Plugin Boutique’s VirtualCZ synth is currently 75% off, bringing the price down from $79 to $19. The sale runs until April 30th. On top of that, Plugin Boutique is running a new tiered free gift promotion this month, and I’ll cover the freebies you can pick up with your purchase below.
VirtualCZ is a phase distortion synth inspired by Casio’s CZ series from the 1980s.
I’m a huge sucker for retro synths, especially Casios. The CZ synths were everywhere in the late 80s and early 90s, showing up on countless techno, house, rave, and synth-pop records.
Now, phase distortion itself is often compared to FM synthesis, but it behaves differently and tends to sit somewhere between the sharp, metallic character of FM and the warmer tones of DCO-based analog synths. I also find it a bit easier to program than FM.
The synth offers two PD oscillators per voice, each with eight waveforms that can differ for alternate cycles. You get six loopable envelope generators per voice, switchable between standard ADSR mode and the original CZ-style 8-stage MSEG envelopes.
There’s also a tempo-syncable LFO with seven shapes, ring modulation, and noise modulation.
Polyphony goes up to 32 voices, with monophonic and legato modes also available. Unison stacks up to eight voices per note with programmable detune, which is where VirtualCZ starts to produce sounds the original hardware couldn’t.
Two vintage chorus algorithms are included (one modeled after the CZ’s own chorus, the other inspired by the Roland Dimension D), along with stereo panning effects and microtonal tuning support.
Now, if you don’t care about programming a phase distortion synth (completely understandable), it’s good to know that VirtualCZ ships with over 200 presets and can load original CZ patches via SysEx.
So yes, if you have old patch libraries from the hardware, they should work. It also doubles as a SysEx editor and librarian for all CZ hardware models (CZ-1, CZ-101, CZ-1000, CZ-3000, CZ-5000).
Regarding the free gifts, any paid purchase at Plugin Boutique this month qualifies you for either Matra by Karanyi Sounds (a dual delay plugin) or a Loopcloud 3-month Artist Plan.
Spending $29 or more unlocks Hawk Phaser by Safari Audio. At $49 and above, you can choose u-he Twangström (a spring reverb). And at $99 or more, Melodyne 5 Essential by Celemony becomes available.
At $19, VirtualCZ qualifies for the Matra or Loopcloud tier.
VirtualCZ is available in VST2, VST3, AU, and AAX formats (plus standalone) for macOS 10.9 or later and Windows 7 or later. Apple Silicon is supported for AU and VST.
This article contains affiliate links, which means BPB may earn a commission if you purchase through those links at no extra cost to you.More info: VirtualCZ ($19 / 75% off)
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Last Updated on April 2, 2026 by Tomislav Zlatic.
