Steinberg FM Lab (download)

General

With FM Lab, Steinberg more or less created its own FM8 (Native Instruments) of sorts. Since the latter is no longer being worked on, we can say that FM Lab is a more current and future-proof product. Many things are similar, and there are differences. The main similarities (with some slack here and there) are the free algorithm, filter, effects and segment envelopes. A key difference in FM Lab is that you work with eight operators. Now there are few sounds that need to be much more complex than three or four operators (it soon becomes unwieldy), but with eight operators you do have extra possibilities to create multiple stacks. Four times a 2-on structure, for example.

Who is FM Lab for?

As always with FM: it's not a difficult concept per se, but the hundreds of parameters make it a challenge to really get the hang of it right away and grasp what this synth model really does. Fortunately, there are plenty of presets available, and those who look on the blog at Bax will also see two articles on FM synthesis. The question remains: which package do you choose? For true FM fans, we should actually recommend both packages. In some areas FM Lab wins, and in other areas FM8 still wins. What is true for both packages: FM synthesis is perhaps the most elegant form of synthesis there is. This is typically one of those packages that replaces a lot of other packages. With a good sample player and an FM synthesiser, you can basically do anything you want. Should you not yet have an FM package at all, the comparison is, of course, hardly valid. In that case, you will have a great time with FM Lab, which at least has its timeliness!