Explore a new microcosmos of sound with Steinberg Padshop 2, a virtual synthesizer plug-in that offers two coexisting sound engines: Granular for moving textures and Spectral for sound-shaping flexibility. Loaded with new upgrades like 100 new presets (570 total), new arp, filters, and FX, and an enhanced modulation matrix, Padshop 2 is a powerful synth sound designer.
You can easily import, redesign, and synthesize your own samples for total sonic freedom. The new and improved modulation matrix offers 16 rows with 39 sources and 63 destinations. Padshop 2 doesn't skimp on control features, with an utter plethora of parameters for sculpting the perfect synth sound, including a polyphonic LFO, a randomizer, stereo spread, pitch, resonance, envelope, amplifier, tuning, and new features like Purity and Inharmonicity, manually drawn automation for melodies and patterns, and plenty of new FX. Padshop 2 is available in AAX, AU, and VST3 plug-in formats and supports macOS and Windows computers.
New in Version 2
A Second Synth Engine
Steinberg has doubled the power of Padshop with a second great sound-generating engine—the Spectral Oscillator. Play any sample, at any speed, in any position, in either direction, and at any pitch. Thanks to a completely new algorithm, you can express your creativity more freely than ever before.
Sound Design with Purity and Inharmonicity
Push the character of a sound into a very pure and harmonic direction or give the noisy and gritty part of the sonic spectrum much more weight. With the Purity, Inharmonicity, and Formant Shift parameters, you can easily shape the sound of your sample within the Spectral Oscillator into something with more texture and character. There is also a new low-cut filter that works completely in the spectral domain.
Create Musical Patterns and Melodies
The new arpeggiator makes creating musical patterns in Padshop a lot of fun. Just draw in individual steps, connect them with legato, or adjust the pitch of each step to create melodies. You can even export the pattern to your DAW for further use.
New Effects
In addition to chorus, flanger, and delay there is a new EQ with four bands, an ensemble effect, and a phaser effect. All effects can now be tweaked on an extra page for each layer, creating even more individual sound-design options. At the end of the signal chain, there is a global reverb, which has its own chorus, making it richer than ever.
Boutique Sample Material and 100 New Presets
You can work with samples of hardware synthesizers, unique soundscapes, and even a prepared grand piano. All of these sounds are just waiting for you to morph them into your own ideas. These unconventional and fascinating sounds were also the source for 100 new exclusively designed presets.
Additional New Features
- The new design makes you feel at home from the first moment you open the new Padshop. Its separate synth, arp, and FX pages making it much easier for you to find the right places to create awesome sounds.
- Importing your own samples—a feature previously only available in Padshop Pro—is now accessible to everyone. At the request of sound designers, samples can now be kept at their original folders.
- The new Padshop comes with 12 additional filter shapes for High Pass, Low Pass, and Bandpass, now giving you a total of 24.
- Create deeply growling or vibrant sounds with two new polyphonic LFOs. They have the same feature set as the two monophonic LFOs, but are calculated per voice and feature fade-ins with adjustable time.
- In addition to the amp and filter envelopes, you can now work with the new Envelope 3, allowing you to design unique sounds. This envelope is bipolar and has freely adjustable levels, making it ideal for modulating destinations like pitch or pan.
- You can now simply drag and drop the modulation sources on the desired destinations. When you start dragging, the available destinations turn green, making Padshop much more convenient and even more fun to play around with.
Core Features
Granular or Spectral?
Choose between the granular and spectral oscillators to get really creative with samples. While the granular oscillator easily brings out moving textures, the spectral oscillator shines with its more direct sound-shaping options.
Layer Two Sounds in Parallel
You can layer and blend two different sounds. And the best thing is that each of these sounds can be designed with dedicated filters, LFOs, effects, and arpeggios, using the spectral and/or granular oscillator(s). For example, you can enrich your sounds by doubling them or combining a pad with arpeggio.
Work with Your Own Samples
Import your own samples or choose one of more than 570 exclusively recorded boutique samples, to inspire your imagination and then transform it into something completely new.
Modulate Your Sound
The Mod Matrix is where you can get creative in terms of sound design and control, with its 16 freely assignable modulation rows. Connect any of the 39 sources with one of the 63 destinations to explore almost infinite possibilities.