bitheadz retro as-1 (november 1998)

[supernova777]

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/nov98/articles/bitheadz.htm

Paul White revisits his old analogue synthesis days via Bitheadz's Retro AS1-- but can a computer screen ever be as friendly as all those knobs and faders?

Not so many years ago, the concept of doing serious synthesis on a computer, at least outside a university, was something that few musicians would have entertained. Nowadays, however, there are several software packages out there that prove it can be done, and done well. The Retro AS1 analogue synth emulator is available only for Macintosh computers, and fast Macs at that, but it is capable of multitimbral, polyphonic operation and can be used from within any sequencer package that supports OMS or FreeMIDI. It can also be played directly from a MIDI keyboard, again via OMS or FreeMIDI, via an on-screen virtual keyboard or from an external keyboard without OMS or FreeMIDI if the Mac has serial DMA support. The amount of polyphony and multitimbrality is determined by the speed of the host computer, and I think you'd need something pretty cutting-edge to achieve the maximum possible 16 available parts and 32-note polyphony. Between four and eight typical parts is a reasonable expectation from an average Power Mac, though the complexity of the voices affects the polyphony, as does the use of FM synthesis.

Retro AS1 comes on a CD-ROM complete with both OMS and FreeMIDI, though you only get a manual for Retro AS1 itself, and that you have to print out on to over 150 sheets of A4 if you want a hard copy. However, it's a very thorough and well-written manual. Installation of the synth program is simple enough, but you also have to figure out how to configure OMS or FreeMIDI for your sequencer. Personally, I prefer to work without using either of these environments, but there's no option unless sequencer manufacturers produce drivers specifically for Retro AS1 -- there's nothing more Bitheadz can do from their end. Apparently Emagic are working on a driver for Logic; for this review, however, I used OMS on a friend's G3, as my ageing 100MHz Power PC wasn't really up to the task of running Logic and Retro AS1 at the same time, though it could manage Retro AS1 on its own. Realistically, anything slower than a 166MHz Power PC is unlikely to give satisfactory results.

Once installed, you have a fully configurable, programmable virtual analogue synth that can be operated from a small number of windows containing control panels with movable sliders and patching menus. Thanks to OMS, it appears within your sequencer in the same way as any hardware synth and can be treated accordingly, with the sound output taken either from the Mac's own audio out jacks or via a compatible soundcard such as Digidesign's Audiomedia III.

[supernova777]

http://www.creativemac.com/HTM/Features/2000/Reviews/retroas1/retroas1keyboard.htm