It is very intimidating for a starter. On the other hand, there's a lot of software like this floating about inthe Audio world already - Max/MSP, Supercollider, Pure Data and Reaktor being the best known, so for an experienced synthesist it's good to see that it can handle a whole project through a coherent interface, rather than seeing a small proof of concept and wondering whether it'll scale up.
I thought the 3d was rather gimmicky at first, but being able to see the automation projected onto the signal processing network is pretty neat, and it certainly seems fluid and responsive. It's very interesting, and $200 is not an unreasonable price if it fulfills its technical promise.
Two caveats: one, I think it will be important to offer a demo version of some kind (and I'm sure he's thought of this) as getting the most out of a piece of modular software like this really requires you to build a whole workflow around it. There's a ton of free and cheap products to do the simple tasks, so a product like this demands a certain level of commitment - and those who are already committed to a competitor may be reluctant to switch. Users of products like this are often the best sales team for the product and can be fanatically loyal, but are also fairly high-maintenance as a result. Technical support and backwards compatibility are the bane of small synthesis outfits, although that said synth users are a very nice bunch :-) The other caveat is that a modular tool is only as good as the individual modules - so if the oscillators or filters don't excite people, then the parallelism and modularity can be for naught, or at least much less. I don't want to judge the sound from a YouTube video or at this relatively early stage of development, and I do like that it's aimed very firmly at techno artists rather than pretending to be a destined for rock or pop. I just hope the author invests even the basic modules with character, rather than relying on the user to add it through additional complexity. Some synths offer a great variety of configuration and modulation options, but the base modules impose such a distinctive tonal signature ('ear candy') that everything you make with it sounds a bit similar - I used to find this a problem with Roland synths, in particular. Of course, this is very much a matter of taste, and it's probably much better to develop a distinctive sound of one's own than to be chasing the elusive qualities of other sysnths that people say they would like it to sound like. People like me, I have to admit :-)
Overall I'm impressed. I'm not sure if I would use it or not, as I've been trying to do less and less in the computer and more in hardware, and with fewer pieces of gear at that. I've owned some 20 or 30 different synths over the last 15 years and probably used twice as many software products, so I've been trying to slim things down to doing everything in only 2 or 3 devices and using the computer as a tape recorder and occasional supplemental tool. Too many options on the computer means I spend too much time editing rather than creating, but this product does seem to strike a nice balance between the two modes of working.
Two caveats: one, I think it will be important to offer a demo version of some kind (and I'm sure he's thought of this) as getting the most out of a piece of modular software like this really requires you to build a whole workflow around it. There's a ton of free and cheap products to do the simple tasks, so a product like this demands a certain level of commitment - and those who are already committed to a competitor may be reluctant to switch. Users of products like this are often the best sales team for the product and can be fanatically loyal, but are also fairly high-maintenance as a result. Technical support and backwards compatibility are the bane of small synthesis outfits, although that said synth users are a very nice bunch :-) The other caveat is that a modular tool is only as good as the individual modules - so if the oscillators or filters don't excite people, then the parallelism and modularity can be for naught, or at least much less. I don't want to judge the sound from a YouTube video or at this relatively early stage of development, and I do like that it's aimed very firmly at techno artists rather than pretending to be a destined for rock or pop. I just hope the author invests even the basic modules with character, rather than relying on the user to add it through additional complexity. Some synths offer a great variety of configuration and modulation options, but the base modules impose such a distinctive tonal signature ('ear candy') that everything you make with it sounds a bit similar - I used to find this a problem with Roland synths, in particular. Of course, this is very much a matter of taste, and it's probably much better to develop a distinctive sound of one's own than to be chasing the elusive qualities of other sysnths that people say they would like it to sound like. People like me, I have to admit :-)
Overall I'm impressed. I'm not sure if I would use it or not, as I've been trying to do less and less in the computer and more in hardware, and with fewer pieces of gear at that. I've owned some 20 or 30 different synths over the last 15 years and probably used twice as many software products, so I've been trying to slim things down to doing everything in only 2 or 3 devices and using the computer as a tape recorder and occasional supplemental tool. Too many options on the computer means I spend too much time editing rather than creating, but this product does seem to strike a nice balance between the two modes of working.