ever Used!!!
First off pay no attention to the immature people giving bad reviews for features they can’t be bothered to go through the settings to find, and when responded to with an extremely polite reply clarifying the situation they can’t even bother to change their review. This world has no shortage of idiots. The review complaining about presets is just as bad, if you have no creativity then why aren’t you just using samples? Besides soon enough there will be TONS of presets available to download. This synth is really going to take off. I’m going to donate any good presets I come up with to the author no one should have to endure that kind of abuse, and he did it gracefully. Hats off to iceWorks.
This synth is clearly a labor of love, and the design is top notch. Everything is just right. I’ve been waiting on a synth like this ever since I got into FM. But this isn’t just an FM synth it’s so much more. From the envelopes to the modulation options, the expressive possibilities, it’s all PERFECT! You can even set velocity sensitivity for each envelope stage!!! For FM that is a huge boost to expressiveness. There are so many things to love about this synth it’s unreal. Everything on it is well thought out and really shows not only the developer’s programming skills but more importantly their design skills… it takes an extreme amount of skill and experience to make something like this. The choice of waveforms and shaping options alone is enough for me to fall in love and that’s only the tip of the iceberg! Not to mention it’s very nice to look at, if you’re going to be spending thousands of hours looking at a synthesizer then it helps for it to be easy on the eyes! I don’t just mean it’s pretty, which it is, but it’s designed in such a way that it won’t wear out your eyes, every thing is clear, nothing is contrasting horribly or too bright or dark, it’s easy to quickly tell what’s going on in the patch, everything is logically laid out. If you’re into sound design DO NOT pass this one up. I can’t gush about this thing enough so I’m going to just quit here for not and come back after a hundred or so more hours when I can really comment on it’s sonic characteristics. ENJOY!!!!
This synth is clearly a labor of love, and the design is top notch. Everything is just right. I’ve been waiting on a synth like this ever since I got into FM. But this isn’t just an FM synth it’s so much more. From the envelopes to the modulation options, the expressive possibilities, it’s all PERFECT! You can even set velocity sensitivity for each envelope stage!!! For FM that is a huge boost to expressiveness. There are so many things to love about this synth it’s unreal. Everything on it is well thought out and really shows not only the developer’s programming skills but more importantly their design skills… it takes an extreme amount of skill and experience to make something like this. The choice of waveforms and shaping options alone is enough for me to fall in love and that’s only the tip of the iceberg! Not to mention it’s very nice to look at, if you’re going to be spending thousands of hours looking at a synthesizer then it helps for it to be easy on the eyes! I don’t just mean it’s pretty, which it is, but it’s designed in such a way that it won’t wear out your eyes, every thing is clear, nothing is contrasting horribly or too bright or dark, it’s easy to quickly tell what’s going on in the patch, everything is logically laid out. If you’re into sound design DO NOT pass this one up. I can’t gush about this thing enough so I’m going to just quit here for not and come back after a hundred or so more hours when I can really comment on it’s sonic characteristics. ENJOY!!!!
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Checks all the boxes for a great bass music synth
Been looking for a synth with auv3 support that’s as capable for complex sound design as Nave or Abletons operator and this is it. I can pretty much design whatever I need. The multi stage envelopes and modulation options are fluid and vastly deep. Get this instrument if your more into production then just beat making.
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best iOS synth of 2022
Nambu is amazing, versatile, and deep. It covers a massive amount of ground: it can go from very synthy modern sounds to natural instruments to experimental, weird noises.
I don't think it's accurate to judge a synth based on the quantity of presets, unless you never plan on programming it, which would be a shame. Nambu is delightful. For those looking for presets, you might periodically check in on your favorite iOS music forum(s). There are several sound designers who have released packs for the dev's previous synths.
I don't think it's accurate to judge a synth based on the quantity of presets, unless you never plan on programming it, which would be a shame. Nambu is delightful. For those looking for presets, you might periodically check in on your favorite iOS music forum(s). There are several sound designers who have released packs for the dev's previous synths.
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A true marvel of FM synthesis exploration, and so much more !
I always found ICEWORKS synths to be really special, but NAMBU was totally unexpected. What starts as a 6 op FM synth opens up as something totally different and a real beast of exploration. The attention to detail, the choice of modulations and the thoughtful implementation of the patchbay has made of this beauty one of my fav’ synths of all time, really deeeeep as well as easy. Thank you so much !
Also I know that ICEWORKS are quick to answer so I post it here: there is a small glitch where the operators do not change, in stand alone mode at least, even if another type has been selected and the UI tells, for instance, that a filter is in use, the sound is still that of an FM op. I have to reload the app to hear the change.
Great work none the less.
Also I know that ICEWORKS are quick to answer so I post it here: there is a small glitch where the operators do not change, in stand alone mode at least, even if another type has been selected and the UI tells, for instance, that a filter is in use, the sound is still that of an FM op. I have to reload the app to hear the change.
Great work none the less.
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Response from developer
I apologize for the inconvenience. However, the problem you pointed out is not reproducible on my iOS devices. Have you tried restarting your iOS device? I would like to solve your problem. Since it is difficult to provide support through app reviews, would it be possible for you to send me an email? support@icegear.net Thank you.
This is an excellent synth, here’s a small ‘why’.
Not an expert on synths, being a self-dubbed ‘Mr Preset’ but have quite a few iOS/iPad OS Synths, and once owned a ‘real’ Jupiter 6 by Roland. Some features I explored, like the delay effect built-in, have ‘pop-up’ dialogue boxes where you can refine subtleties, and the Developer was responsive when I asked why the echo disappeared as I went up the scale. It’s because there is an adjustment knob in the dialogue for HPF ie High Pass Filter, deliberately to give you control over this.
So although there were adjustments to be made in order to sort presentational issues of the fascia on the 12.9” iPad Pro M1 screen of mine, the Dev was already fixing them even as I emailed. ‘Iceworks’ have a solid track record of step-by-step synth creation, and solid AUv3 designs. I already owned ‘La Grange’ and it’s clear that Iceworks have cherry-picked features from several synths certainly La Grange, and parachuted them into this new bigger project.
The Sequencer/Arpeggiator, is very good and Iceworks were one of the first synth makers I noticed, to make separate, the business of the Arp pattern from the sound/voice/patch. With some synths, it’s still bound up and invisibly locked together. I call it ‘the peg board’ because it reminds me of that ‘Battleship’ game or something. There’s accenting of the notes in the sequence, you can make them hard-truncate, or chop-off at the end of one particular note being struck, and so on.
All I can do is give a flavour here. The actual sounds are really good, and you can alter the audio waveform with the visual window giving such impressively clear indication of what you’ve done…well, there’a lot here and I didn’t even mention the matrix which I partially grasp now, and in any event of course, have just had a stab at and tweaked and gotten sounds I like from, despite not having done my full homework on that.
Have at it, it’s good, and it’s incredibly well thought-through, and has this solid Audio Unit pedigree of previous synth builds behind it. I no longer own an individual hardware synth, because unless I could buy some exceptional model, nothing is good enough to beat the software and a powerful Apple Silicon iPad for me anyway - I sold one of those little synths because I couldn’t see any way it surpassed the good stuff on the app store that my GarageBand or Cubasis could run. Take care all.
So although there were adjustments to be made in order to sort presentational issues of the fascia on the 12.9” iPad Pro M1 screen of mine, the Dev was already fixing them even as I emailed. ‘Iceworks’ have a solid track record of step-by-step synth creation, and solid AUv3 designs. I already owned ‘La Grange’ and it’s clear that Iceworks have cherry-picked features from several synths certainly La Grange, and parachuted them into this new bigger project.
The Sequencer/Arpeggiator, is very good and Iceworks were one of the first synth makers I noticed, to make separate, the business of the Arp pattern from the sound/voice/patch. With some synths, it’s still bound up and invisibly locked together. I call it ‘the peg board’ because it reminds me of that ‘Battleship’ game or something. There’s accenting of the notes in the sequence, you can make them hard-truncate, or chop-off at the end of one particular note being struck, and so on.
All I can do is give a flavour here. The actual sounds are really good, and you can alter the audio waveform with the visual window giving such impressively clear indication of what you’ve done…well, there’a lot here and I didn’t even mention the matrix which I partially grasp now, and in any event of course, have just had a stab at and tweaked and gotten sounds I like from, despite not having done my full homework on that.
Have at it, it’s good, and it’s incredibly well thought-through, and has this solid Audio Unit pedigree of previous synth builds behind it. I no longer own an individual hardware synth, because unless I could buy some exceptional model, nothing is good enough to beat the software and a powerful Apple Silicon iPad for me anyway - I sold one of those little synths because I couldn’t see any way it surpassed the good stuff on the app store that my GarageBand or Cubasis could run. Take care all.
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