Beat Magazine has released Röhrich 12AX7, a free instrument expansion for the (also free) HALion Sonic SE rompler VST/VST3/AU/AAX plugin by Steinberg.
Röhrich 12AX7 is a freeware virtual lead synthesizer powered by the Steinberg HALion Sonic SE rompler (also compatible with the paid versions of HALion). You will need to download and install HALion Sonic SE first and then proceed with installing Röhrich 12AX7. The instrument is compatible with all VST, VST3, AU, and AAX plugin host applications on PC and Mac.
At its core, Röhrich 12AX7 is a triple-oscillator virtual analog synthesizer with a single low-pass filter, two ADSR envelope (filter and amp), one LFO, and a noise generator. What makes it more interesting, though, is the tube distortion FX section which can be paired with the digital distortion unit, resulting in fat leads which easily cut through the mix. Additional features include unison mode, oscillator drift (in the LFO section), compression, portamento, and a tempo-synced delay module.
Although the instrument is fairly easy to program, its developer Marco Scherer included a large amount of factory presets to help new users get started. The presets cover leads and bass sounds, showcasing the instrument’s sonic capabilities. I was very positively surprised by the quality of the provided presets. They make the instrument worth downloading even if you don’t find it’s feature set too interesting (if you prefer more complex synthesizers, that is). Check out the demo video above (audio in German) to hear some of the included sounds.
To download your free copy of Röhrich 12AX7, visit the product page linked below and sign in to your Studiodrive user account. Once logged in, you should see the download button below the preview image. You will also need to download and install the HALion Sonic SE rompler which is available here.
Röhrich 12AX7 is available for free download via Studiodrive (4.09 MB download size, ZIP archive, an expansion for HALion Sonic SE, compatible with 32-bit & 64-bit VST/VST3/AU/AAX plugin hosts on Windows & MacOS).
