Archive notice: This article was originally published on September 3, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The new version expands the instrument’s sonic capabilities with additional synthesis and effect algorithms and generally improved audio quality, while introducing an ingenious new method for creating complex sounds easily.
Popular among professional producers and sound designers as a charismatic instrument for innovative timbres and complex soundscapes, ABSYNTH has now been equipped with special sound-shaping capabilities that again expand its sonic palette substantially. A powerful “Supercomb Filter” enables expressive physical-modelling sounds with subtle acoustic resonances, while the new granular-based “Cloud Filter” can contribute drastic spectral modulations. The introduction of adjustable filter feedback also opens a new range of organic, rough and unpredictable synthesizer sounds.
ABSYNTH’s versatile effects section has been expanded with the new “Aetherizer”, a unique algorithm that breaks sounds down into the smallest particles and reassembles them in complex ways to create particularly multilayered sound treatments. By making all parameters available for real-time control with envelopes and MIDI controllers, Aetherizer also reinforces the popular use of ABSYNTH as a creative effects processor for arbitrary external audio material.
ABSYNTH 5 also introduces “Mutator”, which enables intuitive creation and variation of sounds based on musical attributes. For any sound, attributes can be selected from the sound browser according to which the sound should be changed. The software then analyses other presets associated with these attributes and modifies the original sound accordingly. Combined with an adjustable random generator, Mutator allows all ABSYNTH 5 users to create new sounds in a highly efficient and convenient way.
ABSYNTH’s comprehensive sound library has been expanded with 250 new presets based on the new sound-shaping capabilities. This results in a collection of more than 1,800 ready-to-play sounds, all of which can be managed easily through the integrated KORE-compatible browser. To improve audio quality further, ABSYNTH 5 also uses new oversampling algorithms at various points in the signal path, producing particularly clean sound especially in the important upper-frequency range.
ABSYNTH 5 will be available from October for EUR 179 in the NI Online Shop and is also included in the new KOMPLETE 6 bundle. An update for owners of earlier ABSYNTH versions will be available for EUR 79.