Buzz Zone is Toybox's two-engine wavetable and sample synth. Version 3 adds six piano-roll sequencers, the Utility Strip, new modulation, Snapshots and tuning systems.
Plugin comparison
Buzz Zone vs Vital
Specs, price and the Dubspot Score, side by side — with our verdict on which synth to buy.
Independent score / workflow fit / buying signal
Contenders
The side-by-side
9.0Essential
Vital is a spectral warping wavetable synthesizer by Matt Tytel for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Technical matrix
Specs compared
| Signal | Buzz Zone | Vital |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $48 (Version 3 a free update) | $25 |
| Dubspot Score | — | 9.0 |
| Formats | Standalone, VST3, AU, AUv3 | VST, VST3, AU (Audio Units), LV2, Standalone |
| Developer | Toybox | — |
| Type | Two-engine synthesizer (wavetable Synth engine plus Sample engine) | — |
| Oscillators | Wavetable main and harmony oscillators with unison; sample-based Sample engine | — |
| Modulation | 16 oscillator modulation types (FM, AM, hard sync, 8 phase-distortion modes and more) | LFOs, envelopes and randomized sources with stereo modulation, remappable curves, audio-rate modulation, and keytracked LFOs |
| Envelopes | Two banks (A and B) with crossfade; Smart, Lines and Steps, Draw and Record editing | — |
| Sequencers | 6, each with a piano-roll MIDI editor and per-note expression | — |
| Utility Strip | Modular MIDI workspace: arps, note repeaters, chord tools, LFOs, CC mappers and more | — |
| Snapshots | Store and morph complete sound variations, up to 64 slots per preset | — |
| Tuning | Global Tuning library: historical temperaments, just intonation, world tunings | — |
| Effects | 25 reverbs and effects | — |
| Formats | VST3, AU, standalone (macOS and Windows); AUv3 on iPad | — |
| Price | $48 desktop; Version 3 a free update for existing owners | — |
| Synthesis type | — | Spectral warping wavetable synthesis |
| Operating systems | — | Windows 10+, macOS 10.15+ (Intel or Apple Silicon), Ubuntu Linux 18.04+; 64-bit only, OpenGL 3+ |
| Wavetable tools | — | Pitch-splice and vocode wavetable converters, plus text-to-wavetable generation |
| Tuning and MPE | — | Microtonal support (.tun, .scl, .kbd files) and full MPE support |
| Included content | — | Basic: 75 presets / 25 wavetables; Plus: 250 / 70; Pro: 400+ / 150 |
See the full plugin database for more comparisons.