NAJM Dance Music Gear Reviews - Koblo's Studio 9000


OVERVIEW Studio9000 is a Macintosh based software bundle. For the purpose of this review, I ran the Studio9000 on a G4 500 single processor Mac through ProTools 5.1 LE. I was able to use many of the Studio9000 synths on several projects I was working on at the time, and the virtual synth package brought the cutting edge analogue synth sound to the work I was looking for. The Koblo Studio9000 includes five powerful music production tools in one versatile software bundle. Studio9000 includes two monophonic analog modeling synthesizers, a polyphonic sampler as well as a multi-timbral drum module. The set consist of the 1000, 6000 and the 9000, which gives you digital sound quality with the power and flexibility of advanced analogue synthesizers. These instruments can perform in real-time as professional instruments as well as seamlessly integrate into any digital audio workstation. The Studio9000 is a complete sound generation bundle for creating dance and rhythmic synth based musical compositions in new ways. Here's a brief overview of each module:

Studio 9000

DESCRIPTION Vibra1000 (Now available for free from the Koblo website) The Vibra1000 is a monophonic stereo synthesizer and ranks as the baby of the Koblo family. It comes complete with basic oscillators, filters, envelopes and the top quality 32 bit stereo DSP algorithms which enables you to create quality sound. Unlike it's advanced siblings it does not have a record function. Vibra1000 has simplified functions and is easy to use. This is a great place to get your feet wet when working with virtual synthesizers. The Vibra1000 will give you an appetite for it's more advanced siblings.



Vibra6000 The Vibra6000 is a monophonic stereo synthesizer that has the ability to do the same as the Vibra1000, but much more. It is a fast and creative way to make pumping basses, synth licks and crazy sounds! The Vibra6000 has advanced oscillator and filter units, contains a record function and conserves processing power and resources. The Vibra6000 (as well as the Vibra9000) has a knob for every parameter and every knob can send and receive MIDI data. You can save and load presets with a click of the mouse. You can even share presets with other users!



Vibra9000 The Vibra9000 is the most advanced monophonic stereo synthesizer in the Vibra family. It comes with an advanced modulation section where you can assign envelopes, LFO's and MIDI controllers to control any dial inside the 9000. The modulation matrix gives you fine control over the MIDI parameters. Vibra9000 comes with: - Two stereo oscillators with five waveform choices. - Three synchronous and assignable LFO's, four assignable ADSR's and eight filter types. - Advanced oscillator functions - Full MIDI controller functions - Real-time preset loading



Stella9000 The Stella9000 is an eight-voice polyphonic sample synthesizer that is both easy and creative to use. With Stella9000 you can: - Import and play Sample Cell keymaps, sample formats: SDII and AIFF filter, envelopes, LFO, modulators all MIDI controllable. - Real-time parameters including synchronized LFO's, ADSR envelopes and filters - Pitch adjustment; octave, semitone and cent - Bend range, start point offset, loop and reverse. - Strings, pads, acoustic instruments, human voices and many other sound samples come alive with the Stella9000. - Use samples from CD's, the internet or your own recordings.



Gamma9000 The Gamma9000 is Koblo's answer to the drum lab. Consisting of a polyphonic, multitimbral programmable drum machine, the Gamma9000 allows you to load samples directly into this dedicated drum machine with superb sound quality. You can also control playback, envelope, modulation and the mix each sound on it's own. The Gamma9000 offers much flexibility and ease of use that enables you to quickly achieve the drum sounds you want. Gamma9000 comes with: - Stereo 16 Step drum machine. - Real-time sample import - Cutoff filter, resonance and distortion - Supports Sample Cell keymaps - Separate output channels for each track



INSTALLATION Back tracking for just a moment, I did encounter two technical glitches upon attempting to use the software for the first time. Please note, that this was my first experience using a software synthesizer, so some of the hurdles I had to jump seemed much worse to me at the time since I had no previous experience in trouble shooting to fall back on. If you're experienced in using third party modules within ProTools, or have had prior experience with the Direct Connect interface, then installation should be smooth sailing for you. If you're new to this technology like I was, take note: Installation was a two part process for me. After installing the actual program, I later figured out that you have to also copy the actual plug-in from the disk that allows ProTools to communicate with the Tokyo synths via the Direct Connect system. Unfortunately I could not find documentation of this step in any of the installation manuals or support groups, and it was only after several emails to the Koblo technical support that I figured out what I needed to do (simply copy the plug-in from the third party support folder on the Studio9000 disk to the ProTools Plug-in Directory). It would be nice if the installation program performed this simple task to avoid any confusion. Once both steps were complete, the Tokyo synths interacted flawlessly with ProTools. That is until I went to record my first track. For some reason I could route the audio from the Tokyo synth into ProTools directly onto an audio track, but as soon as I record enabled the track, I lost the ability to record it. I could still hear the audio, it just didn't appear on the track, and therefore could not be recorded. After a few more emails between myself, Koblo, and DigiDesign, and a helpful tech support guy from Sweetwater, a solution was finally reached. Apparently you must create a ProTools auxiliary track, insert the Tokyo plug-in on that auxiliary track, then bus that audio from the auxiliary track to another audio track before you can record it. These steps seem rather round about and laborious, but after you set it up, the system works extremely well and there is no degradation in the quality of the audio since all the bussing occurs in the digital realm. There is some minor latency between the midi and the recorded audio, but after some simple realigning after recording, the audio matched up perfectly. So after these two hurdles were overcome, the Studio9000 functions perfectly well and has found a comfortable home within my digital audio setup.

CONCLUSION Admittedly I am a preset kind of guy. When I'm laying down a track and I am searching for that perfect sound, I usually want to do this in the least amount of time. The presets on most of the Studio9000 synths are great as is, and within a few tweaks of a knob or two, you can very easily shape the sound into something entirely different. My only complaint is that there are no preset page navigation buttons where you can flip through the presents quickly. Each one was to be pulled up by going through the laborious task of clicking on multiple pull down menus- some of which can get several deep. Attention Koblo developers, this would be at the top of my wish list at improvements to make for future versions! So that just about describes what comprises the Studio9000 package. Please remember that this is just the tip of the iceberg. I spent a few months tweaking the various modules, and I have just begun to explore the capabilities of this package. Certainly each individual user will discover new and exciting things that will further make this package more valuable to the end user. After a few minor installation issues, the learning curve was not as steep as I had expected. Each synth module is laid out very similarly, so once you've navigated your way around one, it's easy to figure out how to navigate the others. I had some concerns about synchronization of the various arpegiators since ProTools does not send a midi time clock, but I merely set the BPM's in the Tokyo synth, then triggered the module from ProTools, and with minor tweaking, I was able to lock up the sounds to the rest of my mix without much effort. Overall the Studio9000 is a great collection of virtual synths and sound modules. Each one brings something different to the table, and together offer a value based software synth solution (Each one retails for around $200 each, so combined as one package you're really getting your money's worth). From eclectic beats to squelching buzzes, each of the five different modules offer up excellent sound quality complete with timeless sounds.

Specs: Koblo applications support these plug-ins VST 2.0 Direct Connect MAS Direct IO OMS Rewire System Requirements: Recommended performance: Macintosh G4 450 MHz with 192 MB available RAM on Mac OS 9 or higher Medium performance: Macintosh G3 233 MHz with 128 MB available RAM on Mac OS 9 or higher Minimum performance: Macintosh 604e 120 MHz with 40 MB of available RAM on MAC OS 9 or higher. At least one Studio9000 Synth will run on a 120 MHz Power Mac but forget about running it with any sequencer.



NAJM Product Scores:

	Originality & Innovation	10
	Hands On Usability	8
	Features	10
	Exceeding Expectations	9
	Quality	10
	Learning Curve	9
	Musicality	10


Click HERE to Download the Vibra 1000 (FREE!)

Click HERE to Visit the Koblo Website



			9.5 out of 10 (by HM)
		Studio9000 Software Synthesizers by Koblo (Version 2.5) The Studio9000 collection of software synthesizers is based on Koblo's proprietary Tokyo synth engine that allows the end user to run many different modules at the same time. The Studio9000 is the complete collection of virtual synthesizers developed by Denmark based Koblo, who just happened to be one of the pioneers in creating this technology. Koblo has been a fixture in virtual studios for some time now, and was one of the first companies to turn people onto using their computers to create sound rather than merely capture it. Because of this early position, Koblo has set many of the standards that other virtual synths aim to match.