The company announced the opportunity to download the Universal Audio PolyMAX synthesizer for free on its official website. This giveaway of the instrument, which is inspired by the golden era of polysynthesis, coincides with the Universal Audio Half-Yearly Sale. This modern synthesizer with retro roots works on any system — no UA hardware required.
Universal Audio first released the PolyMAX in 2022. It is not based on any particular synthesizer; the developers were inspired by famous machines from the 1980s and created a flexible, versatile plug-in.
According to Universal Audio, PolyMAX offers the organicity, sophistication, and musicality of classic analog polyphonic synthesizers. The developers studied the circuitry of their favorite vintage instruments to create PolyMAX.
PolyMAX belongs to the class of subtractive synthesizers. The plug-in is equipped with two analog oscillators and a large array of sound waveforms. In addition to traditional sine, triangle, rectangular, and saw waveforms, the synthesizer offers many derivative variants. The instrument also has FM synthesis, oscillator synchronization, and a separate noise oscillator.
The filter section comes equipped with an array of standard high and low-pass filters, one band-pass filter, and several hybrid options. Users can choose from two-stage and four-stage filtering.
The modulation section features traditional tools. Users can interact with and control the filters and other parameters to modify the sound. Additionally, the plug-in has an effects section with two slots that can accommodate a flanger, chorus, phaser, delay, or reverb. It should be noted that the local reverb is based on the algorithm used in Universal Audio's Lexicon 224 emulation.
The synthesizer includes a library of presets based on the sounds of famous instruments. A separate section of the library is dedicated to unique patches.
The Universal Audio PolyMAX is available as a native plug-in in VST3, AU, and AAX formats. To download the synthesizer for free, visit its page on the Universal Audio website. Click "DOWNLOAD NOW" and enter your email address in the corresponding field. Installation and registration instructions will be sent to that email address.
This promotion lasts until June 30, 2025. After that date, the synthesizer will cost $199. You can find more information about the synthesizer on Universal Audio's official website.
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