Force56 Rhyzor16: Both Alesis HR-16 ROMs in One VST
Force56 Rhyzor16 puts all 96 Alesis HR-16 and HR-16B sounds into one $39 drum plugin with 32-step per-pad tuning. Full specs, pricing and who it suits.
Rhyzor16 is a sample-based drum instrument from Force56 Audio Software. It's built from the complete sound sets of the Alesis HR-16 and HR-16B. You get 96 original drum sounds in one plugin: 49 from the HR-16 and 47 from the HR-16B. Every pad carries its own volume, pan and the original-style 32-step tuning range. The price is $39, one-time, and the fully functional 2-day demo needs no registration.
At a glance: $39 lifetime license, three computer activations, free updates. VST3, AU and standalone on Windows 10 or later and macOS 10.13 or later. The Mac build is a Universal Binary for Intel and Apple Silicon. Roughly 200 MB of disk and 1 GB of RAM. Buy it from Force56 Audio.
This is a first look at the shipping product and its documented feature set. We haven't put it through a studio session yet.
What is Rhyzor16?
The Alesis HR-16 arrived in 1987 as a 16-bit digital drum machine. Its dry, unfussy kit turned up on plenty of late-80s and early-90s records, and the HR-16B followed with a darker, more electronic companion ROM. Chasing that sound on original hardware today means tired pads and a MIDI rig you have to nurse along. Rhyzor16 loads both ROM sets into one window instead.
Force56 states the goal plainly on the product page. Preserve the character and immediacy of the originals, then make the sounds easy to reach inside a modern DAW. That framing also tells you what the plugin isn't. You load a preset, trigger pads over MIDI, shape them, and record.
There's no pattern writer inside, and Force56 doesn't bury that detail. The company describes Rhyzor16 as a sound-generating drum instrument rather than a MIDI pattern generator. It sends no MIDI out at all. Sequencing stays in the host, which keeps the plugin's behavior consistent across Logic Pro, Ableton Live, Cubase, Studio One, Reason and Reaper. Whether that reads as a clean design decision or a missing feature depends on how you already write drums.
Force56 also sells Pulse16, a $39 drum instrument based on the SR-16. Rhyzor16 slots in as the HR-16 half of the same catalog. The LAR-32 synth, built from MT-32 hardware, rounds out the current lineup at $49.
Both ROM sets, one instrument
96 HR-16 and HR-16B sounds
Switching from the brighter HR-16 palette to the darker HR-16B character is a sound change here, not a library reload. Force56 publishes the full sample list. It's worth reading before you buy, because the two ROMs pull in genuinely different directions.
ROM A is the HR-16 kit. Kicks cover 20in Swift, 22in 60s, 22in Deep plus gated and power variants. From there you get rimshots and sidesticks, brass piccolo and ambient wood snares, double-head and power toms, four hat positions plus pedal, crash, ride bell and ride edge. Percussion runs from agogo bell and cabasa through congas, cowbells, claves, hand claps, maracas, shaker, tambourine, timbale, triangle and two woodblocks.
ROM B is where things get interesting. The HR-16B set opens with Big Foot, Monster, Techno, Tight, Rap and Tiled Room kicks. Snares add gated, piccolo, aggressive and reverb flavors, and the hats go R&B and rock. Then comes the percussion bank: Glass Break, Lip Pop, Pipe, Scratch, Synth Block, Torque Wrench, Trash Can.
That split is the whole argument for the plugin. Most HR-16 sample packs stop at the A ROM. The B machine is the one holding oddball one-shots that producers still lift for industrial, hip-hop and early techno kits. Having both sets under the same 16 pads means you can pair a 22in Power kick from A with a Techno snare from B. No second instrument, no folder of WAVs to dig through.
32-step tuning, per pad
Each of the 16 pads gets independent volume, pan and tuning. The tuning range follows the same 32 steps that made the hardware fun to abuse. Pitch a tom up into a perc hit. Drop a kick down into a sub click. Pan the B-set junk percussion wide and leave the rest of the kit centered. Then save the result as a user preset.
Those three controls are all the sound design on offer. The official spec list mentions no filter, envelope or saturation stage. You shape a kit the way you shaped it on the hardware: pick the ROM sound, tune it, place it, move on. Producers who want click, decay and snap parameters on every drum want a different category of plugin. Drumazon 2 is the obvious example.
There's a real trade-off buried in that simplicity. Sixteen pads matches the original machines exactly. It also means a kit leaning on both ROMs fills up fast. Want the full A kick collection plus the B junk percussion in one project? You'll be running two instances.
Presets, MIDI mapping and recall
Rhyzor16 ships with ready-to-play presets, and Force56 keeps user saving simple. You can modify a factory kit, randomize it, or assemble a new set from all 96 sounds. Pads respond to mappable MIDI drum-pad trigger events. DAW state recall brings your kit back with the project.
The plugin runs fully offline. It performs a lightweight update check on launch and points you to the official releases page when a new version lands. Losing network access doesn't stop playback. Windows users should also expect a SmartScreen warning during installation. Force56 flags that on its own FAQ as a side effect of independent distribution, not a problem with the installer.
Authorization is a serial key. There is no iLok and no dongle. The license covers three personal computers, and you can mix Windows and macOS installs across them. Lifetime updates are included. Force56 will issue a refund if the plugin isn't what you wanted. The 2-day demo is fully functional, and once it expires the plugin stops outputting audio until you register a key.
Rhyzor16 specifications
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Sample-based drum instrument |
| Sounds | 96 total: 49 HR-16 + 47 HR-16B |
| Pads | 16, with per-pad volume, pan, and 32-step tuning |
| Sequencing | Host DAW only. No MIDI output from the plugin |
| Formats | VST3, AU, standalone |
| macOS | 10.13 or later, Intel and Apple Silicon Universal Binary |
| Windows | Windows 10 or later, 64-bit |
| Resources | 2 GHz CPU, 1 GB RAM, about 200 MB disk |
| License | $39 one-time, 3 activations, lifetime updates, serial key |
| Demo | Fully functional 2-day trial, no registration |
Rhyzor16 vs Drumazon 2
Drumazon 2 is the comparison people reach for whenever a classic drum machine turns into a plugin. The two products work very differently. Drumazon synthesizes 909-family voices from scratch. Rhyzor16 plays back the HR-16 and HR-16B ROMs.
| Rhyzor16 | Drumazon 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Source | HR-16 and HR-16B ROM samples | TR-909-style drum synthesis |
| Sound count | 96 ROM sounds across two machines | Editable 909-family voices |
| Sequencing | DAW MIDI only | Built for electronic pattern work, deeper per-voice control |
| Formats | VST3, AU, standalone | VST3, AU, AAX |
| Systems | macOS 10.13+, Windows 10+ | Current D16 hosts |
| Price | $39 | €99 |
Drumazon 2 is the pick when you want to redesign a 909 voice, not simply trigger one. Rhyzor16 earns its place when you specifically want those HR-16 hits, B-set oddballs included. It's roughly a third of the price with almost no setup.
Battery 4 is the other comparison worth making. It matters most if you already live inside a cell sampler and just need somewhere to drop the same samples. At $199 it's deeper and far more flexible, though the interface shows its age. You'd also have to source and map the HR-16 material yourself. Rhyzor16 is the smaller finished instrument, with the ROMs already mapped, tuned and named.
Force56's Pulse16 remains the closest sibling. Same $39, same idea of classic Alesis ROMs under modern pads, SR-16 instead of the HR pair. Producers after that 90s SR-16 kit should look at the Pulse16 page. Anyone chasing the late-80s HR sound is in the right place here.
Who Rhyzor16 is for
Rhyzor16 suits producers who already write drums in the DAW and want HR-16 character on the pads. Hip-hop and sample-based pop keep coming back to those dry digital kicks and the B-set percussion. Early techno and industrial kits still want the gated rooms. The Trash Can hit, meanwhile, has more mileage in it than it has any right to. Retro hardware fans who'd rather not keep a 1987 box alive get both ROMs plus 32-step tuning, no MIDI interface required.
It's also an easy addition if you already bought Pulse16 and want the other Alesis digital machine in the same workflow.
Skip it if you need the plugin itself to write patterns, because there's no sequencer and no MIDI output. Anyone after acoustic kit realism is better served by Addictive Drums 2 or EZdrummer 3. And if electronic voice design is the point, Drumazon 2 or a sampler like Battery 4 gives you much more surface to work with.
How much does Rhyzor16 cost?
Rhyzor16 is $39 USD, one-time. The license includes lifetime updates and three personal-computer activations. Force56 offers a refund if you're not satisfied. A fully functional 2-day demo is available for macOS and Windows with no registration required. Buy it from the official Rhyzor16 page.
At that price the demo does most of the sales work. Two days is short. It's still long enough to load the presets, audition both ROMs against a real track, and decide whether the HR-16 palette is what your drums have been missing. Force56 sells direct, so the official shop is the storefront.
FAQ
Is Rhyzor16 an Alesis HR-16 VST?
Yes. Force56 built it as an HR-16 and HR-16B drum instrument for modern Windows and macOS hosts. It combines all 96 sounds from both machines with independent per-pad volume, pan and 32-step tuning, plus preset management.
Does Rhyzor16 include HR-16B sounds?
Yes. You get 49 sounds from the HR-16 and 47 from the HR-16B. Force56 lists every sample by ROM and name on the product page.
Does Rhyzor16 have a sequencer?
No. It's a sound-generating drum instrument, so your DAW handles sequencing and MIDI routing. The plugin doesn't send MIDI out.
What are the Rhyzor16 system requirements?
On Windows you need Windows 10 or later, 64-bit, with a VST3-compatible DAW. An ASIO driver is recommended. On macOS you need 10.13 or later on Intel or Apple Silicon, with an AU or VST3 host. Both platforms want a 2 GHz CPU, 1 GB of RAM and roughly 200 MB of disk. Both include the standalone app.
How long is the demo?
Two days, fully functional, with no registration. After that the plugin stops outputting audio until you enter a serial key.
Does Rhyzor16 need an internet connection?
No. It works fully offline. The app checks for updates on launch, but everything keeps running normally when no connection is available.
Verdict
Rhyzor16 does one job and prices it like a sample pack. You get both HR-16 ROM sets, 32-step tuning on every pad, factory and user presets, three seats and a demo that costs nothing to try. It won't write your beat, model a 909 or mix an acoustic kit. Force56 never pretends otherwise.
The 7.5 reflects that narrow scope rather than any obvious flaw. Sixteen pads with three controls each is a small instrument in 2026. Producers used to filters and envelopes on a drum sampler will feel the ceiling quickly. But for anyone who wants 96 late-80s digital drum sounds mapped, named and out of the way, $39 is an easy call. Browse the Rhyzor16 plugin page for the scorecard, then compare it with the rest of our drum plugin coverage and the wider plugin database.
