Product Reviews

Amidst all the soft-synths, digital sampling and PC sequencing available today, it's easy to forget the incredible achievement of the analog synthesizer - a time when adjusting the pitch was a just matter of changing the voltage, using one or more voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs). Hence, when you pressed a key the synth had to create the sound itself without the assistance of preset microchips. In 1978, Sequential Circuits released one of the most influential analog keyboards of all time, the Prophet 5, used by Pink Floyd and Rick Wakeman among others. It is this synthesizer that inspired Yamaha to create the PLG-150 AN, a hardware solution offering analog modelling on the PC.

Installation couldn't be easier; the card simply plugs into your SW1000XG (reviewed issue 51, p180), and with no drivers or IRQs required you just install the plug-in software. If you've used an analog synth before, getting to grips with the software should be easy, although the range of features available is quite daunting - it's unlikely you'll use them all though. However, if you're new to all of this you may find yourself scratching your head a fair bit as you familiarise yourself with all the acronyms and exclusive technical terms. To be fair, this would be no different from looking at an original synthesizer for the first time. The manual starts by giving a brief run through how it all works and explaining some of the acronyms, but the best way to learn is to have a go at adjusting the controls yourself and seeing what difference they make to the sound. You can create everything from pulsating sci-fi noises to deep dancey bass sounds reminiscent of the Roland TB-303.

Software support comes in the form of Yamaha's own proprietary XGworks sequencer package, now in its third generation. This still remains the optimal package for getting the best out of a Yamaha XG sound card despite other packages such as Cakewalk containing Yamaha XG instrument definitions. Previous limitations with XGworks were its inability to multitrack, its optimisation for Yamaha-only products and its incompatibility with new DirectX plug-ins. The third version, however, will let you record up to six RealAudio tracks. Also,

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with the amount of hardware effects already built into the SW1000XG as well as Yamaha's plug-in options being fully hardware-based, DirectX software plug-ins seem irrelevant.

There are two user modes in XGworks; the aptly named Easy Editor is the best one to start you off. A pull-down menu of preset voices offers a full range of sounds, there are pulse width controls for both VCOs, the standard attack, decay, sustain and release controls for the PEG and AEG as well as LFO, portamento, ring modulation, noise and a whole range of other options. In fact, the Easy Editor is a lot more advanced than some analog synths. The Expert Editor is made to look like an old analog control panel, complete with wooden panelling, and contains a range of new features including an octave switch, access to a pattern generator and distortion controls. For the ultimate control you can use Yamaha's AN1xEdit software, which has a layout similar to the company's standard XGedit package This gives you access to all the options available on the board, which you can tweak and then export into XGworks as an ANS file. AN1xEdit wasn't supplied with the original package but is available for free from Yamaha's Web page.

Not only can you create your own patterns but you can also play about with previous tracks. Load up an existing MIDI file into XGworks, select the Easy or Expert Editor, then choose which track you want to edit. You can now play back that track as if it was always analog, with access to all the control adjustments giving a new lease of life to your old tracks.

The main limitation with this card is its confinement to Yamaha hardware; it only plugs into the company's SW1000XG sound card and runs with proprietary software. It's also worth noting that some of the older SW1000XG cards may have to be upgraded. Yamaha offers this for free if you send your card back. Being only one part multitimbral - the ability to play more than one sound at a time - may seem like a limitation compared to other recent synthesizers, but, in effect, multitimbrality is mostly irrelevant here. In fact, the classic synthesizers being emulated such as the Prophet 5 and Roland TB-303 were also only one part multitimbral.

If you want the best analog modelling available on the PC, you can't do much better than this. You may have to buy a SW1000XG to run it, but it would be well worth it as this is a fantastic card in its own right. Out of all the computer components I've used, the PLG150-AN is certainly one I've had the most fun with. It's a lot more flexible than current software equivalents with the added bonus of no CPU overheads. Whichever analog sound you're looking for, the chances are the PLG150-AN will do it, and it's far cheaper than forking out for an antique original Prophet 5.