Published on March 26th, 2005.
Author: Kevin.Rossiter
Category: Virtual Instruments.

Comment

(No Ratings Yet)  Loading ...

ManyStation VST workstation Review

 

 

 

Intro to ManyStation

ManyStation, from Manytone Music, is a VST workstation based around a 1.5 gb 24 bit sample set and it costs $99, which on the surface of it looks like a good buying opportunity when you compare it to, say, Native Instrument’s Kompakt which carries 2gb of samples, but costs twice as much at $199. Or esoundz’s Sonik Synth which weighs in at 2 DVDs worth of 16 bit samples, but costs $319. Or even Steinberg’s Hypersonic.

So for this low $99 we thought you’d like to know more.

ManyStation is based on the Wusik synth sampling workstation.

But it does look different – much prettier if you ask me.

The Workstation

ManyStation is based on the 32 bit Wusik Engine which combines a synth, sample playback and two wave sequencers. Naturally, you get modulation matrix and the usual synth stuff which I won’t labour over here, as it’s the ManyStation samples that are the real meat.

But nonetheless, 6 oscillators and 8 LFOs and 4 oversampled filters and 4 eqs, with envelopes for everything, plus a mixer and 2 fx sends is a reasonable spec for any synth.

With the addition of 2 x 32-stage wave sequencers it’s starting to look proud of itself. XPhraze might have 4 wave sequencers, but two is an excellent start if you crave a serious dabble in wave sequencing. Imagine … syncing two pitched rhythmic loops together at the press of a key. Great fun.

You can load your own wavs or Wusik .snd sample bank files into ManyStation. The sample quality, at 32 bit, is high.

Now before you pause at yet another sample format to deal with, consider that for $40 you can also buy Extreme Sample Converter which ill convert all your fave sample banks into .snd format, be they gig, sf2, akai, fxp, nki or sth, so it’s not a big issue if you’re looking for potential growth in the system.

The detailed Wusik synth spec is here at wusik.com.

There it is – an excellent fully functional synth sampler workstation at a reasonable asking price.

The Samples

These are the goodies of which ManyStation has plenty. It comes loaded with lots of playable presets based around unique sample sets, recorded and edited over a 6 month period at Manytone’s Calgary studio, working 10 to16 hours a day. Some full time job (It must be those long northern winter nights

I can say straightaway that ManyStation’s samples are refreshingly different.

The soundsets are divided into:

• Bass Guitars – Electric inc Jazz Bass, Vantage bass (great basses) etc
• Bass Synths – Synth
• Drums & Percussion – inc Acoustic Drums (see review here at traxmusic), electronic drums and ethnic percussion.
• Guitars – Acoustic, inc a few nice steels and a nylon
• Guitars – Electric Strats.
• Guitars – Synth
• Instruments, inc, cellos, flute, sax, harp inc Claire Fitch’s cello samples.
• Syn basses, leads, fx, pads
• Classic Hardware inc famous syns, epiano, organ. (for full details see the site www.manytone.com)

What you don’t get is:

• A GM set
• A comprehensive soundset. There are no trumpets, solo violas or oboes here.

What you do get is a large suite of brilliantly playable presets from across 11 banks.

This stands out very clearly. A great deal of time and listening and fiddling has gone into programming the many beautiful sounds in ManyStation, with each sample having been hand edited.

It’s great to know that all the real instrument samples are 24 bit multisampled, except the cellos which are 16 bit.

Playability was the first thing I noticed when I first opened up my ManyStation. Many of the presets are thoughtfully produced layers of real and syn instruments, many with an immediately appealing tone.

In many cases the velocity response layers have been set so that the keys feel more responsive to play than many of the synths I’ve got.

This additional level of expression makes a big difference to me, as expressive playing usually signals the start of a new song, and I like feeling inspired to write to new songs.

Having said all this about beautiful-sounding real and syn samples, there are still plenty of big beast lead syns in there, and plenty of pads (especially nice string pads), and plenty of fx. With the supplied banks, including contributions from vurt and teksonik, we’d expect no less.

But then we also have a factory bank from Tim Conrardy (what can’t this man do!), and another bank from rising star, ToTC.

It’s a bit of a nouveau who’s who of preset designers here, all invited to the party. Paul Brown, the ManyStation developer, knew what he was doing when he asked this crowd over to programme his new workstation!

A new addition to the ManyStation presets is a small bank from Griels at KvR, with the absolutely ace-in-my-opinion Grielsjaath2 bank of natural multilayered instruments, inc two superb electric distortion and chorus guitars. So very playable. Almost like having a plectrum in hand.

Have I mentioned 24 bit acoustic drums kits? Have now

I could add a downside by saying that too many of the presets sound the same, especially the guitars. Though ManyStation does a lot more, this is definitely a guitarish sounding plug. But I feel this isn’t major issue, as the sounds are so good, and there’s still lots of possibilities, as we’ll see. Read on.

Getting Stuck In

While it’s nice to be able to use the presets straight off the shelf, ManyStation begs to be programmed.

Accessing the individual sample sets is a breeze, as any Wusik user will tell you. Left click on an oscillator and a browser directs you to the samples of your choice.

Load up, then layer.

Add another layer and play with the wave sequencer, adjusting pitch, volume and pan levels.

It’s very easy to do these things. Layering alone will produce new sounds, without even delving into the Mod Matrix.

One of the sample sets is Rainshower which layers wonderfully in a regular pad. It adds gorgeous sprinkly tones to any situation, yet sounds musically mature – not toy. It’s great to browse when unexpected surprises like this turn up.

The mixer is basic but good. Having overall control of the layers and the fx sends on one screen makes it easy to manage even complex sounds. Again, this is a Wusik feature, but it works well for ManyStation (I wish more synths would do this)

You can expect to be designing your own MStation presets from day one.

Expandability & Support

Many of the Kompakt- and Intakt-based plugs have fixed soundsets. Which means you’ll tire of them sooner or later.

ManyStation is a full blown Wusik so you can add free Wusik banks, or buy Wusik banks such as the acclaimed The Second Wave.

And you can buy Extreme Sample Converter for $40 and freshen up ManyStation by converting all your soundfonts or gig files, or whatever you have.

Manytone promise more banks on the way. The next one is Acoustic Bass, which as you know is a top sound.

Other banks between $10 and $30 are also planned for release.

So let’s talk plug junky to plug junky: Many of you will recognise the experience when a semi forgotten plug has a new bank released and this brings the whole thing back to life again.

We know it’s important that to keep plugs fresh with new releases. Great synths like Vanguard and z3ta+ have thrived on new bank development.

The MStation fits into this category. Planned new bank releases will never let us forget it.

Summary

ManyStation is one of a series of emerging new soundsets that use the high quality Wusik engine. Because Wusik is cheap to licence compared to Kompakt, and probably the forthcoming Halion player, quality sample houses can now release pro plugs at a reasonable price.

$99 is fabulous value for 1.5 gbs of 24 bit samples. Pound for pound this represents a very fair deal. And MStation is mostly new samples, not tweaked-up versions of old samples that a few major names are still passing off as the latest thing (it’s quicker and cheaper to rehash the old stuff than go to the time and expense of doing new stuff)

The preset programming team reads like a who’s who of the up and coming generation of preset programmers, whose rise has been synchronous with the rise of VST plugs.

The sounds themselves are delightful. I prefer the more real-feeling playable sounds, but there are beasts and fx for goa freaks too. After all, it’s still a top notch synth with 2 wave sequencers!

Overall cpu is easy, and the Wusik engine is stable. I had 13 ManyStations running plus comps and eqs before I had to increase latency to cope. Installation was no problem.

One major downside is No Mac.

If you’re up for a guitarish-feeling synth sampler workstation with a future then check it out.

www.manytone.com

Price $99, and currently $79 to existing Wusik owners.

Review brought to you by Kevin Rossiter.

Did you like this article? Please feel free to comment.