JSplash Apps has announced a day-one iOS 27 update for Guitar Wiz, adding camera-based chord recognition, automatic tempo detection, expanded Siri actions, Apple Intelligence support, and a Liquid Glass redesign. Guitar Wiz can now recognize guitar chords from a lyric sheet, songbook, screen, or screenshot and open the matching chord in the app. The release also adds tempo detection: users can let Guitar Wiz listen to music playing nearby, identify the BPM, and set the Metronome to the matching speed for practice. Siri support has been expanded to cover playing and finding chords, managing favorites and Chord Collections, controlling the Metronome, detecting tempo, opening the Tuner, and working with Song Maker documents. A user can, for example, say, “Play C major in Guitar Wiz.” Siri can also suggest shortcuts based on the actions a player uses most. The iOS 27 release brings a refreshed Liquid Glass interface, new Extra Large widgets for recently viewed chords, quick tools, and Chord Collections, plus layouts that make better use of larger iPad and Mac displays. Guitar Wiz also adds improved Apple Intelligence context awareness, link-based entry points, Dynamic Island support, and Apple Watch access through complications and Siri. Accessibility features include VoiceOver, Dynamic Type, improved color differentiation, and haptic feedback. Guitar Wiz is available today on the App Store for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. Read More

DAWJunkie has announced the release of Kelly Clarksynth, a free virtual instrument plugin for Windows and macOS. Kelly Clarksynth is built around vocal samples transformed into playable synth sounds, combining the character and texture of the human voice with a synthesizer-style workflow. The instrument includes a collection of presets designed to turn its vocal source material into pads, leads, atmospheric textures and other playable sounds. Features Vocal-based sound sources. Melodic arpeggiator. Factory preset library. Sound-shaping controls. Built-in effects. Preset browser. Windows and macOS support. VST3, AU and AAX plug-in formats. Read More

DAWJunkie has announced the release of Kelly Clarksynth, a free virtual instrument plugin for Windows and macOS. Kelly Clarksynth is built around vocal samples transformed into playable synth sounds, combining the character and texture of the human voice with a synthesizer-style workflow. The instrument includes a collection of presets designed to turn its vocal source material into pads, leads, atmospheric textures and other playable sounds. Features Vocal-based sound sources. Melodic arpeggiator. Factory preset library. Sound-shaping controls. Built-in effects. Preset browser. Windows and macOS support. VST3, AU and AAX plug-in formats. Read More

Sampleson has announced the release of Backgrounds, a sound design tool that allows you to create immersive soundscapes by simply dragging words/ideas onto a canvas. Mix “Strings” with “Analog Bass”, or “Bassoon” with “Thunder” and get evolving soundscapes in just seconds. It runs 100% on the user’s machine. No cloud or subscription needed. How it works Backgrounds is built around a Semantic Audio Retrieval model that understands how words relate to sound — running more than 11,000 embeddings entirely on the user’s machine, across a bank of over 22,000 audio cells curated by Sampleson’s team. The workflow has three steps: Drag — Drop keywords that describe a scene onto the canvas, like sticky notes for sound. Generate — Backgrounds will start generating evolving atmospheres blending the words you placed onto the canvas. Animate — Move them around to mix or pan over the time. Record movements on your DAW (via automatable parameters) or directly capture the live audio with its built-in recorder. Each keyword can be regenerated individually with a single click, or removed and replaced, letting users refine a scene without starting over. Five keyword families — Orchestra-based, Synth-based, Bass-Rumbles, Places, and Custom — cover common cinematic needs, while the Custom category lets users type any word and have the engine semantically match it to sound. Finished soundscapes can be captured as WAV files and exported directly to the desktop or dragged into any DAW. 100% Local. No cloud generation. Backgrounds runs 100% on the user’s computer. There is no cloud upload, no server queue, and no subscription — the plugin is purchased once and generates unlimited soundscapes. Pricing & Availability Backgrounds is available now at an introductory price of $39 (regularly $59) at sampleson.com/backgrounds. It runs as a standalone app on Mac and Windows, and as a VST3 and AU plugin inside any compatible host. YouTube/ITJOoZMiS7E Read More

Remi Blaze has released Prismate, a free parametric EQ for macOS. Prismate Three bands do the shaping: a low shelf from 20 to 500 Hz, a mid bell from 200 Hz to 8 kHz with parametric Q between 0.1 and 10.0, and a high shelf from 2 kHz to 20 kHz, each running to ±24 dB with its own bypass for a quick A/B of one band on its own. A low cut sweeps 20 to 1000 Hz at 12, 24 or 48 dB per octave, and a high cut covers 1 kHz up to 20 kHz. Q-Link scales the mid band’s Q inversely with its gain, so bandwidth narrows as you push it the way analog EQs behave. Band Solo isolates the low, mid or high band so you can hear what you’re shaping instead of guessing. Auto-Gain matches levels by RMS, which keeps a before and after honest rather than just louder. Natural Phase is a 2x oversampled mode that stops the EQ curve cramping near Nyquist, which is what keeps a high shelf smooth at the top rather than brittle. Latency is reported to the host only while it’s switched on, so bypass stays delay-compensated and tracks stay aligned. The display is a 2048-point FFT spectrum analyser on a logarithmic axis refreshing at 30 Hz, with the live EQ response drawn over it. Output runs -24 to +6 dB with a tanh soft clipper near full scale as a ceiling, and the window resizes from 500×400 up to 900×750. The One-Knob Raw Version There’s also Prismate Raw, a free one-knob version. A single AIR macro opens the top end through the same Natural Phase enhancer with the shelf and level decisions already dialed in behind it, for when a track needs air rather than an EQ session. Availability Prismate is free. It requires macOS 15.0 or later and ships as AU, VST3 and Standalone. Read More

AcusMagic has Sonicrama V2 at an introductory price of €89 until October 4th, 2026, after which the price is €129. Sonicrama V2 is a wavetable synthesizer with four oscillators, per-key meta-tuning across all 128 MIDI keys, and a GPU cymatics engine that solves the modal response of a vibrating plate and draws it in real time while the instrument is played. The licence is a one-time purchase with no subscription. It works offline, covers three machines and can be transferred. The demo does not expire. It runs in 15-minute sessions and watermarks exported audio, with every sound design feature unlocked. Read More

AcusMagic has released Sonicrama V2, a wavetable synthesizer for macOS and Windows, in AU, VST3, CLAP and standalone formats. The instrument combines four wavetable oscillators with per-key meta-tuning: each of the 128 MIDI keys can carry its own tuning, so a scale is built key by key rather than loaded from a table. Tunings can be derived from ratios, from equal divisions of the octave such as 31-EDO, or set by hand. Modulation is routed through the NEXUS patchbay, which offers Math, Ratio and BWE follow modes. LFOs and envelopes can be assigned to the parameters of other LFOs and envelopes, so modulators can shape one another. In BWE mode a frequency splits into a stereo pair with a controlled difference between the two sides. Sonicrama V2 also includes a cymatics engine that runs on the GPU. Rather than analysing the output spectrum, it solves the modal response of a vibrating plate and draws the result with 400,000 particles at 60fps, so the Chladni figure on screen follows what is being played. Holding a note and changing the plate changes the figure. A Lissajous 3D display is included alongside it. Features: 4 wavetable oscillators. Per-key meta-tuning across all 128 MIDI keys. NEXUS patchbay with Math, Ratio and BWE follow modes. Modulation of modulator parameters by LFOs and envelopes. GPU cymatics engine, modal solver, 400,000 particles at 60fps. Lissajous 3D display. AU, VST3, CLAP and standalone. MacOS 11 or later, Universal 2. Windows 10 21H2 or later and Windows 11, 64-bit. Pricing & Availability Sonicrama V2 is available for €89 until October 4th, 2026 (Reg. €129). A demo version is available. YouTube.com/watch?v=IA9BjrVWe8M Read More

Autodafe has released Vintage Emulator Studio (VES) v0.9.289.1, the first maintenance update to the recently released MAME-based virtual instrument environment. The new version focuses mainly on MIDI handling, ROM diagnostics, CPU usage and a number of fixes reported after the initial release. New in v0.9.289.1: Improved MIDI and SysEx handling across several machines. Fixed Pitch Bend and Modulation support where previously unavailable or incomplete. Improved ROM detection and diagnostics, with clearer feedback when ROMs are missing, incorrect or incomplete. Added new UI rendering options to reduce redraw activity and CPU usage. Added the possibility to keep the emulated display static or hide it when not needed. Improved overall performance in a number of situations. Fixed several machine-specific MIDI and initialization issues. General stability improvements and minor bug fixes. Various UI and workflow refinements. Because VES does not currently use an automatic updater, existing users need to download the new version again from their Autodafe account. Users who have not downloaded VES before can get it from: autodafe.net/vintage-emulator-studio.html VES is available for macOS, Windows and Linux, both as a standalone application and in plugin formats, and requires users to provide their own ROMs. Read More

Every Shane Audio plugin is 30% off until September 30, 2026, with the code SEPT30 – applied automatically through the Buy links on the Shane Audio site. 37 paid plugins: compressors (1B opto, FET, TubeComp, BusComp, Multi), EQ and channel (EQ, 73), tape and saturation (Tape 424, Dist, Dist II), reverb and delay (Verb, Spring, Shimmer, Analog Delay), modulation (Chorus, Phaser, Flanger, Flux, Rotary), pitch and vocal (Tune, Autotune, DS, Vox), and instruments (EP, Wurli, Piano, 60, 106, CX, Moogybass). Bundles are included: Everything Bundle (all 44 plugins) $149 to $104, Effects Bundle (30 effects) $79 to $55, Instruments Bundle (7) $59 to $41. Every plugin runs unrestricted for 3 days before it asks for a licence. macOS AU / VST3 / AAX (Universal) and Windows VST3 / AAX. Read More

discoDSP has announced four updates for their range of plugins. Discovery Pro loads Nord Sample Library files and plays stereo waves in stereo, Bliss imports sfArk and ReCycle REX, OPL gains an AN1x-style unison, and ThrillMe gets five saturation circuits per band. Discovery Pro 9.4 Discovery Pro is a virtual analog synthesizer and sampler with 4 layers, 12 oscillators, 16 filter types including Nord Lead 2, Moog Ladder and Oberheim SEM models, SFZ/WAV/SoundFont/DWB/Bliss and Nord Sample Library support, PADsynth re-synthesis and Nord Lead 2 SysEx import/export. Version 9.4 loads Nord Sample Library files (.nsmp, .nsmp3 and .nsmp4) and introduces the Wave Stereo Engine. YouTube.com/watch?v=DNdXR8EgpJA This update is free for all Discovery Pro 8.x and 9.x customers. Discovery Pro is available for Windows, macOS and Linux in VST, VST3, AU and standalone formats. Bliss 3.23 Bliss is a professional sampler with VST/AU and hardware instrument recording capabilities, Visual Key Mapper, built-in wave editor, and comprehensive format support including AKAI S1000/S3000/S5000/S6000, NKI, EXS, SFZ, SoundFont2, and CD-ROM disk images. Version 3.23 adds sfArk and ReCycle REX import, REX export, and fixes slice timing in MIDI file export. This update is free for all Bliss 2.x and 3.x customers. OPL 3.1 OPL emulates the Yamaha OPL2 (1985), the FM chip behind AdLib and Sound Blaster game soundtracks of the late 80s and early 90s. Two-operator FM with eight waveforms per operator, OPL2 percussion mode, partial OPL3 features, 16x oversampling, 2000+ presets and SBI import. Version 3.1 adds a Unison control modeled on the Yamaha AN1x and renders the chip output in stereo. This update is free for all OPL 3.x customers. ThrillMe 3.13 ThrillMe is a four-band compressor with a Lock control that ties parameters across bands, so you dial in one band’s attack and release and snap the rest to it instead of setting twelve knobs by hand. Part of the discoDSP FX Bundle and available for iOS as an AUv3. Version 3.13 replaces the per-band saturate/clip switch with five circuits: Clean (dynamics only), Tape (symmetric tanh, odd harmonics), Tube (the previous asymmetric saturator, still the default), Soft (cubic soft clipper with unity small-signal gain) and Clip (hard clip at the oversampled rate), adds circuit pills with modifier clicks, consolidated joined groups, knob scales and 21 new presets. Existing sessions, presets and automation load unchanged. ThrillMe 3.13 ships with discoDSP FX Bundle 3.14. The update is free for all FX Bundle customers. Read More

Tunary Instruments has released ARGISH Pocket, a mobile version of its self-playing synthesizer ARGISH, on Google Play for Android. It uses the same generative engine as the ARGISH desktop plug-in. Once it is opened, the app composes on its own and keeps going, generating chords, a bassline, an arpeggio and drums in real time and in key with no playing required. Harmony is steered from a wheel at the centre of the screen. Moving it shifts the music between calmer and tenser, or lighter and darker, while the arrangement continues in time. Five mood presets, Gentle, Haze, Deep, Still and Epic, set the overall character in one tap, and an Evolve control lets a piece develop further on its own. A settings drawer exposes the full instrument: tempo from 40 to 200 BPM, any key, six voices with brightness, attack and release controls, a five-channel mixer, reverb and character, and independent drum and bass patterns. An Arrange section sets the length of a piece, from 30 seconds to continuous, along with the shape of its dynamics. Twelve accent colours are available for the interface. ARGISH Pocket also sends MIDI. It outputs chords on channel 1, the arpeggio on channel 2, bass on channel 3 and drums on channel 10, so it can drive plug-ins and hardware from a phone. MIDI output is off by default and is enabled with a single switch. Pricing & Availability The app is free to download and plays for three minutes at a time. A single in-app purchase of 14.99 USD unlocks continuous playback permanently, with no subscription and no account. An iOS version is in development. A guide covering installation and MIDI routing into DAWs such as Logic and Ableton is available on the Tunary Instruments website: Get it: play.google.com Guide: tunaryinstruments.com/help/argish-pocket Desktop plug-in: tunaryinstruments.com/argish Read More

Tunary Instruments has released ARGISH Pocket, a mobile version of its self-playing synthesizer ARGISH, on Google Play for Android. It uses the same generative engine as the ARGISH desktop plug-in. Once it is opened, the app composes on its own and keeps going, generating chords, a bassline, an arpeggio and drums in real time and in key with no playing required. Harmony is steered from a wheel at the centre of the screen. Moving it shifts the music between calmer and tenser, or lighter and darker, while the arrangement continues in time. Five mood presets, Gentle, Haze, Deep, Still and Epic, set the overall character in one tap, and an Evolve control lets a piece develop further on its own. A settings drawer exposes the full instrument: tempo from 40 to 200 BPM, any key, six voices with brightness, attack and release controls, a five-channel mixer, reverb and character, and independent drum and bass patterns. An Arrange section sets the length of a piece, from 30 seconds to continuous, along with the shape of its dynamics. Twelve accent colours are available for the interface. ARGISH Pocket also sends MIDI. It outputs chords on channel 1, the arpeggio on channel 2, bass on channel 3 and drums on channel 10, so it can drive plug-ins and hardware from a phone. MIDI output is off by default and is enabled with a single switch. Pricing & Availability The app is free to download and plays for three minutes at a time. A single in-app purchase of 14.99 USD unlocks continuous playback permanently, with no subscription and no account. An iOS version is in development. A guide covering installation and MIDI routing into DAWs such as Logic and Ableton is available on the Tunary Instruments website: Get it: play.google.com Guide: tunaryinstruments.com/help/argish-pocket Desktop plug-in: tunaryinstruments.com/argish Read More

Tapechild has released UDS-16, a 16-voice drum synthesizer for macOS and Windows. Every drum is synthesized in real time as you play — nothing is replayed from a sample. The engine is built from two rare Soviet drum circuits and an original design of Tapechild’s own. UDS-16 ships with four synthesis models. UDS-1987 and UDS-1988 are two voicings of the Lel UDS channel: a free-running analog tone that never starts twice from the same place, digital noise for texture, a resonant click for the attack, and an output stage that bites when you push it. ROKTON draws on the Formanta Rockton. UDS-16 is Tapechild’s own engine, built for drums you design from nothing — a pitched body with its own pitch envelope, PUNCH and PITCH TIME to set how hard a hit lands and how fast it falls, MATERIAL for six inharmonic partials of resonant, metallic colour, and DRIVE that saturates in the voice of each instrument. The models are inspired by the hardware rather than exact emulations, and UDS-16 is not affiliated with Lel or Formanta. Each drum is built from a separate tone layer and noise layer, each with its own attack and decay, so you decide how much of a hit is weight and how much is air. A resonant Click control sets how hard the front of the hit lands.Two built-in effects finish the sound. Tape saturation adds Drive, Wow and Tone — saturation thickens each hit and adds harmonics as you push it, while a slow pitch drift keeps repeated hits from landing identically. A gated reverb, with Size, Hold and Mix, puts a room around the hit and then cuts the tail: long enough for an eighties snare, short enough to stay out of the way. Factory kits and single-drum presets cover every model, and you can mix models inside one kit — a UDS-16 kick, a UDS-1987 snare, ROKTON hats. Save a single drum, a whole kit, or your own edit of a factory kit. Pricing & Availability Priced at $49, UDS-16 runs as VST3, Audio Unit and standalone on macOS 11 or later, with Universal 2 support for Apple Silicon and Intel. On Windows, it runs as VST3 and standalone on 64-bit Windows 10 and 11. A single license activates on up to three machines, online or offline, with no iLok and no dongle, and includes free updates within the UDS-16 line. Audio demos and full details are at tapechild.com/uds-16 Read More

Hermann Seib has announced that the free VSTHost application for 32- and 64-bit Windows has been updated to v1.58. Changes against the previous version: An ARM64 version has been added for ARM6 windows. CLAP Plugins are supported. VST3 support has been vastly improved. Plus the usual ton of small improvements, changes and bug fixes. Read More

Pinzu has released SORYNO TAPE Free, a free tape saturation plug-in for Windows. SORYNO TAPE Free is the fifth SORYNO product. The first four (an EQ, a compressor, a limiter and a de-esser) tidy a mix up; this one adds to it. SORYNO TAPE Free is built around showing what the saturation is doing: A transfer curve that bends as DRIVE is raised, with a glowing dot for where the sound is right now. The curve on screen and the audio come from the same calculation. A tape tone curve, a BEFORE / AFTER level view with the difference filled in and shown in dB, and a speed lane. The graph that responds to the control just moved is framed in that control’s panel colour, with its name and value, for about two seconds. This also happens for automation, presets and A/B. An aliasing readout that shows the measured figure for the chosen oversampling setting. The controls: DRIVE from 0 to 100 %. At 0 nothing is distorted and the curve is a straight line. TYPE (Tape, Tube or Transformer) and MIX for parallel saturation. IN and OUT trim from -24 to +24 dB, and AUTO GAIN, which takes back the loudness the saturation adds so the comparison is fair. QUALITY (oversampling) at 1x or 2x, 2x by default. Latency is zero at 1x and 3 samples at 48 kHz at 2x, and one instance at 2x uses about 1.4 % of a single CPU core. 14 presets and user presets, A/B comparison with an undoable copy between the two settings, undo/redo, tooltips and a resizable window. Bypass is latency compensated, so switching the plug-in off does not shift the timing against other tracks. Availability SORYNO TAPE Free is available as a VST3 plugin for Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit). SORYNO TAPE Pro, which adds tape speed, bias, wow and flutter, band limits for the saturation, Mid/Side, 4x and 8x oversampling and 44 presets, is in preparation. User presets made in the free version carry over to Pro automatically. 2x oversampling is included in the free version on purpose, and controls that belong to the paid Pro version stay visible on screen in grey, so it is clear what Pro would add. The plug-in is distributed through BOOTH, which requires a free pixiv account to download. The ZIP includes an English readme. Read More

RC MIX has released RC RING and RC SNARE, two plugins aimed at shaping recorded snare drums while keeping the original performance. Both use the company’s AUTO processing, which adapts frequency work to the drum being fed in. RC RING RC RING is a free plugin focused on snare overtone control. A single dial dampens or accentuates ringing. AUTO identifies ringing frequencies across multiple bands and targets the tail of each hit, leaving the initial attack alone. RC MIX positions it as a way to record a snare more open and decide resonance later in the mix. RC SNARE RC SNARE is a dedicated snare channel strip that combines transient shaping, adaptive frequency processing, resonance control, parallel compression, and harmonic enhancement. Six controls cover Attack (stick hit), Body (fundamental weight), Crack (high-mid presence and harmonics), Ring (resonant overtones), Punch (compression and thickness), and Air (high-end sheen and strainer detail). AUTO adapts Body, Crack, and Ring to the drum. Pricing and Availability RC RING is free. RC SNARE is $49 USD. Both are available for macOS 12 and later (Apple Silicon and Intel) as AU, VST3, and AAX; Windows 11 and later as VST3 and AAX. Read More

Nova Sound has announced the release of the Falling Into Winter Fest and Free WAV Sound Pack. Falling Into Winter Fest Master Collection Falling Into Winter Fest is a 24-bit 48K WAV library comprising sound effects, and instrument sounds designed for film, games, and seasonal content production. The collection features over 450 holiday themed sound effects including Halloween environmental foley and specific event-based sounds, Thanksgiving and Christmas: Environmental Ambience: Leaves, trees, wind, suburban settings, and snow day atmospheres. Festive Foley: Festival and community gathering atmospheres, campfires, and pumpkin smashing. Domestic Sounds: Thanksgiving dinner/dining scenes and Christmas gift wrapping. Snow Fall Library: Over 100 sounds dedicated to snow, ice, and water textures. Free WAV Sound Pack To celebrate the release of the new WAV EP and the Falling Into Winter Fest Sound Master Collection there’s a sound pack featuring 10+ sound FX free for a limited time at novasoundwav.com/soundwavexpress YouTube.com/watch?v=qwrbrVd2tCc YouTube.com/watch?v=MYwZCWeLCE4 YouTube/4PxUmopwe6Q Read More

GSi has updated Piano Studio, the physically modeled grand piano plugin, to version 1.1.0 with the following changes: Improved piano physical model with less “chorusy” attack transients, more stable tails, increased dynamic response. Improved limiter effect with properly filtered side-chain. Improved microphone and preamplifier responses, differences between models are more evident and effective. Improved MIDIFile viewer with better horizontal scroll and cursor auto-follow feature. Added “Output Level” global option to boost or attenuate the overall output level. Added “Enable Half Pedal” global option to support piano controllers equipped with a continuous sustain pedal. Added “Polyphony” global option with three possible choices. MidiFile WAV renderer now shows a progress bar and can be aborted at any time. Changed welcome screen for the iPad version. Fixed frozen EQ editor while the audio process was in idle. Read More

Q-Audio has released Magik Mastering, a mastering assistant specially suited for dance music styles. They say: With an intuitive interface and a powerful processing engine, it transforms your tracks into club-ready, festival, or streaming-optimized masters. Features: 7 intensity levels (from Low to Extreme) for precise control. Smart Audio Analysis that automatically optimizes parameters based on audio content. Professional pipeline with 10+ effects: EQ, compression, saturation, limiter, and more. Adjustable LUFS target from -4 to -12 dB. Smart suggestions based on musical genre. Optimization for Club, Festival, Streaming, and Dynamic. Dance-Specific Effects. 6x Pumping Compression – The signature breathing effect for Techno/EDM. Sidechain Compression – Rhythmic ducking with Librosa beat tracking. Parallel Compression (New York Style) with 3 intensity levels. Multiband Compression – Transparent frequency-band processing. Pricing & Availability Magik Mastering is available for Windows and macOS and is free / donationware. Read More

ABYZOR has released IZZY Synth, a free synthesizer for Windows designed to make sound creation ridiculously simple. It’s the first release in the new IZZY family of simple music production tools from ABYZOR. IZZY Synth takes a different approach to synthesis by hiding unnecessary complexity and focusing on the musical result. Choose a sound type, generate a patch, tweak a few intuitive controls, and play. Features 8 Patch Slots: create and keep multiple sounds in a single session. Four Sound Types: generate BASS, STAB, LEAD and PLUCK sounds. One-Click Generation: instantly create a new sound without navigating complex synthesis menus. 9 Macro Controls: shape the generated sound using simple, intuitive controls. Built-In MIDI Keyboard: play and test sounds directly inside IZZY. Real-Time Waveform Visualization: see the sound respond while playing. Standalone Version: use IZZY outside a DAW as a standalone instrument. VST3: integrate IZZY directly into your favorite VST3-compatible DAW. Free: IZZY Synth is available as a free download with no license required. Pricing & Availability IZZY Synth is free and is available for Windows VST3 and Standalone. A macOS version is coming soon. ABYZOR IZZY Synth – Launch Video Read More

ABYZOR has released IZZY Synth, a free synthesizer for Windows designed to make sound creation ridiculously simple. It’s the first release in the new IZZY family of simple music production tools from ABYZOR. IZZY Synth takes a different approach to synthesis by hiding unnecessary complexity and focusing on the musical result. Choose a sound type, generate a patch, tweak a few intuitive controls, and play. Features 8 Patch Slots: create and keep multiple sounds in a single session. Four Sound Types: generate BASS, STAB, LEAD and PLUCK sounds. One-Click Generation: instantly create a new sound without navigating complex synthesis menus. 9 Macro Controls: shape the generated sound using simple, intuitive controls. Built-In MIDI Keyboard: play and test sounds directly inside IZZY. Real-Time Waveform Visualization: see the sound respond while playing. Standalone Version: use IZZY outside a DAW as a standalone instrument. VST3: integrate IZZY directly into your favorite VST3-compatible DAW. Free: IZZY Synth is available as a free download with no license required. Pricing & Availability IZZY Synth is free and is available for Windows VST3 and Standalone. A macOS version is coming soon. ABYZOR IZZY Synth – Launch Video Read More

Bitlantis has released version 1.2.3 of Kveik, its MIDI step sequencer for VST3 and AU. Kveik makes no sound itself and sends MIDI to drum instruments, synths or hardware. Version 1.2 is mostly about melodic parts, with scales per track and a new chord lane. The updates 1.2.1 and 1.2.3 add a few smaller features and improve host support. Studio One, for example, now receives all 16 MIDI channels. Changes in 1.2.0: Scale per track, with 40 scales plus a custom scale, root note, octave and transpose. The drawn pitches are kept, the scale is applied during playback and MIDI export. Transpose and octave can be automated. New chord lane with 24 chord types. In Scale mode the chords follow the scale of the track. Strum per block, with spacing, direction and a velocity ramp. Notes can be longer than one step. Dragging a note into the next one makes it legato, for glides on mono synths. Velocity compressor per block and a note range per track. 15 groove templates, among them MPC swing from 54 to 66 %, Logic 8 swing and a lazy Dilla-style groove. Each template also has its own velocity profile. Help mode: with the ? button on, every control shows a short explanation on hover (English and German for now). Arrangement blocks can repeat up to 16 times. Two new play directions: Leapfrog and Odd/Even. MIDI import keeps timing offsets, note lengths and pitch. Changed behaviour: block speed now changes the block length. At 0.5x a block plays all its steps over twice the time. In arrangements with a speed other than 1x, the following blocks move. Changes in 1.2.1: Tracks can be reordered by dragging the colour bar. Mute and solo of each track are available as host parameters. Velocity ramp for rolls, and a compressor for the shift lane. Right-click on a pitch bar shows a small keyboard. The mouse wheel only changes values with Ctrl (Cmd on Mac). Before, scrolling through the tracks changed values by accident. Fixes in 1.2.1 and 1.2.3: Studio One / Fender Studio Pro only received MIDI channel 1. Kveik now reports 16 channels on its MIDI bus, so each track can use its own channel. FL Studio: notes were missing or played twice, mostly at the loop start. In rare cases, in any host, a note right at a block boundary was dropped. Windows: crash when switching presets, and crash with preset names containing letters like ä or é. Such letters were also shown wrong in preset and track names (macOS and Windows). Kveik now shows a notice when the host has set it to bypass. Before, it simply stopped without any hint. Several of these changes were requested in the Kveik thread here on KVR. Kveik is available for macOS (VST3, AU) and Windows (VST3) at USD 49, one-time purchase. A 14-day trial with all features is available at kveik.ch. The update is free for existing users. Read More

Oxo Music has released Oxo Steps, a free step sequencer and arpeggiator for macOS. Enter one chord and derive up to 6 independent sequences on 6 MIDI channels. For example: Track 1 (MIDI channel 1): a bass line built from the chord’s lowest note. Track 2 (MIDI channel 2): chord stabs using 2 or 3 chord notes. Track 3 (MIDI channel 3): an arpeggio running through all the chord’s notes. Track 4 (MIDI channel 4): occasional random in-key notes. Change the chord and everything follows. Oxo Steps is available for free at oxo-music.com for macOS VST3/AU (macOS 12+). The iPad version, released back in July, is unchanged: a limited free version (2 tracks) and a paid unlock to the full version (6 tracks) for $14.99. YouTube/YT_rZ6mHkKA Read More

Dropshot Audio has released Smackbox V2 1.5, a major update to its hybrid drum synthesizer for macOS, Windows and Linux. Version 1.5 introduces a 12-pad performance sequencer with four editable patterns, a 16-slot song chain, live pattern queueing, per-row mute and solo, velocity editing, and straight or triplet resolutions from 1/8 to 1/32. The sequencer follows host transport and can send its pad notes to other instruments as MIDI output. The update also introduces a dispersion stage and three independently tunable resonator banks, designed for cymbals, metallic percussion, tuned bodies and acoustic-like drum character. Each bank offers resonator-grid editing, feedback, high-pass filtering, frequency shift, level and pan controls. Smackbox V2 costs €79. A full demo is available from dropshotaudio.com YouTube.com/watch?v=ge1eId2_lcM Read More

OA Labs has released version 1.2 of OA-Phosphor-1, a free virtual analogue synthesizer for Windows and macOS. OA-Phosphor-1 is built around an instability engine: at AGE zero it behaves as a clean, precise virtual analogue, and as AGE is raised the same patch begins to drift, sag, jitter and wander, with pitch, filter, level and shape destabilising together. A Lorenz-based chaos generator provides modulation that does not repeat. Changes in v1.2: Stereo widening. Per-voice analogue modelling, so a chord moves as several instruments rather than as one block. Pulse width on every waveform, not only pulse. A 24 dB filter slope, a wider notch, and PRE or POST routing for the sub oscillator. Extended attack and decay range, giving the aging and chaos engines room to move through a note. A fully rebuilt interface with visual feedback throughout: the arpeggiator draws its off-time steps, the oscillators draw the shaper acting on the wave, and colour is used systematically, with green for the instrument and amber for signal change. 111 factory presets, up from 88, authored against the new engine work. OA-Phosphor-1 is available now as a free download in VST3 and AU formats for Windows, macOS and Linux. Read More

OA Labs has released version 1.2 of OA-Phosphor-1, a free virtual analogue synthesizer for Windows and macOS. OA-Phosphor-1 is built around an instability engine: at AGE zero it behaves as a clean, precise virtual analogue, and as AGE is raised the same patch begins to drift, sag, jitter and wander, with pitch, filter, level and shape destabilising together. A Lorenz-based chaos generator provides modulation that does not repeat. Changes in v1.2: Stereo widening. Per-voice analogue modelling, so a chord moves as several instruments rather than as one block. Pulse width on every waveform, not only pulse. A 24 dB filter slope, a wider notch, and PRE or POST routing for the sub oscillator. Extended attack and decay range, giving the aging and chaos engines room to move through a note. A fully rebuilt interface with visual feedback throughout: the arpeggiator draws its off-time steps, the oscillators draw the shaper acting on the wave, and colour is used systematically, with green for the instrument and amber for signal change. 111 factory presets, up from 88, authored against the new engine work. OA-Phosphor-1 is available now as a free download in VST3 and AU formats for Windows, macOS and Linux. Read More

Phaseburn has released a public beta of Phaseburn One, a groove synthesizer and effects processor built around a phase-locked loop (PLL), for Windows and macOS in VST3, AU and CLAP formats. A phase-locked loop is a circuit from radio electronics that has also appeared in Eurorack modules and guitar pedals. Phaseburn One gives the PLL an extensive set of controls and modulation options. The PLL can also be used as an effect on external audio. The sound engine pairs the PLL with two oscillators and a sub oscillator, and includes an internal sequencer. The effects section is modular, with a patchbay that allows any module to be routed into any other. The DSP engine is written in Rust and uses 64-bit processing with oversampling. Features: PLL core with extensive controls and modulation, usable as a synth voice or as an audio effect. Morph oscillator, which morphs between multiple wave shapes. Vector oscillator based on vector synthesis. Sub oscillator. Internal sequencer. Modular effects section with a free-routing patchbay. 64-bit DSP engine with oversampling. Pricing & Availability The public beta is free to use until October 15, 2026, after which Phaseburn One will cost €149. Beta users who submit presets and feedback can receive a discount or a free license. Selected presets will be included in the factory banks at launch. Details are available on the Phaseburn website. YouTube.com/watch?v=l3qEBuhTSD8 Read More

The Bob Moog Foundation has announced From the Source: Live Conversations with Iconic Music Innovators, an interactive livestream series connecting attendees with instrument designers and audio engineers. Organized as part of the Foundation’s 20th anniversary, the series is structured around audience questions submitted both prior to and during each session. The inaugural event features synthesizer engineer and E-mu Systems co-founder Dave Rossum, moderated by instrument designer Marcus Ryle. The private Zoom session will take place Saturday, October 24, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. EDT and is limited to 100 participants. Rossum’s work in electronic music hardware spans more than 50 years. At E-mu Systems, his developments included the Emulator, Drumulator, SP-12, and SP-1200, as well as digital scanning keyboard technology that Sequential Circuits licensed for the Prophet-5. Rossum will be joined by Ryle, whose career includes engineering roles at Oberheim, co-founding Fast Forward Designs and Line 6, and contributing to the design of the Oberheim OB-X8. Marcus Ryle commented on the upcoming event: Dave is a true living legend of the synthesizer world who has been a key part of the origin story of many major synthesizer companies, including Sequential, Oberheim, and of course, Emu. He’s a genius designer who is continues to invent amazing synth products at Rossum Electro-Music. Don’t miss this great opportunity to hear some great stories from Dave and have your questions answered from the man himself. Key Details & Program Features Interactive Format: Private Zoom session capped at 100 participants to facilitate direct discussion. Audience-Driven Topics: Attendees may submit questions in advance covering instrument design, analog and digital engineering, sampling hardware, and music technology history. Featured Participants: Dave Rossum (E-mu Systems, Rossum Electro-Music) in conversation with Marcus Ryle (Oberheim, Line 6). The event takes place Saturday, October 24, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. EDT. Registration is available now through the Bob Moog Foundation website and is limited to 100 attendees: Registration: Available via the Bob Moog Foundation. Read More

Vitric Audio has cut Caliper Compressor to USD 40 (regular USD 80) through September 30, 2026, at vitricaudio.com and on the KVR Marketplace. Caliper puts FET, Opto, Tube and Clean circuit behaviours behind one set of controls, with internal or external sidechain, high-pass and listen, variable stereo link, a mix control for parallel compression and zero added latency. {PRODUCT-HEADER-37591-calipercompressor}. Launch pricing on the rest of the line ends the same day: Harmonic Multiband Compressor USD 80 (regular 100). Halo Reverb USD 35 (45). Colonnade Delay USD 25 (35). Iron Summing USD 100 (150). Plinth Subharmonic Synthesizer USD 35 (50). Chamfer De-Esser USD 50 (80). Kiln Synthesizer USD 80 (100). Bevel EQ and Stoke Saturator stay free after September 30. Every plugin ships as VST3, Audio Units and AAX for Windows 10 and later and macOS on Intel and Apple Silicon, with a free 3 day full-function trial and a 14 day money back guarantee. Built and used at Studio 4, a working recording studio in Cleveland, Ohio. Read More

Pssst Instruments has released Destruktor: Prepared Cello Percussion, a percussion instrument built entirely from one real cello that could no longer be played. It is the first Pssst instrument released as a native plugin – VST3, AU and Standalone for Windows and macOS – with no Kontakt required. Instead of throwing the cello away, the developer prepared it and played it with saws, drills, axes, hammers, bows and bare hands. Every hit was recorded with extremely close microphones and left almost unprocessed. The result is 88 sounds a cello was never meant to make: deep body thumps, splintering wood, sharp metallic strikes, screeching bowed textures, muted taps, dirty plucked strings and chopped hits. Features: 88 articulations, 5 round robins each, in one ready-to-play preset. Round robin modes: per key, global, random, or locked to one group. Articulation randomization (“the dice”) with step-back. Single-sample and single-key tuning; save and load your own setups. Built-in effects: compressor, distortion, lo-fi, wow, bitcrusher, rotary, ASR, filters, stereo mode, tempo-synced delay and reverb. Bonus sample pack: 440 WAV one-shots (44.1 kHz / 16-bit). VST3 / AU / Standalone; Windows 10 or later, macOS 10.13 or later; about 130 MB. Pssst Goes Native Destruktor marks a change of direction for the label: all Pssst instruments are moving from Kontakt to native plugins. Preparist: Piano Percussion has already been ported – version 1.6 is a free update for every existing owner and adds per-sample and per-key tuning, new round robin modes, randomization, preset saving and a new WOW effect. The two instruments share one engine. Older Pssst libraries are being ported now. Pricing and Availability Destruktor is available now at an intro price of $29 (regular $59, ex. tax). Preparist + Destruktor pack: $58 (regular $108). The whole Pssst catalogue is on sale – up to 50% off. Read More

FeelYourSound has released version 1.7.0 of its free MIDI generator plug-in SongEngine (VST + AU). SongEngine automatically turns any chord progression into new arpeggios, basslines, and complex piano phrases. If you don’t have your own chord progressions yet, you can use one of the included chord progression generators. You can also explore chords by ear with the built-in chord progression builder. SongEngine is suitable for all genres, and it comes with a big list of presets for all occasions. New in SongEngine 1.7.0: Three new Chord Pad generators for diatonic chords are now available. Each generator automatically displays the relevant chords for the selected scale. “Diatonic chords (up to 4 notes) “, “Diatonic chords (up to 5 notes) “, and “Diatonic chords (up to 7 notes) “. New default for Chord Pad Collection page 3: “Diatonic chords (up to 4 notes) “. New default for Chord Pad Collection page 4: “Diatonic chords (up to 7 notes) “. Added a new “Clear” button to the “Edit notes” dialog. To access it, right-click a Chord Pad and choose “Edit notes”. Bug fix: Some DAWs were not notified when changes occurred in SongEngine. Bug fix: Entering a search term and pressing Enter worked correctly, but clicking the “Search” button could revert to an older search term. This video shows SongEngine in action and explains the advanced Chords Pages: YouTube/MnSSWguPKug Read More

FeelYourSound has released version 1.7.0 of its free MIDI generator plug-in SongEngine (VST + AU). SongEngine automatically turns any chord progression into new arpeggios, basslines, and complex piano phrases. If you don’t have your own chord progressions yet, you can use one of the included chord progression generators. You can also explore chords by ear with the built-in chord progression builder. SongEngine is suitable for all genres, and it comes with a big list of presets for all occasions. New in SongEngine 1.7.0: Three new Chord Pad generators for diatonic chords are now available. Each generator automatically displays the relevant chords for the selected scale. “Diatonic chords (up to 4 notes) “, “Diatonic chords (up to 5 notes) “, and “Diatonic chords (up to 7 notes) “. New default for Chord Pad Collection page 3: “Diatonic chords (up to 4 notes) “. New default for Chord Pad Collection page 4: “Diatonic chords (up to 7 notes) “. Added a new “Clear” button to the “Edit notes” dialog. To access it, right-click a Chord Pad and choose “Edit notes”. Bug fix: Some DAWs were not notified when changes occurred in SongEngine. Bug fix: Entering a search term and pressing Enter worked correctly, but clicking the “Search” button could revert to an older search term. This video shows SongEngine in action and explains the advanced Chords Pages: YouTube/MnSSWguPKug Read More

Ueberschall has released Inspire Guitar, a new loop library for their free Elastik player. Here’s what they say about it: Inspire Guitar is a versatile collection of professionally performed guitar phrases for contemporary Pop and Funk productions. As part of the Inspire Series, every phrase is fully compatible with every other Inspire performance, allowing you to combine guitar parts seamlessly. Whether used as the perfect expansion for Looptool Inspire or as a creative starting point for new productions, Inspire Guitar adds expressive, production-ready guitar phrases to your Inspire palette. Inspire Guitar includes 2.4 GB of content with a total of 540 loops. The material is organized into 27 folders, each built around a distinctive effect setup. Each folder contains 10 phrases divided into Single Note Licks, Chords, and Intervals, giving you a balanced selection of melodic, harmonic, and expressive playing styles. The descriptive folder names make it easy to find the right character for any production. Every phrase is available in two versions. The processed version features carefully designed guitar effects that are ready to drop straight into your mix, while the dry version retains a polished, production-ready tone without any additional effects. Each of the 27 folders explores its own unique sonic identity, covering a wide range of classic and modern guitar effects including chorus, phaser, flanger, distortion, fuzz, delays, reverbs, and many more. This dual-format approach gives you complete flexibility, whether you want to use the finished effect chains or shape the guitar sound entirely with your own processing. Inspire Guitar is the ideal companion to Looptool Inspire, expanding the Inspire concept with a collection of matching guitar performances. At the same time, it integrates perfectly with every other Inspire Series library, making it easy to create complete arrangements from a shared pool of compatible musical material. The performances are equally effective on their own, making Inspire Guitar a great choice for modern Pop, Funk, and other contemporary music productions. Summary: Credits: Guitars played by Kai Reuter. 2.4 GB, 540 Loops & Phrases. Instrument: Electric Guitar. Elastik Soundbank for Mac/Win – AU/VST/AAX/StandAlone. Elastik Player & Downloader included – no sampler required. Price: 59,- Euro. SoundCloud.com/ueberschall/ueberschall-inspire-guitar Read More

Circuit Haze has released version 1.0.1 of Howl, its hybrid reverb/delay plugin for Windows, macOS and Linux. Changes in v1.0.1: Fixed an issue on Windows where knobs and toggles would revert to their previous position when the host was not processing audio. Various GUI fixes. Howl is available in VST3/AU/CLAP and it’s free. Read More

Pook Audio has released Pook, a macOS and Windows tool that turns a plain-language plugin brief into a live VST3, AU, or AAX plugin inside an open DAW session. The producer describes the sound, controls, and look to an AI coding agent they already use; the agent writes the project files; Pook builds and hot-reloads the plugin while the track keeps playing. Supported agents called out by Pook include Claude Code, Codex (ChatGPT), Antigravity (Gemini), Cursor, and similar coding agents. Pook positions itself as the audio-plugin layer around those agents: DSP and plugin engineering defaults (automation, session recall, delay compensation, sidechain where applicable, resizable UI), plus a path from a working in-session plugin toward signed installers under the maker’s own name. How it works Describe the plugin in the coding agent (sound, behavior, UI). The agent writes source into a local project folder. Pook builds and reloads the plugin live in the DAW without a restart or rescan. Iterate by asking for changes and listening in-session. Builders Pook Fx – processors (EQ, dynamics, delay, reverb, and other effects). Pook Instrument – instruments (synths, samplers, drum machines, and related). Pook Studio – both Fx and Instrument. Built plugins target VST3, AU, and AAX on macOS and Windows. Publishing under the maker’s brand (signed installers, keyless licensing via purchase email and one-time code, storefronts such as Gumroad, Lemon Squeezy, Paddle, or Stripe) is listed as opening soon; a waitlist is at pookaudio.com/publish. Makers keep sales according to Pook’s publisher materials; publisher plan pricing is separate and not yet live. Pricing and Availability Pook is available now for macOS and Windows as a free download with a 21-day trial (all features in trial; no card required to start, per Pook). Builder licenses are one-time purchases with no subscription for unlimited plugins under that builder: Pook Fx: $199 (early bird $129). Pook Instrument: $199 (early bird $129). Pook Studio: $299 (early bird $179). Formats for plugins built with Pook: VST3, AU, AAX (macOS and Windows). YouTube/VhMIbSJKujc Read More

AngelicVibes has updated Vanity Lite to v1.0.1: After releasing Vanity Lite, the next update became clear. A light mode for the interface and better mastering profiles were essential. So we immediately got to work. Hope you enjoy and make some good music. New in Vanity Lite: Added light mode. Improved the sound of all four mastering profiles. Improved vanity’s analyzing engine. Updated reduce/enhance features. Improved input and output meters. Added in-plugin update notices. Removed color exposure setting. Fixed UI bugs for windows users. Download for free here. Read More

Astra Creative Audio has released A-2A, an optical compressor plugin for macOS and Windows. The A-2A models an optical cell with a two-stage release and programme memory, so recovery follows the material rather than a fixed time constant. Two modes are on offer: Compress at 3:1 with a wide soft knee, and Limit at 12:1 for peaks. Six controls cover the rest: Peak Reduction, Gain, Mode, Mix, Emphasis and Glow, with a needle meter reading 0-12 dB of gain reduction. Measured on the developer’s own test bench: zero latency at any sample rate, aliasing at -89.8 dBc, a 3.07:1 optical ratio with a 7.5 dB soft knee, unity gain at rest with no hidden makeup, and 1.27 % CPU. Antialiasing is handled by antiderivative rather than oversampling, so there is no lookahead and no delay compensation, and the plug-in can be tracked through. Pricing & Availability A-2A is free to download until 14 September 2026, after which it becomes a paid product at EUR 35 + VAT. Anyone who downloads it during that window keeps the licence permanently, updates included. Formats: VST3 and AU on macOS (universal, Intel and Apple Silicon), VST3 on 64-bit Windows. Current version 1.0.4. The installers are not Apple-notarised yet, so macOS reports an unverified developer on first launch; it clears through System Settings > Privacy & Security. Read More

amphioniq has released dm4, a modern homage to Steinberg’s venerable LM-4 drum machine module, offering compatibility with existing LM-4 kits and faithfully reproducing the features from the original. dm4 is intended as a playful way to celebrate the legacy and simplicity of the LM-4 as a VST3 plug-in. Introduced in 1999, LM-4 was Steinberg’s first commercial VST Instrument, following the launch of the VST 2.0 interface. Written by Charlie Steinberg, it was a tribute to Roger Linn’s first drum machine, the venerable LM-1, which had debuted 19 years earlier. An example set is provided, as a belated nod to 909 day – the intended release date for the this plug-in. Specification: Faithfully loads LM-4 drum sets in the original text (*.txt) file format, making it easy to edit to create your own. Along with Steinberg’s original content, there are numerous third-party kits available in the depths of the Internet. 18 Pads, offering independent pan, pitch, and level controls, with each allowing for up to 127 velocity zones. A global mode offers an overall volume control (responding to MIDI controller #7), along with tuning and velocity sensitivity controls. 6 outputs: a stereo mix, complemented by four additional, assignable outputs. Supports 16- or 24-bit, Wave or AIFF, stereo or mono audio files. Compatible with VST3 hosts running on Windows 11-based x64, ARM64EC, or ARM64 systems. Read More

amphioniq has released dm4, a modern homage to Steinberg’s venerable LM-4 drum machine module, offering compatibility with existing LM-4 kits and faithfully reproducing the features from the original. dm4 is intended as a playful way to celebrate the legacy and simplicity of the LM-4 as a VST3 plug-in. Introduced in 1999, LM-4 was Steinberg’s first commercial VST Instrument, following the launch of the VST 2.0 interface. Written by Charlie Steinberg, it was a tribute to Roger Linn’s first drum machine, the venerable LM-1, which had debuted 19 years earlier. An example set is provided, as a belated nod to 909 day – the intended release date for the this plug-in. Specification: Faithfully loads LM-4 drum sets in the original text (*.txt) file format, making it easy to edit to create your own. Along with Steinberg’s original content, there are numerous third-party kits available in the depths of the Internet. 18 Pads, offering independent pan, pitch, and level controls, with each allowing for up to 127 velocity zones. A global mode offers an overall volume control (responding to MIDI controller #7), along with tuning and velocity sensitivity controls. 6 outputs: a stereo mix, complemented by four additional, assignable outputs. Supports 16- or 24-bit, Wave or AIFF, stereo or mono audio files. Compatible with VST3 hosts running on Windows 11-based x64, ARM64EC, or ARM64 systems. Read More

Xhun Audio has announced its Back To School Promo (2026), saving up to 75% across all single Products, Expansions and Bundles: Synthesizers: from 39.90 Euro/USD each. Effect Processors: 19.90 Euro/USD each. SnapLAB Devices: from 9.90 Euro/USD each. Expansions: 9.90 Euro/USD each. The Whole (Exps Collection): 69.90 Euro/USD. This offer is valid until September 25th, 2026. For full details and price list, please visit the online Xhun Audio Shop. SoundCloud.com/xhun-audio/sets/xhun-audio-all-audio-demos-collection Read More