XILS-lab have released another monster Polysynth emulation after their excellent PolyKB (modeled on the RSF PolyKobol) - see our review here.

The Synthix, takes another obscure classic synth  - the  Italian made Elka Synthex (1984) - made famous by Jean Michelle Jarre on Rendezvous and as the sound used for his famous Laser Harp (one of several presets used on Rendezvous).

XILS-lab Synthix Features:

As a virtual analogue synthesizer, and then some, the Synthix successfully combines now-standard analogue features with several new and exciting ones — truly more than the sum of its parts:

• Two oscillators with four selectable (seven available) waveforms — triangle, PWM triangle, sawtooth, PWM sawtooth, square, and PWM pulse (plus a PWM cross modulation mode and a ring modulator).

• One multimode filter, based on a Curtis CEM3320 24dB/octave (multi) chip emulation — provides low-pass 12dB and 24dB, band-pass 6dB and 12dB, and high-pass 12dB.

• Four D-ADSR — enhanced standard ADSR envelopes, each with a MIDI-sync-able delay.

• Two polyphonic LFOs — each capable of modulating the oscillators’ pitch and width, filter frequency (with host application tempo synchronisation), and amplifier level, or as a modulation matrix source.

• Four embedded effects — delay, chorus, phaser, and dual EQ

• Polyphonic sequencer — up to four tracks (with legato mode).

• Chaox — an LFO module that calculates the movement of a point in a 2D space (with each axis capable of modulating any of 132 destinations).

• Rhythm — an LFO module dedicated to rhythmic effects (with five modulations assignable to any of 132 destinations).

• Split keyboard — each with an individual arpeggiator and MIDI management settings, and capable of managing up to 16 freely-chosen voices to make full use of the multi-layering capabilities (with eight totally independent layers).

• Guitar mode — two voices can be assigned to up to six MIDI channels to play various sounds with each guitar string (when using a MIDI-to-guitar converter).

Available as: on Mac in AU, RTAS (PT 7 up), VST formats

PC -VST, RTAS (Tools 7 and later)

The Synthix is copy protected using either iLok or eLicenser (both USB dongles) - though there is a dongle-free demo available

Available now: €169 Euros - there's an offer till August 31st of 30% off.

If you really want the full JM lazer harp experience, XILS-lab Synthix is also available in a bundle with Kromalaser, a real, easy to use, easy to install, Laser Harp.  

More Information

• Xils-lab.com

• Kromalaser