Played in
Notes and automation land on the sample you played them.
Synthesizer
Public beta
v1.9 · VST3 · AU · 64-bit
PsyOp
A 24-voice synthesizer built around a formant oscillator.
PsyOp moves the resonant peak of its main oscillator independently of pitch, so a patch can talk, sing or ring. Under it sit a shape-modulated sub, an FM oscillator and four filter models, from clean to acid. An eleven-module effects rack finishes the sound inside the instrument.
24 voices × 8 unison
3 oscillators
4 filter models
11 effects
Hear it first.
Three loops made with PsyOp. Press play and they run in order, each one twice, then round again. Two are PsyOp alone; one has a drum loop behind it.
Demo loops
3 tracks · plays through, then starts again
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More demos are on the way.
How a note travels through PsyOp.
Voiced
Twenty-four voices, shared so a retriggered note carries on from where it was.
A · B · C
Formant, sub and FM oscillators, mixed on one two-axis joystick.
Filter & VCA
Four filter models, driven by envelope, LFO and the keyboard.
Effects rack
Eleven modules in any order, finishing the sound inside the instrument.
Build the waveform, then make it talk.
PsyOp does not hand you a fixed list of wavetables. OSC A plays a grain: a base waveform with samples layered onto it. Reorder the layers or swap one out and you have a different instrument.
Grains save into banks next to your presets. Factory banks are read-only, your own are yours to change, and every layer points at an installed sample pack instead of copying the audio.
BaseAntialiased waveforms, from a pure sine to a bright saw
LayersAs many as you like, reordered live, stepped through the installed packs
VoicingOscillator mode and pulse width, adjustable while it plays
OSC A
Formant oscillator
Moves the resonant peak independently of pitch. Sweep Formant and Modulation for vocal and metallic tones, or push them past anything acoustic.
OSC B
Shape-modulated sub
An octave-selectable sub with its own LFO and envelope shaping the wave. It is mixed in before the filter, so it thickens the sound instead of sitting under it.
OSC C
FM oscillator
Its own waveform, tuning and LFO, and clean even at extreme modulation depths.
Pick a character. Keep it moving.
Every filter answers to its own envelope, its own LFO and the keyboard, and a held note keeps moving long after the attack.
Ladder
Moog 24 / 12 dB
The transistor ladder in both slopes. The low end thins as resonance rises, the way the original does.
Ladder
Diode
The acid filter: a steeper resonant peak, sharper self-oscillation and the squelch that comes with it.
State variable
SVF
Clean, fast and stable under heavy modulation. The one to use when the cutoff is automated hard.
Biquad
Biquad
Neutral and surgical, with no color of its own. Useful after an already busy formant sound.
LFOsFive: formant, modulation, sub shape, filter and FM. Free-running or synced, each with a fade-in
EnvelopesAmp, filter and formant, each with a sustain fade so held notes never sit still
UnisonUp to eight sub-voices per note, detuned and panned by offset LFOs so the spread never repeats on the beat
MixingA two-axis joystick: X fades OSC A into B, Y fades that blend against C. Map it to a physical stick or two CCs
Eleven effects, in any order.
The rack along the bottom of the panel takes any of eleven modules. Drag a module by its title bar to move it in the chain. Each one has its full set of controls, and PsyVOX shares the same rack.
- WaveshaperDrive and distortion
- EchoPing-pong, sync, ducking
- ChorusWidth and motion
- CompressorGlue the voices
- ReverbSpace
- DJ FilterOne-knob sweep
- EQFinal tone
- ExciterTop-end lift
- BassLow-end weight
- VowelFormant filter
- LimiterCatch the peaks
Everything in the box.
| Type | Polyphonic synthesizer |
|---|---|
| Formats | VST3, Audio Unit, 64-bit |
| Systems | Windows 10+, 64-bit. macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon) on the way: get one email when it is ready |
| Polyphony | 24 voices, up to 8 unison sub-voices per note |
| Oscillators | 3: formant grain, shape-modulated sub, FM |
| Filters | Moog ladder 24 dB and 12 dB, diode ladder, state variable, biquad |
| Modulation | 5 LFOs, 3 envelopes, two-axis mix joystick |
| Effects | 11 rack modules, reorderable |
| Content | Factory preset and grain banks, installable sample packs |
| Automation | Sample-accurate |
| Plug-in codes | Manufacturer mPsy · plug-in ps01 |
| License | Offline license file. No account, no activation, no phone home |
The beta download opens soon.
When it does, it is the whole instrument, free for sixty days, with nothing switched off. Join the Betas list and we email you the day it is ready.
Help us finish it.
The beta is the whole instrument, and it runs in full for sixty days. Each new beta version starts a fresh sixty days, so you can keep testing as it changes; the released PsyOp has the standard thirty-day trial. All we ask in return is that you tell us what you find.
Beta feedback
Tell us what you find.
Crashes, sounds that seem off, controls that confuse you, things you wish it did. Tell us the beta version, your system and your DAW, and a person reads every word. Happy to be asked now and then? Join the feedback list.
Send feedback
The MadPsy Residency
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Send us a demo track, presets or samples made with the beta. If we approve them, the plug-ins you used are yours, with your name on the work wherever it appears.
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