Hollow Sun

I run this on a Macbook Pro i7 with 8gb ram and an RME Fireface 800. I run this Kontakt 5 either as a standalone or in Logic 9 or Ableton 8. So far I have had zero compatibility issues. This is a very simple instrument so you really don't need to reference the manual. The setup is as simple as installing, then finding the set through Kontakt's file browser. The configuration is very simple. You essentially get three tabs to find all the controls offered on this synth. The three tabs are Master, Control Panel and Effects and they contain simple parameters like Velocity, tuning, pitchbend, reverb, delay, phase shifter and other parameters to "fine tune" the string sound (envelope, filter, level/mix). These are easily found and tweaked. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE So far I have not had any crashes, lost work of audio dropouts and glitches. It appears to be very stable and it sounds terrific. I never used one of these in real life, but a fellow engineer says he worked with one back in the day and was fairly impressed by the sound quality. The performance is great. No latency, no issues with mapping and such. I have had this for about two months. I usually reach for my various Mellotron samples to get that vintage string sound. This sample set was cheap so I picked it up and I must say, I still love my Sampletron but I also grab this one out just for something a little different. OVERALL OPINION What I do like is the samples are quite full and warm, despite being sampled strings. Also, the GUI is neat, and very easy to navigate. I also love the price. There is really not anything to complain about with this synth. For only $15, you can't go wrong. Even if you have some solid Mellotron samples in your arsenal, this synth still has a place. Again, I haven't used the real deal before. A friend has, although many years ago, but he says it seems pretty spot on. I have not had much experience with synths made solely for strings. I highly recommend this sample set, especially for the same price of your average album.

Hollow Sun TriOsc is a 3 Oscillator synth with FM and AM modulation. Though it does only have a small list of effects that include Distortion, Chorus , Phaser, and a few different echo’s, it is still a powerful VST. The price of the Hollow Sun TriOsc is very low, I think it only cost about 10 dollars or something like that when it first came out and you can pay with pay pal or your bank card and get a download link right away. There is no manual for it which I didn’t like because it was a bit confusing at first because the interface is a little different than what I was use to at the time. The interface is very easy to understand and looks like most of the Kontakt instruments interfaces. There are three different menu’s that you can click on that will bring up a different interface, you have the “control panel”, the”Effects” and “Info” panels. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE The TriOsc works great and has never gave me a single issue. I have just started using it and got it because it was really inexpensive and it also models after a really older unit that I was curios about. OVERALL OPINION The best part of TriOsc for me is I can sculpt some pretty good leads with it and get some really heavy and thick baselines as well. I seem to get better every time I use the TriOsc VST at making and molding my own sounds out of it. It has really brought a better understanding for me on how to properly use Oscillators. Before I started using TriOsc I would just mess with the Oscillators until I was happy with what it would sound like, now that I have been using the TriOsc I am starting to understand the right way to program sounds. I am very happy with it.

I have had zero compatibility issues with this sample set running on a Macbook Pro i7 8gb ram, an RME Fireface 800 and Kontakt 5 as standalone or in Logic 9/Ableton 8. The setup is extremely simple. Install it, then find it in Kontakt's file browser. The configuration is also extremely simple. The only tweakable parameters are Tone, Volume and Vibrato (controlled via the Mod wheel). Besides the Vibrato feature, the other two parameters are easily accessed on the front of the GUI. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE So far I have had no crashes, glitches, audio drops, lost work etc..... It is completely stable and low on CPU. In regards to the performance of the Stylophone, it plays well and is easy to use so I give it a 10. I have had this for about three months now. OVERALL OPINION What I like most about this is it only cost $2. What I don't like is this is a total one trick pony. I can't expect much for such a low ticket price, but this unit is virtually pointless. You can get this sound from just about any basic synth. I guess the novelty of the unit is the only reason why it was samples. To clarify, I don't hate it, I just don't think I'll use it. I have never seen or used the real version of this synth, but the samples are full and warm sounding and are probably just as good as the original being that the original really wasn't all that great. This is essentially a very basic synth, but to be fair, it is very original as far as I know. For $2, you can't really go wrong but at the same time, what's the point? I will probably use it at some point, but nothing comes to mind.