Karanyi Sounds are a small Budapest‑based company run by Daniel Karanyi. Their products come without manuals, but hover over any control and as long as you have the Guide button at the bottom turned on, a description is available. Cloudmax 3 is a hybrid effect, combining reverb and granular processing but, interestingly, the reverb is generated using a tuned modal resonator. It supports VST3 hosts on Mac and Windows, plus AU on Mac, and allows installation on three machines, with the ability to de‑authorise and move to a new machine when necessary. Updates are free, while major upgrades such as from Cloudmax 2 are discounted.

Cloudmax 3 has the option of a dark or light skin and all the main controls are on the default screen. The granular side is based on a choice of eight Cloud algorithms, each using just four grains in different configurations, and double‑clicking on the visualiser in the upper centre of the window opens the Cloud Editor, the options being different depending on the Cloud type currently running. Essentially, you drag the pointer up and down or left and right to make adjustments to the parameters shown on screen, and this proves to be a very intuitive way of dialling in the effect by ear rather than thinking abut numbers. Below is the LFO section with a choice of sine or sawtooth waves, variable depth and a DAW sync option. Clicking the Mod Assign button allows the LFO to be mapped to almost any control, though the...