Absynth is back and weirder than ever after 16 years

Absynth is considered a cult classic in the world of soft synth. Originally released in 2000, it quickly found an audience among the growing cadres of people making music on computers. But its last major update, Absynth 5, was released in 2009, and Native Instruments officially discontinued the tool in 2022, citing a lack of resources to continue supporting software that was in desperate need of an update. But now Absynth is back in a big way with Edition 6, created in collaboration with original designer Brian Clevenger, and featuring presets from… Brian Eno and Caitlin Aurelia Smith.

The essence of what made it so beloved remains unchanged in Absynth 6. It remains a powerful semi-modular virtual instrument with many synthesis engines to choose from and extensive modulation options. There’s traditional subtractive synthesis with plenty of waveforms to choose from, from basic sine waves to loud complex chords – you can even draw your own waveform. There is also an FM, sample player, and granular engine.

This puts it in league with other leading superstructures such as All over the globeAnd Serum, Pigments and Massive X from Native Instruments. But where it manages to outperform even those powered plug-ins is through its envelope system. Instead of the standard four-point ADSR envelope (attack, decay, sustain, release), or even a six-point DAHDSR envelope (delay, attack, hold, decay, sustain, release), the Absynth 6 envelopes contain up to 68 points. These can be recurring, one-shot, or time-synchronized. Absynth’s modulation system is absurdly powerful.

This is part of what allows it to excel at high-end soundscapes. Native Instruments describes Absynth as “weird by design,” and it’s hard to argue with that tagline. Many of the factory presets are not the kind you find in a sci-fi or horror movie score, designed with an emphasis on texture and atmosphere. If you’re a fan of ambient or recording, Absynth is an interesting tool to have in your arsenal. In addition to its cinematic versatility, Absynth 6 supports up to eight channels of surround sound, which is unheard of before.

Also new to Absynth in version 6 is MPE support, which gives its already complex sounds even more expressive options. Press harder or slide your finger up on a compatible controller, such as Push 3 or Rolly c boardit can open up a filter, bring in a new oscillator, or increase feedback on the granular Aetherizer effect on a per-note basis. This means that you can highlight only the highest notes in the chord progression, while keeping the root note dark and muted.

The most noticeable change to Absynth is the new AI-assisted preset explorer. Instead of just a list of sounds you can click on, Absynth defaults to a set of scores organized roughly by feel. It’s not different Obsidian View chart or XO sample manager. Personally, I’m not a big fan. It’s okay to find surprises in the library of over 2,000 presets. But this makes it difficult to keep track of what I’ve experienced, and what’s new to me.

If you want to quickly tweak a preset without having to dive into different sound design tabs, Patch has up to eight macro controls, and there’s a Mutate button that semi-randomly makes subtle changes to any sound you’ve loaded to create a new look.

Absynth 6 is available for $199 for new users. But if you already own Absynth 5, you can upgrade for just $99.