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Synth Anatomy

10 stories

Amiteque FM-01: a desktop FB-01-style YM2164 FM Synthesizer

Synth AnatomySynthsAmiteque FM-01: a desktop FB-01-style YM2164 FM Synthesizer Amiteque FM-01 is an upcoming desktop 4-operator Yamaha FB-01-style FM Synthesizer powered by a real Yamaha YM2164 FM chip. FM has become a major topic again in recent years with the rise of FM synths [...]

Synth AnatomySynthsPhantomexposure Sprite Spores: free synth is a multi-chip trip through retro sound Phantomexposure Sprite Spores is a new free Synthesizer plugin for macOS and Windows with multiple chip emulations. Many musicians love retro sounds.

modartt Airteq: the lovechild of a Synthesizer and a pipe organ

Synth AnatomySynthsmodartt Airteq: the lovechild of a Synthesizer and a pipe organ modartt Airteq is a new, unique sound design instrument plugin that physically models air flowing through pipes and plays like a synth. In an interview, composer Hans Zimmer described the pipe organ as “the largest [...]

Arturia MiniFreak 5.0: multi-engine polysynth gets wavetable and sample import

Synth AnatomySynthsArturia MiniFreak 5.0: multi-engine polysynth gets wavetable and sample import Arturia MiniFreak 5.0 is out now: the multi-engine polysynth lets you import user wavetables and user samples. In 2022, Arturia released the MiniFreak 2.0 update with wavetables, followed in 2024 by the addition of…

Joe Landers Profligacy: an emulator for the Korg Prophecy physical modeling synth

Synth AnatomySynthsJoe Landers Profligacy: an emulator for the Korg Prophecy physical modeling synth Joe Landers has released Profligacy, an early alpha version of its newly developed emulator for the Korg Prophecy physical modeling Synthesizer.

Phantomexposure Interphase Cartograph: a Casio VZ-1-style phase distortion synth (win & mac)

Synth AnatomySynthsPhantomexposure Interphase Cartograph: a Casio VZ-1-style phase distortion synth (win & mac) Phantomexposure Interphase Cartograph is a new Casio VZ-1/VZ-10M-style phase-distortion synthesizer plugin for Windows and now macOS.

Monomachine & Machinedrum emulators: Elektron’s iconic instruments for your DAW

Synth AnatomySynthsMonomachine & Machinedrum emulators: Elektron’s iconic instruments for your DAW Emulators for the Monomachine & Machinedrum are now available in Joe Landers’ fork of the TUS’s Gearmulator project. Emulators are the hot topic in the plugin world these days.

Dirtywave M8 goes iOS: run the full tracker engine on your iPhone and iPad

Synth AnatomySynthsDirtywave M8 goes iOS: run the full tracker engine on your iPhone and iPad Dirtywave brings the full M8 hardware tracker engine to iOS, with the same synths, sampler, and sequencing power. The M8 by Dirtywave is a portable tracker in a game-held form factor, housing a powerful engine [...]

Dirtywave MX: a battery-powered performance mixer with MIDI and punch-in effects

Synth AnatomySynthsDirtywave MX: a battery-powered performance mixer with MIDI and punch-in effects Dirtywave MX is an upcoming battery-powered hardware performance mixer with punch effects and full MIDI support. Dirtywave’s M8 is one of the most widely used modern hardware trackers. It also boasts a huge community.

Neutral Labs Scrooge: firmware 1.3 brings a MIDI upgrade to the glitchy semi-modular synth

Synth AnatomySynthsNeutral Labs Scrooge: firmware 1.3 brings a MIDI upgrade to the glitchy semi-modular synth Neutral Labs Scrooge is a new glitchy, malfunctioning passive semi-modular analog Synthesizer from the Elmyra 2 hybrid drone synth maker: firmware 1.3 out now.

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About

XLR is a magazine, a radar and a diary about music gear and the making of music — for the people who make records and put on shows, wherever they do it.

The name is the three-pin connector that every signal in the business passes through: the microphone on stage and in the booth, the line to the desk, the DMX cable that runs the lights. Studio, stage and lighting rig share it, and so does this magazine. Every few hours XLR collects what the makers shipped, what the reviewers heard, what the studios and the touring crews are doing, which producers and collectives are surfacing and what they are saying — synths and modular, plugins and DAWs, guitars and drums, microphones, monitors, PA and lights, the rooms and the people — from a few hundred sources in English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese and more, then plots what is moving. The editor writes a letter every few days. Nothing is sold here; when a link leads to a shop, that is the maker's shop, not ours.