Martin Lüders’ fantastic PG8X virtual synthesizer was featured in our news section quite a few times in the past, most recently last year when a new public beta version of the plugin was uploaded to KVR Audio (the synth was also listed as one of the top picks in our 2015 freeware VST roundup).
And now, after several years of development, a stable 2.0 version of PG8X has officially been released. The developer states the “the plugin now seems stable enough to call it officially out of beta“. There are apparently still some issues that will need to be fixed in a future version of the plugin, however none of the major features will be affected. The official website has received a substantial facelift and the v2.0 ZIP archive is now proudly featured in the downloads section, along with a handy selection of links to websites containing patch collections and other useful stuff.
I won’t go too much detail about the plugin’s feature set because we talked about it quite a few times already here at BPB. This v2.0 release is not very different compared to the beta that was covered in our news section in April last year. Still, most of the bugs have been ironed out since then, and PG8X is now better than ever. This synthesizer is one of my favorite virtual instruments ever and one of my Top 3 freeware synths (along with Tyrell N6 and Charlatan). It is my go-to instrument for 80s style bass patches (place an arpeggiator in front of PG8X and you’ll find yourself in synth bass heaven) and, of course, the perfect source of analog pads, thanks to that wonderful sounding chorus module.
If you haven’t used PG8X before, you mustn’t waste another minute. Go download the latest version of this excellent freebie and give it a try. What has started as a fairly decent SynthEdit creation back in 2011 is now a wonderfully polished and great sounding cross-platform synth for PC and Mac. Being a rather faithful emulation of the Roland JX-8P synthesizer, this virtual instrument will be a fantastic addition to your plugin arsenal if you’re looking to add some of that late 80s vibe to your music. For more info about PG8X, check out our news article from last year and the discussion at KVR audio.
Download
PG8X is available for free download via Martin Lüders’ website (1.56 MB download size, ZIP archive, 32-bit & 64-bit VST plugin format for Windows & Mac OS).
Last Updated on May 17, 2016 by Tomislav Zlatic.
