Novice users can easily create great-sounding riffs with minimal editing, while advanced users will appreciate extensive under-the-hood controls and settings allowing them to completely customize the instrument to their personal workflow. Shreddage 3 Hydra is available now via download for $149. Owners of existing Shreddage 3 instruments qualify for a discounted crossgrade price.Stratus is a highly realistic guitar sample library that simply exudes personality. From clean tones to full-on shredding, it has what it takes. Impact Soundworks are the developers behind several sound libraries which encompass orchestral, guitar, bass, drums, ethnic and many other types. We’ve reviewed a fair number of their products over the years. Some of the reviews in our past issues include Groove Bias, Momentum, Super Audio Cart and Celestia. For this issue, I wanted to explore their latest offering: Shreddage 3 Stratus. It is a brand new take on the sampled electric guitar, with 24-bit samples from the three separate pickups of the Fender Stratocaster. Here are just some of the many powerful features you’ll find in Stratus: Poly Input, TACT 2.0 articulation mapping, hammer-ons and pull-offs, portamento slides, powerchord mutes, 30+ cabinets, custom IRs and much more. I actually wrote a review on one of their other guitar libraries (Shreddage 2) in our September 2014 issue.

Shreddage 3 hydra