Steinberg has release Retrologue 2, a major update to the virtual analog synthesizer.
The update brings more oscillators, new filter types, a Resonator, more modulation options, more effects, a programmable arpeggiator and hundreds of new presets.
Features:
- Optimized for low CPU load.
- Over 700 presets, covering classic analog synth sounds and more
- Intuitive interface for fast sound design
- 3 oscillators with up to 8 de-tunable voices alongside sub and noise oscillators
- Arpeggiator with up to 32 steps and “Export to host” feature
- 24 filter types
- 4 LFOs plus filter, amp and custom envelopes
- 16-stage drag and drop modulation matrix with Note Expression support
- 5 distortion modes including tube, clip, bit reduction and rate reduction
- FX section with delay, chorus, flanger, phaser, vintage ensemble, reverb and 4-band EQ
- 3-band Resonator with 14 different filter configurations and integrated LFO
Here are the official video demos:
Retrologue 2 is available now for US $99.99. A free demo version and upgrade pricing are also available. See the Steinberg site for details.
If this is the same VA as is included in HalionSonic 2 then it should sound pretty good. And the arpeggiator is pretty powerful. I hate to say anything nice about Steinberg given their history of orphaned software and what I feel are shitty business practices and support. (I was a Cubase user for a dozen years until the debacle that was Cubase 4 on the Mac) As a still sore HyperSonic 2 user (my favorite plug-in of all time) I am always reluctant to throw money at Steinberg, but HalionSonic 2 does have quality sound. The cpu usage on the Mac is crap, and I hate hate hate having to use a dongle, but it does sound good.
(I know there is potential confusing things in this post, I have both HyperSonic 2 and HalionSonic 2)
Being a longtime user of Cubase I loved the introduction of Retrologue (in v.7, was it?) and have used it frequently since then. The additional OSC is a welcome feature and the ARP seems interesting enough for me to upgrade to v.8.5, but honsesly I would be more happy if they had introduced a Padshop v.2 instead of Retrologue v.2- there is more potential for greatness in Padshop in my opinion.
This is a huge update.
Cubase Artist becomes very interesting with this one included, compared to buying a soft synth in the same league. Like Sylenth or uhe Hive. And its vst 3.