Native Instruments RAZOR Synth Review

[tomaytemptation]

Really love this synth. I have it in ma Komplete8 but still waitin on my 120GB external to get everything installed, till then I don't have all my Kontakt gear! Love the graphic wave that Razor has, looks so good!

[SoundsAndGear]

@tomaytemptation good stuff man!

[deadithink]

What are you CPU settings? Because there isn't a demo, I'd have to buy it before I get to try it on my system.

[SoundsAndGear]

@deadithink I have an i7 processor

[deadithink]

@SoundsAndGear Bought it, and kind of regret it. Harmor is so much better. They need to find a way to patch the CPU though, no synth should take up 50% in one instance.

[SoundsAndGear]

@deadithink 50% cpu isn't acceptable lol, I've never hit that much but I agree it can be a cpu hog

[deadithink]

@SoundsAndGear I'm getting Harmor now. It has a more varied sound, better customization, and I can run 4 of them without breaking 20%.

[SoundsAndGear]

@deadithink I'll have to give it a try, is it 64 bit?

[deadithink]

@SoundsAndGear I'm not sure, but it's Windows only.

[XxXxR4YR4YxXxX]

So wait, you don't need the full Reaktor 5 to play this? Just the free player?

[SoundsAndGear]

@XxXxR4YR4YxXxX yes, just the free player

[XxXxR4YR4YxXxX]

@XxXxR4YR4YxXxX Fuck.....yes...

[SoundsAndGear]

@dirtyweather61 I agree with the comparison between this and Massive, this is much more straight forward and easier to understand, definitely a great synth. Thanks for the comment.

[thekid22585]

How would you compare it to Omnisphere??

[SoundsAndGear]

@thekid22585 I wouldn't, they are not similar

[Fistler01]

i have i7 with 2.80 ghz and i have no problems :)

[SoundsAndGear]

@Fistler01 indeed :)

[Fistler01]

@SoundsAndGear and 1 question can you make a tutorial

how to make skrillex synth or wobble ?

just a question :)

[SoundsAndGear]

@Fistler01 probably not, but I'm sure you can find some here on youtube fairly quickly :)

[Fistler01]

@SoundsAndGear hmm i found some for massive but i didnt have massive :(

for razor there are no tutorials for good whobbles

[Stratiesto]

Amazing vst...it is in my wishlist now... :)

[joey56444]

is anyone els having the problem that when you open a saved track it dosnt like to load razor and when it finaly dose the sounds dont play?

[lemsta007]

I have 8gb of ram and still it freezes .. shame , cause you get creative and then frustrated

[SoundsAndGear]

@lemsta007 your ram has nothing to do with it, it's the cpu, more ram will not help this plugin you need a powerful cpu

[JIMINIK1]

Great video, "meh" soft synth.

[SoundsAndGear]

@JIMINIK1 thanks for watching

[dudearlo]

the demo that they did in the vid when it first came out was sick

[mrbeemee]

This is so nice. But it uses way to much cpu!!

[SoundsAndGear]

@mrbeemee it is pretty cpu intensive indeed

[KidChemic]

I have Razor, but I need more RAM lol...

[SoundsAndGear]

@KidChemic LOL, I feel ya fam.

[BoomChaka648]

Whats the most user friendly software out there too make music with. I downloaded a trial of Ableton live and its wayyy to complex for me. Is this pretty easy to make some tunes with, or is there something easier? This software sounds like it does more hardstyle, I would like something geared more towards house. Anybody got any recommendations?

[SoundsAndGear]

@BoomChaka648 try fl studio

[BoomChaka648]

@SoundsAndGear I'll check it out thanks!

[archiei]

@BoomChaka648 ableton is actually pretty not complicated to make simple tunes with, once you get the idea. I would recommend Reason, but it has became way more complex since last few versions.

[christofalopalis]

@BoomChaka648 reasons the place to go if you want simple that can make really good tracks, garage band is what you want if you want super easy that cant make good tracks

[H4NDCRAFTED]

This is great thanks! si impressed that you get back to all the comments!

Anyway just bought maschine and got razor with the money off coupon. NowI don't know whether Maschine has aftertouch on the pads but my Blofeld keyboard has poly aftertouch.

I can't get anysort of aftertouch to record in Maschine using anything ! does the maschine seq even record aftertouch ?

I like to get bass wobbles and modulation using aftertouch on lfo speed etc its a must for me.

[SoundsAndGear]

@H4NDCRAFTED I don't believe Maschine will record aftertouch information

[H4NDCRAFTED]

@SoundsAndGear OK thanks, that is such a shame hope they can sort that out, and if they would make your own sampling 24bit, then I would be a very happy.

The biggest shock w`as to find out it din't have groove templates like the Ableton or Stylus RMX, its a freaking groove box, that is a must in 2011.

Oh well, the rest is awesome haven't looked up at my mac for ages, really feels like im using hardware.

[SoundsAndGear]

@H4NDCRAFTED yeah, I believe they will get it all sorted, we are still in the 1.x stages, rmx and ableton have both been around for a while. It did take a while for ableton to get the groove pool, but it's cool, I think it should be in Maschine as well.

[Eidolonmusic]

I have Razor...I can't get it to work into Fruity loops 9 XXL. I have the basic free reaktor to download from the Native Instruments site.....I can't get it into FL9. I got Razor into Reaktor without FL9 but then the sound wouldn't work. Please message me if you can give me some advice and help.

[SoundsAndGear]

@Eidolonmusic add the free reaktor player as a vst in flstudio, either put it in your fl vst folder or you can add the folder you installed the plugin to, in your fl folder preferences. Then you load razor from inside the reaktor browser

[narfy]

Thanks for playing more than wubwub basses.. I was wondering if it did anything more after watching NI's own video.

[SoundsAndGear]

@narfy lol, I hear ya, yeah it does a lot more actually, love it.

[ElectronicRehab]

Is this something I could use in a DAW such as Fruity Loops as a VST or Plug-in? Or is it just a stand-alone with Reaktor?

[SoundsAndGear]

@ElectronicRehab yes, reaktor is a vst/au and rtas plugin, so you can use it in any daw that supports plugins.

[tube4andy]

I would like to have known more about it's other uses... can you patch audio through it, side chaining, vocoder etc etc...

[SoundsAndGear]

@tube4andy yes it has a vocoder, I just went through some of the sounds as that's what I was interested in.

[ccalson]

Nice review. Thanks.

[SoundsAndGear]

@ccalson thanks for watching

[fatbob2011]

probably one of the best synths made purely for dubstep/breakbeat.

[MrHeavytunes]

i like how you break the synths down in your reviews. thanks so much for your help!

[SoundsAndGear]

@MrHeavytunes thanks for the support, just trying to give a good idea of what's there

[MrHeavytunes]

@SoundsAndGear You're quite welcome. But I am having an issue with buying the Razor from NI's website, is there anywhere else that I can get it from, because I would really like to add this to my repertoire. Thanks!

[SoundsAndGear]

@MrHeavytunes I don't know if they sell it in a box or not, you can give them a call I suppose if the site is giving you trouble.

[MrHeavytunes]

@SoundsAndGear Ok, thanks for your help!!

[iseeyou275]

@MrHeavytunes I AM HAVING THE SAME DAMN ISSUE THAT YOU ARE WITH PURCHASING FROM THESE GEEKS ! THEY FUCKING SUCK AT CUSTOMER SERVICE. I HATE SPENDING MY HARD EARNED MONEY WITH PEOPLE LIKE THAT. YOU ARE LEFT LIMITED WITH JUST THE BASIC SHIT THAT COMES WITH IT AND NOTHING ELSE. BECAUSE THERE IS NO STORE TO ACTUALLY PURCHASE THIS FROM IN A BOX ! DUMB AS SHIT. ....

[mymummy12321]

Can you use reaktor in any daw?

[SoundsAndGear]

@mymummy12321 yes

[mynamebestname]

sounds and looks pretty awesome, but I think I'll stick with good old Massive

[SoundsAndGear]

@mynamebestname cool, massive is awesome too.

[uniQeZOR]

@SoundsAndGear also have it, really awesome :)

[uniQeZOR]

can i put it onto FL Studio using the VST NI player?

[SoundsAndGear]

@uniQeZOR yes, this is a vst, you can use reaktor player which is free, to play it in flstudio

[uniQeZOR]

@SoundsAndGear awesome :) thanks, really love this VST, soon i hope to show you some of my work with it ^^,

[SoundsAndGear]

@uniQeZOR no doubt, glad to help fam

[SeanNolan5]

could you literally plug in the miniak by Akai, and use that as the midi controller?

[SoundsAndGear]

@SeanNolan5 you could use any midi controller you want

[SeanNolan5]

@SoundsAndGear but the point is miniak is a synth, and i dont know if its a midi controller, im new to the music industry im not sure if it would work, because im thinking of buying the miniak, instead of the MPK49..

but i know the mpk works with this, but if the miniak works, then ill get the miniak instead. thanks for your help.

[SoundsAndGear]

@SeanNolan5 I would check the site and see, i'm not familiar with it, but I would imagine it is. If you have a midi interface and it has midi outputs it can be used as a controller.

[SeanNolan5]

@SoundsAndGear thanks for your help. great video

[Inverted314]

Dubstep in a box.

[onraj9mm]

I guess all the oscillator, filter and effect TYPES are not midi assignable? that kinda sucks

[SoundsAndGear]

@onraj9mm yeah I don't think you can automate choosing the types

[RandomPipes]

hey do i have to buy reaktor 5 player because mine free one is always saying it's just a demo and it closes after 30 minutes. does it work with razor? help pls

[SoundsAndGear]

@RandomPipes no, you can demo the full reaktor in reaktor player, that's probably what you're seeing, if you've activated reaktor player in the service center you're good

[RandomPipes]

@SoundsAndGear yeah but somehow i need smth like an account to activate it? ok you mean i shall activate the free reaktor 5 player right?

[SoundsAndGear]

@RandomPipes yes you got a serial number when you put in your email to download it. You activate it in the NI service center app.

[RandomPipes]

@SoundsAndGear ahh ok thank you!

[SoundsAndGear]

@RandomPipes no problem!

[kpinnix]

@SAG: I have Player. Judging by the NI forum there have been numerous complaints about this same "no MIDI Learn" issue in Reaktor Player. I Googled "reaktor player no midi learn" & a ton of links surfaced.

I just found my answer: there is no MIDI Learn - only the full version. DAMN.

[SoundsAndGear]

@kpinnix wondered if that was it! dang! lol, that's wack!

[kpinnix]

@SAG: Thanks....I use MBox 2...not sure if I have those capabilities but will try. I also just realized NONE of my Reaktor Player instruments have MIDI Learn! They all say "set to default".....I'll reinstall it. Thanks for your help.

[SoundsAndGear]

@kpinnix that's interesting man, not sure what's up with that, are you using reaktor player or the full reaktor? not sure if it makes a difference or not.

[kpinnix]

Thank you.....I had a feeling this might've been a glitch .....I'll reinstall & see what happens. Also - what do you use to record your tutorials? I'm on a Dell trying out Camtasia. It captures video from my screen perfectly but it won't record audio from my my DAW the way yours does. Good job, BTW.

[SoundsAndGear]

@kpinnix I use camtasia, have been using it for years, I love it. I have my audio routed in a way that let's me capture it clean for the video, it's a feature of my audio interface.

[kevpinnix]

I have purchased Razor and it's NICE! But notice the mouse/cursor flipping around in this video? That's my gripe...where's the "MIDI Learn"? Rare for NI to omit this. Right-clicking pulls up a "Default" message which I think is supposed to be MIDI Learn...is this a glitch? Anyone else have this issue? But the synth is NASTY! $79 it's a steal. One of my favorites.

[SoundsAndGear]

@kevpinnix mines has a midi learn options when I right click, it also automaps inside of Maschine which requires a synth to have midi learnable parameters. Not sure why it's not working for you.

[onraj9mm]

@kevpinnix hey man i had the same problem, actually in reaktor player there is only "set to default" when right clicked, however you can click on Options menu, select MIDI Learn, click on the actual pot in Razor u wanna assign and then move the hardware pot. The thing is that from my experience you have to select Midi Learn each time, which kinda sucks. I think the whole midi learn is not done very good, for example the OSC types are not midi assignable.

[giotronic]

I just bought it, sounds are awesome! But it does take up CPU! How can I reduce the clipping noise? What can I do to reduce the CPU usage while using Pro Tools LE 8???? Anyone? Thank you!!!! 

[SoundsAndGear]

@giotronic clipping would be a volume issue, turn down the preset, reducing cpu that's one for either adjusting your soundcard buffer settings or the buffer settings in protools, probably both, some cpu will handle it better than others though

[giotronic]

@SoundsAndGear

Thank you so much! Mad Props!!!

Also found another way too, create another mono audio track, route the original track to a bus instead of the output speakers. Then the created track, change input to the same bus. Highlight the original track and press record on the new track. It records same pattern. Hide and inactive the original track with plugin and there is no CPU usage while using any type of plugin. Hope this helps for PT 8 users!!!

[SoundsAndGear]

@giotronic good one :)

[matkupp]

how much does it cost, i live in canada and am wondering the price range?

[SoundsAndGear]

@matkupp it' 79 bucks

[montyladd]

Is this made for dubstep only ?

sounds like it

[SoundsAndGear]

@montyladd no, nothing is "made for" one particular style, though it may have sounds that work good in that style, it can be used for whatever you want.

[rhadiem]

@montyladd did you listen to the video? he barely touched the dubstep stuff :) He also said multiple times it's versatile and not just for dubstep :)

[PathOfTheWolf]

just got mine the otherday! love it :)

[SoundsAndGear]

@PathOfTheWolf cool! it's awesome!

[dandyrandy88]

i love the sounds but got damn it eats my cpu hahahaha but its really simple and if i can figure out ways of saving cpu then it'll be my favorite

[SoundsAndGear]

@dandyrandy88 lol not that bad on mine but I feel you

[kenzocliche]

How would you compare this to massive?

[SoundsAndGear]

@kenzocliche totally different than massive, I prefer this one for my tastes as it's very versatile and has a clean/simple interface.

[thisisyaren]

this is prob one of the best products NI has ever made... absolute brilliance...

[linkercasas]

Check this. It shows the frequency band where the fundamentals and harmonics are being generated. So you can easily see were you can "cut" and/or "boost" depending on how youre keeping track of your mix, or how you want the individual patch to sound!! Neaaat!!!!!

[SoundsAndGear]

@linkercasas yeah man, it's really a cool little synth man, I love it.

[teeblack06]

seem kinda cool

[SoundsAndGear]

@teeblack06 yeah it's nice

[3dgod]

yeh good presets to start

[SoundsAndGear]

@3dgod no doubt

[djsimplyseth]

copped with the NI 30 dolla discount

[SoundsAndGear]

@djsimplyseth oh man that's a great deal lol.

[scottthafoo]

yo bro how did u link the knobs to your midi controller

[SoundsAndGear]

@scottthafoo right click and midi learn

[scottthafoo]

@SoundsAndGear hey bro so i did that, then turn a knob on my m-audio oxygen 61 and nothing happens...im using FL 10 and Razor as a VST

[SoundsAndGear]

@scottthafoo I dont have flstudio, I'll have to download the demo and see. But if you right click and get the option to "learn" once you hit that you should be able to turn a knob and it should work for you.

[MsBeatJunkie]

Can never have enough synths...im a synths addict. Very nice and its not expensive either. Good look St. Joe

[SoundsAndGear]

@MsBeatJunkie I feel you yo, same way, this one is nice.

[TheExplodingBit]

Just picked this one up. I haven't had time to play with it but I'm excited about it. Nice video, man.

[SoundsAndGear]

@TheExplodingBit word man, have fun

[c2mojo]

We need a dubstep song built within maschine, now that would be a 7 min tutorial.

[SoundsAndGear]

@c2mojo I hear ya man

[FavuQuad]

I think Razor is the future of synths, especially due to working mainly with waveforms.

The sounds are just otherworldly!

[SoundsAndGear]

@FavuQuad I love it man, no samples to load, and the interface is just so clean and simple, love it

[FavuQuad]

@SoundsAndGear Yup and thx for the review though!

[AudioCzar]

how are the bells ?

[SoundsAndGear]

@AudioCzar bells are pretty cool actually, almost an fm8 quality to them

[palo569]

i just tried this the sound quality is astonishing you can make robotic transformer brostep sound in 10 sec this is gonna hurt my neighboors

[SoundsAndGear]

@palo569 yeah man!!

[prettdboy]

Omnisphere is the King of all soft synths!... everything else is secondary!! 

[SoundsAndGear]

@prettdboy omni is king for sure, this is dope though wouldn't put it in same category as omnisphere but it's dope

[Linkydj]

the only problem is you recorded your voice quiet and the synth is playing so loud...so when i turn down my speakers i can not hear you and when i turn them up i just get blasted by the synth noise

[SoundsAndGear]

@Linkydj hmmm, recorded as same level as other vids, maybe this synth was just louder than most lol

[BMUSIK101]

gonna download this

[EvGBeats]

awesome

[TatumMartinMusic]

Im getting this.

[SoundsAndGear]

@TatumMartinMusic word

[Auriculum]

Man, you do the most down to earth reviews i've seen in a long time. Keep up the good work! Thanks!

[SoundsAndGear]

@Auriculum thanks man, just try to look at it like I would if I was not filming, just how most folks look at stuff, just randomly checking stuff out lol

[Auriculum]

@SoundsAndGear Exactly! This is what makes your videos worth watching. You do it the way most people can relate. Thanks again. Cheers!

[SoundsAndGear]

@Auriculum thanks for the support man, I really appreciate it!

[Imhoteption]

Omnisphere 1.5 now Razor. I played this thing all day and made 22 patches. Crazy good, but a but CPU intensive. You need a hardcore computer to get the best out of it. But its so good, I will upgrade my computer this week. It really is that good.

[SoundsAndGear]

@Imhoteption yeah man! It's really fun, I haven't had much problem with cpu but I also have an i7 so it's all good. Either way, this is going to be a main part of my arsenal.

[markkmuzik]

nice vid st joe.. i was really thinking bout gettin this synth since i got a 30 dollar off coupon from N.I... u should def make a beat video using razor

[SoundsAndGear]

@markkmuzik man that's a good way to spend a voucher lol, this is a really cool synth, much better than I was expecting honestly.

[arkx1x]

lol you a pad freak too huh ? 

[SoundsAndGear]

@arkx1x yeah man I love pads lol, absynth, omnisphere, alchemy lol...I was surprised that this one did it, and it's probably the easiest to tweak out of all of the ones I mentioned ;)

[arkx1x]

I spent most of last night with this synth really diggin' it so far I thought it was for dubstep style music as well at first, but it's much more than that good review mate.

[SoundsAndGear]

@arkx1x yeah man, the NI demos definitely make you think it's a certain style, but once I played with it I was impressed lol, especially being able to do some smooth pads and bellish keys, etc. Plus it's just fun to teak and definitely can get fat and nasty!

[mattsynth]

Lot's of possibilities for sound design with very little effort. Any more I been spending too much time programing sounds instead of make music. This is very well welcomed. Thanks for the demo.

[SoundsAndGear]

@mattsynth my thoughts exactly, I feel like you, really liking things that keep it simple and let me create quickly, the interface is just so simple yet you can get some really unique results quickly and easily, definitely a +1 for that side of things. More and more of my "power synths" are getting less use just because sometimes they can be a bit too complex, sounds weird but sometimes you just want to play and tweak lol.

[dailove3]

Sounds good I want it! lol

[SoundsAndGear]

@dailove3 no doubt lol