IK Multimedia’s Syntronik emulates 38 classic synths and lets you create your own vintage hybrids

Emulating just one classic synth is a pretty serious undertaking, but IK Multimedia has set itself the awesome challenge of packing 38 of the things into its new Syntronik plugin, which has just been released.

This is based on a hybrid sample and modelling synthesis engine that promises to deliver “the best-sounding collection of vintage synthesizers to date”. All the usual suspects are here, including instruments from Moog, Sequential Circuits, Oberheim, ARP, Yamaha and Roland.  

Syntronik ships with a 50GB library containing some 70,000 samples of these synths, but that’s only part of the story. IK says that its new synthesis engine has been used to model four classic analogue filters: the Moog transistor ladder, Roland’s IR3109 chip, the Curtis CEM3320 chip, and the Oberheim SEM state variable filter.

This hybrid architecture is said not only to deliver authentic emulations of the original hardware, but also to enable you to use each of the filters in each synth. So, you could combine a Moog filter with Oberheim oscillators, for example, or choose any other combination that takes your fancy.

Syntronik also features IK’s Drift technology, which is designed to reproduce the ‘movement’ associated with real analogue oscillators, and to emulate the way that analogue circuits behave. You can also layer up to four different synth parts, and each synth comes with its own arpeggiator. Finally, there are 38 effects that are derived from IK’s T-RackS and AmpliTube software, and a few new processors, too.

Syntronik is shipping now for PC and Mac priced at $300/€300. You can also buy each individual instrument for $50/€50, and there are crossgrade options for existing IK customers.

Find out more on the IK Multimedia website.

Ben Rogerson

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it. 

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