Looking to take your Las Vegas lounge act to the next level? Well, Nektar has just debuted Bolt, their first foray into the world of virtual instruments and cheesy synth sounds. Based on Harmonics Synthesis Technology, Bolt generates and shapes the sound directly in the oscillator: It doesn’t require the dedicated filter section typically found on subtractive synthesizers. By turning just one knob, a wave’s shape can be changed from dark and subtle to bright and overtone-rich. A cool concept, but unfortunately this incarnation is not bringing anything substantial to the already over-crowded world of virtual synthesis.
Harmonics Synthesis is based on the MSO (multi sine oscillator) concept by Professor Dr. Udo Zoelzer of Helmut Schmidt University in Hamburg, Germany. Mr Zoelzer is a scientist with decades of experience in digital signal processing and a passion for audio and synthesis. Over the last two years, the university and Nektar have collaborated on developing MSO into a viable synthesis engine.
Nextar Bolt Features
» Harmonics synthesizer with up to 16 voice polyphony
» Two oscillators + Two sub-oscillators)
» White noise generator per oscillator
» Overdrive stage for each oscillator
» One ADSR envelope per oscillator
» Unison Voice Double Mode with detune and stereo spread (stack up to Four instances)
» FM: Frequency Modulation of oscillator 1 by dedicated additional sine oscillator
» X-Mod: cross-modulation of OSC1 from OSC2
» One ADSR modulation envelope generator
» Three LFOs with extended range up to 10 kHz, 13 waveforms and MIDI sync
» Four modulation targets per modulation source (LFO 1-3, Mod EG)
» Four FX processors: EQ, chorus, delay and reverb
» Mono and Poly modes with adjustable pitch glide
» Support for multiple sample rates
» Automatic Two-stage Protection Limiter
» Minimum System Requirements
• Computer running Windows (64bit) version 7, 8, 10 or higher or a Mac with OS X 10.9 or higher.
• Any host DAW application with support for VST 2.4, VST 3 or AU Instrument Plug-Ins.
Bolt is up to 16 voice polyphonic and offers 2 oscillators per voice, each equipped with sub-oscillator, noise generator, distortion and a dedicated ADSR envelope. Three syncable LFOs and a Modulation Envelope provide modulation features. The number of overtones is set with Bolt’s Harmonics parameter, Roll off additionally adjusts the steepness of the Harmonics cutoff. Apart from standard waveforms such as sine, saw or square, Harmonics Synthesis is also capable of generating pulse chains and alternating shapes. Cross modulation between Bolt’s two oscillators opens the door to FM-like sounds and all sorts of modulation mayhem. A Voice Double mode provides unison features and four integrated effects processors simplify the creation of production-ready patches. Over 500 factory sounds, including many artist patches, feature pads, basses, leads or percussion sounds. The triple LFO section allows the creation of interesting rhythmical soundscapes and drones.
Nextar’s Bolt plug-in is compatible with VST, VST3 and AU and runs on all current 64bit Mac OS and Windows systems. It is available now for $99 / €99 / £69.
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