Product Review - Cakewalk Z3TA+

November 27, 2009

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Ever since I heard this VST plugin on youtube, I knew I had to buy it. It does come as a standalone version as well as VST so you can play with it without a host by using the virtual keypad area at the bottom of the window. I use it in FL Studio.

Features

Listing all features would warrant a document of its own. Here are some just to show you what it’s about:

• 6 oscillators with PWM capability
• 64 voice polyphony
• 2 filters and 10 filter modes (LPF, HPF, BPF, BRD, Formant on 36dB)
• LFO with 60 waveforms + 10 user waveforms
• Built-in effects
• 16 row modulation matrix (24 mod sources)
• Wave shaper to create own waveforms with 60 of its preset shapes
• Midi learn capability on all controls

Looks

As soon as I started z3ta up, I noticed the professional look and the easy accessibility of all functions. The interface seemed overwhelming at 1st but after reading the user guide thoroughly I had enough knowledge to start playing around with it. It took a while to work out the workflow process as the signal routing isn’t as apparent as it would be on other soft synths (where you can clearly see the steps of the workflow, from oscillator to mixer to filter to envelope generator and so on).

Sound

This synth is capable of generating superb sounding leads or basslines and by mastering the product, you’ll be able to make it sound analog or digital. There are many presets which use the arpeggiation built into the synth. When you listen to some of these, you’ll feel the power of the sound and melody on an emotional level. The power of the arpeggiator comes from it having many patterns and with the ability for you to import a custom pattern via MIDI.

Value for money

Can’t complain, even for a few of the presets alone I can justify spending the money for this.

Stability

I haven’t had any problems using this within FL Studio but then again I haven’t done much with it yet. I have heard of people witnessing crashes by using too many instances. I have a quad core PC with 4GB RAM. For lower spec PCs, I’d say keep a lookout for high CPU usage. Other than that, it’s all good.

Overall verdict

I wanted a synth that was well-known for creating great trance sounds. This and the V-Station were the ones that stood out and I’m glad I’ve got them both. Expect to hear about V-Station at some point in the future.