Sonalksis recently released the TBK3 Ãœber Compressor, with that I decided it was time to review the entire line of TBKs, collectively known as Creative Elements. So here goes, reviews of a filter, a destroyer and a chainsaw!

TBK Creative Filter

The TBK Creative Filter is said to be a new type of filter called “adaptive resonance filter” which according to Sonalksis means that it uses a “psychoacoustic model”. Pretty words, but can it back it up? The TBK is what I would call a simple filter with very few controls. An input meter, buttons for setup and bypass, different switches for filter type, slope value, resonance type and finally a giant knob covering almost the entire interface to set the cutoff frequency.

If you know what a filter is then there will be little need to explain these things. I will go a little more into detail on the filter resonance types, though, as I think they are the most interesting features on this plug-in. The switch has four options: rude, high, med and low. They are degrees of what I call aggressiveness, with rude of course being the most brutal, and low being the smoochy setting. The med setting is described in the manual as the usual filtered sound and the high setting as a more typical effect filter. It seems to be accurate descriptions to me. The rude setting is pretty cool, but watch your ears, it can scream!

TBK2 Digital Grimebox

The TBK2s purpose is to make your audio files sound… well, worse. It consists of a bitcrusher, a downsampler, a filter, and a distortion unit. Are you surprised this little bugger gives you all that? Don’t jump and shout just yet, they are not exactly accessed independently.

The TBK2 looks almost identically to the first TBK with it’s input level meter/adjuster, three switches and a giant knob. The knob in this case controls the crush-value. The first of the three switches is the mode switch. It lets you choose between using the bitcrusher or the downsampler, but, and here’s we’re it gets interesting, also choosing between the two hybrid settings “grime” and “smash”, with the latter optimized for percussive material like drums and the other for tonal voices. The other two switches are the low pass filter switch and the clip switch. The clip switch selects a threshold for the built-in clipper-limiter with choices for three settings, +12dB, 0dB and -12dB.

So what is the difference between a downsampler and a bitcrusher anyway? The TBK2 manual describes it like this: “Generally speaking, bitcrushing is an integer operation producing very harsh odd order harmonics. Downsampling on the other hand can produce more subtle degradation of the signal and has different uses and is applied in different situations.” And who am I to argue with that? I’ve found use for these types of sound-beating on everything from drums to guitars, and my opinion is that the two hybrid settings included in the TBK2 in particular are very interesting and can really spice up your productions.

TBK3 Ãœber Compressor

You all know what a compressor is. Perhaps you have heard terms such as “aggressive compressors”, sometimes even going as far as “ultra-aggressive”. Well people, the times they are-a changin’ and the definition of aggression with it, because the TBK3 is a fricking chainsaw!

Again, the interface is pretty much the same as the two earlier TBKs. The TBK3 is covered in a beautiful jet black coating with the big knob controlling the compression. The three switches to the right are for setting timing, side-chain BIAS and output. Not really your typical terms on a compressor but you’ll find that the functions are more typical. “Timing” is the switch which let’s you choose between four different combinations of attack/release modes. According to Sonalksis these modes are adaptive, so the actual timing will vary depending on the audio. Cool, huh? You can choose between “instant”, “pop”, “slap” and “pump”. The side-chain BIAS controls how much influence certain frequency characteristics of the input signal will have on compression. You can choose between “none”, “top”, “bottom”, “lump” and “scoop”. I must say that I’m intrigued by these choices of settings instead of using the regular types.

The TBK3 also has two additional buttons, namely the noise button and the noise button, which turns the analog emulation noise character on or off, and the fierce! button which turns on the true monster in this brutal beast. You can actually make it distort rather heavy if you push it, just watch your ears. Don’t go browsing through the presets with headphones on high volume. I of course had to try the TBK3 as a squasher on drums and it worked rather well. I could see using this on a paralleled compressed channel or on a heavier beat. I was also interested in pushing it on some rock-type vocals. It was very easy getting it to distort (just apply the clip limiter and the fierce! button) but it has a rather harsh sounding distortion to it. I can see the use for that, but it’s not the type of distortion I want in general use. With that said, it has a sound to it and can be used for some creative effect-type compression, just browse through the presets and see for yourself.

Some additional opinions

I actually think the sliders are a little too small, but it doesn’t annoy me that much, since I like the interface in general. The giant knob looks really good and to some extent makes the plug-in easier to understand. I mean, a knob that covers more then half of the graphic interface should be a clue to that it controls something rather important.

One nice bonus that I haven’t really covered yet is the settings tab, it let’s you set knob behavior and (very little) midi settings. I would like to see scroll wheel support for the knob though. Why, oh why Sonalksis can’t the giant knob be controlled with the scroll wheel? This might not be a standard yet, but it struck me immediately that these three plug-ins would specifically benefit from this. Please give us an update with that feature!

I should also add that these plug-ins are rather cheap, which of course should be considered a bonus as well.

Conclusion

I actually came to like this bad ass trio quite a bit. I love messing up sounds and the TBKs are sometimes very right for that task. “Sometimes” is the important word in that sentence, since they are unique and effect-like, you won’t, for instance, use the TBK3 as your regular compressor. I like the interface, the switches might be a little small, but the idea of one giant knob for the general task is wicked cool. There are several filters around and they all boast to be unique. The TBK Creative Filter is one of the more quick to work with, which I assume is the purpose of the entire TBK line. Still, it’s the one of the three plug-ins that leaves the least lasting impression on me. The TBK2 is a rather cool thing, and especially the hybrid settings are interesting and can produce funky effects on vocals just as well as on drums. I’m torn in my opinion of the TBK3. I think it’s a really cool idea, and a chainsaw compressor like this is right up my alley, but on the other hand I’m not sure I really like the sound of the distortion. I will most likely find use for it, not least because it’s a totally unique compressor that sounds like nothing else, you have to applaud that… And besides, it’s by far the angriest fellow around.

Sonalksis