XILS Lab's XILS 3 continues in XILS Lab's relentless pursuit of the detailed emulation of classic and underrepresented synthesizers. The XILS 3 invokes the EMS VCS3, a darling of both The Who and Pink Floyd. As is the case with all of XILS Lab’s synthesizer emulation plugins, the XILS 3 faithfully recreates all of the capacities of the original but does not stop there. It features three oscillators, one with a sine and sawtooth wave generator and two more with square and triangle on board. Add to that a noise generator with level and color control and you have the building blocks of rich and complex synthesizer sounds. There is a ring modulator and a spring reverb emulator that are separate from the effects section, which include the expected chorus and delay. This clever separation of effects according to their character is a brilliant architectural consideration. The trapezoid envelope generator is particularly charming, and is equipped with a controllable looping option. A standard ADSR envelope is part of the mix as well. The XILS 3 is also host to a powerful sequencer that can be clocked to the host or run on its own. It is a 128 event, three-track sequencer that can be routed to six outputs, which can be rerouted to a variety of other destinations. One of its many quirky aspects is a pitch-tracker that detects the frequency of incoming audio and applies it as a modulation source. The presets are stunning, obviously created at the loving hands of dedicated synthesizer enthusiasts, just like you. The XILS 3 is a complex and wonderful tool for anyone who already lives and breathes analog sound design, or anyone who instinctively knows that their lives have been empty shells without this breathtaking plugin.