Kilohearts announced that the kHs ONE ($19 value) virtual synthesizer is now discontinued. It is FREE to download from the developer’s website.
kHs ONE is a subtractive virtual synthesizer by Kilohearts. It features a straightforward but flexible virtual analog synthesis engine with two main oscillators and a sub-oscillator, two filters, three envelopes, two LFOs, a couple of effects (chorus and delay), and a modulation matrix.
The synthesis engine can cover a broad range of sounds while remaining easy to use. In other words, kHs ONE isn’t as versatile as Vital or Surge XT, but it handles most sounds you’d expect from a subtractive synthesizer.
kHs ONE’s main advantage is its intuitive user interface. Kilohearts did such a great job with the control layout that kHs ONE is the perfect platform for learning subtractive synthesis. This plugin is an ideal starting point if you want to learn how to make synth patches from scratch.
That said, kHs ONE is more than just a well-organized interface. Its internal components sound fantastic. The oscillators and the filters are top quality, and you will probably notice that simple bass sounds and pads generated by kHs ONE sound juicier than what you’d get from most other VA synths.
It’s not precisely DIVA level of analog emulation, but kHs ONE sounds more organic than most other virtual analog synthesizers without putting too much strain on the CPU.
So, if you’re in the market for a great-sounding subtractive synthesizer that “sounds analog” and plays well with beginner synthesis enthusiasts, look no further than kHs ONE.
Usually, you’d have to pay $19 for a copy of kHs ONE, but Kilohearts decided to discontinue its development and offer the latest version as a free download. This means that kHs ONE won’t receive any updates in the future, and you can’t get technical support. On the other hand, you can now use this excellent virtual instrument in your DAW for free.
Kilohearts posted a short note about discontinuing kHs One: “kHs ONE has been discontinued and is no longer available through the regular Kilohearts Installer. A stand-alone installer for the very last version of kHs ONE is available below. Please note that kHs ONE is not available in the VST3 format.”
The instrument should work well in most current digital audio workstations as long as they’re capable of hosting one of the supported plugin formats.
However, one aspect of kHs ONE that hasn’t aged quite well is the GUI size. It isn’t resizable, and you may find it too small to use comfortably on a high-resolution screen.
kHs ONE is available in 64-bit VST2, AAX, and Audio Unit plugin formats on Windows and macOS.
Download: kHs ONE (discontinued, free to download)
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Last Updated on January 17, 2023 by Tomislav Zlatic.
