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Your favorite LFO RE?

Posted: 29 Apr 2021
by altron
I think this is an interesting question to bring up. Which is your favorite LFO RE device in Reason and why? My go-to LFO so far has typically been 4 Phase LFO by Spectral Scan, mainly because it's LFO rate can go as low as 0.01 Hz for ultra-slow filter sweeps, plus, the Symmetry and Bias options are very useful.

Re: Your favorite LFO RE?

Posted: 29 Apr 2021
by Mataya
Little lfo i zfo.

Re: Your favorite LFO RE?

Posted: 29 Apr 2021
by Loque
Pulsar, ZFO, Ammo...in that order.

My dream LFO:
* Easy to choose between a lot of different shapes
* Let me easily bend, shrink, modify the shape
* Stereo (sync, free) and Lag control
* Let my "draw in" if i want to change something (free draw, curves, etc.)
* Different trigger modes, also usable as a Envelope
* Lots of Inputs (for scaling) and Outputs including uni/bi directional
* Good displays, including current outputs or positions
* Freaking easy to use! I dont have time to dig into it if i just want a simple sine or saw
* Rates from 0Hz to samplerate or at least CV rate
* Damn light on CPU!
* ...

Re: Your favorite LFO RE?

Posted: 29 Apr 2021
by motuscott
yeah Lil' LFO. So neat, so clean

Re: Your favorite LFO RE?

Posted: 29 Apr 2021
by altron
Loque wrote:
29 Apr 2021
Pulsar, ZFO, Ammo...in that order.

My dream LFO:
* Easy to choose between a lot of different shapes
* Let me easily bend, shrink, modify the shape
* Stereo (sync, free) and Lag control
* Let my "draw in" if i want to change something (free draw, curves, etc.)
* Different trigger modes, also usable as a Envelope
* Lots of Inputs (for scaling) and Outputs including uni/bi directional
* Good displays, including current outputs or positions
* Freaking easy to use! I dont have time to dig into it if i just want a simple sine or saw
* Rates from 0Hz to samplerate or at least CV rate
* Damn light on CPU!
* ...
KRON CV Toolbox comes to mind! But then again ...

* Good displays, including current outputs or positions
* Freaking easy to use! I dont have time to dig into it if i just want a simple sine or saw

Nope! :puf_bigsmile:

Shape LFO Editor by Lectic Panda has a lot of freedom for drawing custom LFO curves.

I have Little LFO in my arsenal but it's not typically one I pick. I have to check out Ammo!

Re: Your favorite LFO RE?

Posted: 29 Apr 2021
by TritoneAddiction
Pulsar. Nice and simple. And looks good.

Re: Your favorite LFO RE?

Posted: 29 Apr 2021
by joeyluck
Little LFO gets my vote as well! :thumbup:

Made by Matt Tytel, who went on to make Helm and Vital.

I like that you can toggle on/off every LFO (I wish Pulsar had an on/off for its LFO 1).

The LFO frequency goes down to 0.001 if you want a very slow LFO.

It also makes a really great synth! Check out the two patches I made with it in the Supersaw ReFill :)

Re: Your favorite LFO RE?

Posted: 29 Apr 2021
by dioxide
I use Pulsar the most but at one point I did a side by side test of everything that was available at the time. 4Phase was the best from what I recall. I never liked how it looks though, although now it is free.

Re: Your favorite LFO RE?

Posted: 29 Apr 2021
by freshkidblaze
Pulsar is my go to, simple and efficient.

Re: Your favorite LFO RE?

Posted: 29 Apr 2021
by w1pl0c
This may be weird, but I usually use a Subtractor or 2, and a couple spider CV splitters to shape my LFO. I use ENV mod to make Plucky LFOs, Pad LFOs. I like how simple/lite Subtractor is.

Re: Your favorite LFO RE?

Posted: 29 Apr 2021
by challism
joeyluck wrote:
29 Apr 2021
Little LFO gets my vote as well! :thumbup:

Made by Matt Tytel, who went on to make Helm and Vital.

I like that you can toggle on/off every LFO (I wish Pulsar had an on/off for its LFO 1).

The LFO frequency goes down to 0.001 if you want a very slow LFO.

It also makes a really great synth! Check out the two patches I made with it in the Supersaw ReFill :)
I didn't know Little LFO was from the same guy who made Vital. How cool is that? It is a great LFO.

I usually use Pulsar just because it's so easy to grab at the top of the utlz menu. And if I'm going to share the patch or project, it's a stock device. So that's an added bonus. I wish it was bipolar and I wish it had on/off for LFO1.

Lectric Panda's ZFO and Shape are both pretty amazing (like every Panda device). Shape has so much control, so many options. It's probably my favorite.

I also like Ammo. So many LFO shapes. But I haven't used it for a long time now. This is a good reminder to dust it off give it some love. Along with Little LFO.

Re: Your favorite LFO RE?

Posted: 29 Apr 2021
by BRIGGS
I usually reach for the 4 Phase LFO, if the onboard LFOs aren't slow enough, or I need white noise.

BTW, is there an RE LFO that has static, like Thor's noise oscillator?

Re: Your favorite LFO RE?

Posted: 29 Apr 2021
by EdGrip
I don't know if the "random" mode in Little LFO is a proper S&H or something else. I think it and the LFO shapes are shared with various other devices as part of the SDK.

Re: Your favorite LFO RE?

Posted: 29 Apr 2021
by MrFigg
Shape

Re: Your favorite LFO RE?

Posted: 29 Apr 2021
by dvdrtldg
Top 5 (in order)

1. Shape
2. Little LFO
3. 4 Phase LFO
4. ZFO
5. Ammo

Re: Your favorite LFO RE?

Posted: 29 Apr 2021
by PhillipOrdonez
Pistons.

Re: Your favorite LFO RE?

Posted: 29 Apr 2021
by MrFigg
PhillipOrdonez wrote:
29 Apr 2021
Pistons.
Yeah! Pistons!!!

Re: Your favorite LFO RE?

Posted: 29 Apr 2021
by joeyluck
challism wrote:
29 Apr 2021
joeyluck wrote:
29 Apr 2021
Little LFO gets my vote as well! :thumbup:

Made by Matt Tytel, who went on to make Helm and Vital.

I like that you can toggle on/off every LFO (I wish Pulsar had an on/off for its LFO 1).

The LFO frequency goes down to 0.001 if you want a very slow LFO.

It also makes a really great synth! Check out the two patches I made with it in the Supersaw ReFill :)
I didn't know Little LFO was from the same guy who made Vital. How cool is that? It is a great LFO.

I usually use Pulsar just because it's so easy to grab at the top of the utlz menu. And if I'm going to share the patch or project, it's a stock device. So that's an added bonus. I wish it was bipolar and I wish it had on/off for LFO1.

Lectric Panda's ZFO and Shape are both pretty amazing (like every Panda device). Shape has so much control, so many options. It's probably my favorite.

I also like Ammo. So many LFO shapes. But I haven't used it for a long time now. This is a good reminder to dust it off give it some love. Along with Little LFO.
Yeah ZFO and Ammo are both great as well :thumbup:

Re: Your favorite LFO RE?

Posted: 29 Apr 2021
by selig
I just can't find anything missing from Pulsar for my typical applications. I've tried others but they don't offer anything I've found necessary to date (change my mind!).
As for rate, Pulsar doesn't natively go super slow, but using Selig Gain I can drive it as slow as I need: -3.5 (-3.43) is 1/2 rate, -6.9 (-6.86) is 1/4 rate, - 10.3 (-10.29) is 1/8 rate, etc. (The numbers in parenthesis can be typed in when automating Gain for more precision).
As an LFO, this easily gives super slow rates, down to 0.0075 Hz (roughly one cycle every 145 seconds, about 2.4 minutes per cycle - see below for the "roughly" part…)

Note: Pulsar has some odd perks, such as it will stall half way up when receiving a super low CV. This can almost allow a hold effect, except that it won't stall when going down - it will slow to an incredibly low rate and the stall half way up. This also gives it an odd behavior of alternating cycles being the same rate, by around a factor of roughly 1.25x meaning one cycle is 1.25x faster (or 0.8125x slower) than the other cycle, alternating back and forth. At audio rates ups cam hear it as it causes the beat effect to alternate, only truly cancelling every other cycle instead of every cycle when compared to a "normal" waveform!

So how low can you go before a stall? You can safely reduce rate by 1/8 (-10.29 dB on Selig Gain CV/fader out), which is a Reason CV value of -54. This gives a rate of over 2 minutes per cycle - actually 2.7 min/160 sec and 2.2 min/130 sec per cycle, alternating… ;)
Image

Re: Your favorite LFO RE?

Posted: 29 Apr 2021
by dvdrtldg
selig wrote:
29 Apr 2021
As for rate, Pulsar doesn't natively go super slow, but using Selig Gain I can drive it as slow as I need
Another use for Gain I hadn't thought of... such a nifty device

Re: Your favorite LFO RE?

Posted: 29 Apr 2021
by BRIGGS
selig wrote:
29 Apr 2021
I just can't find anything missing from Pulsar for my typical applications. I've tried others but they don't offer anything I've found necessary to date (change my mind!).
As for rate, Pulsar doesn't natively go super slow, but using Selig Gain I can drive it as slow as I need
Ok, I try your gain device! :puf_smile:

Re: Your favorite LFO RE?

Posted: 29 Apr 2021
by zoidkirb
Kron is the ultimate. Set mid point, high, low points, polarity, various stretching and curving options etc etc. All automatable with loads of CV inputs and 3 matrix's. Draw LFO'S, morph them....output melodic sequences, apply gates, crossfade between synced rates....the list goes on. It's not so much an LFO unit as a complete generative mini DAW.

However it's overkill if I just want basic shapes so often I'll just fire up a Pulsar or two ;)

Ammo1200 is great too but these days I'm more into utilizing it as an FM synth than for outputting LFO's. Same goes for Little LFO.

Shape is different but good. I really utilize the bands to surgically get CV values right where I want them.

Re: Your favorite LFO RE?

Posted: 29 Apr 2021
by freshkidblaze
zoidkirb wrote:
29 Apr 2021
Kron is the ultimate. Set mid point, high, low points, polarity, various stretching and curving options etc etc. All automatable with loads of CV inputs and 3 matrix's. Draw LFO'S, morph them....output melodic sequences, apply gates, crossfade between synced rates....the list goes on. It's not so much an LFO unit as a complete generative mini DAW.

However it's overkill i just want basic shapes so often I'll just fire up a Pulsar or two ;)

Ammo1200 is great too but these days I'm more into utilizing it as an FM synth than for outputting LFO's. Same goes for Little LFO.

Shape is different but good. I really utilize the bands to surgically get CV values right where I want them.
I bought kron but never use it, I can't get used to the gui but I know its super powerful

Re: Your favorite LFO RE?

Posted: 29 Apr 2021
by zoidkirb
freshkidblaze wrote:
29 Apr 2021
zoidkirb wrote:
29 Apr 2021
Kron is the ultimate. Set mid point, high, low points, polarity, various stretching and curving options etc etc. All automatable with loads of CV inputs and 3 matrix's. Draw LFO'S, morph them....output melodic sequences, apply gates, crossfade between synced rates....the list goes on. It's not so much an LFO unit as a complete generative mini DAW.

However it's overkill i just want basic shapes so often I'll just fire up a Pulsar or two ;)

Ammo1200 is great too but these days I'm more into utilizing it as an FM synth than for outputting LFO's. Same goes for Little LFO.

Shape is different but good. I really utilize the bands to surgically get CV values right where I want them.
I bought kron but never use it, I can't get used to the gui but I know its super powerful
It took me a long time to come to grips with it. One of the rare RE's that reading the manual is pretty necessary. But if you don't wanna read, there is a number of helpful videos on Youtube. It's not that any one part of it is particularly complex, but rather there is soooo many components all crammed into a fairly small space. The first tip would be to change from it's default colour scheme. That will make some of the more important things stand out a bit more.

Re: Your favorite LFO RE?

Posted: 29 Apr 2021
by kuhliloach
Pulsar not just because the second LFO is free--I had an extremely boring pad and boring life. Pulsar changed all that.