Excite Audio Evolve Alloy is a new hybrid Synthesizer plugin with synthesis and sample playback designed for metal sounds.
A Synthesizer is capable of generating a wide variety of sounds: basses, leads, pads, percussive, etc. The character can vary greatly depending on the chosen synthesis engine and instrument itself. Not every virtual analog, FM, or physical modeling synth sounds the same.
The new Synthesizer plugin from Excite Audio, called Evolve Alloy, promises not to be a jack-of-all-trades but rather a focus on metal sounds. Not to be confused with “METAL, we are talking here about metallic sounds.
Excite Audio Evolve Alloy
Evolve Alloy is a new hybrid Synthesizer plugin that combines sample playback with classic subtractive synthesis. The Excite Audio team has created an engine for Evolve Alloy with four independent sound sources (A, B, C & D).
Each sound source can host a sample from an internal library of over 250 sound sources or a multi-wave virtual analog synthesis engine with additional unison for both engines.
The included sounds range from bright glockenspiels and bells to industrial foley recordings and modern metallic-sounding synths. Neat, you can also import your own samples in case you don’t find the right sound source.
You can customize them using the handful of parameters in each sound source block: pitch, fine, tone, pan, velocity sensitivity, and volume. A very standard set of features without any specialities. This also applies to the virtual analog part that has the same feature set but has access to various waveforms.
Once you have set your four sound layers, you can mix/blend them creatively with the X/Y pad. Additionally, you can shape them to the output with four metal-inspired macro effects processors just underneath the pad: Sharpen, Rust, Vibrate, and Spring.
Alongside the macro effects, there is also a multi-FX section with dual filters, and 16 effects modules, including saturation, feedback, delay, reverb, modulation, phaser, pitch drift, and more. Too bad there is no granular with which you can make percussive sounds sound like rain.
Powerful & Flexible Modulation
Modulation is also onboard and not a little. The layout and color choice remind me a bit of Arturia Pigments’ modulation engine.
Twelve modulation sources are available, including six ADSRs with delay and hold, two LFOs with retriggering and offset options, velocity, and advanced keytracking. As a bonus, you can also use the X and Y positions of the X/Y pad as a modulation source.
A drag-and-drop system makes mapping modulations a breeze, and a modulation matrix handles and gives you a perfect overview of all the assignments.
Excite Audio Evolve Alloy ships with 250 presets. A built-in randomizer for the entire sound, parameters, and effects gives you instant new sounds. There is also a lite version with fewer features and sounds.
First Impression
My all-time favorite for percussive/metallic sounds is the AAS Chromaphone 3 physical modeling Synthesizer, which, however, requires a bit more knowledge to program.
The new Evolve Alloy is, in my opinion, much more accessible in its operation and can also be used by people who are not synth-savvy. What the synth produces is not groundbreakingly new, but the metallic results sound great.
Excite Audio Evolve Alloy is available now for an introductory price of 39€ instead of 59€. It runs as a standalone instrument and VST, VST3, AU, and AAX plugin on macOS (native Apple Silicon + Intel) and Windows.
More information here: Excite Audio
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