#Sound Design

20 articles tagged Sound Design.

Superlunar GX-8600 glitch and corrupt plugin interface
Sound Design

Superlunar GX-8600: Bend, Freeze and Corrupt Sound

Superlunar's GX-8600 is a $69 glitch and corrupt plugin with a rhythmic glitch engine, a signal-degradation engine, and four LFOs. Full specs and Effectrix 2 comparison.

Marcus FeldJul 14, 20267 min read
Chopgrid sampler plugin interface with a 16-cell grid and sound modules
Sound Design

Chopgrid Review: Sampling Built Around Chance

Chopgrid is a chance-based sampler that fills a 16-cell grid from random files, with 14 synthesis engines, a drum machine, and glitch FX. Specs and price.

Marcus FeldJul 12, 20267 min read
d16 Group PunchBox 2 kick drum design plugin interface
Sound Design

d16 PunchBox 2 Adds a Wavetable Engine for Kick Design

d16 PunchBox 2 adds a wavetable engine, four sound generators, and 1,100+ presets to the kick-design plugin, launching at €79. Here's what changed.

Marcus FeldJun 28, 20263 min read
Excite Audio Evolve Dark Matter sample-based synthesizer plugin interface
Software

Evolve Dark Matter: A Quad-Engine Synth for Dark D&B

Excite Audio Evolve Dark Matter is a quad-engine sample synth for dark drum and bass and atmospheric techno, with XY morphing and 250 sound sources.

Marcus FeldJun 27, 20264 min read
Bitwig Studio 6.1 rebuilt Sampler device interface
Software

Inside Bitwig Studio 6.1: Spectral & Fragments Sampler

Bitwig Studio 6.1 rebuilds the native Sampler with Spectral time-stretch and Fragments granular modes, plus auto tempo and pitch detection and slicing.

Marcus FeldJun 22, 20262 min read
Korg phase8 acoustic synthesizer with steel resonators
Hardware

Korg phase8: The Synth That Plays Real Steel Resonators

Korg phase8 is an 8-voice synth that makes sound by physically driving real steel resonators. What acoustic synthesis is, who it's for, and the price.

Theo NakamuraJun 22, 20262 min read
The Best Free Synth VSTs in 2026 — That Actually Compete With Paid
Sound Design

The Best Free Synth VSTs in 2026 (That Actually Compete With Paid)

The best free synth VSTs of 2026, tested honestly: Vital, Surge XT, Dexed, OB-Xd, Odin 2, and Tunefish. Synthesis types, CPU load, sound, and real limits.

Marcus FeldJun 12, 20268 min read
The Best Free VST Plugins in 2026 — Synths, Effects, and Instruments
Software

The Best Free VST Plugins in 2026: Synths, Effects, and Instruments Worth Installing

The best free VST plugins of 2026, ranked with honest pros and cons. Vital, Surge XT, Valhalla Supermassive, TDR Nova, Spitfire LABS, and more.

Marcus FeldJun 12, 20268 min read
Best Sample Pack Sites in 2026 — Loopmasters, Loopcloud, Splice, ADSR + Free Sources
Production

Best Sample Pack Sites in 2026: Loopmasters, Loopcloud, Splice, ADSR + Free Sources

An honest 2026 guide to the best sample pack sites. We compare Loopmasters, Loopcloud, Splice, and ADSR on price, library size, licensing, and value.

Priya RamanJun 12, 20267 min read
Stable Audio 3 vs Suno — Two Ways to Make AI Music in 2026
Software

Stable Audio 3 vs Suno in 2026: Open-Weight Local AI vs Cloud Songcraft

Stable Audio 3 vs Suno in 2026: open-weight local instrumentals and SFX versus cloud full songs with vocals. We compare control, cost, licensing, and best uses.

Theo NakamuraJun 12, 20266 min read
Stable Audio 3 from Stability AI showing the open-weight generative audio model family for music and sound effects
Software

Stable Audio 3 Is Stability AI's Most Useful Audio Release Yet — With One Big Caveat

Stable Audio 3 brings open-weight music generation, six-minute tracks, ComfyUI integration, and on-device inference. The trade-off: no vocals, no lyrics.

Marcus FeldMay 26, 20268 min read
u-he Zebra 3 software synthesizer interface showing the adaptive modular routing
Software

u-he Zebra 3 Review: A Ground-Up Rebuild, Spline Oscillators, and an Adaptive Modular Interface

u-he released Zebra 3 on April 20, 2026 for €249. The cult-favorite synth has been rebuilt from scratch with spline-based wavetables, additive synthesis up to 1,024 partials, and an adaptive modular interface.

Marcus FeldMay 19, 20265 min read

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HardwarePluginsMusic ProductionMixingAI MusicSoftwareDAWSunoAbleton LiveSynthsSamplingBassAkaiDealsDJingVocalsBuying GuideDelayEQSynthesizersWorkflowArturiaBlack FridayDrums