Plogue’s Chipsynth MD puts the Sega Genesis sound chip in a plugin

Plogue Chipsynth MD
(Image credit: Plogue)

Plogue isn’t the first company to emulate the sound chip found in the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis console, but given its strong pedigree in the chiptune market, its new Chipsynth MD plugin is still guaranteed to get a warm reception.

This features a carefully reverse-engineered version of the OPN2 chip that was found in Sega’s classic 16-bit machine, meaning that you’ve got a 4-operator FM synth to play with.

This isn’t Game Over though, as Plogue then hit the Continue button during the development process and combined this emulation with a SN76489-compatible square wave core (SPSG), and crunchy sample playback of the sort that you’d have heard back in the ‘90s. 

Oh, and it multiplied all of this by six, enabling you to create beefy multi-layer patches. You even get a VGM file player so that you can listen to your favourite vintage video game soundtracks.

Chipsynth MD is available now for PC and Mac in VST/AU/AAX formats priced at £49. Find out more on the Plogue 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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