Pluginomat is offering the Xenobyte virtual hybrid synthesizer by Sick Noise Instruments as a FREE download for a limited time.
Despite the futuristic look-feel, Xenobyte is a subtractive synthesizer with three oscillators, a filter stage, four LFOs, four effects, and two ADSR envelopes for both filter and amplitude.
An interesting feature is that the third oscillator is a sample player, so you can blend any external audio source with the classic waveforms the first two oscillators provided. Those can give you access to the common waveforms of Sine, Saw, Ramp, Pulse, Triangle, and White and Pink Noise.
The sample player has controls for Pitch, Volume, and Fine in addition to Octave and Semi to tune the sample loaded.
The first two oscillators have the same sets of controls over the volume, tuning, waveform choice, as well as phase and frequency modulation. The latter feature is perhaps the most interesting since it can extend the timbral palette of sounds commonly created with standard waveforms and basic filtering.
Indeed, Xenobyte is great at creating nasty sci-fi sounds, a perfect fit for more aggressive music genres like Dubstep and PsyTrance.
The included +75 factory presets are a fantastic addition to this limited-time free synth since they explore various sound categories with a common sci-fi theme.
The filter stage is simple, with Low-Pass, High-Pass, Band-Pass, and Band-Reject as available filter types. The Cutoff, Resonance, and Gain are the accessible controls on the interface. You can find the FX and ARP panels located in the central display.
Xenobyte has four basic effects: Flanger, Delay, Reverb, and Distortion. You will probably find better external effects inside your DAW, but exploiting what the synth offers internally can give you results more quickly.
Consider that most of the available parameters in the synth can be modulated by the included four LFOs, so you can craft complex and morphing patches. The ARP section is minimalistic, with some controls over the direction and range of the arpeggiator.
And finally, the Master panel features controls for the main Volume, Pan, Polyphony, and Glide.
Xenobyte is available for both Windows and Mac 64-bit machines, as VST3 and AU. And for a full list of the best free virtual synthesizers available today, you can read our guide here.
Download: Xenobyte (Usually $49.00, now FREE for a limited time!)
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