Quantum

Name: Quantum
Price: 149 USD
Author: Wavesfactory

by Wavesfactory · Transient Shaper · Transient / tail splitter

vst3s Score 8.1/10 · rated #10 of 10 transient shapers

Quantum separates the transient from the tail automatically and gives each its own chain of effects, 16 in all.

You can distort only the attack, or send only the tail to reverb. It works as a transient shaper, a sound-design tool, or both.

Best for: Drums, Sound Design, Guitars. Genres: Electronic & EDM.

Keywords: drums, sound design, pitch-shifting, creative, simple, vibrato, beginner-friendly, chorus, flanger, impulse-response based, lo-fi, mixing, phaser, resizable UI, single-band, tremolo, VCA.

What it does

Wavesfactory describes Quantum as going "beyond the transient shaper": it automatically separates each sound into attack and sustain, without a threshold to set, and gives each part its own effects chain.

Detection: three modes (Drums, General, Soft) with Sensitivity, Decay and Hold controls; the two parts are shown in different colours and can be soloed.
16 effects per part: including chorus, VCA compressor, impulse-response loader, delay, EQ, flanger, limiter, lo-fi, phaser, pitch shifter, reverb, saturation, stereo tools, tremolo and vibrato.
Other details: presets and a resizable interface.

The developer lists version 1.0.1 from 2021.

Source: Wavesfactory product page

When to use it

Quantum is the sound-design choice in the list. The others change the level of attack and sustain; Quantum lets you distort only the hit, pitch-shift the attack or send just the tail to reverb. As a plain transient shaper it does the same job as SPL Transient Designer Plus with two level knobs, but its real strength is processing the two parts differently.

Best for: creative drum processing, removing or exaggerating room sound, and turning plucked or struck sounds into new instruments.
Genres: electronic and EDM, sound design, and experimental production.
Look elsewhere if: you mostly work on pads or sustained sounds, where detection is less reliable, or you want a light, low-CPU insert.
Tip: try a pitch shifter on the attack and vibrato on the sustain of keys or plucks.

What producers say

Reviewers liked the concept and the drum results, with some caveats.

MusicTech (Alex Holmes, 2021, 8/10) praised the intuitive interface and said it "sounds amazing processing drums".
Sound On Sound (Paul White, 2022) found it easy to use with good results on most material, comparing it to Eventide's Physion.
Gripes: clicks on less transient material, false detection on pads, fairly high CPU with many effects, no tempo sync on time-based effects and no gain-reduction meter on the limiter.

Where to buy

Plugin Boutique: $149
Wavesfactory: see store

Tutorials and reviews

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