FabFilter TWIN 3: I NEVER liked it. Will it CHANGE now?

Hello, guys of the web! FabFilter Twin 3 is out and you should know it was nevery the synth I liked. I decided to give it one more try though. Will version 3 change my mind? Let's find out. Enjoy!
0:00
1:41 Why I never liked it
2:44 First look
5:31 Some presets
6:40 A patch from scratch
10:29 The final patch
10:57 More presets
12:01 Tweaking the filters!
12:58 Summing tha thingz up!

[@FoliaSound]

Hellooo! So, what do you think about Twin? Don't like it like me or the opposite? Let me know down in the comments!

[@mickehog76]

Thank you for making my decision a lot easier. Will pass this synth. Actually tried Phase plant just a few hours ago. Oh man, that's an awesome synth.

[@MixedByDotRob]

I bought Twin3 yesterday ... and I used it in today's K-POP production for most of the song. I totally love this synth. Sounds very modern IMHO ... I also love the UI - it takes some time getting into it, but it's totally worth it.

[@FoliaSound]

Great to hear, I'm not insisting too much on my own opinions. You can surely make Twin 3 sing, it's just not for everybody, I suppose.

[@torino1138]

It’s funny, just use FF Volcano 3 on any other synth for the same thrill RE filter play

[@PeterPrism]

Honest 100% appreciate. Very, very rare.

[@FoliaSound]

Thanks, Peter!

[@jamesrutherford]

That intro is priceless great show

[@FoliaSound]

Thanks, James, good to see you again!

[@jamesrutherford]

@@FoliaSound i had timeless 2 hated it 3 useless

[@Robert_Babicz]

the modulation and the filter are very niiiiiice on this one

[@FoliaSound]

The modulation options are cool, but they aren't particularly exciting for me, Rob. I can do pretty much the same with Pigments, Massive X, I can do way more with Avenger. Also, the way it's displayed - not my thing, totally. The filters are cool, kind of simplified Volcano 3, as @torino1138 mentioned above. I'm not going to be a fan of this synth, but all the guys deciding to get it got my full respect :)

[@happylittlesynth]

@@FoliaSound RB's a legend....amazing artist and engineer. Nice to see he's excited about it! :)

[@FoliaSound]

@@happylittlesynth , I know who Rob is. I used to be a techno DJ and I played Rob's tracks well over a decade ago

[@PeterPrism]

Same consideration for the new ipad version. Consdiering the versatility of an ipad, changing the GUI could be a great possibility. Missed target twice.

[@johncitizen8828]

Fair review, I think. I bought Twin 2 ages ago, for the UI, as I was learning synthesis, and I think the way the modulation works is a pretty handy too for understanding synthesis. However, I never really gelled with the sound of the synth, and used it very little indeed. The new UI actually looks pretty nice, but if it is not more intuitive, then what is the point?

[@FoliaSound]

Agreed!

[@zoozeonja158]

There are no more new synth, After the Serum with my 2,000 presets

[@dawvideokanal7369]

There are some features missing like you mention. The Unisono should be possible to bypass for single synths and there should be a volume control for each filter.

[@FoliaSound]

Yep, these are things I missed most...

[@mvv1408]

I own a shit ton of VST synths, including Diva, Pigments, Vital, etc. I still bought Twin 3. It just sounds "right" to me and the filters are really, really good.

[@FoliaSound]

Good to know, I got nothing against it :)

[@RJ1J]

I'm trying to recreate you patch. It was great!! All I get is awfulness! Do you have video of how you made the patch>

[@FoliaSound]

Hey, man! Without bragging too much I can surely say that making synth presets comes really easy to me. I haven't even saved it, sorry :( Nex time I create a patch, I'll save it and make it downloadable for my viewers!

[@EirikHasselberg]

Agreed with everything you say.

[@FoliaSound]

Thanks, Eirik!

[@maxpecas2]

I agree that they could have done even better knowing than Fabfilter may be the best editor with Bitwig Studio (biased comment warning :-P) but I still freaking love this synth. Beyond its limitations, the visual response that you get with the filters (that are crazy good) makes it the end game for subtractive synthesis imho.

[@DavidGilden]

Have you done a review of UAD Opal? I am totally in love with this virtual synth.

[@FoliaSound]

I have it on my list!

[@ruminantrecords]

big fan of opal. It’s not a complex synth, but packs a fair bit in a nice ui (apart from the old school mod matrix). Just find it really usable from a musical standpoint. People say it’s no serum, but it’s not supposed to be. Gives immediacy in results which is something I always look for in a synth these days.

[@sirwanmusic]

Yeah you’re right ❤

[@FoliaSound]

Thanks!

[@jzno]

Best review

[@FoliaSound]

Not sure, I tried my best ;) Thanks!

[@johnnyvegas2015]

Thanks for the review...FF should stick with making mixing and mastering plugins imo...cheers

[@FoliaSound]

Same feelings here, Johnny. Cheers!

[@REOvolt]

While I agree there is not much new to discover, maybe the interface, it does sound very good imo. Most soft synth patches are drenched in efx. In this synth the raw sound is great (especially in high quality mode) and exf are just for a little bit extra. But yes, if you don’t see the point in buying this then don’t buy it.

[@milhouse777]

Twin 3 is clearly a nice and competent synth for those who will buy the fabfilfer bundle. As a standalone synth is not that spectacular or "a must own" I think that's the point of the company in the end

[@aninterestingcharact]

The demo on KZbin of this plugin with Dan Worell will blow your mind imho

[@russellszabadosaka5-pindin849]

I havent demoed v3 yet, but I liked Twin 2. Liked. Not loved. I mean, with Massive, Serum, Diva, Alchemy, Zebra and the Dmitry Sches synths out there, they were up against stiff competition. The most popular & most efficient workflow synths are the ones that make deep modulation super easy. FabFilter essentially created that kind of GUI, but they just missed something in twin 2. Serum is still the king of modulation workflows, but I'm a very devoted and longtime FabFilter user and most of their other plug-ins are indispensable to me. Pro-G is the greatest gate/expander ever, even better than Sonnox or Valley People Dynamite. Pro-Q3, L2, DS, and the One synth is phat. So I'm glad to see what I've seen and hear what I've heard about Twin 3 because I might've jumped in without a second thought and money is tight for me right now, can't afford to buy a disappointment. Thank you for your honest and frank opinion, all the best!

[@FoliaSound]

Thanks, Russ, all the best to you, too, hope to see you soon!

[@cytone101]

They could have innovated with more modern oscillator types.

[@FoliaSound]

Yep, they're quite limited, true.

[@jzno]

Definitely! No Mutable Instrumets models, WT or Samples etc. Totally agree.

[@martjay]

Can it over sampling?

[@FoliaSound]

There's "High quality " button at the bottom, I suppose this is something like 4x oversampling.

[@OscarSlapp]

I own Twin 2.I'm glad I watched like 10 reviews before upgrading.I'll pass I'm not impressed

[@arturpolonski6234]

Ciekawe narzędzie ale mam dużo innych syntów i nie widzę powodu by go mieć tym bardziej że wyżej nie wymienione są bardziej intuicyjne w obsłudze ……

[@FoliaSound]

Zgoda!

[@carlosp.1846]

Same here. Never liked it either. And not super amazed by the new one. Not mad at them for trying.

[@saardean4481]

I love my iLoud`s. Have them for when I am traveling. Only weakness (which unfortunately is almost always the case when you want lots of bass from small enclosures ) is that they have a lot of port noise. Would be a bit better if they had the port at the back. Also I had to send my first pair back cause they had a woofer issue and one side was vibrating a bit too much. But amazing speakers. However I have never had the chance to listen to their main competitors , the Eve audio Sc 203 which have a passive radiator instead of a port which would give them a big advantage. Ok and now I shut up and will watch the video

[@saardean4481]

I how you say Modulator man ! I hear "Mojo Laterzz" :-)

[@FoliaSound]

xD I'm not a native, sorry!

[@saardean4481]

@@FoliaSound don't worry , you still sound cool

[@FoliaSound]

@@saardean4481 Mojo Laterz is my new stage nickname, it's great :D

[@saardean4481]

@@FoliaSound Haha. Salute to your new nickname!

[@dtorres101]

So just get Phase Plant & get Volcano for the Filters, ? Got it👍🏼

[@antgreen3254]

i agree 100% with your final thoughts. i love synths but twin never stood up against its competition

[@cesmcmyth]

I just cannot not laugh with this guy 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I started watching at min. 10.34 and at 10:49 I just cracked up laughing

[@suffuny]

Avenger 2 ! How are you getting on it?? Is it your new work horse synth !? 🙂

[@FoliaSound]

Avenger 2 is not out yet, I believe? :)

[@MojZumberak]

For clean start, instead of manualy deleting each and every parameter, one should choose Clean preset from the presets. Genius. After that epic demonstration of ignorance, I choose to ignore your opinions on anything. Not to mention other blunders (like unison remark).

[@FoliaSound]

This is really nice! I touched the synth for the 1st time and haven't noticed this preset, as simple as that! I'm not gonna even ask, what you didn't like about Unison, because, frankly, people of such negative qualities should definitely ingore me and my channel. Byyyeee!

[@lwpweb]

really missed pluck bass sounds

[@suffuny]

Sorry i did mean just Avenger ! ;-)

[@FoliaSound]

I tweak my Avenger like crazy. It's definitely my new go to!

[@SuperMax_____0.0_____]

fabfilter Twin always dissappointing

[@OscarSlapp]

Pigments 4 is better in my op.

[@nitsujism]

Hmmm. This business about saturated market. Practically every single market these days is saturated. If product makers took any notice of the market being saturated then your studio would be empty. Think about it. Even Sylenth1 is still going strong, still used in published tracks and it retails for slightly more than Twin 3. Yet, Twin 3 is objectively better in almost every respect. What do we do? Tell Lennar Digital to remove Sylenth1 so that the market isn't as saturated? Do we tell U-he to remove Hive because Pigments came out? Do we tell Omega to pack up shop because of Rolex? Audi should close down because of BMW? You have a wonderful wide choice in audio tools. Relish it, don't bemoan it.

[@FoliaSound]

Sure thing! I still believe that pro audio tools are not like consumer goods - watches, cars etc. Having the market saturated is one thing, making it oversaturated - it's something different. I simply stay against it, as I can see too many releases, popping out at absolutely insane rates. Do users need it? Not really. Do companies need it to survive and grow? Yes. Is it all about digital post-capitalistic times? Probably all the way and I'll be always against it, no matter how "inevitable" or "fair" anybody presents it to me. It's good to stop and think sometimes instead of buying new synth every week. Cheers!

[@nitsujism]

@@FoliaSound Well, people do consume pro audio tools in the same way that they consume other goods. They're marketed in order to appeal and people buy them with their hard earned money. It's the same dynamic. Do you need half of the things you have? No, of course not. If you have something like Ableton suite then the harsh truth is you don't really need anything from Fabfilter to produce professional grade tracks and that applies to synths, mixing and mastering. It's too easy to collect plugins like Pokemon. Having said that, with any new synth I always ask: "Does it offer something that I don't already have?" If I didn't have any synths then the answer for Twin 3 would be a resounding yes! However, I've got Omnisphere, ZebraHZ, Serum, Spire, Massive X, Pigments, Arturia V and more. Maybe you're the same. You're just not in the market for a bread-and-butter synth, you've got that covered. Having said that, I've played with Twin 3 and it's not above criticism.

[@FoliaSound]

I believe that people don't consume pro audio goods the same way they consume cars or tv sets - I have to disagree with you here. What we're seeing right now is a vast, absolutely huge prosumer market being born, where pro audio companies start (over)producing tools aimed at hobbyists, who do have some knowledge and skills, but can't be called pros. Does releasing products like Twin 3 serve the prosumer community? Not really. Does it serve FabFilter? Definitely. Twin 3 doesn't offer anything, literally anything really new, special etc. Its GUI is still not 100% well executed. It looks nice, it's got great marketing. It sounds very generic, sorry to say, and kind of limited. I'm against it, but I won't stop companies from making such products nor people from buying them. I can simply ask valid questions and try to promote a bit different approach to consuming goods. More balanced one, I would say, supported by basic independent thinking. This is very much about who I am and what I believe. You can easily call me a very moderate anti-capitalist, who learned to cooperate with the system, but didn't fall into it for good. I'm also quite convinced that the production and consumption models we're witnessing will collapse one day in a really, really nasty way. This planet can't cope no longer what we're trying to do to it, it will naturally stop us, because it reached its natural max capacity. It's good to realize that and try to look for new production and consumption models, so that our further hard landing gets just a tiny bit softer. That's mainly it. Nice that I had someone to talk about it :)

[@nitsujism]

@@FoliaSound Ok, let's run with it. Why doesn't Twin 3 serve the prosumer community? Remember, many prosumers will be at entry level. They won't have the back catalog of usual synths in their arsenal. Should Fabfilter look at all the other synths in the market and give up? If every synth maker did that there wouldn't be any synths at all! Surely, Twin 3 will only serve Fabfilter if people buy it. And people will only buy it if they like it, hence, prosumer community served.

[@FoliaSound]

Your logic is absolutely correct, I'd call it a transparent, market-oriented point of view. Nothing wrong about it, when you see the reality around as something simply given and needing no reflection or change. People produce, people buy, let's roll it, it's been around for 200 years, there's actually nothing else we can remember, so it's easy to treat it as something fully objective, not socially, historically etc. grounded, thus kind of "eternal" and given a priori. Well, it's not eternal, it's not a priori, it can and - with high degree of probability - will change in the future not so distant from present day. The point is that I'm applying different logic here, the logic of a long-term transformation in production and consumption models. I could write essays about it, but I'm gonna keep it as short as possible: I'm deeply convinced, that there's simply too much stuff being produced and consumed and it will definitely change one day, because what's happening right now is not good and leads us nowhere as humanity. It's generally good to consume less and in a more aware way. It's good to try to make a change.

[@timschannel247]

4min of your video now your still talking without showing any tiny sound of that instrument. Lets wait hm yes, ok now 5min …

[@FoliaSound]

Hey, did you see the info on the screen at the start of the talk? I wrote there: "Hey! If you want to skip the talk and dive into the sound, use video chapters below". Hope I helped a bit!

[@zyxyuv1650]

When you are putting some material out in the world ask yourself if it's going to change anything for the better. You failed and didn't accomplish anything with this video because you didn't ask for anything. You only left vague allusions towards how the synth is not good enough. That's useless for the developers. When you are leaving a negative review that's your one chance to get a word in and ask for something big or innovative. For example you could have asked the FabFilter to focus on AI-based physical modeling for TWIN 4. But you asked for nothing. The stuff you said in the video was non-feedback because it didn't include your own insights into solutions, inventions, or innovative desires for the synth.

[@FoliaSound]

Thanks for the comment! I actually pointed a couple of things, but I'm fine with your critics. I didn't aim for any "feedback" and "ideas", because I don't have any interest in that. I've got all I need, using other synths and, well, if I do have some real synth ideas, I'm not gonna throw them towards FabFilter just like that, in a YT vid. I'm afraid I could apply your comment straight to Twin 3: when you're putting something out in the world, ask yourself if it's going to change anything for the better. FabFilter failed in that, they accomplished nothing in Twin 3, because they aimed quite an nothing with it. Twin 3 doesn't make me ask any questions. It's not intellectually invigorating, I would say. It's dead boring and I want to leave it behind. The only question I can ask is this: why things like that are made, marketed and bought by the people? And this is the change I'm really aiming at: stop overproducing things. Buy them in an aware way. Create more modest consumtption behaviours, regarding software, which is extremely easy to buy. Make developers try to really create something instead of "whatever", packed up in a nice, yet still cluttered GUI. Make people think what marketing departaments of our post-capitalistic world really do. Make you ask: do I need this at all? Should I take a part in an economy of overproduction and overconsumption? This is the change and the value I'm taking care of in videos like this one. I'm also fine with the fact that you missed that and wanted me to have some constructive "feedback" for FF. The lack of it is asbsolutely on purpose and I hope you can see it now. The only real feedback is: stop producing low effort crap to the people and market it as "amazing", "game changing" etc. Have a great, productive day!

[@HighlandStudio91]

I stumbled upon this synth by accident and immediately, I was turned off by the GUI...but out of morbid curiosity, I visited their website & downloaded the trial of Twin 3.There wasn't anything special about it sonically and though I sometimes enjoy simplicity in synths(such as UJAM)...well, Twin 3's GUI is utterly retarded & it just doesn't inspire me to explore & tinker. I then thought...this VST is a real piece of sh*t, so I was curious about the price(not really expecting it to be expensive.) So....I clicked on the "buy" button and it seemed to only be available through a bundle pack which is $899...really? I literally could not find a way to find Twin 3's price. I then Googled it and Sweetwater has it for $129....what a sick joke. What's really amusing about this synth, is there was a guitar instructor demonstrating the Twin 3 at an AES convention.