Synth Showdown

For me, one of the main attractions is Subtractor’s Phase Offset Modulation. This sounds nerdy — which it probably is — but it’s also fun to work with and extends Subtractor’s tonal range enormously. Check out the Mode buttons of oscillator 1 and 2. When these are set to ‘O’, the Phase Offset Modulation feature is turned off and the harmonic content of the oscillator’s waveform is fixed. But when you click through to ‘-’ (subtract) and ‘X’ (multiply) modes, the oscillator duplicates its waveform and the two copies, running more or less out of phase with each other, interact to generate a different, often more complex waveform. Each mode has a distinct character, and the nearby Phase knob controls the effect, adding harmonic shifts. Extreme settings often create interesting thin or transparent textures. If you then switch either of the onboard LFOs to modulate Phase — essentially, the position of this knob — the harmonics jump into constant motion. Beautiful and exciting effects can ensue...