Output

O
f Output’s eclectic
line-up, last year’s
granular effect
tool Portal is a
highlight; taking a
complex and
experimental
process and putting it into a plugin
package that makes it accessible
without losing any of the depth.
Their latest, Thermal, is a close
sibling, sporting a similar UI and once
again striking a balance between
ease-of-use and creative depth. The
core concern here is distortion, with
algorithms ranging from analogue-
emulated overdrive through digital
clipping and various forms of
wavefolding. There is, however, such
an abundance of additional
processing tools here that it would
almost be more accurate to describe
Thermal as a multi-effect plugin.
As with Portal, Thermal uses a
two-level UI. Upon opening it, users
are greeted with a straightforward
interface focused around a stylish XY
pad, two corresponding macro
controls and a dry/wet slider. A click
of a tab switches Thermal to its
Advanced View, opening up full
access to the inner workings of the
multi-stage effect processing.
Thermal makes use of a three
stage design, whereby each stage has
a band split option with high and low
cutoff controls allowing the effect to
be targeted at a specifi c frequency
handy tools, but they lack a one-shot
mode or the ability to trigger them via
an external MIDI input.
It’s well-equipped on paper then,
but crucially Thermal also sounds
excellent. Its multiple distortion types
and shaping tools mean it can adapt
well to various types of material, from
adding mid-range presence to
sub-bass to squashing drum loops or
adding gritty movement to pads. The
additional effects slots make it a fun
creative tool too – adding delay or
reverb in amongst distortion stages is
great for sound design, particularly
with percussive material. The 250+,
well organised presets mean there’s
plenty of inspiration at hand. This is
the sort of creative, fl exible effect
you’ll fi nd yourself turning to when
you need to overcome a creative
roadblock. Recommended.
range. Each stage’s cutoff controls
can be freely adjusted from 30Hz up
to 22kHz, with as much separation or
overlap between stages as desired. As
a result Thermal can act as a
multi-band tool, a multi-stage
processor for stacking distortion
types, or be used to create bandpass/
reject fi lter effects.
Each stage features two
processing slots. The fi rst is the
distortion effect, with 19 wave types,
each with controls for adjusting the
tone and time of the effect. The
second slot is a multi-effect that can
act as one of nine effect types,
covering compression, fi ltering, delay,
reverb and modulation effects, each
with its own shaping parameters and
a dry/wet control. Each stage also has
a high-/low-shelf EQ, plus a width
control that can adjust both side
signal volume and time-based width.
Beyond the stage processors,
Thermal has two master multi-effect
slots, which can host the same nine
effect types as the stage effects.
Finally, the signal fl ow is completed
by a master section with high- and
low-cut fi lters and a compressor.
Modulation is handled by a pair of
customisable looping envelopes,
which can be routed to pretty much
any parameter within Thermal. These
come with a stash of preset shapes
plus a randomisation tool, and have
sync, rate and humanise options for
tailoring their behaviour. They’re
THE PROS & CONS
+
Broad range of
impressive
distortion styles
Additional
processors go well
beyond distortion
Lots of handy,
well-organised
presets
-
No one-shot/MIDI
triggered option for
the envelopes
FM VERDICT
9.4
A well-equipped and
creative distortion effect
that’s capable of a wide
range of musical, often-
inspiring results
Output Thermal | Reviews
79
FMU360.rev_output.indd 79 08/07/2020 11:40