Showing posts with label full bucket fb7999. Show all posts
Showing posts with label full bucket fb7999. Show all posts

Saturday, October 9, 2021

VST SYNTH REVIEW: Full Bucket Music FB7999. Korg DW8000 / DW6000 Digital/Analog Synthesizer Emulation.

 


One of the things I immediately look for when trying out a new software synth is how easy and how much fun it is to program. Can I start making great, original sounds within minutes or even seconds. The answer with Full Bucket's FB7999 is a resounding yes, 

FB7999 is a Korg DW6000/8000 digital/analog hybrid synthesizer emulation. 

In the timeline of major Korg synths, the DWs came in the wake of the Poly 61/M, and before the all-conquering M1. Like the Poly 61, they share the same kind of 'digital access' parameter control where one 'value' slider can be assigned to, and control all of the synths parameters. So although the DW6000 was, after the DWGS (digital waveform generators), a truly analog synthesizer, it doesn't have the plethora of knobs and sliders commonly associated with analog synthesizers. This obviously helped to make the instruments more affordable, but also assisted in the programming and patch storage/recall capabilities of the instrument.  

So while the DWs produced interesting and powerful sounds, they came into the affordable price bracket. 

So what you have with the FB7999 is a fairly 'standard' analog filter and amp setup each with their own 6 stage envelope generator and a single LFO able to modulate pitch or filter frequency.

The oscillators are Korg DWGS types, and are a kind of early version of a wavetable with a number of different sampled 'abstract' type waveforms as well as standard sawtooth and sine waves, although waveform two is close to a square wave. The rest of the waveforms can only really be identified as 'organ-like' or 'bell-like', etc. 

There are two oscillators, each with the same set of available waveforms, and the second can be detuned or an interval set. 

The DW8000 had a velocity and aftertouch sensitive keyboard and so velocity modulation could be applied to both the filter as well as the amplifier section, whilst aftertouch could be applied to both these parameters as well as LFO modulation of the oscillator for 'vibrato' effects. Korg refer to their LFOs as MGs, or modulation generators. These parameters are disabled when you enter 'DW6000 Mode' via a switch in the top section of controls. 

Portamento, or keyboard glide is available and this seems to work in conjunction with the 'auto-bend' parameters.

Four keyboard modes are available with two 'unison' or mono stack modes for fat bass and lead sounds, and two polyphonic modes. Unison 2 offers a 'legato' mode without filter retriggering.

This software emulation of the DW Series also offer a maximum 64 voice polyphony over the hardware equivalent version's 16 voices.  

Patch loading and saving is a breeze from the main menu and uses the .fxb file extension. 

As I mentioned at the top, I found FB7999 to be instantly accessible and fun to program with an excellent library of factory sounds to get started with, and I found myself creating both 'classic' and more interesting synth patches. I found myself storing patches one after another. Once I've got a few more I'll share these and make them available to download. 

I recently reviewed Full Bucket's WhispAir synth and whilst I like the technical achievement of the product, I did find it slightly heavier going when it came to quickly creating patches. I played around with it for some time, and really didn;t manage to come up with much that I liked. I'm sure that measuring the quality of synthsizer patches is a subjective issue, I feel I found no such trouble with the DW7999. It's instant and accessible from the moment the GUI arrives on your screen. 

Hope you enjoyed this review and found it useful. Look out for other reviews and the fisrst set of FB7999 synth patches by following my Facebook Page. You'll also find lots of other free soundware, sample libraries, synth patches, loops, and beats. 

More information and download link at the Full Bucket Music website. 




Disclaimer:

The information contained within this blog post is offered on an informal basis and is correct to the best of my knowledge. I accept no responsibility for outcomes arising from the mis/interpretation or use of this information and/or associated download files. Always download files via security/scanning software.