Warlock is Tone2’s attempt to deliver a power and workflow combination that is a rare partnership in softsynth design. And it’s damn cheap too…

>Surely the big draw of the virtual synthesiser is that you are not limited by any physical restraints as you would be in the real world, just by how much grunt is delivered by your computer processor. You want dozens of filters and oscillators? No problem. Hybrid design? Yes please. A lime green GUI? Well, maybe. But then the ability to have unlimited features can have an adverse effect. Many software synths have become unwieldy, weighed down by their own bloated offerings, unable to focus on anything in particular, jacks of all trades and full of so many options that you become terrified of the choice and loading them up.

A powerful, feature-packed synth with a smooth workflow is something of a dream, then, but that’s what Tone2 are attempting with Warlock. Grunt, diversity, ease of use and amazing sound quality. Surely what we all want, right? What’s that you say? Less than 70 bucks? Can this be, then, the golden synth ticket we’ve been waiting to unwrap?

Lots in, nothing out?

First impressions don’t, shall we say, deliver a massive level of frenzied excitement; the interface is not exactly enticing. This, however, is deliberate. You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover and this is – if we stretch that analogy a little too far – perhaps attempting to do War & Peace with a touch of Enid Blyton simplicity. OK, maybe that is overstating things, but Warlock is presenting, as Tone2 say, “a reduced userinterface to facilitate an efficient workflow” with “a limited feature-set, but huge sonic range”. In that respect it is an attractive proposition but don’t expect the larger graphics of the company’s fabulous-looking Icarus2 and Gladiator3 – this has all their best bits behind a simple UI mix.