Synth / reFX
Nexus 5
8.1Great
NEXUS5 by reFX is a ROMpler/synthesizer plugin with eight sound-generator types, thousands of factory presets, effects, and a built-in sample editor.
Plugin comparison
Nexus 5 vs Spire
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
Synth / Reveal Sound
Spire
8.1Great
Spire by Reveal Sound is a polyphonic software synthesizer combining four multimode oscillators with a unison engine, filters, and built-in effects.
Technical matrix
Specs compared
| Signal | Nexus 5 | Spire |
|---|---|---|
| Price | — | — |
| Dubspot Score | 8.1 | 8.1 |
| Formats | VST, VST3, AU (AudioUnit), AAX | VST2, VST3, AU, AAX, CLAP |
| Sound generators | 8 types: Virtual Analog, Sampler, Wavetable, Time Stretcher, Retro Sampler, Grain, Cloud, and FM | — |
| Presets | 5,454 included in the Starter edition; 33,352 in the Complete edition | — |
| Sample library | 6,810 multi-samples (~65.8 GB uncompressed) | — |
| Effects | Includes Bucket Brigade Delay, Particle Reverb, Vowel Filter, Rotary, and Pusher, plus 216 impulse responses | — |
| Editing & sequencing | Built-in sample editor with slicer/loop/crossfade, 119 arpeggiator presets, and 52 trancegate presets | — |
| Operating systems | macOS 10.13+ (native Apple Silicon support) and Windows 10/11 | — |
| Oscillators | — | 4x multimode polymorphing oscillators (Classic, Noise, FM, AMSync, SawPWM, HardFM, Vowel) |
| Unison | — | 9x unison voices per oscillator (supersaw/hypersaw capable, spread by chords and octaves) |
| Filters | — | 2x multimode filters with analogue and digital types (Perfecto, Infecto, Acido, Scorpio, Combo, Shaper) |
| Built-in FX | — | Shaper/Decimator, Phaser/Vowel, Chorus/Flanger, Delay, Reverb, plus X-Comp multiband compressor and 3-band EQ |
| Modulation | — | 4x Macros, 4x Envelopes, 4x LFOs with morphing shapes, 15x matrix slots (2 sources + 4 targets each), 2x Steppers, Arpeggiator |
| Factory presets | — | Over 1000 factory presets (arpeggios, basses, leads, pads, plucks, drums, FX) |
| Current version | — | 1.5.19 |
| System requirements | — | macOS 10.15+ (Intel/Apple M1) or Windows (64-bit and 32-bit); legacy builds for macOS 10.8-10.14 |
See the full plugin database for more comparisons.