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Synthtopia

15 stories

SynthtopiaSynthsBehringer Opens New AQ64L 64-Pad MIDI Controller To Custom Firmware Behringer’s AQ64L is an 8×8 RGB clip-launch controller with dedicated Ableton Live and FL Studio integration.

SynthtopiaSynthsDJW Audio Intros DW-303, a Free Open-Source TB-303-Style Synthesizer DJW Audio's DW-303 is a free, open-source TB-303-style bass synthesizer featuring circuit-modeled sound generation, a 16-step sequencer, 64 patterns and support for multiple plugin formats and…

SynthtopiaSynthsSpitfire Audio Releases Eric Whitacre Eternity, Combining Analog Synths, Piano and Processed Choir Spitfire Audio's Eric Whitacre Eternity combines recordings of analog synthesizers, a historic family piano and heavily processed choir with more than 200 presets, dual-layer sound design and effects…

SynthtopiaSynthsBody Synths Laboratory Combines Dual-Channel Effects With Analog Feedback Synthesis Body Synths Laboratory is a dual-channel analog effects processor and feedback synthesizer featuring four feedback paths, PT2399-based delays, resonant filters and CV-controlled modulation.

SynthtopiaSynthsVintage Synth Review: The Alesis Andromeda A6 Analog Synthesizer The Alesis Andromeda A6 is considered one of the most ambitious analog polysynths of its era, combining an analog sound engine with extensive digital control and programming capabilities.…

SynthtopiaSynthsLarix Elektro Origami Duo Combines Dual Complex Oscillators With Mid-Side Processing Larix Elektro's new Origami Duo combines two analog oscillators, complex wavefolders, VCAs, ring modulation and Mid-Side processing in a multifunction Eurorack module that can operate as a complete…

SynthtopiaSynthsAkai Opens MPC 3 To Vibe Coding With Latest Update Akai Professional has released an official software development kit for MPC hardware, allowing developers to create custom synthesizers, effects and other plugins for compatible standalone…

SynthtopiaSynthsPatchwerk Turns The M-VAVE FM-1 Into A Modular Synthesizer Patchwerk is a modular synthesizer firmware project for the M-VAVE FM-1, adding more than 80 modules, including oscillators, filters, samplers, sequencers and effects, along with a browser-based…

SynthtopiaSynthsKonstrukt 1.2 Combines MIDI Sequencing, AUv3 Instruments And Modular Audio Routing Konstrukt combines customizable performance interfaces, MIDI processing, sequencing, sound generation, third-party plugin hosting and audio routing within a single environment.…

SynthtopiaSynthsAnukari 1.1 Adds Resonating Strings, Breath Excitation, More Than 1,000 Presets The unusual 3D physics-based synthesizer adds resonating strings, membranes, tubes and bells, along with new excitation models, expanded sound-design tools and more than 1,000 factory presets.… Read…

SynthtopiaSynthsVertikal Captures Nils Frahm’s Monumental Piano In A New Kontakt Instrument Native Instruments has introduced Vertikal, a virtual piano instrument based on the extraordinary 14.7-foot vertical piano played by composer and electronic musician Nils Frahm.

SynthtopiaSynthsSchmidt Eight Voice Polyphonic Software Synthesizer Now Available Schmidt Synthesizer has introduced Schmidt Vi, a software recreation of its flagship analog synthesizer, bringing its four-oscillator architecture, five-filter signal path and extensive modulation…

SynthtopiaSynthsAudio Damage Introduces Sandbender, A Four-Operator FM Synth With Wavefolding & MPE Audio Damage's new Sandbender synthesizer combines four-operator FM synthesis with wave shaping, wavefolding, extensive modulation, and a low-pass gate, offering a different approach to programming…

SynthtopiaSynthsKrakli Updates Its Free Synthesizer Collection With Mac Support Krakli has expanded its freeware synthesizer collection to macOS and introduced KXTRA, a new hybrid FM instrument with an expandable operator architecture.…

SynthtopiaSynthsBram Bos Intros MIDGAR Creative Ambient Processor MIDGAR combines phrase capture, distortion, spectral processing, stereo delay and shimmer reverb in a multi-stage effects processor for mobile and desktop music production.…

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· Trade shows and launch events, this week's stories from each corner of the industry, and what its press is covering.

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About

Three pins, and nearly every signal in this business passes through them.

The magazine is named after the cable: the microphone in the booth, the line to the desk, the DMX run that fires the lights. Studio, stage and rig share the same cable. Most magazines pick one of the three. This one covers all of it, because the people we read do too — the engineer mixing a record on Tuesday is on front of house by Saturday.

More than three hundred sources, in sixteen languages: makers and their release notes, reviewers who put a hand on the thing, studios and touring crews, the producers and collectives surfacing this month and the scenes they came out of. Synths and modular, plugins and DAWs, guitars and drums, microphones, monitors, PA and lighting. What the trade is talking about is counted and plotted. The editor's letter has just started; it will find its rhythm.

For each story: a headline, a short excerpt, one picture and the link out. We never reprint the article, and the picture belongs to the maker or the photographer. A German review appears in German and a Japanese one in Japanese, as the writer published it; the link goes to the original.

Nothing is sold on this site. When a link leads to a shop, it is the maker's shop, not ours.