We’re happy to report that this thing really screams when driven hard and you can get some lovely, rich-sounding sweeps that move satisfyingly through the sweet spot. There are then 11 filter styles including clean, raw, tube, smooth and extreme, and all have slightly different characteristics and harmonics, which are emphasised once you start to increase the resonance. You can double-click to add a new filter and then choose from a variety of shapes and slopes. This is put centre stage and is represented as a filter graph rather than with dials. Twin 3’s best feature is undoubtedly its beautiful-sounding filter, which is actually four filters in one. Of course, as with many things, spending some time learning each function will pay off greatly, and we were soon able to navigate it with ease. This is especially true of the powerful modulation section, although if you’ve used FabFilter plugins in the past then this should be familiar to you. This does take some getting used to though and, on first use, it’s not as intuitive as some other synths. In fact, one of the GUI’s strengths is the way that oscillators, filters, modulators and certain features are only shown as you add them, so a simple patch isn’t overcomplicated by unnecessary controls. You have up to four analogue-modelled oscillators, each with controls for waveform, volume, tuning, oscillator sync, phase sync (for retriggering), ring mod and pulse width, which pops up when you select a square wave. The new layout is much more sleek and modern, with minimal text, heavy use of icons and a visual language for most of the controls. Twin 2’s GUI was getting a little dated, so it’s unsurprising that FabFilter dramatically redesigned it to resemble its newer brand style, as found the excellent Volcano 3 and Timeless 3. READ MORE: ADAM Audio A7V review: A new standard for mid-size monitors?.However, it’s entering an incredibly crowded soft synth market, so how does this returning champ fare against the new contenders? Twin 3 ups the oscillators and filters to four a piece, and sports a stylish and refined new look, improved sound quality, an new effects section, plus a host of other features and workflow enhancements. We’ve had to wait 14 years for FabFilter to release a new version of its flexible virtual analogue soft synth but it’s finally here.
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