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Opinions on Shaperbox 2

Locks

Penguinologist
I'm thinking of picking up Shaperbox 2 by Cableguys. It looks like an incredibly useful plugin for sound design purposes. I particularly like the look of the time-warping tools to get completely different sounds out of samples. Does anyone here have any experience/opinions with the plugin or its derivatives (Time Shaper, Volume Shaper etc.)?
 
I use it for fake sidechaining and am very pleased but I haven't gotten my hands super dirty yet with the rest of the package. Definitely worth picking up IMO.
 
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Last I checked, ShaperBox didn't have a randomize feature but maybe it does now? In any case, that's one of the main reasons I went with Tantra instead.

EDIT: checked the v2 manual, and it looks like I stand corrected: "Randomize wave points: All points are set to a new random position and weight. No points are removed or added, but points snap to the background grid if the Snapped Pointer is selected. SHIFT-click to move points vertically only, preserving the rhythm."

Tantra is still awesome, but they're very similar so I'm sure you can't go wrong.
 
Last I checked, ShaperBox didn't have a randomize feature but maybe it does now? In any case, that's one of the main reasons I went with Tantra instead.

EDIT: checked the v2 manual, and it looks like I stand corrected: "Randomize wave points: All points are set to a new random position and weight. No points are removed or added, but points snap to the background grid if the Snapped Pointer is selected. SHIFT-click to move points vertically only, preserving the rhythm."

Tantra is still awesome, but they're very similar so I'm sure you can't go wrong.

That's good to know. Cheers! I hadn't heard of Tantra but it looks really neat.

The main reason I'm looking at Shaperbox 2 is because I was interested in IL Gross Beat but they don't make a VST version for Mac (only works in FL Studio). Izotope Stutter Edit looked pretty interesting but there's something about the UI that turns me off (kind of an overwhelming setup) whereas Gross had a much more streamlined workflow (which is important to me as I don't like having to spend too much time learning how a plugin works). Shaperbox 2 seems the best alternative to me in this regards as the UI looks very intuitive, so I should be able to hit the ground running.
 
Why not get Stutter Edit 2?

Seems much more powerful than anything Cableguys make. If you have other izotope products it's on sale now at $99.



It's marketed at EDM music but you can't deny the sound design power of that thing.
 
Why not get Stutter Edit 2?

Seems much more powerful than anything Cableguys make. If you have other izotope products it's on sale now at $99.

Stutter Edit 2 does look more feature-rich and is clearly a really well-engineered bit of software. But having thought about it for a while, I'm just drawn more to the simplicity of Shaperbox 2 interface.
 
For the sake of completeness here are a couple more options to modulate volume and other effects.







Edit:

Oh and also Multipass. It doesn't have drawable envelopes but it can be modulated with midi notes and audio input.

 
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Stutter Edit 2 does look more feature-rich and is clearly a really well-engineered bit of software. But having thought about it for a while, I'm just drawn more to the simplicity of Shaperbox 2 interface.

I just read your comment about IL Gross Beat. I could be wrong, but I don't think Shaperbox responds to midi notes to change patterns and stuff like other plugins like Stutter Edit or Multipass does.

This is what I'm referring to:




Edit:

Artillery is probably the grandmother of scene controlled effects for live use:

 
Oh I got another one!

Zebra includes a Zebrify plugin which can be used as an effect and receives midi too.
 
Thanks, @Pier! Super comprehensive list! I'll check them all out. I honestly didn't realise there were so many options for these effects.
 
My pleasure!

Oh btw I just noticed that ShaperBox can change the pattern via MIDI triggering so I was wrong on my previous comment.
 
I love shaperbox. it's useful for all kinds of stuff. And the presets are quite good!
 
I'm super tempted by Stutter Edit 2. I always wanted to buy v1 but I never caught it on sale and at $200 it was way overpriced.

The demos are all super over-the-top EDM crap but OTOH I think it can open up some very creative sound design possibilities.
 
Shaperbox 2 is a great value and surprisingly powerful. It definitely makes some things I used to automate now take only seconds to set up. Highly recommended. I was able to upgrade from v1 to v2 for something around $30 I think - they’re a good small company, too!
 
I'm super tempted by Stutter Edit 2. I always wanted to buy v1 but I never caught it on sale and at $200 it was way overpriced.

The demos are all super over-the-top EDM crap but OTOH I think it can open up some very creative sound design possibilities.

It seriously does look great. I think it goes on sale from time to time so might be worth keeping an eye out for that.
 
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