vKS70
Several decades ago (1985 to be precise), a certain Japanese manufacturer released their JX8P which did ok. A year or so later, they brought out their JX10P quickly followed by the rack mount MKS70 'Super JX' MIDI module...
Fabulous synths and up there with the company's legendary Jupiter 8. Ok ... this new breed used digitally controlled oscillators (DCOs). Nothing to concerned about - not digital oscillators but analogue just controlled digitally for better tuning stability ... but otherwise all analogue through and through. And it sounds mighty. We've extensively multi-sampled the raw waveforms from subsonic, clicking lows to tweeter worrying highs and the samples are long - up to a minute each for some - so that they can breathe. The waveforms are quirky which add to the character of the original instruments as well as the sample set.
We then pass all those through Kontakt's synthesis and modulation functions. And they sound fab.
Unforunately, these synths were parameter access (as was the fashion back in the 80s) and they were bastards to program. But the company reacted with their PG800 programmer...
It connected via a six-pin DIN cable and allowed hands-on tweaking and fiddling and was (is) fabulous. It pre-dated MIDI controllers by some 30 years or more
We've emulated this in the PG800's GUI...
But we've added a few twists, most notably a sub-octave and also the 'Extras' - extra waveforms that include sync sweep, cross mod and PWM, the latter of which was sorely lacking from the otherwise juicy JX / MKS. We've also added pink noise to DCO2 to give some more flexibility and the highpass filter (HPF) is variable rather than switched. We've also added various monophonic and unison playback modes for some seriously fruity basses and leadlines. And, of course, there are the effects...
DISTORTION > EQ > CHORUS / FLANGE / PHASER > DELAY > CONVOLUTION REVERB
We've also added multiple LFOs. You can have one LFO (as per the orginal) but also dedicated LFOs for pitch. filter and output amp (for tremolo and/or autopan. Far more than the orginal offered and not the six / twelve limit on polyphony the 8P and 10P / MKS had.
And it all comes with 70 presets, six more than the original and as well as our own, we've had patchmeister, Ingo Weidner, on the case - he's made some top stuff for the likes of NI and Waldorf and other. Lovely bloke too!
NOTE: It seems that an unfortunate error slipped under our radar somehow when building the vKS70 template and accompanying presets. A fix for this is available HERE. For those who have already bought vKS70, simply grab this and replace the 'Instruments' folder with this - job done. |
CREDITS |
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Samples |
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Hollow Sun |
Scriptmeister |
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Mario Krušelj |
Programming |
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Hollow Sun / Mario Krušelj |
GUI design |
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Hollow Sun / Mario Krušelj |
Graphics |
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Hollow Sun / Mario Krušelj |
Presets/Patches |
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Hollow Sun / Mario Krušelj / Ingo Weidner
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Demos |
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Hollow Sun / Mario Krušelj / Andy Hardwake
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SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Kontakt 4.2.4 full version
Windows® XP (SP2, 32bit) / Vista® (32/64 Bit), Windows 7® (32/64 Bit), Pentium® or Athlon XP 1.4 GHz, 2 GB RAM
Mac OS® X 10.5 or higher, Intel® Core™ Duo 1.8 GHz, 2 GB RAM
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NOTE : It will work with the Kontakt Player but only in 'demo' mode and the session will be time limited. A full version of Kontakt 4.2.4 (or higher) is required to enjoy this library to the full extent. |
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