8.0Great
Interphase Cartograph is a Casio VZ-1 style interactive phase distortion synth with Classic and Extended modes, SysEx import, and through-zero FM, at around $7.
Plugin comparison
Phantomexposure Interphase Cartograph 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.
Score verdict
Which should you buy?
On the Dubspot Score, Vital comes out ahead (9.0). That said, the right pick depends on your workflow and budget — read both reviews before deciding.
Technical matrix
Specs compared
| Signal | Phantomexposure Interphase Cartograph | Vital |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $7 | $25 |
| Dubspot Score | 8.0 | 9.0 |
| Formats | VST3, Standalone | VST, VST3, AU (Audio Units), LV2, Standalone |
| Type | Interactive phase distortion (iPD) synthesizer | — |
| Based on | Casio VZ-1 and VZ-10M (1988) | — |
| Classic mode | 4 lines, 8 modules, 8 iPD waveforms, 8-stage envelopes | — |
| Extended mode | 6 lines, 12 modules, 8 morphable waveforms, 12-stage envelopes, AM, through-zero FM | — |
| Modulation | 2 LFOs, 16-slot modulation matrix, 6 macros | LFOs, envelopes and randomized sources with stereo modulation, remappable curves, audio-rate modulation, and keytracked LFOs |
| Extras | Arpeggiator, microtuning, lockable randomizer, VZ-1 SysEx import | — |
| Presets | 43 factory presets, illustrated PDF manual | — |
| Formats | VST3, standalone | — |
| Operating system | Windows 64-bit; signed Universal macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel) | — |
| Price | Around $7 | — |
| 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.