Summary - CUBE is on the upper price end for instruments in its spirit, but the tag is quite reasonable considering the 3D Sound Blender’s polish, depth, and vast factory library.
Pros
- An innovative approach to sample layering and blending
- Rich preset and audio library
- Comprehensive effects, performance, and modulation options
Cons
- If all of this can be done using just one orb, imagine if we had two
- You may need some convincing before you put the money down, but there’s no demo to try
- Pre-mapped controls for MIDI equipment (such as NKS support) would have been awesome
Ratings
- Sound Quality - 5 / 5
- Ease of Use - 5 / 5
- Interface - 4.5 / 5
- Presets - 5 / 5
- Value for Money - 4.5 / 5
- OMG. 3D CUBEZ! - 5 / 5
Sample-based creative instruments are where big, genuine innovation is happening.
Comparatively, virtual synths and effects have never been better. But excellence has become commonplace and surprises are rare. They still happen, though – look at Generate by Newfangled Audio, for example. When sampling’s at play, there’s seemingly no end to the possibilities offered by dumping a bunch of sounds into whatever cutting-edge tech there is, chalking up some fancy visuals, and going to town.
CUBE by Lunacy Audio is a great example of developer chops and creative thinking. It’s a powerful sample player and effects engine where sounds and processing are blended and layered from inside a 3D cube. That’s up to 8 samples at once, 1 for each corner of the cube, and with 2 layers per sample. It’s all very clever and it sounds as good as it looks. I really want to tell you more about it.
Not At All Crazy…
“3D Sound Blender” is a concise summation of CUBE and a good start at understanding its intent. Once loaded, the plug-in lets its OpenGL-rendered and very appealing sample blending CUBE become the centre of attention. 8 individual sounds are loaded onto each corner and blended between by dragging an animated orb within the 3D virtual space. You can drag it across all three dimensions – think of it as a true XYZ pad – and it’s an absolute trip! Of course, the orb can be triggered from MIDI, automated, or set to follow one of 40 preset motion paths.
Coming in at around 2GB of starter sample content (and there are two optional expansions), there’s plenty of audio fodder to start with and get a feel for CUBE. The library is rich with organic and synthetic sounds, either recorded from 100+ instruments or generated via sound design. Assign them onto the 3D cube’s corners or choose a preset from the 500+ available in the preset browser. Let the experiments commence! You can also import your own audio, including SFZ (SoundFont) files.
Being a sampler at heart, CUBE lets you manipulate the samples using reverse, loop, arpeggiation, filtering, envelope, step sequencing, panning, pitch tune, and other familiar techniques. Moreover, each sound source consists of two layers – the original sound and a processed version. You can blend between those from the Ether slider. So there are lots of fine adjustments to be made between sound sources. In the developer’s words, CUBE is meant for tweaking. If you just want some interesting sounds without much ado, have at the simpler and more affordable CUBE Mini.
Lunacy Audio’s all-in approach to CUBE extends to the fairly deep FX suite where you’ll have most of your audio mangling needs met. There are 13 FX modules – filters, parametric EQ, Saturation, Waveshaping (the most savage distortion), Compressor, Chorus, Phaser, Delay, 2 reverbs (algorithmic and IR), and a limiter. The effects are absolutely not an afterthought. Applied creatively, they go a long way towards shaping sounds. Moreover, the IR reverb lets you import external impulse responses that give it limitless potential.
Modulation is how static sounds are brought to life and evolve. To that, CUBE goes for what’s been proven to work – detailed LFOs (which also work as step sequencers) and a Macro controller. These are freely assignable using drag-and-drop or a modulation matrix. Also available is randomisation to take your chances at sounds, orbit movements, and effects parameters.
The sizable number of features are organized in 5 tabs – Main, Sounds, Orbits, Mod, and Effects. The structure is very easy to understand and the interface leaves very little room for confusion. Another positive I’d like to point out is that the dedicated MIDI tab in the Settings menu lets you really dig into the assignments. This way, you can make the most of CUBE as a performance instrument by pairing it with a controller.
What Does CUBE Sound Like?
Mostly, it sounds as you’d expect from a modern and sophisticated sample-based instrument. The sounds are lush and hi-def but can be twisted and contorted into anything you think fits the mood. As a film and game scoring tool of the more accessible kind, CUBE has to be among the best available. It strikes the right balance between great content, powerful tech, and ease of use.
Original Source: Audio Plugin Guy.com
