Scarbee VKFX

[mal7]

There hasn't been much discussion on the VKFX on this forum, so thought I'd mention that after trying the demo, I placed an order today.
The RSP'73 has been my favorite Rhodes sound for quite a while, but with this plug in, it is now simply amazing :-)

And an added incentive, Scarbee is offering it for 30% off until 15th July which brings the price down to $160 (and free shipping!) This is almost half the original price of $300

[P de Caumette]

I didn't try it with the RSP73 yet but on the D6 it sounds great.

So many sonic possibilities...I love this plug!:p

[Beethree]

I just spent a good chunk of the afternoon playing with it for the first time.
Highly recommended. If you use the Scarbee sample libraries you should buy this plug. Simple as that.
My primary wishes were that it could 1) give me a little grit that responded
like an amp and 2) emulate the suitcase vibrato.
I'm happy to say it does both - and more.

Used subtly, the pre-amp and amp sections really allow you to dig in by playing harder - much the same way the samples themselves do. The vibrato works as you would expect, and can be used in mono or stereo.

The Phaser section also seems much nicer than most digital phasers. I didn't spend a ton of time with it, but that is my first impression.

I thought (again, after not much time) that the Wah worked better as an envelope follower than it did by assigning a pedal to it and using it as a regular wah pedal.

The overdrive was kicking into "high gear" a little too early when I was playing with it, but I believe that is because it was placed after the preamp. One of the presets had it first in the chain, and I believe it works better there. Come to think of it, I should try that with the Wah as well.

Even after one session with the plugin, I am happy with the purchase, and will be using it at a rehearsal tonight - having set up a couple of rudimentary
user presets.

Also of note....I'm using it on a Muse Receptor and it installs and runs with no problems whatsoever.
-Phil Aiken

[Rich Pell]

Thanks for the review Phil. I just ordered it and not Im lookin forward to it..i assume your using the Muse for Live gigs? Rich

[Seq]

I ordered it too. Fantastic stuff!!!

I don't have the Scarbee libraries, so I was playing with it using Elektrik Piano (which I've had for a while), B4, Discovery, ImpOSCar, D'Cota, PPG, Simsynth, and MTron.

It worked very well on all of those and most especially well on the MTron. Suddenly the MTron strings sound exactly like the way I'm used to hearing them on old favorite albums. Discovery seemed to work particularly well with it too. The quality of the effects gave it an analog feeling... an added roundness and depth to the sound. In some cases the effect was dramatic and in some cases quite subtle. I found the subtle effect to be quite exciting as you can add a certain dimension that brings your instruments to life.

Highly recommended.

Don't miss the sale - plus the $25 bonus for signing up with the site!!!

[mal7]

great to hear others trying/buying it. I was surprised it had caused so little talk on here.
A great buy IMO :-)

[Beethree]

Thanks for the review Phil. I just ordered it and not Im lookin forward to it..i assume your using the Muse for Live gigs? Rich

You assume correctly.
It's working great for me.

[Rich Pell]

You assume correctly.
It's working great for me.
Kool, something to keep in mind..:) Rich

[Houston Haynes]

I mentioned VKFX in my notes on the score for a short film - Spaghetti vs. Noodles - where it was used not only for the keyboard parts, but also the bass and guitar. The only thing wrong with VKFX is the fact that the name leads people to believe that it's only good for keyboards...

[enharmonic]

How are you guys using it? I had to convert my MIDI tracks to audio in order to get VKFX to play nice. I wish that I had a way of dialing in the VKFX while I am playing the parts...it could influence the performance significantly.

Is there a way to do that?

[steff3]

But isn't the overdrive a bit harsh

I also had this felling:
>>
The overdrive was kicking into "high gear" a little too early when I was playing with it,
>>

[Houston Haynes]

How are you guys using it? I had to convert my MIDI tracks to audio in order to get VKFX to play nice. I wish that I had a way of dialing in the VKFX while I am playing the parts...it could influence the performance significantly.

Is there a way to do that?

This doesn't make any sense. VKFX is very light on CPU. I can run several instances along with HALion player and other VSTi without breaking a sweat. Creating and editing realtime changes is as simple as using VST automation, and page 51 of the manual has a list of MIDI controllers that are automatically assigned to certain knobs. If you have a system problem that is preventing you from running VSTi and VST effects at the same time, then you should go to SCARBEE's official support forum and be prepared to give a lot of system details as well as the scenario in which you're having to "convert MIDI tracks to audio". And if you don't have the manual, then you should contact SCARBEE about that too. They're very quick to reply and are very solid on support.

[jimmymio]

This doesn't make any sense. VKFX is very light on CPU. I can run several instances along with HALion player and other VSTi without breaking a sweat. Creating and editing realtime changes is as simple as using VST automation, and page 51 of the manual has a list of MIDI controllers that are automatically assigned to certain knobs.

What manual? My VKFX manual only goes to pg. 34. (Unlike my Marshall which only goes to 11).
JP

[Houston Haynes]

Hardcopy manual has the routing on pages 31 and 32. I never noticed it before, but the PDF manual and hardcopy are different. I just went to the SCARBEE site and noticed that they have support forms that allow registered customers to send in requests for help. My guess is that you'd get a quicker reponse through that method than post on their discussion forums.

[enharmonic]

This doesn't make any sense. VKFX is very light on CPU. I can run several instances along with HALion player and other VSTi without breaking a sweat. Creating and editing realtime changes is as simple as using VST automation, and page 51 of the manual has a list of MIDI controllers that are automatically assigned to certain knobs. If you have a system problem that is preventing you from running VSTi and VST effects at the same time, then you should go to SCARBEE's official support forum and be prepared to give a lot of system details as well as the scenario in which you're having to "convert MIDI tracks to audio". And if you don't have the manual, then you should contact SCARBEE about that too. They're very quick to reply and are very solid on support.

My apologies for "not making any sense". I've never tried to use more than one virtual instrument or plug at a time. I will give it a shot and see if I can get it to work as I think it should. It seems rational to my little pea brain that I should be able to open an instance of the Rhodes, and plug that Rhodes into the VKFX rack and be off and running. I'll see if I can figure out how to make that happen. It has been my understanding (perhaps wrongfully so) that VST effects had to be applied to audio, not MIDI. When I play the Scarbee, or any of my other VSTi's, the only info I'm seeing in SX3, is the MIDI track until I bounce it to audio.

Thanks for your help.

[enharmonic]

Hardcopy manual has the routing on pages 31 and 32. I never noticed it before, but the PDF manual and hardcopy are different. I just went to the SCARBEE site and noticed that they have support forms that allow registered customers to send in requests for help. My guess is that you'd get a quicker reponse through that method than post on their discussion forums.

Yeah...I tried that forum. Not much help. Thanks again :)

[Houston Haynes]

It has been my understanding (perhaps wrongfully so) that VST effects had to be applied to audio, not MIDI. When I play the Scarbee, or any of my other VSTi's, the only info I'm seeing in SX3, is the MIDI track until I bounce it to audio.

As always - the Cubase SX manual is as helpful in understanding the VST mixer (where you will apply effects as inserts or sends on various VSTi ouputs as the VSTi plays back in real time). It sounds like you might have gotten ahead of yourself and could save yourself some frustration by reviewing the product documentation that came with the product.

:cool:

I'd imagine that the Support Forms (http://www.scarbee.com/support/forms/index.php) would be of greater value than the forums, as SCARBEE is really amazingly fast in responding to their registered customers.

[Seq]

There's no need to bother the forum with such a question. As Houston says, all the info is in the manual. I'm assuming you received a manual with your purchase.

To give you a hint... the paradigm behind Cubase follows a real world example. If I was going to add in effects into a synth track, I would reach for my mixer and probably do so either via a send (if I wanted to use that effect across several audio channels), or as an insert.

As you know, each virtual instrument has two appearances in the mixer. Once in the midi tracks section and once for the audio.

Hope this helps!

[SCARBEE]

But isn't the overdrive a bit harsh

I also had this felling:
>>
The overdrive was kicking into "high gear" a little too early when I was playing with it,
>>

Just remember to use the preamp module to turn down volume before going into overdrive. This solves the problem.

[SCARBEE]

Pdf manual is different size and layout than printed manual - but same content.

[Fab M.]

I agree on recommending the VKFX to anyone looking for "the old good classic" epiano sounds, and also to experiment on synths and other sources.
This is Scarbee's "hidden" gem, don't miss it :cool:

[jimmymio]

Maybe I'm just missing it but how can you tell which preset is currently being used?
Thanks, JP