Pulse Code has released DB-303 Digital Bass Line synthesizer – a Roland TB-303 emulator, with effects, for the iPhone and iPod Touch.  

It’s $4.99 via the App Store.

If you’ve tried out the DB-303 Digital Bass Line synth, leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Description:

via Pulse Code:

Armed with the passion to bring to life a virtual 303, we have gone to great lengths to recreate the ultimate acid machine. We used our very own vintage 303 as reference, running the machine through a battery of feature specific tests to better understand and emulate in our application.

What we discovered is that the 303 is not just another subtractive monosynth as some may claim and we believe that our emulation captures its true expressive essence. Our emulation has nuances that only owners of a real 303 know such as what happens when all of the pattern steps are slides or how each parameter truly reacts to the tempo.

Not only does Digital Bass Line give you a full featured virtual analog synthesizer, it also gives you two versatile effects stomp boxes to bring more life to your bass lines. The easy and intuitive design makes creating bass lines fun and quick, whether you are a veteran of analog and digital synthesizers, or a newcomer to electronic music.

Download the owner’s guide and view “How-to” videos at www.pulsecodeinc.com/db-303.

Features:

• Virtual Analog Bass Line Synthesizer Emulation
• Precise oscillator emulation (not a simple waveform, but a true emulation of the analog circuitry)
• Classic analog style low pass filter finely tuned to a real 303
• Internal sequencer which has all of the features of the classic, but with a quick and easy programming interface 
• Envelope Modulation and Accent to really make your bass lines expressive 
• Stunning visual representation of a 303 style synthesizer meticulously designed and 3D modeled from the real thing
• Virtual knob controls which precisely track your finger touch
• Additional Functions: 
  • Random pattern generator that will instantly program incredible bass lines for you! 
  • Group 1-8 patterns in to play back as a loop 
  • Transpose Pattern 
  • Shift Pattern 
  • Copy Pattern 
  • Delete Pattern 
  • Tempo range from 40-240 beats per minute 
  • Automatic memory save if application is interrupted or exited 
• Integrated Stomp Box Style Effects Units: 
• Distortion 
  • Extremely harsh distortion tuned to make your Digital Bass Line scream! 
  • Tone control to add extra fatness or shimmering highs 
  • Level control for precise control of audio output
• Delay 
  • up to 1000ms variable delay time 
  • Feedback amount for adding extra depth and echoes to the delay
  • Mix control for blending delay output with input signal 

Amidio

303 Pocket Noise will be priced at $0.99 or at $1.99.

Planned date of release: middle or late December 2008.

Here’s the scoop:

Pocket Noise 4-pattern 303 Emulator

• Based on Noise.io’s Pro Engine
• 2 waveforms – saw, square
• 4 Patterns with realtime pattern sequence programming
• Realtime pattern editing (on loop)
• Auto-save on quit
• Slides, 3 octaves
• Very simple interface: just 2 screens.
• Modulation surface like in Noise.io Pro
• swingy BPM
• effects: delay, distortion
• .wav export via built-in server (no additional programs needed)
• direct beatmaker export (hopefully).

According to the company, “We need this app to be a testing playground for new features and if the features prove itself, they will be expanded quickly into Noise.io Pro. Noise.io Pro will always remain the flagship product and will contain all the features found in smaller products.”

This is sure to be controversial, but I can’t argue with their thoroughness. 

Acid Voice has compared a collection of the top clones of the Roland TB-303 and ranked them, based on how well they clone the sound of the original acid synth. 

They’ve got audio demos and in depth comparisons of the various bassline synths, including the x0xb0x, the Future Retro Revolution, the TeeBee and the FR 777. 

Here’s how they stack up, in Acid Voice’s opinion:

1. Adafruit x0xb0x
2. Future Retro Revolution
3. Syntecno TeeBee MKIII
4. Oakley TM3030
5. Analogue Solutions TB-X
6. Acidcode ML303
7. Acidlab Bassline 
8. MAM MB33 MKII
9. Future Retro 777

I would rank the 777 much higher. The Future Retro 777 will do just about everything you’d want to do with a TB303, plus it’s a fairly full-featured analog synthesizer, too.

The bottom line, though, is that there’s never been a better time for people interested in great-sounding acid bassline synths. 

Let me know what you think of the results!

bigcitymusic demos the Analogue Solutions Trans Bass Xpress TB-303 Clone, a faithful clone of the synth engine of the Roland TB-303. 

The Trans Bass Xpress does not have a sequencer built in, so you have to use a MIDI sequencer with it. But this offers possibilities for more interesting patterns and greater performance capabilities.

repeatle created this bassline showdown – a comparison between the x0xb0x, TB-303 and ABL 2.10.

And guess what? They’re all good…..

A long demo of a Roland TB-303, with the Borg modifications by Analogue Solutions. Also in the mix is a TR-808, acting as the master, with a little reverb; the 303 is 100% dry.

via Matrix

Nice demo of using the Future Retro Revolution as an audio processor.

With an analog resonant filter, envelope, overdrive, and DSP effects, the Revolution makes a powerful effects processor. The Elektron is slaved to the Revolution’s MIDI.

via BigCityMusic

Probably no synth has been cloned more times, both in hardware and software, than the Roland TB303.

But while excellent hardware 303 clones (FR777) have been available for years, virtual versions have never been completely satisfying.

AudioRealism’s BassLine 2 changes that. It cranks out authentic 303 sounds, using a simple interface that will be familiar to 303 users

According to AudioRealism, “analog modeling techniques have been employed to create a DSP-algorithm that accurately emulates every aspect of the original Bass Line, from growling basses to hollow middles and beeping highs with metal rattling accents.”

While that may sound like typical marketing-speak, AudioRealism actually delivers.

Bass Line 2 creates all types of 303 sounds, it has a 303-like interface, it offers working techniques similar to the 303’s and it intelligently expands on the 303’s capabilities.

The only thing you’ll find missing is DIN-SYNC.

Enough blah, blah, blah, though.

Check out the samples below for a taste of what the BassLine 2 sounds like.

Other features:

In addition to the great-sounding 303 emulation, BassLIne 2 has a few other tricks up its sleeve, including:

• Standard or Analog-style tuning
• Three styles of filter: 24dB, 18dB (303) &18dB Pure
• A pattern analyzer that lets you read in audio bassline patterns and convert them to a BassLine 2 sequence.
• A massive pattern library

My favorite extra is the Random function, which offers several options for randomizing your sequences. Hit the Random options a couple of times and you’re sure to come up with something strange.

If I could change anything on the Bass Line 2, it would be to provide more options for taking the synths’ sounds beyond the capabilities of the original TB303. For example – it would be nice to have the option to increase the range for the filter cutoff, or to have other types of distortion.

In other words, I’d like to see AudioRealism worry less about making this a faithful recreation of the 303, and more about making it an Uber-303.

That said – AudioRealism promises a faithful 303 emulation, and it delivers. This is the best virtual TB303 yet.

It’s available for 95 Eur, for Windows and Mac, VST & AU.

Hotelsinus Sound Design has released the Hotelsinus Reese Bassline, a free new VST designed specificaly for Drum and Bass music.

The instrument can create wide variety of sounds, like Hard Bass, Dark Background Atmosphere and the sounds of Reese.

Hotelsinus Reese Bassline is a SynthEdit VST instrument for Windows – a Mac OSX version is expected later this year.

Features:

• Minimized Graphical Interface (400*120 pixel) to fit 12″ Laptop TFT.
• Hard and Analogish Dual filtered Special Distortion Unit.
• Three Parallel Filter.
• One Phaser to create a real living instrument.
• Stereo enhancer button, that makes the sound out of the box.
• Final filter with switchable Lowpass or Highpass filter.

via SonicState

TAL-BassLine is a virtal analog bass synthesizer especially made for bass, acid sounds and effects.

A unique -18dB low pass filter with a lot of asymmetric and random components introduce a warm and analogue sound. Fast, non linear envelopes are also a part of this synth.

Best of all – it’s free for both Mac and Windows.

Features:

• Bandlinited oscillators (saw, pulse).
• Sub-oscillator: square -1 oct., square -2 oct., pulse -1 oct, pulse -2 oct.
• -18 dB/octave low-pass filter (resonant/self-oscillating).
• LFO (frequency: 0,1 .. 30 Hz, waveforms: sin, tri, saw, rec, noise).
• Very fast nonlinear envelope (A: 1.5ms..4s, D: 2ms..10s, S: 0..100%, R: 2ms..10s).
• Simple Arpeggiator (up, down, one octave mode).
• 2x Unisono Mode.
• Panic button.
• MIDI automation for all sliders and pots.
• Precise fader control while holding down the “Shift” button.
• Supports all sample-rates.
• 2x oversampling.
• 23 presets.
• Tutorial pdf.
• ~2.5% CPU (Intel Core 2 CPU 6700, 44.1KHz, 24Bit, buffer-size 1024 Samples).

x0xb0x is a very cool DIY project that recreates the classic Roland TB303.

emerography via AudioLemon