kyamerA has announced that until August 10, 2026, every purchase of Telstar ($47), kyamerA’s drum instrument plugin, includes New York 1981 free (normally $47). New York 1981 is a standalone instrument covering electro-funk, machine soul and early hip-hop, with 128 presets (basses, synths, leads, pads, sound effects) plus drum kits. Both plugins are VST/VST3/AU for macOS and Windows, with full-featured 14-day free trials. The New York 1981 unlock is delivered with the Telstar download. Read More

Snorkel Audio has updated Little Drum Machine to v1.1. So we got carried a little away. Version 1.1 was supposed to be a small update. It ended up adding an effects section, polyrhythms and polymeters, a sample editor for every one of the 32 slots, and a new batch of presets. Everything is in the free update, on iPad, Mac and Windows. Polyrhythms and Polymeters Snorkel Audio says “the 16-step grid is lovely right up until you want the hats in seven and everything else in four”: Switch Polyrhythm on in Settings and a pair of numbers, steps and length, appears next to every lane. Drag a lane’s length shorter and you get a polymeter: the same pulse, just on a shorter lap, drifting against the bar and slipping back into line on its own a few bars later. Leave the length alone and drag its steps instead, and that’s a polyrhythm: eleven cells sharing the same span as everyone else’s sixteen. A Phase switch decides whether lanes snap back together at every scene change or keep spinning through it, so the same grid can lock tight for a verse and quietly reshuffle itself for the next sixteen bars. Off by default, and off is exactly the classic machine it always was. Delay, Reverb, Drive and Compression LDM had a mixer but nothing to send anywhere, so reaching for a delay or reverb meant leaving the plugin. Now it has four effects built in, sends on the Mixer and character on a new FX tab: a delay that can smear into tape-style wow and saturation, a reverb with seven different rooms (an octave-up shimmer, a hard-gated 80s snare sound, a bright tail that stays out of the low end), a drive with five characters running from a gentle warm-up to a savage octave-up snarl on one drum at a time, and a compressor (a single knob in 1.0, now with its own row: Attack, Release and a Mix dial) that can squash the whole kit hard and still keep the kick’s attack poking through. The Sample Tab Loading your own samples was already possible; shaping them wasn’t. The new Sample tab turns any of the 32 slots into an instrument of its own: repitch a kick, clip a cymbal into a stab, stretch a tom into a rising fill, or turn a long crash into a swell. New Presets Three new Polyrhythm presets show off the clocks, including one that puts six lanes on cycles so out of step with each other the groove doesn’t properly repeat for thousands of bars. Breakcore, Industrial, EBM and Glitch show off the FX section. The rest of the bank picked up a touch of genre-appropriate delay, reverb or drive along the way. Availability Little Drum Machine 1.1 is free and is out now for iPadOS, macOS and Windows. Read More

Windows-G has announced the release of E-Goniometer400 VST3, a free Windows-only VST3 goniometer plugin for analyzing stereo image, balance, and phase correlation. E-Goniometer400 (VST3) supports Retina/high-DPI displays with a right-click “UI Zoom” menu that can be invoked anywhere on the GUI to increase the size of the plugin interface. Read More

APU Software has updated Loudness Leveler, TrueGain, Loudness Contour, Spectrum Analyzer, Loudness Meter, Loudness Compressor, Dynamics Optimizer, and Loudness Limiter to version 5.7.0. Recent changes include: Average/Integrated gain compensation feature (compressor). Fix speaker calibration signal levels (contour/truegain). Purpose presets for precise target matching (compressor/optimizer/limiter/leveler/meter). Improve range sliders for narrow bands. Upgrade to JUCE 8.0.14. Option for reset on play (meter/spectrum). Linux bundle fix. Preset browser mouse hover tracking. Update from vs2019 to vs2022 (Windows). Experimental Linux support (Linux). Average/Integrated gain compensation feature (optimizer). Logo refresh. Read More

Martinic has released Eclipser 0.9.0 beta, a new standalone application for Windows and macOS that converts video and 10-channel spatial audio into YouTube Eclipsa-ready video with immersive 3D audio. Eclipser is designed for musicians, producers, YouTubers, podcasters, and video creators who want to prepare spatial audio mixes for YouTube’s Eclipsa format. The application combines an existing video file with a 10-channel audio file and exports an Eclipsa-compliant MP4 video ready for upload. The beta supports 10-channel audio workflows including 5.1.4 and 7.1.2 layouts, with support for the Dolby Atmos bed channel order. In total, Eclipser handles nine 10-channel speaker configurations across three channel order types: SMPTE, WAV, and FILM. Supported configurations include: SMPTE, WAV, and FILM 5.1.4. SMPTE, WAV, and FILM 7.1.2-IAMF. SMPTE, WAV, and FILM 7.1.2-bed, compatible with Dolby Atmos bed workflows. Audio input is supported in WAV and OGG formats. Video input is supported in MP4, WebM, and MOV formats. Eclipser does not re-encode the source video, but makes a 1:1 copy and combines it with the converted Eclipsa audio. Eclipser also includes an Auto-start workflow for users who regularly work with the same speaker configuration. Once enabled, users can drop in compatible audio and video files and let Eclipser begin generating the Eclipsa-ready video automatically. Martinic Eclipser 0.9.0 beta is available now for Windows 10 or newer and macOS 13.7 Ventura or newer, including Intel and Apple Silicon Macs. Read More

Illformed Glitch² is now free to download and use, released in memory of its creator, Kieran Foster, aka illformed / dblue / MaDHaTTeR, who has passed away (1979–2026). Glitch is an audio effect plugin for Windows (VST2 and VST3, 64-bit), Mac (VST2, VST3 and AU – Intel 64-bit and Apple Silicon) and Linux (VST2 and VST3, 64-bit). Featuring a new and improved sequencer which can play multiple effects simultaneously, with the ability to trigger unique scenes from every note on your keyboard, Glitch can be as gentle or as brutal as you like. Add the occasional splash of retrigger or stretcher to single hits within your drum loop, or fill the entire sequencer with random effect blocks for a totally chaotic trip down the digital rabbit hole… the choice is yours. Read the memorial to Kieran: illformed.com/memorial Read More

Auburn Sounds has announced the release of Psypan 2, a binaural panner and stereo multi-effect plug-in for macOS, Windows and Linux. Psypan is available in 2 versions: A FREE Edition with 10 pan modes. A FULL Edition with 17 pan modes. So the Full Psypan 2 offers quite a lot of ways to interact with the stereo field: 5 binaural panners (Psy-1, Psy-2, P1, P2, 2-band). 3 volume-based modes with classic pan laws (Balance, Dual Pan, Dual Rotation). 9 creative FX modes (Haas, Doubler, Chorus, µ-shifting, Peak Panner, Widener, M/S Haas, M/S µ-Shift and M/S Peak). Auburn Sounds claims that whatever what one wants to do with the stereo field, there is probably a mode for that in Auburn Sounds Psypan 2. Pricing & Availability Psypan 2 Full Edition is available for $38.67 MSRP and $29 for the first two weeks (-25% until 15th August). It’s available for Windows, macOS and Linux in VST2, VST3, AU, AAX, CLAP and LV2 plugin formats. Read More

ENIGMA has announced that ASTER Drum Lab is available at a special introductory price of $9.99, reduced from its regular price of $20. The introductory offer will remain available for one month following the product’s release. ASTER Drum Lab is a streamlined 48-pad drum sampler plugin designed for creating, editing, and organizing custom drum kits directly inside a DAW. It combines sample layering, waveform editing, per-layer sound design, customizable pad layouts, kit management, and flexible multi-output routing within a single focused interface. Key Features 48 drum pads arranged across three pages. Up to eight sample layers per pad. Velocity-based sample layer switching. Drag-and-drop sample loading. Integrated waveform editing. Start, end, fade-in, and fade-out controls. Attack, release, velocity response, and humanization controls. Independent effects processing for each sample layer. Reorderable EQ, filter, drive, transient shaper, and compressor modules. Customizable pad names, colors, MIDI notes, and positions. Complete kit saving and selective kit recall. Stereo, 16-output, 32-output, and 48-output routing configurations. ASTER Drum Lab is available in VST3, Audio Unit, and AAX Native formats for 64-bit macOS and Windows systems. Pricing & Availability Introductory price: $9.99. Regular price: $20. Offer period: One month following release. {PRODUCT-HEADER-36860-asterdrumlab}. Watch Video Read More

This summer, UVI is offering 40% off the entire catalog, including soundware, effects, Falcon, Rumble, and SonicBundle. Whether you’re building out your sound library or finally grabbing that one plugin you’ve had your eye on, now’s the time. Offers are available until August 16th, at uvi.net/all-products Get and extra 20% off when adding 2 products or more to your cart. Read More

Dotec-Audio has updated AUMediaPlayer, its free audio and video player for iPhone and iPad, with a new feature that allows users to preview selected Dotec-Audio effects directly inside the app. The initial preview lineup includes DeePopMax, DeeEQ and DeeTrim. Users can load their own audio or video, add a preview effect to the app’s effect chain, and hear how it processes the material during playback. The plug-in controls are available in the preview version, allowing users to evaluate the sound and workflow before purchasing the full AUv3 plug-in from the App Store. Playback previews are free to use. Exporting audio or video with a preview effect is limited to 30 seconds. AUMediaPlayer also supports AUv3 effect chains, audio and video playback, trimming, and processed media export. To coincide with the update, Dotec-Audio products are currently on sale through August 12, 2026. More information: dotec-audio.com/ios apps.apple.com/us/app/id1516652633 Read More

Fx-Mechanics has updated Mango to version 0.1.1. This a workflow release: editing blocks is much faster, the block language understands chords, and two annoyances are fixed. Sessions, presets and automation from 0.1.0 load unchanged. No existing parameter was renamed, renumbered or reordered. New Chords in the block language: ‘mididur’ and ‘midifreq’ now take a voice digit 1–4 addressing the notes you are holding, counted from the lowest up: ‘dur=mididur2’, ‘f0=midifreq1*2’. Point each lane at a different voice and one chord tunes the whole rack. Four notes are followed at once (play a fifth and the oldest is dropped); without a digit both keep meaning the last note played, as before. Copy and move blocks: All of these work within a lane and across lanes: Ctrl-drag a block: Drop a copy of it, text included. Ctrl-D: Copy the selected block into the steps right after it, and select the copy — press again to lay down a run. Ctrl-Shift-drag a block: Copy just its override text onto the block you drop it on |. Drag a block’s body to another lane: Move it there. A whole block may only land on a lane running the same effect (its override text would mean nothing on a different one); an override string can go to any lane. The drop outline turns red whenever the drop would be refused, and refusing costs nothing: the block stays exactly where it was. On macOS use Cmd where this says Ctrl. 1/64 note lengths: Every effect with a rhythmic rate gains a P(1/64) weight, and ‘w64’ works as a block override. It defaults to zero, so nothing you already made changes. Block override indicator: When a selected block overrides lane knobs, the effect panel now names them: ‘block overrides: dur w16 (knobs inactive) ‘. Those knobs really are inactive for that block, which was previously invisible and looked like the knobs were broken. Fixed Help popups and dropdown menus vanishing on Windows: They blinked twice and disappeared, making the in-plugin help unusable (reported in FL Studio on Windows 10). Caused by the plugin’s own keyboard-focus handling closing them; Linux and macOS were not affected. Shortening the pattern destroyed blocks: Going 32 → 16 steps permanently deleted everything past step 16. Blocks past the end are now kept and hidden, an amber arrow at the right edge shows they are there, and lengthening the pattern brings them back unchanged, override text and all. Block edges were hard to grab: The resize zone was a fixed 7 px; it now scales with the step width, and is capped so that short blocks always keep a draggable middle. Changed Clearing a block’s override text is now Alt-right-click (it was a plain right-click, one stray click away from losing a line of text). Alt is now the “destroy” modifier for both: Alt + left button deletes the block, Alt + right button deletes its text. Read More

Press Play has released updates to its oscilloscope and monitoring plug-ins for macOS and Windows. Wave Observer v1.8.0 and Wave Observer Pro v2.1.0 are now available. The updates introduce a redesigned rendering engine with a third observer mode. In addition to the existing Waveform and Stream modes, the new Sweep mode displays the audio signals using a left-to-right moving playhead, providing a classic oscilloscope-style visualization. Beat-based display durations have also been added, allowing the oscilloscope’s time window to be synchronized to musical values such as 4/4 and 2/1. Furthermore, both plug-ins now support native mono plug-in instances in DAWs that provide mono tracks. Wave Observer remains available as a free plug-in, while Wave Observer Pro requires a paid license and offers additional analysis and visualization features. To celebrate the release, all Press Play plug-ins and bundles are available with a limited-time 30% discount through August 31, 2026. Read More

ENIGMA has released ASTER Drum Lab, a streamlined 48-pad drum sampler plugin for building, editing, and organizing custom drum kits inside a DAW. ASTER Drum Lab combines sample layering, waveform editing, per-layer sound design, flexible pad customization, kit management, and multi-output routing in a single focused interface. ASTER Drum Lab Building a detailed drum kit often means switching between a sampler, an audio editor, multiple effects, and separate routing windows. ASTER Drum Lab brings these tasks together, allowing producers to move from loading samples to shaping and mixing them without interrupting the creative process. The instrument provides 48 pads across three pages, with up to eight sample layers per pad. Layers can be triggered according to MIDI velocity, making it possible to create expressive acoustic-style instruments, layered electronic drums, or entirely different sounds across the velocity range. Users can load their own one-shot samples by drag and drop, then edit them directly in the integrated waveform display. Sample start and end positions, fade-in, fade-out, attack, release, velocity response, and humanization can all be adjusted from within the plugin. Per-layer sound design Each sample layer includes an independent and reorderable effects chain. The included processing modules provide tools for tonal shaping, dynamics, transient control, filtering, and saturation before the sound reaches the pad output: EQ. Filter. Drive. Transient Shaper. Compressor. Because processing is applied independently to each layer, users can shape individual components of a layered sound without affecting the rest of the pad. Customizable pad layout Every pad can be renamed, recolored, assigned to a different MIDI note, and moved to a different position within the kit. This allows ASTER Drum Lab to adapt to different MIDI controllers, production styles, and project templates rather than forcing every kit into a fixed layout. Kit saving and selective recall Complete 48-pad kits can be saved and loaded for use in other sessions. Saved kits can include samples, layer settings, pad names, colors, MIDI assignments, effects, mixer settings, and output routing. Selective loading also allows users to choose which parts of a saved kit should be recalled. Flexible multi-output routing ASTER Drum Lab supports multiple output configurations for detailed mixing and external processing inside the host DAW: Stereo output. 16-output configuration. 32-output configuration. 48-output configuration. Individual pads can therefore be routed to separate DAW channels for processing, automation, and mixing with third-party effects. Also included in version 1.0 48 drum pads arranged across three pages of 16 pads. Up to eight sample layers per pad. Velocity-based layer switching. Drag-and-drop loading of user samples. Integrated waveform editing. Sample start, end, fade-in, and fade-out controls. Attack and release controls. Velocity-response and humanization controls. Independent effects processing for every sample layer. Reorderable per-layer effects chains. Custom pad names, colors, MIDI notes, and positions. Complete kit saving and loading. Selective loading of saved kit components. Stereo, 16-output, 32-output, and 48-output routing modes. Pricing and availability ASTER Drum Lab is available for the introductory price of $9.99 for the first month following launch (Reg. $20). Read More

The Dystopian Waves Summer Sale is now live, with discounts on Windows VST3 plugins, Max for Live devices, and preset bundles. Products: Noesis – Intelligent Harmony Generator & Assistant (Windows VST3 + Max for Live) — $17.99 (55% Off) (Regular $40). Watcher – Capture. Find. Rescue. (Windows VST3) — $11.99 (52% Off) (Regular $25). Celium II – Granular Engine (Windows VST3 + Max for Live) — $11.99 (66% Off) (Regular $35). Auren Pro – Spectral Delay (Windows VST3 + Max for Live) — $9.99 (50% Off) (Regular $20). Evorn – Multi LFO Modulator (Max for Live) — $9.99 (60% Off) (Regular $25). Wavengine – Wavetable Creator & Editor (Max for Live) — $7.99 (60% Off) (Regular $20). DBot – MIDI Humanizer (Max for Live) — $7.99 (60% Off) (Regular $20). Bundles: Sound Design M4L Bundle (Includes Auren Pro, Celium II, Evorn, and Wavengine) — $24.99 (72% Off) (Regular $90). Arturia Pigments Bundle (500 Presets) — $14.99 (80% Off) (Regular $75). Vital Everything Bundle (550 Presets) — $11.99 (76% Off) (Regular $50). Read More

kyamerA, the plugin company founded by producer Alex Greggs (*NSYNC, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, Janet Jackson, M.I.A.), has released Telstar, a drum instrument built around playable performance features rather than vintage emulation. Telstar includes 40 original kits with no shared sounds between them, all effects baked in, and a low CPU footprint. Features: Key Switching Drums: MIDI key switches change the entire kit mid-pattern, so kit changes can be sequenced as part of the pattern. 808 Mechanik: layer-level shaping of the 808-style kick, snare and clap. The Bass Mechanic preset makes the kick playable as a bass line. Random Robins: every hit triggers a slightly different variation to avoid machine-gun repetition. Vocoder Drums: play melodies on the pitch keys while drums trigger on the drum keys. Pricing & Availability Telstar is available for $47. Through August 10, 2026, every Telstar purchase includes New York 1981 (normally $47) free. New York 1981 is kyamerA’s standalone instrument covering electro-funk, machine soul and early hip-hop, with 128 presets spanning basses, synths, leads, pads and sound effects, plus drum kits. Read More

InnerMost47 has released version 3.1.0 of OBSIDIAN Neural, the VST3/AU plugin that aims to turn generative AI into a playable live performance instrument. This update expands the onboard effects chain, introduces a step sequencer for triggering effects rhythmically, and streamlines the plugin around what it does best: performance. OBSIDIAN Neural is not a song generator like Suno or Udio. It’s designed as a performance instrument: an 8-track sampler with MIDI triggering, quantized page switching, live crossfading, and a full onboard effects chain, all built to be played rather than rendered. What’s New Four new audio effects: The onboard chain gains a phaser, a flanger, a bitcrusher and a gate, joining the existing filters, EQ, compression, distortion, delay and reverb. FX Sequencer view: Effects can now be triggered rhythmically from a dedicated step sequencer, in the spirit of classic glitch tools — turning the effects chain into a performable, tempo-locked instrument of its own rather than a set of static inserts. Reorganised interface: The main view is now split into tabs for FX and TRACK INFO, keeping the effects chain and per-track details accessible without crowding the layout. A leaner, more focused plugin: The LLM prompt assistant has been removed across the entire stack — plugin, provider, server and web dashboard. The result is a simpler workflow with fewer moving parts, faster generation paths and no dependency on a language model to write prompts. Version management: The web dashboard now displays available build versions and allows previous releases to be downloaded, making it easy to roll back or stay on a known-good build. Also in this release Optimised transient scatter for cleaner, more responsive results. Prompts now display correctly in the prompt combo box. Fixed knob scrolling below zero. Availability Version 3.1.0 is available now for Windows, macOS and Linux in VST3, AU and standalone formats. Existing users can update from the dashboard, where previous versions also remain available for download. Pricing ranges from free to $14.99 per month. Read More

ABYZOR has announced ABYZOR Keys, a desktop application for DJs that combines accurate key detection, BPM analysis, harmonic mixing and intelligent playlist preparation. Core features are available free forever, with an optional Professional upgrade for advanced set building and DJ workflow tools. Free Features Key Detection. BPM Detection. Circle of Fifths. Audio Preview. Waveform Visualization. Music Library Management. Smart Collections (up to 5). Playlist Management. M3U / M3U8 / CSV Export. Metadata Writing. Basic Statistics. Professional Features Smart Set Builder. Mix Coach. Transition Audition. ABYZOR Matrix. Recommended Next Track & Transition Score. Playlist Optimization. Advanced Library Review. Unlimited Smart Collections. Rekordbox / Serato / Traktor / Engine DJ Export. Energy Arc Templates. Professional Statistics. USB Preparation Tools. Highlights Accurate Key & BPM Detection — analyzes the audio itself rather than relying on existing metadata. ABYZOR Key Matrix — harmonic recommendations based on the Circle of Fifths using standard musical notation. Progressive Analysis — key and BPM become available first while deeper analysis continues in the background. Offline Workflow — works completely offline after activation. Lifetime License — Professional licenses can be activated on up to two computers. ABYZOR Keys is optimized for house, techno, trance and other electronic dance music genres. Pricing & Availability Keys is available for Windows and macOS. The Professional license is $14.99 (Launch: $9.99 with coupon LAUNCHKEYS). Official Product Introduction: YouTube.com/watch?v=Qxtq5fmBXho Read More

discoDSP has released updates for OPL, Discovery, OB-Xd synths, Retromulator, Bliss Sampler and FX Bundle. OPL 3.0 OPL is an FM synthesizer based on the Yamaha chips that defined PC game audio, playable as a plugin or standalone instrument. Version 3.0 is a complete rewrite. The FM engine now runs on the YMF262 (OPL3) in place of the previous OPL2 emulation, and every part of the plugin has been rebuilt around it: synthesis core, register layer, parameter handling and interface. What’s New: YMF262 (OPL3) Engine: All eight OPL3 waveforms available per operator, replacing the four-waveform OPL2 set. Oversampling up to 16x: Applied to the chip itself, cutting the aliasing FM synthesis produces at high modulation settings. Pitch, envelope timing and key scaling stay constant across every setting. Separate Bounce Oversampling: Offline renders use a linear-phase filter and report their latency, so a bounce matches what was monitored. New Interface: Redrawn as resolution-independent vector graphics in a freely resizable window with a zoom menu, replacing the fixed-size bitmaps. Voice activity is shown live on the envelope displays. Native Dialogs: Instrument browser and settings presented through the OS dialogs. This update is free for all OPL customers. Upgrading from 2.x requires a one-time reauthorization, which creates a new License3.key file. Discovery 6.5 Discovery is a Nord Lead 2 inspired virtual analog synthesizer with layers, a gate sequencer and an arpeggiator. Version 6.5 adds unison with stereo spread, a gate sequencer play head and mouse wheel control across the panel. What’s New: Unison with Stereo Spread: Two detuned voices in poly mode, four in mono and legato. Chorus and phaser move to their own button, with unison taking a dedicated button and LED. Layers saved before 6.5 keep their chorus setting. Gate Sequencer Play Head: Highlights the step being played, running only while a note is held. Mouse Wheel on Knobs: The LCD shows the parameter name and value as you turn. Hold Shift for fine adjustment. Interface: Added a glow halo to the LEDs, updated artwork at all display scales, and fixed LEDs sitting above a button needing a second click. Fixes: Fixed font construction on all platforms. Windows now uses Segoe UI. This update is free for all Discovery 6.x customers. OB-Xd 3.23.3 OB-Xd is a virtual analog synthesizer recreating the Oberheim OB-X, with micro random detuning, polyphonic unison and bi-directional MIDI control. Version 3.23.3 adds a tempo-based rate menu to the LFO and corrects the rate readouts. What’s New: LFO Rate Menu: Right-click the LFO Freq knob (tap and hold on iOS) to pick a cycle length from 1/16 note up to 8 bars, with dotted and triplet submenus. Each entry converts to Hz at the current host tempo. Long cycles of 2, 4 or 8 bars can be set exactly instead of hunted for at the low end of the knob. LFO 2 Rate Readout: Showed a raw 0-1 value instead of Hz or a note division. It now reads the same as LFO 1. Synced Rate Labels: Host-synced rates displayed internal multipliers with a misleading BPM suffix, so a 1/16 note read as 4 BPM. Rates now use standard note names. This update is free for all OB-Xd 3.x customers. Retromulator 1.5 Retromulator emulates classic synths, samplers and sound chips with cycle-accurate cores. Version 1.5 adds the General Instrument AY-3-8910 and Yamaha YM2149 PSG, the sound of the ZX Spectrum 128, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST and MSX, and fixes long-standing DX7 tuning problems. What’s New: AY-3-8910 / YM2149 PSG: Emulated with Ayumi by Peter Sovietov, with a voice engine ported from Ym2149Synth by trash80. Three-voice polyphony, switchable YM2149 and AY-3-8910 engines, CC 1-11 control mapping, .ay patch files browsed from a folder, and MIDI Program Change navigation. Factory and User Banks: AY/YM banks are split so Factory stays fixed and its Program Change numbers never shift. Imports always land in User, Export zips the User bank, and Factory presets are protected from deletion. State Persistence: Engine selection, CC values and preset name restored on project reload, with live CC edits taking priority over stored preset values. DX7 Tuning and Range Fixed: Two equal and opposite errors in the key offset and EGS pitch constant cancelled each other out while silently dropping the top two notes. The playable range is now C2 to C7, with A4 at 440.17 Hz. DX7 Controllers: The firmware never initialises its controller table, which on hardware survives in battery RAM. Mod wheel, aftertouch, breath and foot controllers are given usable defaults after boot, and the mod wheel no longer transposes pitch by a semitone at full travel. Bliss 3.18 Bliss is a sampler with SINC interpolation, dual filters, studio effects and full MPE support. Version 3.18 adds hardware program export, reworks bounce quality around oversampling, and rewrites loop point detection. What’s New: Alesis SamplePad Export: Program export for the hardware, alongside a new 16-bit WAV export option for zones. Middle C Convention: Automatic Sampling now follows the Kontakt and Yamaha C3 convention, so imported instruments land at the expected octave. Bounce Quality Rework: Playback is fixed to the high-quality polyphase engine, with Bounce Quality reworked into oversampling steps plus a SINC 512 mastering option. Find Loop Points Rewritten: Sustain-aware, pitch-synchronous detection running in a background progress window. Workflow: Filter boost wired to a hotter Q with per-type make-up gain, a real-time envelope position dot tracking all zones, Global Edit and Auto-Adjust Zone List Width enabled by default, and polyphony defaulted to 16 with the limit counting held notes instead of voices. This update is free for all Bliss 2.x and 3.x customers. FX Bundle 3.11 The FX Bundle is a set of mixing and mastering plugins covering distortion, EQ, compression, delay, reverb and analysis. Version 3.11 rebuilds Scope as a multi-view analyser and folds the Spectrum and FFT plugins into it. The bundle now ships eight plugins instead of ten, with no loss of functionality. Scope plugin does not have any demo restrictions. Scope 3.0: Five New Views: Spectrum, Spectrogram, Spectrum Equalizer, 3D Spectrum and Semaphore join the linear, circular and Flurry displays. Only the visible page receives audio, so the extra views cost nothing when they are not on screen. Spectrum Equalizer: An octave-band display styled after a vintage hi-fi LED meter, with eight ISO centre frequencies from 80 Hz to 10 kHz. Energy is summed across each octave rather than sampled from a single bin, and a pink-noise tilt keeps typical material reading flat. 3D Spectrum: An FFT waterfall drawn as a lit triangle mesh with three render styles. Drag to rotate, click to start or stop the spin. Auto-rotate, rotation speed and render style are automatable. Semaphore: Three lamps driven by lows, mids and highs, with a squelch that keeps them dark on room tone. Native Popup Menu: A hamburger button replaces the hand-drawn config panel, with every view, zoom preset and colour scheme one click away. Shared Gain and Colour Schemes: All views ride the vertical zoom parameter for input gain and share the scope’s colour schemes, including animated Rainbow. Bundle Contents: Spectrum and FFT Desktop Discontinued: Both now ship as Scope views. The mel-scale analyser is Scope’s Spectrogram view and is available on every desktop platform through Scope. This update is free for all FX Bundle customers. Read More

discoDSP has released updates for OPL, Discovery, OB-Xd synths, Retromulator, Bliss Sampler and FX Bundle. OPL 3.0 OPL is an FM synthesizer based on the Yamaha chips that defined PC game audio, playable as a plugin or standalone instrument. Version 3.0 is a complete rewrite. The FM engine now runs on the YMF262 (OPL3) in place of the previous OPL2 emulation, and every part of the plugin has been rebuilt around it: synthesis core, register layer, parameter handling and interface. What’s New: YMF262 (OPL3) Engine: All eight OPL3 waveforms available per operator, replacing the four-waveform OPL2 set. Oversampling up to 16x: Applied to the chip itself, cutting the aliasing FM synthesis produces at high modulation settings. Pitch, envelope timing and key scaling stay constant across every setting. Separate Bounce Oversampling: Offline renders use a linear-phase filter and report their latency, so a bounce matches what was monitored. New Interface: Redrawn as resolution-independent vector graphics in a freely resizable window with a zoom menu, replacing the fixed-size bitmaps. Voice activity is shown live on the envelope displays. Native Dialogs: Instrument browser and settings presented through the OS dialogs. This update is free for all OPL customers. Upgrading from 2.x requires a one-time reauthorization, which creates a new License3.key file. Discovery 6.5 Discovery is a Nord Lead 2 inspired virtual analog synthesizer with layers, a gate sequencer and an arpeggiator. Version 6.5 adds unison with stereo spread, a gate sequencer play head and mouse wheel control across the panel. What’s New: Unison with Stereo Spread: Two detuned voices in poly mode, four in mono and legato. Chorus and phaser move to their own button, with unison taking a dedicated button and LED. Layers saved before 6.5 keep their chorus setting. Gate Sequencer Play Head: Highlights the step being played, running only while a note is held. Mouse Wheel on Knobs: The LCD shows the parameter name and value as you turn. Hold Shift for fine adjustment. Interface: Added a glow halo to the LEDs, updated artwork at all display scales, and fixed LEDs sitting above a button needing a second click. Fixes: Fixed font construction on all platforms. Windows now uses Segoe UI. This update is free for all Discovery 6.x customers. OB-Xd 3.23.3 OB-Xd is a virtual analog synthesizer recreating the Oberheim OB-X, with micro random detuning, polyphonic unison and bi-directional MIDI control. Version 3.23.3 adds a tempo-based rate menu to the LFO and corrects the rate readouts. What’s New: LFO Rate Menu: Right-click the LFO Freq knob (tap and hold on iOS) to pick a cycle length from 1/16 note up to 8 bars, with dotted and triplet submenus. Each entry converts to Hz at the current host tempo. Long cycles of 2, 4 or 8 bars can be set exactly instead of hunted for at the low end of the knob. LFO 2 Rate Readout: Showed a raw 0-1 value instead of Hz or a note division. It now reads the same as LFO 1. Synced Rate Labels: Host-synced rates displayed internal multipliers with a misleading BPM suffix, so a 1/16 note read as 4 BPM. Rates now use standard note names. This update is free for all OB-Xd 3.x customers. Retromulator 1.5 Retromulator emulates classic synths, samplers and sound chips with cycle-accurate cores. Version 1.5 adds the General Instrument AY-3-8910 and Yamaha YM2149 PSG, the sound of the ZX Spectrum 128, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST and MSX, and fixes long-standing DX7 tuning problems. What’s New: AY-3-8910 / YM2149 PSG: Emulated with Ayumi by Peter Sovietov, with a voice engine ported from Ym2149Synth by trash80. Three-voice polyphony, switchable YM2149 and AY-3-8910 engines, CC 1-11 control mapping, .ay patch files browsed from a folder, and MIDI Program Change navigation. Factory and User Banks: AY/YM banks are split so Factory stays fixed and its Program Change numbers never shift. Imports always land in User, Export zips the User bank, and Factory presets are protected from deletion. State Persistence: Engine selection, CC values and preset name restored on project reload, with live CC edits taking priority over stored preset values. DX7 Tuning and Range Fixed: Two equal and opposite errors in the key offset and EGS pitch constant cancelled each other out while silently dropping the top two notes. The playable range is now C2 to C7, with A4 at 440.17 Hz. DX7 Controllers: The firmware never initialises its controller table, which on hardware survives in battery RAM. Mod wheel, aftertouch, breath and foot controllers are given usable defaults after boot, and the mod wheel no longer transposes pitch by a semitone at full travel. Bliss 3.18 Bliss is a sampler with SINC interpolation, dual filters, studio effects and full MPE support. Version 3.18 adds hardware program export, reworks bounce quality around oversampling, and rewrites loop point detection. What’s New: Alesis SamplePad Export: Program export for the hardware, alongside a new 16-bit WAV export option for zones. Middle C Convention: Automatic Sampling now follows the Kontakt and Yamaha C3 convention, so imported instruments land at the expected octave. Bounce Quality Rework: Playback is fixed to the high-quality polyphase engine, with Bounce Quality reworked into oversampling steps plus a SINC 512 mastering option. Find Loop Points Rewritten: Sustain-aware, pitch-synchronous detection running in a background progress window. Workflow: Filter boost wired to a hotter Q with per-type make-up gain, a real-time envelope position dot tracking all zones, Global Edit and Auto-Adjust Zone List Width enabled by default, and polyphony defaulted to 16 with the limit counting held notes instead of voices. This update is free for all Bliss 2.x and 3.x customers. FX Bundle 3.11 The FX Bundle is a set of mixing and mastering plugins covering distortion, EQ, compression, delay, reverb and analysis. Version 3.11 rebuilds Scope as a multi-view analyser and folds the Spectrum and FFT plugins into it. The bundle now ships eight plugins instead of ten, with no loss of functionality. Scope plugin does not have any demo restrictions. Scope 3.0: Five New Views: Spectrum, Spectrogram, Spectrum Equalizer, 3D Spectrum and Semaphore join the linear, circular and Flurry displays. Only the visible page receives audio, so the extra views cost nothing when they are not on screen. Spectrum Equalizer: An octave-band display styled after a vintage hi-fi LED meter, with eight ISO centre frequencies from 80 Hz to 10 kHz. Energy is summed across each octave rather than sampled from a single bin, and a pink-noise tilt keeps typical material reading flat. 3D Spectrum: An FFT waterfall drawn as a lit triangle mesh with three render styles. Drag to rotate, click to start or stop the spin. Auto-rotate, rotation speed and render style are automatable. Semaphore: Three lamps driven by lows, mids and highs, with a squelch that keeps them dark on room tone. Native Popup Menu: A hamburger button replaces the hand-drawn config panel, with every view, zoom preset and colour scheme one click away. Shared Gain and Colour Schemes: All views ride the vertical zoom parameter for input gain and share the scope’s colour schemes, including animated Rainbow. Bundle Contents: Spectrum and FFT Desktop Discontinued: Both now ship as Scope views. The mel-scale analyser is Scope’s Spectrogram view and is available on every desktop platform through Scope. This update is free for all FX Bundle customers. Read More

Sounds And Effects has announced that, for the first time in their 20 year history, they have released free products. Sounds And Effects’ Reason ReFills The General for Polytone and Festival for Reason Europa are now totally free at soundsandeffects.com Read More

Remi Blaze has released Purix, a free dynamic resonance removal plugin for macOS (AU / VST3, Apple Silicon native) — part of a growing collection of free tools built by a house and tech-house producer and DJ with a catalogue of 170+ original tracks across 35+ labels. Harsh vocals, boxy drums, and ringing frequencies are one of the most common things that make a mix sound harsh or fatiguing — and a fixed EQ cut is always on, even when the resonance isn’t, so it dulls the source. Purix works dynamically instead: it analyzes your audio in real time, finds the harsh peaks, boxy build-ups and ringing frequencies, and applies narrow cuts that follow each resonance and back off the moment it’s gone. You fix the problem without carving a permanent hole. Five focused modes cover the usual suspects — Vocal, Drum, Master, Harmonic (protects the musical harmonics while removing inharmonic noise), and Clean (broadband). Not sure where to start? Hit Learn and Purix sets itself up from a few seconds of audio. A real-time spectrum shows every resonance it’s catching, you can click to solo any band and hear it in isolation, and a Delta monitor plays only what’s being removed — so you always know exactly what you’re taking out. Want speed over control? There’s also Purix Raw — a free one-knob companion. When the fine control isn’t the point and you just need a harsh source cleaned up fast, a single PURIFY knob runs the same real-time resonance and harshness taming, auto-leveled, with nothing to set up — dial the amount and move on. It’s the quick-fix take on Purix for when your workflow is already dialed in. Availability Purix is free; AU, VST3 and Standalone, a Universal Binary for Apple Silicon and Intel, code-signed and notarized by Apple, with 19 presets for vocals, drums, bass, bus and master. Read More

Tunary Instruments has released REHEAT, a generative bass instrument built as a writing tool first and a synth second. Pick one of ten genre grooves, press New LINE, and REHEAT composes a bassline from a real chord progression — root on the change, chord tones on the beats, passing notes between, and a chromatic approach into the turnaround. A single bar is written as a cell and then replayed against each chord, so the result repeats and becomes a hook rather than wandering the way step-randomisers do. The line then drags straight out of the plugin as MIDI, onto any track, to be played by whatever bass instrument the producer already owns. The built-in three-layer bass engine — clean sub, detuned body and driven top through a cascaded 24dB/oct filter with saturation between the stages — is there to audition the part, not to replace the user’s own sound. REHEAT can follow an external kick: routed a drum bus, it corrects its phase to the beat without restarting the pattern. It also follows the host’s time signature rather than assuming 4/4. The sound engine and the composer are entirely algorithmic — no AI, no trained models and no generated audio. Pricing & Availability REHEAT is available for $49 for macOS and Windows in VST3 and AU plugin formats. A full-featured demo runs in the browser with no download. Read More

AngelicVibes has released Athena, a MIDI chord generator that creates chord progressions for Alternative R&B, Dark Pop, LoFi, Trap, and other atmospheric genres. Athena is available as a free web app and works on both desktop and mobile devices. No installation is required, and you can start generating chord progressions immediately without creating an account. A free account is required to download generated MIDI files. Athena is designed to be simple to use. Choose a Key & Scale, BPM, Length, Mode, Mood, Flavor, Melody, Rhythm, and Preview Sound, then generate a new musical idea in seconds. Features: Key & Scale selects the musical key (Major, Minor, or Chromatic). BPM sets the tempo from 40 to 220 BPM. Length chooses between 2, 4, 8, or 16-bar ideas. Mode determines how Athena builds the progression. Mood controls the emotional direction of the chords. Flavor adjusts how simple or complex the chords sound. Melody determines the style of topline generated over the chords. Rhythm controls when and how the chords are played. Preview Sound changes the instrument used for playback. Athena uses a custom-built engine designed specifically for Alternative R&B, Dark Pop, LoFi, Trap, and similar genres. According to AngelicVibes, the engine will be updated regularly with new chord progressions, features, and improvements. An audio plugin version of Athena is currently in development. It is expected to offer nearly the same features and workflow as the web version, allowing users to generate ideas directly inside their DAW. Existing users will be notified when it becomes available. Pricing & Availability Guests (no account): 10 generations per day. No downloading. Generate 2, 4, and 8-bar ideas. Generate chords, melodies, and rhythms. No saving to library. Athena Free Tier: 25 generations and 3 MIDI downloads per day. Generate 2, 4, and 8-bar ideas. Generate chords, melodies, and rhythms. Save ideas to your personal library. Athena Pro Tier ($89 One-Time): Unlimited generations and MIDI downloads. Pro generation mode. Drag and replace with advanced editing. Full library access with 80 ready-to-edit presets. Future plugin access and web-to-plugin sync. Athena is available to use here. More information about Athena Pro can be found here. Read More

Ample Sound has released Ample Guitar M Lite 4 (AGML4), a free acoustic guitar virtual instrument built on the new Ample Guitar 4 architecture. It features a next-generation sample engine, Riffer 4, Tab Reader 4, strummer, and an integrated effects system. AGML4 uses a streamlined sample library containing approximately 10% of the samples included in the full version of Ample Guitar M. It retains five essential articulations while providing access to nearly all of the core features and technologies of the full version. No Ample Sound account or software activation is required to download, install, or use AGML4. The New Ample Guitar 4 Architecture Next-Generation Sample Engine: The Ample Sound V4 sample engine improves audio processing efficiency and overall stability, while supporting current macOS and Windows systems and major plug-in formats. Five articulations: Sustain, Palm Mute, Hammer-on & Pull-off, Legato Slide, and Pop; 880 MB sample library. Poly Legato and Slide Smoother: support polyphonic legato and slide transitions across wide intervals and at different playing speeds. Drop tuning support: extends the lowest playable note to D1. Authentic left-hand performance noises. Adjustable acoustic resonance. Riffer 4: A MIDI Editor Designed for Plucked Instruments. Dual-view editing: Riffer 4 combines Piano Roll and Tab views. Users can switch between them in real time and edit phrases from both a pitch-based and fretboard-based perspective. String and fingering visualization: Riffer 4 introduces string information directly into the Piano Roll. This enables MIDI programming based on the physical playing logic of real plucked instruments, automatically preventing impossible polyphony on the same string and assigning more natural fingerings. Complete MIDI import and export: External MIDI can be imported into Riffer, while Riffer content can be exported to MIDI or instrument tracks in a DAW with consistent playback results. Direct articulation editing: Fingerings, articulations, legato relationships, and expressive changes can be edited directly, without relying on complicated keyswitch and MIDI CC programming. New MIDI CC and velocity editors: Multiple MIDI CC curves can be displayed simultaneously using different colors and transparency levels. The built-in Auto Vibrato function can quickly generate natural vibrato curves based on the musical content. Tab Reader 4: supports Guitar Pro 3 through Guitar Pro 8 files. Complete guitar tracks can be imported into Riffer while retaining the original fingerings, articulations, and other performance settings. Strummer: Two chord input modes, Select and Detect, with support for custom chord definitions. Strum SEQ allows strumming in any rhythm and at any speed. Includes a carefully crafted rhythm library with MIDI drag-and-drop support. Effects Processing System: Four built-in effects: 8-band EQ, compressor, delay, and convolution reverb. New 5K High-Resolution Interface: The redesigned 5K user interface offers a clearer and more modern visual experience. New Standalone Application: AGML4 includes a new standalone application based on Rectangles VST3. Minimum System Requirements macOS 10.15 or later. Windows 7 through Windows 11, 64-bit. VST2, VST3, AU, and AAX plug-in formats, plus the Rectangles VST3 standalone application. 10 GB or more of available disk space; SSD recommended. Intel Core i5 processor or higher. AGM + ABP Promotion To celebrate the releases of AGML4 and ABPL4, Ample Sound is offering 25% off the full versions of Ample Guitar M and Ample Bass P from July 31 through August 31, 2026, including a special AGM + ABP 2-in-1 Bundle. Download Ample Guitar M Lite 4 for free at: amplesound.net Video Demo Read More

Ample Sound has released Ample Guitar M Lite 4 (AGML4), a free acoustic guitar virtual instrument built on the new Ample Guitar 4 architecture. It features a next-generation sample engine, Riffer 4, Tab Reader 4, strummer, and an integrated effects system. AGML4 uses a streamlined sample library containing approximately 10% of the samples included in the full version of Ample Guitar M. It retains five essential articulations while providing access to nearly all of the core features and technologies of the full version. No Ample Sound account or software activation is required to download, install, or use AGML4. The New Ample Guitar 4 Architecture Next-Generation Sample Engine: The Ample Sound V4 sample engine improves audio processing efficiency and overall stability, while supporting current macOS and Windows systems and major plug-in formats. Five articulations: Sustain, Palm Mute, Hammer-on & Pull-off, Legato Slide, and Pop; 880 MB sample library. Poly Legato and Slide Smoother: support polyphonic legato and slide transitions across wide intervals and at different playing speeds. Drop tuning support: extends the lowest playable note to D1. Authentic left-hand performance noises. Adjustable acoustic resonance. Riffer 4: A MIDI Editor Designed for Plucked Instruments. Dual-view editing: Riffer 4 combines Piano Roll and Tab views. Users can switch between them in real time and edit phrases from both a pitch-based and fretboard-based perspective. String and fingering visualization: Riffer 4 introduces string information directly into the Piano Roll. This enables MIDI programming based on the physical playing logic of real plucked instruments, automatically preventing impossible polyphony on the same string and assigning more natural fingerings. Complete MIDI import and export: External MIDI can be imported into Riffer, while Riffer content can be exported to MIDI or instrument tracks in a DAW with consistent playback results. Direct articulation editing: Fingerings, articulations, legato relationships, and expressive changes can be edited directly, without relying on complicated keyswitch and MIDI CC programming. New MIDI CC and velocity editors: Multiple MIDI CC curves can be displayed simultaneously using different colors and transparency levels. The built-in Auto Vibrato function can quickly generate natural vibrato curves based on the musical content. Tab Reader 4: supports Guitar Pro 3 through Guitar Pro 8 files. Complete guitar tracks can be imported into Riffer while retaining the original fingerings, articulations, and other performance settings. Strummer: Two chord input modes, Select and Detect, with support for custom chord definitions. Strum SEQ allows strumming in any rhythm and at any speed. Includes a carefully crafted rhythm library with MIDI drag-and-drop support. Effects Processing System: Four built-in effects: 8-band EQ, compressor, delay, and convolution reverb. New 5K High-Resolution Interface: The redesigned 5K user interface offers a clearer and more modern visual experience. New Standalone Application: AGML4 includes a new standalone application based on Rectangles VST3. Minimum System Requirements macOS 10.15 or later. Windows 7 through Windows 11, 64-bit. VST2, VST3, AU, and AAX plug-in formats, plus the Rectangles VST3 standalone application. 10 GB or more of available disk space; SSD recommended. Intel Core i5 processor or higher. AGM + ABP Promotion To celebrate the releases of AGML4 and ABPL4, Ample Sound is offering 25% off the full versions of Ample Guitar M and Ample Bass P from July 31 through August 31, 2026, including a special AGM + ABP 2-in-1 Bundle. Download Ample Guitar M Lite 4 for free at: amplesound.net Video Demo Read More

Matari Audio has released BUFFR 0.6.53, a major cumulative update to the free public beta of its retrospective multichannel audio and MIDI recorder for DAWs. It is available for macOS, Windows and Linux in VST3 and CLAP formats. BUFFR keeps up to two hours of recent audio, system audio and MIDI ready to recover, edit and drag back into a project. Version 0.6.53 brings together every public improvement shipped since 0.5.81. What’s new Smart Quantize works non-destructively from the piano roll’s right-click menu with Raw, Human and Precision controls plus All, Marker and Selection scopes. It follows the DAW grid and recognizes straight timing, swing, tuplets, mixed subdivisions, polyrhythms, layered voices, phrase offsets, ornaments and chord rolls. Human tightens timing while preserving groove, articulation, pedals and expression. Precision places supported timing groups exactly while leaving uncertain notes alone. Original-note ghosts, scope colors and inferred subdivisions keep every edit visible and reversible. Automatic chord recognition covers major, minor, suspended, extended, altered and inverted chords. Velocity labels, velocity shading, transients and configurable channel, velocity or marker colors improve dense piano-roll editing. Expressive preview reproduces captured MPE, CLAP, VST3 and supported MIDI 2.0 data, including per-note pitch, pressure, brightness, volume, pan, vibrato, modulation, pedals and master controls. Playback restores active notes and expression when starting inside a phrase. Listen & Join provides a grid-synchronized musical metronome. Center Align, Ride and post-FX Normalize form a non-destructive audio finishing chain. Center Align balances waveform polarity with a true-peak-safe control. Ride evens active passages without lifting silence using Amount, Timing and a continuous Peak-to-RMS blend. Peak and True Peak Normalize measure the finished result. Independent audio and MIDI silence windows separate performances without splitting held notes or slowly played chords. Saved Global MIDI devices can capture while the editor is closed. Focused right-click panels expose Export, Waveform, Spectral, Grid and Smart Quantize controls at the point of work. Settings and Activity can open in owned native windows on Windows, macOS and Linux, with an embedded fallback for hosts that cannot create them. Event-driven audio and MIDI drag-out supports Windows, macOS, X11, XWayland and native Wayland routes without polling or finish-delay timers. Audio exports as 24-bit FLAC by default, with 24-bit WAV available in Settings. The editor adds improved keyboard operation, focus, screen-reader descriptions, typography, responsive sizing, themes, live grid divisions and clearer selections. Spectrogram and waveform caching, smoother playheads, reliable preview audio, system-audio recovery and Linux repaint fixes improve long-session use. Pricing & Availability BUFFR 0.6.53 is free during the public beta. No public-beta end date has been announced. The current beta opens immediately without sign-in, while optional account activation remains available. Read More

Initial Audio has updated SourceLab to version 2.4.0. This is a free update for existing users. Changes: Added an extra user file browser to the “Load Source” browser. Add your own sample folders for quick easy loading to the source. Currently just support single sample loading, so ideal for loops or instruments that can be stretch across the keys. Made the sample range and sequencer range less sensitive to y dragging when moving. This prevents accidental range changes while dragging in x direction. Filter tab is remembered when reopening editor in the DAW. Added “Activate Full Version” button in the demo at the bottom, next to the “Demo Info…” button. Fixed Filter warp and wavetable position didn’t update correctly on subsequent notes unless modulated. Fixed recording was only working for the Main sequencer. Fixed modulating PWM amount in Instrument mode wasn’t working. Fixed the Sample display didn’t update when choosing a Slice loop from the menu. Fixed filter display didn’t update correctly after closing and opening the plugin editor. Removed Quality mode for the drawable and wavetable filters, it is not required and used too much CPU. Stability fixes and optimisations. Read More

Due to the number of entries this year, several KVR members have requested more time to evaluate them all so the voting period has been extended for one week.  Voting will now be open until August 10th, with the winners to be announced the following day. The KVR Developer Challenge 2026, the tenth free-for-all audio plugin / audio application / soundware design event, is now in the download and voting stage. 56 entries this year, better than the previous record of 55 in 2012! Explore this fantastic bevy of new free software, then vote (and maybe donate to the prize fund) at www.kvraudio.com/kvr-developer-challenge/2026 The KVR Developer Challenge began in 2006 and has occurred every 2-3 years ever since. It’s for anyone who develops Audio Plugins, Applications or Soundware. The challenge is to create and release a brand new free audio plugin, application or sound library / pack / set that will benefit the community at large. Creativity is always key, it can be as simple or as complex as you want – KVR members will vote on the entries and pick the eventual winner using whatever criteria they choose. 2023 was won by the excellent Solaris reverb plugin by Adam Szabo, with MONSTER OctaChord v1 by Monster DAW, Wave Breaker by Press Play, and Northern Trumpets by VG Trumpet making up the top four and Roundels by XiiixxiQ taking the wildcard prize. 2021 gave us WhispAir by Full Bucket Music, GR-8 by Phuturetone, Virtuosity Drums by Versilian Studios, and FKFX Influx by FKFX. 2018 delivered gems such as ProF.E.T. by Ignite Amps, Deducktion by Dead Duck Software and MPS by Full Bucket Music. We had Youlean Loudness Meter, Lagrange by Ursa DSP and Spaceship Delay from Musical Entropy in 2016, Multiply by Acon Digital, Nova-67P by vladg/sound and Emissary by Ignite Amps in 2014, and so it goes on… Check out 2012, 2009, 2007, and the original in 2006 when Triple Cheese by u-he won the show. Read More

Due to the number of entries this year, several KVR members have requested more time to evaluate them all so the voting period has been extended for one week.  Voting will now be open until August 10th, with the winners to be announced the following day. The KVR Developer Challenge 2026, the tenth free-for-all audio plugin / audio application / soundware design event, is now in the download and voting stage. 56 entries this year, better than the previous record of 55 in 2012! Explore this fantastic bevy of new free software, then vote (and maybe donate to the prize fund) at www.kvraudio.com/kvr-developer-challenge/2026 The KVR Developer Challenge began in 2006 and has occurred every 2-3 years ever since. It’s for anyone who develops Audio Plugins, Applications or Soundware. The challenge is to create and release a brand new free audio plugin, application or sound library / pack / set that will benefit the community at large. Creativity is always key, it can be as simple or as complex as you want – KVR members will vote on the entries and pick the eventual winner using whatever criteria they choose. 2023 was won by the excellent Solaris reverb plugin by Adam Szabo, with MONSTER OctaChord v1 by Monster DAW, Wave Breaker by Press Play, and Northern Trumpets by VG Trumpet making up the top four and Roundels by XiiixxiQ taking the wildcard prize. 2021 gave us WhispAir by Full Bucket Music, GR-8 by Phuturetone, Virtuosity Drums by Versilian Studios, and FKFX Influx by FKFX. 2018 delivered gems such as ProF.E.T. by Ignite Amps, Deducktion by Dead Duck Software and MPS by Full Bucket Music. We had Youlean Loudness Meter, Lagrange by Ursa DSP and Spaceship Delay from Musical Entropy in 2016, Multiply by Acon Digital, Nova-67P by vladg/sound and Emissary by Ignite Amps in 2014, and so it goes on… Check out 2012, 2009, 2007, and the original in 2006 when Triple Cheese by u-he won the show. Read More

reFX has announced the release of Rippler, a physical modeling synthesizer with comprehensive modulation and effects that emulates acoustic instruments both real and imagined, and adds a layer of subtractive synthesis to blend, enhance or solidify your sound. Add expressive modulation, a collection of high-quality effects, performance controls and hundreds of presets, and Rippler is your go-to synth for both realistic and more-than-realistic sounds alike. Rippler’s signal path starts with its Exciters, which offer a choice of sounds, user import, and sidechain input to start the signal path. The Exciter signal and Noise Generator are then fed into two Resonators that mimic those of real acoustic instruments (tubes, membranes, bells, strings, …). Two Oscillators can be added to blend and layer with the acoustic signal, and two Filters offer a large range of vintage and modern sound sculpting types. A generous dose of modulation and effects round out Rippler’s signal path. Rippler Main Features Dual-Layer physical modeling synthesizer plus traditional synth oscillators and filters. 441 Presets (Factory Bank as of July 2026). Exciter with custom impulse, 32 samples, sample import or sidechain input. Noise generator feeds into resonators, output, or both. 12 Acoustic-style resonator models: String, Beam, Squared, Bell, Membrane, Plate, Drumhead, Djembe, Vibraphone, Marimba, Open Tube, Closed Tube. Manual resonator type for custom additive synthesis (change partials in frequency, level, and drag to ‘paint’ your pattern). Resonators work in series or parallel, with bi-directional energy coupling. Dual oscillators with Phase, Fold and Asymmetry. 27 Filter types including vintage, ladder and vowel. Modulation from four LFOs, four envelopes, random generators, MIDI/MPE controllers, macros. 13 Effects in three chains (Layer A, Layer B, Master): EQ, Distortion, Stereoizer, Phaser, Compressor, Chorus, Magnetic, Tremolo, Delay, Bucket Delay, Reverb, Particle, Limiter. Vibrato with Rate, Delay and Rise. Arpeggiator with additional modifiers for pitch and velocity. Modulation Matrix with custom mapping curves, power curve. Preset Browser with Favorites and Type tags, random selection. Pricing & Availability Rippler is now available for macOS and Windows in VST3, AU and AAX plugin formats at an introductory price of $99 falling to a regular price of $129 after 13th September. YouTube.com/watch?v=qUoZ6dOx6RM Read More

Scrap Brain Audio announced the release of WX, a compact synthesizer built around controlled randomness and probability-based sound generation. Instead of presenting users with dozens of parameters, it deliberately employs a limited interface to keep the focus on the process of exploration. Sounds are generated entirely at random by double-clicking on the radar display, randomizing parameters such as oscillator shape, filter type and settings, ADSR behavior, effect balance, drift, and modulation. Rather than producing purely noisy sounds, the randomization system has been mathematically optimized through detailed statistical analysis to generate musically usable results. Key Features Synth Architecture: Multi-voice oscillator engine featuring analog-style detune spread, a multi-mode scan filter, and dynamic envelope loop modulation. 1-Click Sound Generator: Double-click the radar screen to generate from billions of unique patch possibilities. Built-in FX Suite: Integrated STFT Signal Loss, Decimator (Bitcrusher), Stereo Chorus, Delay, and Reverb for instant tone shaping, lo-fi degradation, and spatial width. Pricing & Availability WX is available for $12 in VST3 and standalone formats for Windows 10 and Windows 11, 64-bit, from scrapbrainaudio.com. macOS AU and VST3 support is currently in development. YouTube.com/watch?v=EfOVWzaNFTk Read More

Sound Magic has released Neo Piano Chapters: NewYork, a hybrid modelling New York Concert Grand Piano. Sound Magic says: Neo Piano Chapters: NewYork captures the timeless character of a Steinway D concert grand piano ((Manufactured in New York)), delivering an elegant and refined tonal personality with natural musical authority. Known for its balanced projection, rich harmonic content, and expressive singing tone, the NewYork Grand effortlessly commands attention without becoming aggressive. Its sound combines clarity, warmth, and sophistication, making it equally at home in solo performances, film scoring, jazz, pop productions, and contemporary classical music. Whether performing delicate passages or powerful musical statements, NewYork Grand responds with confidence, depth, and unmistakable character. Pricing & Availability Neo Piano Chapters: NewYork is available for macOS and Windows, VST3 and AU, for the introductory price of $69 (Reg. $129) until October 30th, 2026. Additionally, Sound Magic has also announced its latest Summer Special Sale Event, which offers heavy discount on multi products. Read More

orph has released Plush, a free brilliance and loudness effect for macOS and Windows. Plush adds high-end clarity and perceived loudness with a small set of controls, intended for finishing a mix or lifting single tracks without building a full mastering chain. The plugin runs as VST3, AU and Standalone. The macOS build is notarized and universal, the Windows build is code-signed. No serial number or activation is required. Plush is free of charge and available at orph.audio Read More

Xhun Audio has announced a Special Promo for its LittleOne analogue modeling synthesizer, available now for 39.90 Euro/USD thanks to a time-limited 55% discount. This offer is valid until July 31st, 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

Psychic Modulation has updated Phonec3 to v3.0.5. Highlights Bank Import from Phonec2: Full bank import is now available. Installation will provide all the setup needed as well as a copy of the original factory bank so that importing is only a few clicks away. Oscillator Drift: A Drift control has been added to the Oscillator section for providing analog-style instability between oscillators. Echo Filters & Modes: A Dual Filter option has been added to the Echo, as well as a new Mix Mode for choosing Linear or Equal Power. Sequencer Glides & Rates: A Dual Rate mode has been added so the Arp and Sequencer can have individual rates. The Note and Mod Sequencers now have glide controls for step smoothing and slewing. Additionally a Filter Modulation polarity ‘Flip’ switch has been added to change the behavior of the Mod Sequencer. A complete list of what’s new in this version: Full Bank Import is now available. Major improvements to Import feature. Oscillator Drift added. Echo now has dual filter option. Echo now has Mix Mode (Lin/Pow). Sequencer Glide added to Note/Mod. Filter Mod Sequencer Polarity Flip switch added. Seq/Arp Dual Rates option now available. Several additional fixes and improvements. Read More

Native Instruments has updated Kontakt to v8.12.0. Overall Changes Added: Phase 1 of the Default View Instrument Header overhaul. Specific controls (such as MIDI Input, Audio Output, and Purge) are slated for Phase 2 in versions 8.13/8.14; these functions continue to be accessible via the Classic View Instrument Header. Improved visual clarity between Instrument Header Solo/Mute states. Ability to show/hide Instrument user interfaces from the Instrument Headers. Fixed: What’s New Page can be cutoff when Kontakt hosted inside Kontrol or Maschine. Some buttons inadvertently stealing Spacebar focus. Usage Data Opt In/Out was non functional. Known: Preset Name may not display correctly in new Header after reopening saved session. Builder Changes Added: Komplete UI Waveform now progressed to stable. Ability to use Group Handle instead of Group Indices for Zones. Fade in / Fade out commands now accept an optional curve arguments (Equal Power, S Curve, Exponential, Logarithmic, Linear). Program Handle is renamed to Instrument. Method overloading support for Komplete Script. Fixed: Crash when closing an Instrument in Edit Mode. Crash when zooming out on Waveform and Sample End is visible. The Zone / Sample API(s) was incorrectly available in a Tool. GUI cutoff issues with older NGL-based instruments. Saving User Script did not update Script dropdown menu. Read More

quietformat has released Anchor, a free mix balance utility plugin for macOS and Windows. Anchor is designed to compensate for overall level changes introduced by compressors, EQs, saturators, clippers, limiters and other audio processors. It helps preserve the level balance established in a mix while leaving the tone, dynamics and character created by the processing intact. Anchor uses two paired plugins. Anchor START is placed before the processor or processing chain, while Anchor END is placed after it. After the pair creates a reference from continuous playback, END compares matching sections of the same audio before and after processing and applies a single broadband trim gain. If processing makes the signal louder, Anchor reduces the overall level. If processing makes it quieter, Anchor raises the level toward the established reference. Anchor START remains bit-transparent and does not alter the audio. Anchor can be used around an individual processor, a complete plugin chain, a track, a bus or a mastering chain. Features include: Paired Anchor START and Anchor END workflow. Processing-related overall level correction. Bit-transparent START plugin. Single broadband trim gain applied by END. Support for individual plugins and complete processing chains. Support for tracks, buses, mix buses and mastering chains. Preservation of EQ changes, dynamics, harmonics, transients, stereo imaging and spatial processing. Availability Anchor is free and is available for macOS 10.13+ and Windows 10+ in VST3 and AU plugin formats. Read More

Acon Digital has released a major update to Multiply, their free chorus effect plug-in (and winner of the KVR Developer Challenge 2014). This new version brings a redesigned user interface and 80 new presets, making Multiply’s chorus, widening, and sound-design capabilities easier to access and shape. Multiply is built around a phase-randomising filter applied to each simulated voice, avoiding the metallic comb-filtering that plagues many conventional chorus effects. The plugin can simulate up to six additional voices, with independent pitch and loudness modulation, a five-band equaliser to shape the effect signal, and an integrated pre-delay section for modulated, diffuse echo effects. Multiply 2 is free to everyone and available for both Windows and macOS, supporting VST, VST3, AU and AAX formats in any compatible host, including Pro Tools. Are you an existing Multiply owner? Just download the latest version from your account on the Acon Digital website. YouTube.com/watch?v=1UoTUVlpjio Read More

ThaLoops has announced the release of Cello Shots, a virtual cello instrument that turns a real acoustic cello into a rhythm machine. It’s built for beatmakers, music producers, and composers; aimed at hip-hop, trap, R&B, and pop production. Instead of long bowed notes, Cello Shots focuses on the percussive side of the instrument: slaps, hits, textures, and one-shot riffs, recorded from an acoustic cello performed by an academically trained cellist and mapped across the keyboard. The instrument features four sound banks: Slaps: playable slapped cello notes for chord progressions, basslines, and melodies. Low Percussion: deep, woody hits for layering under drums. High Percussion: tight accents that cut through a mix. FX: vinyl crackles, sweeps, scrapes, and textures made on the body and strings of the cello. Cello Shots also includes 21 Riff presets with 506 one-shot cello samples. Riffs, bends, licks, chops, and chords in 5 keys (A, C, D, E, G) at 4 tempos (90–120 BPM), playable at any tempo and in any order. Pricing & Availability Cello Shots is available in VST3 and AU formats for Windows and macOS for the introductory price of $14.99 (Reg. $19.99). Video: YouTube/g_ADbwRj4CM Read More

Beehives & Blood has announced the release of 1shot and Dicebox – Make one-shots and presets. 1shot 1SHOT layers four samples into one new sound. You drop a folder of one-shots on each slot, pick a type (snare, kick, etc.), and 1shot keeps pulling matching samples and stacking them. Key Features: Four sample slots: Slots 1–3 are each routed to one band of a 3-band crossover (LOW, MID, HIGH), so together they cover the spectrum without overlapping. Slot 4 is full-range, bypasses the crossover, and has its own bandpass filter. Instrument source: Choose the instrument you’re working on and it restricts each slot’s folder to files matching the chosen type. Choose “Any” for no filter. Per-slot controls: Each slot has a drop area for a sample or folder. If you drop a folder, its subfolders are included for randomization too. Each slot also has its own controls for shaping the loaded sound. Randomize buttons: RND SAMPLES, KNOBS, TUNING, MASTER, BITCRUSH, SATURATION, and TIMESTRETCH each randomizes its part, scaled by the intensity setting. RND BANDS reshuffles slots 1–3 across LOW/MID/HIGH. RND ALL randomizes everything at once. INIT resets all knobs and clears the ranges. Range bands: Every slider (slot knobs, master FX, timestretch) has a range band for randomization. Drag horizontally to move its center, vertically to set its width. CAPTURE RANGES builds range bands from the sliders’ current positions. RND RANGES generates new range bands. Presets browser: Browse, load and delete presets you’ve saved. Customization: Change the background color to anything you like. Use the color picker to grab any color on your screen. Dicebox Dicebox loads any VST3/AU plugin and randomizes its parameters. It consists of two separate plugins that each load any plugin from your library and randomize its parameters. INST hosts instruments, FX hosts effects. Key Features: Plugin browser: Opens a searchable list to load a VST3, AU instrument or effect into Dicebox. You can also hit RND to load a random plugin from your collection. Parameter locks: A scrollable list of every parameter with individual lock checkboxes, plus Lock All / Unlock All. Group-level locks (Oscillator, Filter, FX, etc.), each with its own button to randomize only that group. Name-based auto-exclusion: Parameters with names like volume, gain, master, output, bypass, enable, on/off or mute are never included when randomizing. You can always unlock them if you want. Randomization intensity: Drag up or down to set how far parameters are randomized, as a percentage. Set it low and you’ll get similar sounds. Set it high and you’ll get more extreme results that can inspire new ideas. Undo / Redo: Steps back and forth through your latest randomizations. Preset browser: Browse, load, and delete presets. Customization: Change the background color to anything you like. Use the color picker to grab any color on your screen. Every saved preset can have its own color. Pricing and Availability Both plugins come as VST3 and AU on macOS, VST3 on Windows, and are available for the introductory pricing of €19 each (regular €29) until August 10th. Free 7-day trials are available. Read More