Sonnox Oxford Transient Modulator

The Sonnox Oxford TransMod is a software plug-in to be used inside a DAW. It can be downloaded off the Sonnox website for installation, and authorized using an iLok.
The purpose of this effect is to change the shape of a transient in a signal. It can be used to make the initial 'attack' of a sound to be louder or quieter.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

The Oxford TransMod is very flexible. The 'ratio' control is the basic way to increase or decrease the attack of the signal. The 'overshoot', 'threshold', 'rise-time', etc. control the timing of the effect. The 'Overdrive' is a unique control to add some saturation to the attack of a signal, adding extra snap or 'weight' to a transient.
I find that transient shapers are most useful for drums, and don't really use them on other instruments. If you find that your drum tracks don't really 'punch' in your mix, then you should consider the TransMod. Typically I like to add a subtle increase in the 'attack' of drums by using this effect on a drum bus. Sometimes I will use it on an individual kick drum track to decrease the sustain. Sometimes I will use it on a snare track to increase the sustain. A little can really go a long way.

OVERALL OPINION

There are many different 'transient shapers/designers' available (SPL, Native Instruments, etc). The Oxford TransMod has much more flexibility by making the length of time of the transient something that can be controlled. Most other effects of this type offer simple 'attack' and 'sustain' knobs without the ability to control the timing. The TransMod is intuitively useful for increasing the 'attack' of a signal, but can also increase the 'sustain' of a signal if you decrease the attack volume and bring up the volume of the signal. I don't really like this method because when I usually want to bring out the sustain of a signal (like the ringing of a snare drum), I don't usually want to decrease the attack. Therefore, when I want to shape the 'sustain', I usually use one of the other aforementioned plug-ins instead.

Installing the Sonnox Oxford Transient Modulator wasn't hard as it was the same process as most plug-ins out there, which is generally quite easy to follow and understand.  I had the plug-in up and running within a few minutes and didn't have any problems figuring out the interface as it is pretty user friendly.  The plug-in has parameters for gain, threshold, dead band, ratio, overshoot, rise time, recovery, and overdrive.  I don't think that a manual is necessary at all for this plug-in and as long as you understand the purpose of this plug-in, you should be able to figure out how to use it rather quickly.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

I am currently running the Sonnox Oxford Transient Modulator on a Mac Book Pro that has a 2.2 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 4 GB of RAM.  Thus far I haven't had any issues running this plug-in within this configuration, but have to say that I've never had a need to use more than two of these within a single session.  This plug-in won't take up too much processing power and I think that as long as you have a decent system that you can currently run basic plug-ins on, that you won't have trouble running Sonnox Oxford Transient Modulator.

OVERALL OPINION

While the Sonnox Oxford Transient Modulator plug-in is definitely a unique one, I'm definitely glad to have it around as it is great for tightening up sounds that I might not be 100% happy with.  I don't think that it is a necessary plug-in to have, but if you can afford to have a plug-n that isn't essential but useful, this is definitely worth looking into as it can definitely come in handy often.  The price of the plug-in is definitely reasonable and for this reason it is suitable for both home studio owners and professionals alike.  All in all, this is a great sounding and useful plug-in, but is one that I would only recommend to those looking to bolster a plug-in collection, not start one.

Installation carefree on mac, no incompatibility, runs smoothly!

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

On Imac is stable and has never made me crash the session!

OVERALL OPINION

Then returned to the heart of the matter: you have a little soft battery? that lack of "punch"?
This plug revives your decision I can (finally!) to resortir rimshot without compressing to death!
The same goes for the guitars! Need to raise the fader to hear!
Overdrive allows saturation, there is something fun!

The +: Restores life to soft taken
The -: I still do not see ...

A plug not specifically required to have, but if your budget allows, treat yourself

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