- It's fair to say it has been a while since we've heard from LinPlug, manufacturers of plug-in favourites including Albino. Famed for their up-front sound and wonderfully programmable interfaces, some of us were becoming concerned that we might have seen the last of new instruments from these German genii. We needn't have worried as a new synth has arrived in the form of MorphoX, which on the surface looks like a whole raft of other subtractive plug-in synths, albeit one with some classic LinPlug surprises. However, at the heart of MorphoX is a truly split personality, as this is a synth which employs your keyboard's modulation wheel to morph between completely independent sound engines on the fly.
The structure of each layer of a MorphoX sound will be familiar to anyone who has spent time with subtractive synthesizers. There are two oscillators, both of which can access two of 48 waveforms which are organized into subgroups of types (namely Dark, Sawtooth, Saw+Pulse, Pulse and Spectral), effectively meaning that four sound sources form the basis of each layer. In a move which dramatically expands the sonic potential of the synth, the Wave dial within each oscillator allows you to continuously adjust between the twin waveforms you've selected for each Oscillator, so if you select a Sine wave and a Sawtooth, the Wave dial will show you the intermediate shape as you turn from one extreme to the other. Add in the fact that there is a noise generator and the potential for Ring Modulation and Frequency Modulation of the two sources, a detune option and others to adjust the Spread and Symmetry of each Oscillator and straight away your sound is off to an impressive start.
The Filter section is more straightforward, though there are some nice twists here too. For starters, rather than offering independent Low, Band and High pass modes, there are Volume (effectively 'amount') dials for each mode so that they can be used in combination. As well as essential Cutoff and Resonance sliders, an additional one allows for the filter frequency to be modulated directly from Oscillator 1 which has the potential for some unique results. Envelopes are provided for both the Filter and Amplifier sections, as well as there being an additional one specifically designed for Modulation routings.
In the top right-hand corner, in-built Chorus and Delay units are ready to add extra layers of sonic depth to the sounds you build, both of which are very useable. That said, my only criticism of MorphoX's preset sound banks is that the vast majority have high Delay levels. This always makes me suspicious—is a weakness in the sonic potential of a synth masked by overuse of delay?—but as this isn't the case here at all, I'd prefer LinPlug to allow this synth to proudly stand on its own two feet without all those effects.
LinPlug's synths have always offered extensive modulation capabilities and MorphoX is no exception, featuring a Matrix which will be immediately recognizable to those of you with existing LinPlug synths such as Albino or ChronoX. 21 sources are offered to allow control over 42 destinations. Setting up performance controllers (velocity and aftertouch) or synth modules (LFOs and envelopes) to point at and affect almost any parameter you can think of within the Oscillators, the Filter section, other LFO and Envelope parameters and the Matrix section is straightforward.
Having chosen sources and targets you can then set the amount of effect each will have numerically, with a negative assignment here providing inverted modulation. The Arpeggiator features a rotary to open up as many steps as you like between 2 and 16, with the number printed next to each step initially assigned to the volume of each note of the sequence. As the Arpeggiator can be used as a control source within the Matrix, however, you can quickly turn these values into controls for any parameters you like, including filter cutoff steps or pitch modulators. Up to four octaves of range can be applied to the Arpeggiator though you should be aware that some of the printed text for additional options which lies above and below the Arpeggiator isn't at all easy to read. As far as dedicated synthesizer sections are concerned, two LFOs complete the lineup for each layer. There are seven waveforms for each LFO source and the frequency of the output from each can either be left free, or synced to tempo with a drop-down list providing access to a long list of quantise options.
Combine all of this and you're left with a powerful synthesizer. But the ace up MorphoX's sleeve is that what I've described above accounts for just the first of two sound layers between which Morphox can morph in real-time via the Modulation wheel. In the bottom right hand corner you'll see A and B buttons to allow you to switch between each layer for individual editing, though a quick throw of your modulation wheel will also switch the display from A to B once you pass through the centre-point. The Mod Wheel effectively acts as a continuous long-throw cross-fader, which will appeal to the DJ in you as much as it does the sound designer. Needless to say, this opens up new worlds of sonic potential and whether you use the mod wheel as a means to subtly switch between two variations of the same core sound or as an opportunity to completely change a program's sonic identity in real-time is up to you.
Either way, I predict that you'll soon be addicted. The fact that no parameters are shared between MorphoX's layers is really the key to its success—as most synths allow you to use the mod wheel as a control source, the idea that this controller can be assigned to parameters of your choice isn't all that exciting. MorphoX is different, however, as the mod wheel can be used in precisely that way and to shuttle between two completely independent sounds, with the joy of a continuously shifting result anywhere between modulation values 2 and 126. It's a split personality that works wonderfully.
Ratings /
Cost: 4.5/5
Versatility: 4/5
Sound: 4/5
Ease of use: 4/5