Avenger 2.0 Review - The Last Synth You'll Ever Need?

[@danwentz]

This looks like Serum and Falcon had a child... will check it out - @8:30 was pretty cool!

[@lukather1]

Wow !!! Just wow - the very best review I’ve watched by far !! I have Ver 1 and been wondering what all the sponsored hyped up reviews Where saying is true !! I’ve tried Diva and presets and didn’t get it as I’m not a sound designer but I’m going to have a look!! Great review! ❤❤❤

[@ThePlughugger]

Thanks for saying that. It means a lot. I can understand the hype - because parts of Avenger really blew me away. But the Last Synth Ever? Nah not even close...and to be honest, who would want that? New synths are so much fun :)

[@1soundart]

You can modify the presets to a degree. I have had many VST plug ins over the years. This synth is perfect for sound design, the presets are just a bonus. For sure well worth checking out!

[@DjangoZa]

Thanks for focusing on the sound design! I heard a lot of demos playing cheesy "song in a box" presets that didn't interest me, but the filters and FX caught my ears. I'm tempted to try it with rent to own for a month and see if it wins me over.

[@ThePlughugger]

The effects are awesome. I actually like the cheesy song ideas sequences. They are of course useless when making music, but when playing around with styles and ideas it's quite interesting. But yeah... Band-in-a-Box comes to mind :)

[@dnalyen]

It’s more inspiring than any other synth. I own so many others. None of them have expansion packs or better presets than avenger

[@ThePlughugger]

If you are into EDM and dance genres, sure, then Avenger should be on the top of your list.

[@JulianJoppig]

Awesome review, thank Ju 🙏

[@ThePlughugger]

Julian! Great seeing you here!

[@PendelSteven]

21:06 Having said this, concerning the "prest pack" prices: your best deal is the Pick-5 bundle at the top of the Expansion page. And it's totally on the page, but if you miss it... During the sales, that also is on sale. Be smart and pay allmost half for them this way.

[@ViRiXDreamcore]

If it doesn’t Do analogue great, then it’s NOT the last synth I’ll evef need. This is a good review, nice work!😊

[@ThePlughugger]

I completely agree.

[@digitalbeat666]

it is for bruh producers. I have Karma fx with Vital VSTs which are enough for great sounds for my needs. Perhaps good for someone who wants all in one producer package.

[@ThePlughugger]

bruh producers haha lolol

[@PendelSteven]

I'm not sure anymore how I found Avenger. Probably because I wondered if they still made sample CD's, which you mentioned in the start. 4:02 Yeah, it's why on the facebook page, I asked if we could get Avenger Drums as s seperate (probaly included) plugin. I also agree that Avenger is great for especially allt he "synthesis" we got in the late 80s, 90s and now. DX-7, D-50, M1, JP-8000, Virus and beyond. Although there's good wavetables to make analogue sounds in the expansions.

[@ThePlughugger]

The only thing I don't like about Avenger is the interface. It's incredibly competent with a great sound, but damn I feel the interface is one of the messiest things I've ever used on a professional plugin.

[@jeromeweaver809]

No video shows how to get instrument sounds to your DAW.

[@ThePlughugger]

How do you mean?

[@briancase6180]

I bought avenger 1 on a whim after I heard a sound that I really wanted for a production. I heard a couple good things about it and thought "I haven't wasted money on a plugin since a long time ago, so I'll go for it." I found that it has the very best presets I've ever heard in a synth. So, when V2 was released, I didn't hesitate. I think avenger might truly be the last synth I will buy.

[@ThePlughugger]

Until the next big thing comes along :) No, but I agree with you. With only Avenger you can get incredibly far.

[@Padopoulosman]

Just discovered this channel I subbed👍

[@ThePlughugger]

Thanks for subbing

[@kelvynification]

Nice review:) But it’s definitely not the be all of synths but for EDM I would say it’s a must. The expansion packs are stupidly expensive though:(

[@ThePlughugger]

Yeah, for EDM it's hard to beat.

[@montazownianr1]

Also for EBM this and Viper Adam Szabo@@ThePlughugger

[@markmdn6307]

Modmatrix is just too short on screen real-estate. Great, honest review. I like your style.

[@ThePlughugger]

Thanks Mark - you can blow up the mod matrix though to cover the whole right side. Go to 15:52 in the video and you'll see what I mean.

[@ItsWesSmithYo]

@6:30 Chihuaha alert 🐕 I have two and they both lost it on that FM example 😂

[@ThePlughugger]

Lol!

[@ItsWesSmithYo]

I love the first one…not surprised about the bold statement…hadn’t used it in a bit, great to see what’s up, might spin its wheels again in 2024 🫶🖤🐓😎

[@williammindreaders1029]

Hello great review nice to see your face !!!!

[@ThePlughugger]

Hey, thanks :)

[@SoftSynthPortal]

Superb video. I agree all of this, especially: makes nexus redundant.

[@ThePlughugger]

The only thing that Nexus has going for it, is that it has more expansions covering more ground than Avenger. But yeah, apart from that I would choose Avenger over Nexus any day.

[@moonmonkey303]

ooh thanks for the review! I have all the main soft synths in the market, including all the ones you listed and love many of them in different ways, yet i still picked up Avenger and I have already found a place for it. Early days but... I love it as a sample looper, sample editor and its spectral tools. I love its arp (which can send out midi) and step sequencer, both super powerful. I love the huge amount of presets built into all its excellent FX meaning you can explore and mangle sound very easily. Agree with your points generally. I really don't like its presets interface and how they are utilised, and their slow loading. Some proper sound randomisation tools would be great and it REALLY needs a function lock like U-He and Virus synths. This synth would even more creative if i could lock parts of it while i explore presets. That functionality feels perfect for its workstation vibe. I'm going to dig into the synthesis aspect of it properly soon. All their presets are super polished but very traditional, it doesnt scream experimental. Id love to see what you could do with it in that area?

[@ThePlughugger]

I'm really impressed with it and thanks for telling about that the arpeggiator sends MIDI. That's incredibly cool! I think that I am most impressed with Avenger for its high standard of technology. Some of the stuff is just mind-blowing. The new Spectral oscillator really have a cool retro-timestretch feel to it. I'd love to make some sounds for it. At least take a few days to experiment with it conceptually and see where that leads.

[@issiewizzie]

I heard from pluginoutique that there's going to be a piano roll and extended midi update for version 2.1

[@ThePlughugger]

Really? Avenger is starting to look more and more like a miniature DAW :)

[@EarlyMist]

I have those old Mutekki media Vengeance sample CD's. Super handy to have hard copies! 😃

[@ThePlughugger]

I feel the same. :)

[@buildyourdreams7338]

at 9:22 I can not swich to harmonics ascending. Any Idea?

[@dkpianist]

Looks truly massive, probably to a point where it's overwhelming. Plus at that price, the purchase seems hard to justify considering what even the free version of Vital can do. Sure, the sampling options here are much more extensive. But how much of that does one actually use?

[@ThePlughugger]

I view it differently. It's like you are in a kitchen cooking food. In one kitchen you have five cooking tools. In another you have 20. You'll be able to cook delicious food in both kitchens, but in the latter it will be easier, take less time and maybe even be more fun. Don't use features because they are there. Use them when the feature suits the specific thing you want to do. Do you need two granular engines? No. But it's brilliant to have.

[@dnalyen]

It sounds so good though

[@ThePlughugger]

I agree. The quality of the sound engines is outstanding.

[@philippebackprotips]

Ah ah, I am a trader *and* coder, so no wonder I love it! Agreeing 100% on the learning potential from looking at the presets. The packs are good but some are off. Like PSY, which is not much PSY...

[@ThePlughugger]

Breaking down the presets, especially the drums is a wealth of information.

[@johnny5kmusic346]

How would you compare this synth to Falcon? For flexibility

[@ThePlughugger]

Falcon is more powerful, but also more harder to use. Falcon is like Kontakt, an environment you can create almost anything with. Working with Avenger is way quicker and more fluid than Falcon.

[@johnny5kmusic346]

@ThePlughugger Thanks!

[@amigazo3972]

I know this is a good product, with a lot of potential. But, is the price fair? When one can layer free different synthesizers, create your own melodies in a piano roll, put effects in the rack, etc. I have tried Avenger, it is amazing, but for that price no way if one is an independent artist with a low budget. And the worst is the price of the expansions. I think it becomes a problem for products like Avenger, Nexus, Omnisphere for example, they believe they are the Swiss knife for music production.

[@ThePlughugger]

I held a similar view for the longest time, until the free time I have available to myself became less. Could I build a small tool shed in the garden all by myself? Yes, I am intelligent enough and I have the ability to learn. But it will take me 10-20 maybe even 30 times longer than if a professional does it. You can do whatever you want with free tools today. Honestly, Synth1 is still to this day blowing me away on how well bread and butter sounds it can do for almost any genre. What Avenger/Nexus does is provide a shortcut for a price. I respect that.

[@issiewizzie]

I prefer the interface of Omnisphere in comparisons to avenger However I understand there reason for going with one view it even though its look cluttered .

[@ThePlughugger]

Yeah me too. But to be fair, Omnisphere isn't the best example of a perfect interface either. I think I like the u-he interfaces the most. They manage to stay quite flat and deep at the same time.

[@danlopez2012]

Pigments is also currently -50% off... so! There's that🤔

[@ThePlughugger]

And it has been awarded the best soft synth of the year at KvR for the third straight year.

[@issiewizzie]

nice have your Omnisphere packs ....... I just bought avenger out of curiosity ..... Been playing with it for over a week now Here is my plug-in Go to, They all complement each other . Omnisphere - (retro sounds warm +sample) Alchemy - (morphing ) falcon ----( love the soundd hate the interface ) VPS Avenger ... new baby .. wavestate tomofon Kontat - complete CE

[@ThePlughugger]

You won't be disappointed. I love that new Spectral Engine. It really sounds like it's having roots in the old Akai hardware samplers.

[@issiewizzie]

yes spectral goodness easy to use swell. ... AfterPlaying with the presets it got me thinking I'm going replicate the sounds in Omnisphere and Falcon .@@ThePlughugger

[@ThePlughugger]

I don't know about the granular engine in Falcon, but let me know if you manage to replicate the sound.

[@gazdagis]

❤

[@philippebackprotips]

The interface is meant for a bigger screen imo. Using it on a 32 inch 4K is a dream.

[@ThePlughugger]

I don't know. I use a big ultrawide thing and I still feel ... I don't know. One part of me likes it and another part doesn't. It's ok.

[@philippebackprotips]

@@ThePlughugger Yes. On the other hand, using Pigments feels like switching from pane to pane all the time... I wish Avenger had a Vital like presets browser. They improved big time on Avenger 2 still.

[@ThePlughugger]

Oh yes, I know. There can be a lot of switching in Pigments. What I like about Pigments though is that they leave room for lots of parameters if you wish to go deep. Take the granular engine in Pigments. Far superior than Avenger in terms of sound design. I feel Avenger loses out on deeper features because they have to restrict everything into one window.

[@PhilippeBack]

​@@ThePlughuggerMaybe will they make one part zoom to take the whole space then back in. That would be killer.

[@ThePlughugger]

Yeah, something like that would easily give more depth to Avenger.

[@xsm5525]

this is the serum killer

[@kooistradurk]

I remember their sample packs had samples where they did not even erase the id3 meta data. I.e. you could see who they ripped the sample from when you checked the meta data 😂 So I guess it's admirable they paid a coder to make an original UI

[@ThePlughugger]

I never heard of that, but I do know there are a couple of samples on the old Vengeance CDs I own that I know could only have come from ripping other peoples music.

[@RogerBrenon]

Omnisphere.

[@jensschettler1732]

Pigments sounds much better imho

[@ThePlughugger]

Why do you think Pigments sounds better?

[@jensschettler1732]

The frequency spectrum seems broader. Filter Sounds better. the delay and reverb are smoother. Sounds Just better Overall. Avenger Sounds more dated so to speak. Also beides the Sound the Copy protection IS mess. Renew your licence over the Internet or your synth wohnt Work. Really? What If the company die and Server are down.. No thanks...

[@ThePlughugger]

@@jensschettler1732 I think the weakest point in Pigments is its internal synth engine. But the interface in Avenger is a complete mess.

[@MCAlvesPortugal]

I can not agree with you 😅

[@ThePlughugger]

Then we agree to disagree :)

[@williammindreaders1029]

@@ThePlughugger 🤣🤣🤣

[@SebastianBeyer]

less is more.

[@ThePlughugger]

Sometimes yeah.