AXON 3 update Review

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Written By Data Broth

Audio Damage has updated Axon to version 3, Axon is a generative percussive FM synthesizer. I will be covering only what is new in version 3, take a look at my previous review for Axon 2 if you’d like a more comprehensive overview. The first most obvious change is the UI, as nice as it is, I think I like the old one better. It just had a mysterious and alien vibe to it, this one seems “safe”. It’s not bad, I just miss some of Audio Damage’s more creative designs. On the bright side, purple is always lovely.

Axon 3 brings a few nice features to the table, for one, they’ve included the Rough Rider compressor on the output, so you can squash down your mix. This is very nice in combination with the new synth engine, they’ve borrowed engines from previous products, giving the noise engine a bit more crisp metallic capabilities, and the oscillator some aggressive bite. The timbre control on the oscillator is very fun for creating dirty heavy basses.


The sequencer has a few updates as well. They’ve added a scale mode, which allows for easier melodic creation, as well as a few randomization options to generate entire new patterns. The neurons now have trigger probability, random velocity, and ratcheting probability. This adds a nice touch of variation to the mix for more interesting generative patterns.

It’s a nice update to a rather unique plugin, I’ve always had fun with Axon in it’s various forms throughout the years. If this is any indication of its future, I’m really curious to see what axon 4 or 5 looks like. If there was anything I’d want added to axon, it’d be some modulation, either in the form of some sort of stepped incrementation via the network, or simple sample hold modulators to apply some chaos to the mix. For now you can get some random velocity at least.

 
 
Data Broth
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