All user reviews for the Flux :: Bitter Sweet II

The BitterSweet II by Flux is a Transient Designer. You can turn the main dial one of two ways, if you turn it to the sweet side it will decrease the transients amplitude. But if you turn it the opposite direction which would be to the bitter side it will take the transients amplitude and magnify them. I have been using Bitter Sweet II for a month now and I am really learning to use it effectively. I am starting to use it more and more as time passes. The manual for me was in PDF format and was easy to navigate through, I am glad it is PDF format because I needed the manual a few times and I was able to just use the search to find what I was looking for. All of the main functions of BitterSweet II are very easy to locate and use. Everything is pretty much on the main interface.


SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

Loading BitterSweet II into my Dual Core PC was very quick and easy to do, and BitterSweet II is very stable in my DAW. The BitterSweet II Transient Designer has 64 bit floating processing and you can have up to 8 channels. It works on Mac running 10.5 or better in 32 bit, and on Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 in either 32 or 64 bits.


OVERALL OPINION

You can really put a good mix to your project when using BitterSweet II. This is the first version of this software that I have used, I am very happy with the choice that I made to purchase this. I saw it in a magazine and decided to do some online research before I bought it. It has proven itself to be on of the best purchases that I have made in the last year (gear wise). Very good quality and very professional sound. After you get use to it you will be creating a “sweet” mix!

Instillation went smooth on a Mac Mini OSX 10.4 running Ableton Live. Not a single hitch, ever. This is such a simple and genius device, and it works amazingly. I use this compressor to fatten up my kicks, snap my snares and give my basses some pump. I love how incredibly simple the operation is. You select a transient speed, slow, fast, medium and turn the center knob in the direction you want, left for fat, sweet thumps and right for salty, snappy cracks, and you can change the period for transient integration. Three controls, AMAZING sound. I can't believe this is thing is free, I would probably pay $10,000 dollars for this. Also, the three different transient processing modes, Main, Center and Stereo are AWESOME. The center and stereo modes make kicks and snares sound incredibly fat, or snappy, depending on how you turn the knob.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

The performance of the Bittersweet is flawless. Absolutely reliable, low on CPU load, works great in any situation. I've probably used this on 50 tracks since I got it. I just love the way it sounds, and the simplicity is really nice, you don't have to fiddle with knobs or anything it's super easy. This is great for beginners, and experts, as it gives a great sound, and does it for you. This is hands down my go-to for drums, bass, and guitars.

OVERALL OPINION

This is my favorite compressor, ever. And the best part? It's FREE!!!!!!! I love it's simplicity, and functionality. Even if you don't think you'll use it, or don't know a thing about compressors, download this, I guarantee you will fall in love with it. The way it shapes your sound is very consistent and concrete, and it sounds incredible! This is absolutely a must have. Also, the aesthetics are very pleasing.

Flux's Bitter Sweet II is a free plug-in that can be had directly from Flux's website. For a while I had the original Bitter Sweet plug-in, but recently downloaded this newer version. This plug-in is available for a number of different platforms, including Pro Tools which is what I use it on, so I don't believe that too many users will have compatible problems. You can get it in VST, RTAS, or audio units format, and for a complete list of compatible software, all you need to do is go to the download page for this plug-in. The process of downloading and installing Bitter Sweet II was quick and simple, without any hiccups at all. The whole thing only took a few minutes and I was able to load it up in Pro Tools soon after. Like the original Bitter Sweet plug-in, this one is very simple in terms of the interface's make up, as it's got a large knob to choose between bitter or sweet, as well as slider like parameters to control mode, period, and output gain. Setting it to bitter will raise the level of the transients in the sound, while sweet will reduce the level of transients. You can also set the rate, which along with the period parameter are new to the Bitter Sweet II. A manual isn't necessary, although I haven't seen one so I don't know anything about it.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

I'm currently running the Flux Bitter Sweet II plug-in on a Mac Book Pro lap top that has a 2.2 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 4 GB of RAM. I run Pro Tools with a Digi 002R audio interface or a Micro Box if I'm working on the go. I've really only used this plug-in on the master fader on a session, so I've never gone beyond using one of these at a time within a single session. I've never had a problem at all doing so, but can't say how well it would run if you were to run more than one at a time. It doesn't seem like the type of plug-in that takes up much processing power, but it really just depends on the system you're running it on.

OVERALL OPINION

I've never been able to complain about a free plug-in, and I won't start with the Flux Bitter Sweet II. While I don't feel that this is necessarily the most useful plug-in to have around, for a free one it is definitely something helpful to have around just in case. You can definitely change your sound a good amount with the Bitter Sweet II, but most of the times when I use it, I use it subtly. It has a clean sound and is very simple and straight ahead in terms of user friendliness. If you've got a DAW of any type, there's no reason not to have the Bitter Sweet II in your collection!