New! GForce AXXESS Polysynth

[Dave Bryce]

GForce Software is delighted to present AXXESS, a fat poly synth that is a quick and easy way to get stunning results in your production. It’s amazing with bass and has a fantastic, huge sound that will surprise you. While you can keep things simple, don’t let its looks deceive you. You can also go much deeper, thanks to GForce unique X-Modifiers. They make it simpler and quicker to program complex sounds. AXXESS lends itself superbly to Electronica, Synthpop, Drum and Bass, Ambient, Rock, Prog Rock, Hip Hop and more.

 

 

Available for introductory price of $39.99 at the MPN Shop!

 

dB

 

 

[Stokely]

The demos sound really good to me.   I prefer simpler synth plugins vs something massively layered most of the time, since in a DAW you can  just run more instances...unless of course there are internal interactions that do interesting things.  

That said, with Diva and a number of other synths I simply can get something similar (if not an exact match) from other places.   I don't have any nostalgia for the original, not having used it.

[RABid]

I read through their promo page and they never addressed my main question. If you already have Oddity3 is there any reason to get Axxess? They mention that Axxess is a sibling to Oddity3, but make no comparison.

[David Emm]

Whatever GForce tackles, they do it well, let's begin properly. I all but need an M-Tron tattoo! That said, I'm one of those who feels a little puzzled by this. Their Odyssey already covers this ground and then some. The original I got to poke at was so thin, it cried out for ARP's Little Brother expander. Bringing a good design up into the modern world is welcome, but some of them feel like someone trying to train a cat to ride a skateboard. The real gains seem minimal.

 

Nostalgia has led to several companies who amp up limited designs quite well, but I think we're running out of vintage options that aren't already on the market. I doubt we'll see emulations of Seiko's DS-250 or a PAIA modular, so where's it going to go next? I know that's what we gather to gobble about, but its reaching a point where The Next Big Thing is going to have to levitate. The Osmose is a welcome keeper and both guitars and pianos are likely to stick around. But as for Synth World? I loosely feel like I already have my wildest keyboard dreams in my Mac. I know I'm "supposed to" want More, but what if I've arrived at a practical pinnacle? What if More is too much? After all, there's the real risk of an obituary reading "Found dead in middle of $40k Eurorack rig." 🤨     

[jerrythek]

16 minutes ago, David Emm said:

Nostalgia has led to several companies who amp up limited designs quite well, but I think we're running out of vintage options that aren't already on the market. I doubt we'll see emulations of Seiko's DS-250 or a PAIA modular, so where's it going to go next? I know that's what we gather to gobble about, but its reaching a point where The Next Big Thing is going to have to levitate. The Osmose is a welcome keeper and both guitars and pianos are likely to stick around. But as for Synth World? I loosely feel like I already have my wildest keyboard dreams in my Mac. I know I'm "supposed to" want More, but what if I've arrived at a practical pinnacle? What if More is too much? After all, there's the real risk of an obituary reading "Found dead in middle of $40k Eurorack rig." 🤨     

Oh, there's still some cool instruments that haven't been emulated yet. Arp/Rhodes Chroma immediately comes to mind. But I agree that the list is shortening, for sure.

[David Emm]

14 minutes ago, jerrythek said:

Oh, there's still some cool instruments that haven't been emulated yet. Arp/Rhodes Chroma immediately comes to mind.

 

I heartily concur. I'm one of the lucky few who got to play one and revel in that fine feel. I understand why Herbie smiled broadly over it. Its been decades, so my memory is in day-glo tatters, but its on the same exalted shelf as the Prophet T-8. There are nice synths and then there are those that make you feel as if you're bionically attached.

[Dave Bryce]

IIRC, the Chroma had a voice relationship with the ARP 2600.  Maybe it was just the oscillators…?  If so, I wonder how close one of the soft 2600s could get in a poly mode…? 🤔

If brother mate stubb sees this, I’m guessing he can shed some definitive light.

 

dB

[jerrythek]

42 minutes ago, Dave Bryce said:

IIRC, the Chroma had a voice relationship with the ARP 2600.  Maybe it was just the oscillators…?  If so, I wonder how close one of the soft 2600s could get in a poly mode…? 🤔

dB

That makes sense that it started from those resources/knowledge, but I'd have to study to better understand. My sense is that it went beyond what could be recreated using just a 2600. But I'm no expert on those synths. Now you've got me thinking...

[RABid]

The trick with the Chroma is control. Whomever programed the original patches was a genius. I really like the way he was able, with subtractive programming, transform a patch from a regular sound to a guitar feedback sound as you pull the mod lever. And he did this in several different patches from pure synth sound to a horn sound. He also created a patch that sounded like the rumble of a guitar amp that would transform into a feedback rumble. Layering the two patches enabled me to cover a lot of screaming guitar solos. I have not found that sound on any synth since. Would love to be able to study the original patches to see how he did it.

[murphybridget]

How was the drum kit? Does it also include traditional drums like bodhran, taigo, & dabrukha.

[Stokely]

I have zero interest in emulations for the sake of emulating, honestly.   Diva isn't an emulation for example.  I don't care that Repro 1 and 5 are, I just know that they sound good.

Gforce can make "Gbaby-1" custom plugin and I'd judge it on features and sound just as I would an emulation.   I figure there's always room for plugins to get better, even though as mentioned above the current offerings of instruments and effects you can have right on-board are mind-blowing.  I'd like to go back to the mid-80s and tell my younger self about what I have now on a laptop, I'm sure that worthy would just shake their head and say "nice joke!" right after saying "what's a laptop?"

 

[mate stubb]

20 hours ago, Dave Bryce said:

IIRC, the Chroma had a voice relationship with the ARP 2600.  Maybe it was just the oscillators…?  If so, I wonder how close one of the soft 2600s could get in a poly mode…? 🤔

If brother mate stubb sees this, I’m guessing he can shed some definitive light.

 

dB

 

The VCOs are different but similar, and both were discrete designs. As for a possible upcoming software Chroma, I can say no more.

[obxa]

On 12/19/2023 at 2:57 PM, RABid said:

read through their promo page and they never addressed my main question. If you already have Oddity3 is there any reason to get Axxess? They mention that Axxess is a sibling to Oddity3, but make no comparison.

Only if you want a simpler direct workflow.  As you know,  Arp AXXE was the single osc  and reduced little brother to the Oddy. Streamlined workflow and fun to use.. Still have mine from 1977 financed from Long & Mcquade but in sad shape.  The Axxe  had a kind of Roland SH101 vibe to it- simple but effective in the right context, and easy to get something quick.   I think that's the intent here.  I will say it was a great way to learn synthesis.   I'm a fan  G-force but don't see this being a real need.

 

I think the market has gotten fully saturated at this point.  I do wish someone would do a nice version of the Roland JX8 or Jx3p,  or MKS 70.    I think  DCO synths lend well to VI  and those haven't been beaten to death.  The JD-990 is another I still use most every day and would welcome in software form. 

[obxa]

On 12/19/2023 at 6:18 PM, David Emm said:

it cried out for ARP's Little Brother expander.

I forgot about those!!  I too really wanted one of those back in the day, but ended up getting a Mutron Octave divider.  It actually worked pretty well.

 

[jverghese]

The Chroma is very much an ARP synth, not so much in terms of circuitry, but certainly in terms of voice architecture, and how the modulation routing is built up. On the 2600 or Odyssey, for instance, if you want to modulate the filter by the LFO, you go to the filter section, select (or patch) the LFO as source on one of the CV inputs, and raise the associated slider.

 

The Chroma has the same workflow -- you head to the filter section (called Cutoff), select LFO on one of the three modulation inputs, then raise the depth control for that input. I guess you could call it 'destination centric' modulation routing. In contrast, on a Prophet-5 or MemoryMoog, you go to the modulation source, and press one of the routing buttons to set the destination.

 

The Chroma had very a flexible modulation scheme, allowing you to select almost any source for each modulation input, and most importantly set modulation depth individually for each input. It was actually 'matrix modulation' well ahead of the Oberheim Xpander, and it was all done in software using the THEN latest and greatest 8-bit Motorola 6809 microprocessor.

 

As for the AXXESS, what impresses me at this point is the 3D rendering seen in the video. I really thought they were launching a hardware synth.

[murphybridget]

The flexibility of the modulation scheme and the matrix modulation capabilities were definitely ahead of their time. It's amazing how technology has evolved in the world of synthesizers.

[RABid]

5 hours ago, jverghese said:

and it was all done in software using the THEN latest and greatest 8-bit Motorola 6809 microprocessor.

If I remember correctly it had two of those chips. One primarily focused on the user interface, keyboard, pedal inputs, etc... and one focused on the digital interface that allowed each voice to play a different patch when connected to a computer.

[RABid]

Thanks to marketing I made the acquisition. GForce sent me a discount code for £20 an order of at least £50. Had been considering the MTron Pro upgrade which was only £33 once it went into the cart. That and Axxess put me over the required amount. Plus I had a newsletter link for a free Axxess sound pack. For anyone interested here is the link to the free Axxess sound pack. For some reason it shows up with I view the email on my iPhone, but not when I view the same email on my computer. Oh, and the coupon code is XMAS20

 

https://www.gforcesoftware.com/products/electronica-presets-for-axxess/?utm_campaign=AXESS Electronica&utm_source=emailCampaign&utm_content=&utm_medium=email

 

 

[David Emm]

23 hours ago, obxa said:

I forgot about those!!  I too really wanted one of those back in the day, but ended up getting a Mutron Octave divider.  It actually worked pretty well.

 

 

You made the better choice. The Little Brother was just an additional oscillator and LFO, which did their jobs pretty well. The SWITCHES were the same paddles as the ones on the first Soloist (and later, Pro Soloist), which weren't very durable. I look back on it as a good lesson about expanders. The build was weak, but the layering experience was a keeper. Its part of why I took up Cherry Audio's SEM. Its paying off well. 👍

[Mark Schmieder]

WayOutWare had one a number of years ago but it became abandonware even before TimewARP 2600 did, so I'm glad to see someone take this one on, and probably it is better as so many years have gone by. I doubt they have any relation to each other in terms of development code base.

[obxa]

Removing foot from mouth.....

 

Downloaded demos for this and the Cherry Audio Soloist.    Fully expecting  to love the Soloist, and the Axxee was waste of time if you had Oddity.   Was also trying to stay on my "no more plug-ins for a while diet", but was very curious since Gforce has a knack for great sounding synths.

 

Loved it.  Not only brought back warm memories of using mine- but also the muscle memory (and fun) of tweaking came immediately back to me.   After using the collapsed view, I was zipping around just like the early  days and had made a bunch of presets before I knew it.  It sounds excellent with a definite character.  The Sub-Osc is great, and easier than tuning a 2nd ocs.

 

To hear what they really sound like,  I routinely turn off all FX when  demoing a synth . With the sub also turned off  this really captures the raw Arp vibe.   Used to run my Axxe through a Univox tape echo and Mutron Octave divider, and was eerie hearing those kind of tones again.    I guess that's why I connected with it.    Still love the Oddity, and  Behringer Oddy  hardware.   But this thing's simplicity is actually its strength. 

 

Complaints: really should of been a nicer upgrade path for those with multiple Gforce stuff (including the Oddy) . It's  a little hard to read, and they should offer  a "Beige face" livery edition.    But bought it.  I'm at the point where I think plug-ins have gotten exponentially better sounding year after year-  where I could see myself going all virtua if I had the computer to handle it.     BTW I remember demoing the Wayoutware  thing.    Even reached out to beta test, since I had a real one- But they folded. TBH it sounded no better than a Synth-Edit thing.

 

As to the Pro-Soloist. WOW. Great presets, but ouf that interface (like a few other Cherry offerings) is not inviting because it's too authentic..  Finally grasped their less loved  and excellent Poly-Mode, Qaudra, and Jupiter 4.   But others  like the Elka, or Dreamsynth and this soloist, don't make me want to dig deeper than presets.   Wish they had simple panel view options: LPF and ADSR.   There's only so much time in a day to learn synths and still concentrate on music.    Which I guess brings me back to the Axxe...🤔

[murphybridget]

It's great that despite these, you still found it worthwhile to add to your collection. And contemplating going all virtual with plugins speaks volumes about their continuous improvement.