Review: KiloHearts Transient Shaper
The latest Rack-Extension from Kilohearts is an addition to the already impressive Kilohearts Toolbox. A transient shaper following the design philosophy of the other devices in the toolbox in that it is designed to minimize complexity. What is left is a device that just works.
Transient shaping
As the name implies it works on the transient of a sound in that it alters the dynamics of it. Simply put you can think of it as a compressor and expander for the various parts of your transient. The Attack and sustain can be both compressed and expanded, the pump can only be compressed. Although I say think of it as a compressor, it isn’t one. You can also call this device an envelope shaper. When you match the envelope’s speed to the speed of your transient, you can then alter the attack, pump and sustain of your sound using the envelope you dialed in. Thats the beauty and simplicity of this device. Want more click in that kick? Add some attack. Want less ring on that Tom? Dial down the sustain.
The KiloHearts Transient shaper features a few more controls compared to the Kong transient shaper while staying true to the design principles of the KiloHearts snap-in’s. There’s also a sidechain indicator, and while side chain input on a transient shaper isn’t new per se, it’s a first for the rack. The side chain input should be viewed more as a trigger of the transient envelope and could perhaps have been named accordingly. On the back we can see audio in and out, cv input for all the controls including attenuators, and the sidechain input.
And how does it sound?
Beside from being very CPU-friendly, one of major advantages this Transient Shaper has compared to others is that it generates little to no artifacts. Transient shapers often has a tendency to add artifacts and do weird stuff to the sound, especially when you start tweaking the sustain. I’m not sure how KiloHearts achieved this result, but their transient shaper doesn’t. It’s very forgiving even when you set it to do a harsh manipulation of the transient which also makes it do wonders for certain types of loops. Below is a small before/after example of kHs Transient Shaper being applied to a Dubstep loop from the factory soundbank.
Another nice feature is the visual indicator of the transient and the speed it’s being processed. For some it might not be that big of a deal, but it’s a very welcome feature for us. You’re not supposed to rely 100% on the visual transient indicator, merely use it for reference. Oh, and because we know some of you want to know, we measured no latency introduced by this rack extension.
The only thing I really miss with this transient shaper is a wet/dry setting, known as the Mix. It would be a fast and easy way to tone down the transient shaping without having to adjust the different parameters.
Conclusion
The KiloHearts transient shaper has most certainly become my go-to rack extension for this effect. The options with the transient shaper in Kong is simply lackluster compared to this and doesn’t sound nearly as good. DCAM EnvShaper by FXpansion is definitely a contender, but I’m going to go with KiloHearts’ take on transient shaping in the future. To me, it simply sounds better. It’s simple to use, produces little to no artifacts and can even produce good results when used on bus channels.
For owners of the KiloHearts toolbox, the update is a $19 expense. Normal price is $39. Please note that with the release of this, the price for the KiloHearts Toolbox has gone up to $299, and the individual Rack Extensions has gotten a price bump as well. Still, not counting the 5 free extensions in the toolbox, it’s less than $16 a piece if you buy the full toolbox!
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