Surge Is A Powerful Free Synthesizer Plugin, Open Source & Compatible With PC/Mac/Linux

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In September 2018 I reported about Surge, a well-known synthesizer plug-in that was taken off the market but lives on as an open-source project. The developer has now upgraded Surge and there are two very good news: it is now compatible with Windows / Mac / Linux and MPE is supported.

Surge is a powerful synth (wavetable, FM…) is now available in a first beta as a free download. Now there is no reason not to download it.

News From September 26th, 2018

Sad news comes from Vember Audio. The developer announced today that SURGE Synthesizer plugin is no longer being developed. Especially because the developer has no time left. But nobody has to be sad now. This message also has a good page.

SURGE is now open-source and can be developed by anyone under the GNU GPL v3 license. It’s a powerful hybrid subtractive synth that comes with many oscillator algorithms, two filters, plenty of modulations (12 LFO’s…, effects and more. The plugin is currently only available for Windows users but a macOS version could come very soon because the code ready for a macOS version.

Overview

Architecturally speaking, Surge is a rather complex synthesizer. But because of how it’s put together it’s still easy to learn. Once you do, you will turn the sounds in your head to audio faster than ever. The effortless workflow, attention to detail and the sound quality can’t really be appreciated without trying it yourself.

SURGE Is Now Open-Source

As of 21th September 2018, Surge stopped being a commerical product and became an open-source project released under the GNU GPL v3 license. For the existing users this will allow the community to make sure that it remains compatible as plug-in standards and Operating Systems evolve. For everyone else, this is an exiting new free synth to use, hack, port, improve or do whatever you want with!

Features

  • subtractive hybrid synthesis engine
  • each patch contain two ‘scenes’ which are separate instances of the entire synthesis engine (except effects) that can be used for layering or split patches.
  • 1010 patches & 183 wavetables
  • 3 oscillators/voice & 8 oscillator algorithms
  • oscillator FM/ringmodulation
  • noise generator with variable spectrum
  • two filter-units with arrangeable with 8 different configurations + feedback loop, many filter algorithms
  • filter self-oscillation + waveshaper (5 shapes)
  • 12 LFO
  • DAHDSR envelope generators on every LFO-unit
  • 7 deformable LFO-waveforms + 1 drawable/stepsequencer waveform
  • 8 effect units arranged as 2 inserts/scene, 2 sends and 2 master effects
  • 10 top-quality algorithms: Delay, Reverb, Chorus, Phaser, EQ, Distortion, Conditioner (EQ, stereo-image control & limiter), Rotary speaker, Frequency shifter, Vocoder

SURGE is available now for free (previously sold $99 USD) under the GNU GPL v3 license. It’s available for PC, Mac and Linux in AU and VST format.

More information here: SURGE 

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