DIGIDESIGN SYNCHRONIC

Oct 1, 2004 12:00 PM, BY JIM BATCHO

There's nothing that unusual about an established company like Digidesign jumping into the already-crowded DJ game with its own turntable-style sequencing and resampling software application. What is odd is how un-Digidesign the result is.

Synchronic is essentially a sample-accurate audio-loop-manipulation rhythm machine that allows you to cut up beats and take them to strange new places. Synchronic does not process audio on an existing track, but functions as an RTAS instrument plug-in within Pro Tools. This means that it's MIDI-controllable via Pro Tools MIDI track data, a control surface or a keyboard controller. This also means that you can “perform” Synchronic in real time. It supports 8- to 24-bit audio files of various sample rates and various file-format types — including AIFF, WAV and SDII — all within the same plug-in instance. Sounds are stored in RAM rather than streamed from a hard drive, resulting in no perceptible latency in playback when manipulating the user interface.

When the plug-in opens, five modules are arranged in a single window with a logical signal flow. It starts with the Sound section, in which loops are loaded. From there, the audio is passed through the Playback module, followed by the Effect section and then the Xfade module. The fifth of the bunch, the MIDI module, is like a master control section for all of the others.

Users can load as many as 12 separate audio loops and play them back in a multitude of arrangements. After the beats are sliced, they are synched to Pro Tools MIDI Beat Clock tempo values. Any two of the 12 files can be played back simultaneously, A/B'd or blended with the crossfade slider. And the serious manipulation also happens in the Playback, Effect and Xfade modules. Each of the three modules enables a user to store a maximum of 12 presets for instant recall, and you can set any parameter to one of two user-defined knobs. Finally, and most significantly, Synchronic works in two modes: Performance and Edit.

Edit mode is fairly straightforward for an audio-manipulation tool, with familiar ways of changing a waveform's shape, filter, pitch, effect, volume and so forth. In Performance mode, you can call up a pair of loops, change predetermined user values, adjust effects settings dub-style with the user knobs, crossfade between the resulting beats with the slider and then shift to the next set of loops. With the distinction between Edit and Performance modes, the plug-in is similar to digital DJ systems like Stanton FinalScratch. Before a gig, a user loads up a bunch of loops, cuts them up, edits them, assigns parameters to them and has those new creations ready to go. Later, during the performance, the user can switch to Performance mode and quickly work in a DJ style by choosing and manipulating the right sounds for the mood.

There's also some serious engineering under the hood. The Sound section seems to be taken straight from Beat Detective, even though it's far simpler to use and instantaneous. The Playback section is quite deep, with five separate modes for playing back beat slices and various ways of changing the placement, wave shape, timing, pitch and direction of the loop. But things really get wacky with the Playback Order, Duration and Direction menus. Each subdivision of the beat can play in different locations and in different ways, using various forms of syncopation, note values and note length. The Effect module is similar to something you might find in a Korg Electribe or a similar box. Effects include gain, noise, filter and delay.

As infinitely cool as this plug-in is, it has two significant shortcomings that could be easily remedied in a future release: First, although it supports mixed audio types, you can't import or export MP3s. The second and more nagging problem from a performance aspect is that there's no master output gain control. You can dig into the Sound section and alter individual sound levels, but this is little help when you're going out on a limb to manipulate things on the fly. And while I'm at it, I still wish Pro Tools operated strictly as a software-only app, especially for a plug-in like this that's aching to be free of the hardware ball and chain. But the bottom line is that Synchronic is a completely new endeavor for Digidesign, and the company nailed it.

Product Summary

DIGIDESIGN

SYNCHRONIC > $395

Pros: Deep yet inspiring. Outstanding performance capabilities. Sample-accurate. Fast and intuitive. Killer sound.

Cons: No MP3 import or export. No output gain control. Tied to hardware.

Contact: tel. (650) 731-6300; e-mail prodinfo@digidesign.com; Web www.digidesign.com

System Requirements

MAC: G4/1GHz; 512 MB RAM; Mac OS 10.2.8 or later; Pro Tools 6.2 or later

PC: Pentium 4/1.8GHz; 512 MB RAM; Windows XP; Pro Tools 6.2 or later

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