Published 30/5/08
Volcano 2 announced
Dutch software developers Fabfilter have launched version two of their Volcano filter effect plug-in. The first difference you'll notice between Volcano and Volcano 2 is the simplification of the Graphical User Interface (GUI). Rather than the busy, knob-laden display of version one, the latest revision has what Fabfilter call a ‘what you use is what you see’ layout, with an expanded filter-curve window and neater arrangement of the various clusters of parameters.
Volcano 2 features four filter bands (against the original plug-in’s two), which can operate in low-, high- and band-pass modes, with 12, 24 or 48dB/octave filter slopes. Each band has a delay line, so chorus and phasing effects can be created, and there are 11 different types of filter characteristic, from clean with no distortion, to overdriven and self-oscillating.
Other improvements include updated modulation sources, which Fabfilter call XLFOs. These can generate anything from a pure sine wave to a 16-step sequence, and each step can have its own settings for glide and curve type. What’s more, updated envelope followers and generators can now accept their input from a side-chain, so external audio sources can be used to shape the filter envelope. A new 24-slot drag-and-drop modulation matrix allows for easy configuration of the different modulators.
Beneath the main section of the GUI is a strip of useful parameters, including a MIDI Learn button, mute controls that can set to automatically cut the output when the plug-in is self-oscillating, as well as input, output and mix level controls.
Fabfilter’s Volcano 2 costs £94 and works on PCs and Macs inside VST (including VST3), RTAS and Audio Units hosts. Until the 31st July 2008, registered users of the previous version of Volcano can upgrade for £29, while owners of certain competing products can crossgrade for £59. Visit Fabfilter’s web shop for further information.
www.fabfilter.com
Dutch software developers Fabfilter have launched version two of their Volcano filter effect plug-in. The first difference you'll notice between Volcano and Volcano 2 is the simplification of the Graphical User Interface (GUI). Rather than the busy, knob-laden display of version one, the latest revision has what Fabfilter call a ‘what you use is what you see’ layout, with an expanded filter-curve window and neater arrangement of the various clusters of parameters.Volcano 2 features four filter bands (against the original plug-in’s two), which can operate in low-, high- and band-pass modes, with 12, 24 or 48dB/octave filter slopes. Each band has a delay line, so chorus and phasing effects can be created, and there are 11 different types of filter characteristic, from clean with no distortion, to overdriven and self-oscillating.
Other improvements include updated modulation sources, which Fabfilter call XLFOs. These can generate anything from a pure sine wave to a 16-step sequence, and each step can have its own settings for glide and curve type. What’s more, updated envelope followers and generators can now accept their input from a side-chain, so external audio sources can be used to shape the filter envelope. A new 24-slot drag-and-drop modulation matrix allows for easy configuration of the different modulators.
Beneath the main section of the GUI is a strip of useful parameters, including a MIDI Learn button, mute controls that can set to automatically cut the output when the plug-in is self-oscillating, as well as input, output and mix level controls.
Fabfilter’s Volcano 2 costs £94 and works on PCs and Macs inside VST (including VST3), RTAS and Audio Units hosts. Until the 31st July 2008, registered users of the previous version of Volcano can upgrade for £29, while owners of certain competing products can crossgrade for £59. Visit Fabfilter’s web shop for further information.
www.fabfilter.com
