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General:
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Effects:
A very versatile and great-sounding synthesizer. It features multiple synthesis engines and unlimited modulation possibilities. Creating a sound library with it is a never-ending, fascinating adventure. I've tried countless synthesizers, but each one lacked something: effects, a pleasing tone, or stability. Surge XT has all this and more (suffice it to say that there are nearly 30 effect types, including about 60 reverbs alone). It's a powerful tool that reveals new possibilities even after many months of use. I rate it higher than Vital because, firstly, it's much gentler on my CPU, and secondly, it's still being developed (convolution reverb was recently added, which sounds powerful). Many people say they dislike it because of its cluttered GUI; that's absurd. The workflow is sensible, and new skins are available on the Surge XT website; you can easily change the look to a modern one.
In summary, Surge XT is a great-sounding synth that can easily compete with many paid plugins. It sounds modern, is versatile, stable, and constantly being improved. I can't wait for version 1.4 and beyond. I sincerely thank the Surge Team for their hard work and passion in developing this amazing device.
I have been using Surge XT, and I have to say, it's a great synth. The sound quality is top-notch, and it's packed with cool features.
Absolutely ridiculously powerful free open source magic. Surge has become my go to for almost everything, even replacing my previous commercial plugins. Now I don't even need Wine for Linux and all the hassle that comes with that.
Surge's power starts with its six oscillators (3 per scene), which give you choices of your typical wavetable or classic analog sounds, but also a bunch of more experimental oscillators like strings that get you pretty close to physical modelling. It also comes with a wide range of filters and effects, everything from the normal (e.g., reverb) to the experiemental. But even for something like reverb, there are a wide range of presets to choose from, and it is quite easy to save your own presets as well.
Where surge really shines, though, is in modulation. Never have I found a synth so easy to modulate and with so many different accessible parameters to modulate as well. Another great feature is the wide range of presets that come with the synth by default., everything from almist perfectly modelled real instruments (seriously, the grand piano preset is amazing) to evolving atmospheres that never seem to end (in a good way).
Also, the synth is under heavy development, which means new features, all for free. And it's available for all major platforms and supports CLAP, which is arguably the future of plugins.
There are a few downsides, however, but they are relatively minor compared with the positives.
- Lack of a proper arppegiator - you can do modulation with the step sequencer but this cannot replace pressing a chord on a keyboard and having the notes played in sequence.
- Panning is a bit odd - sometimes it doesn't seem to work, perhaps because it comes much easier than effects in the processing chain, and so many effects just spread the sound out, cancelling the pan. To get around this, you can use your DAW's panning, but it would be so much easier to just have it all on a single screen.
- A sample oscillator would be a nice add, just for those few instances where you want something that's impossible to achieve with synthesis.
Overall though, this is far and away the best open source synth, the first synth to make me truly feel like almost anything I can do with £300+ Windows synths can be done on Linux.
Reviewed By digitalboytn [all]
December 9th, 2023
Version reviewed: 1.3 on Windows
Surge XT is a really versatile synth that covers a lot of sonic territory....
It's a solid workhorse and it's getting better with every revision....
A great deal of gratitude and appreciation is owed to the team behind this synth....
Thanks guys....
This one's a 5 Star winner.
2025 UPDATE...The more I use this synth, the more I love it...I get the nightly builds and I am so grateful for all the work that the Surge Team put into this synth.
Clearly one of the best free VST synths along with "Vital", loads of usable presets both installed and from the community.
Personally I think sound is up there with top level paid vsts.
I think the GUI could be better and it is possible to crash it in sound design but do not let that put you off this is a must have vst.
Had this one for a while now and it definitely fills the part of being the "odd VST amongst your normal ones".
What I like about it the most is the attack and the digital kind of grittiness.
And as said before the GUi is actually very user friendly. For example, the way you drag and drop assign things in the modulation matrix by "drag and drop" is something I really miss on more expensive plugins. Vember has really ignored fancy looks (yeah it's ugly ) and instead focused on making a practical tool.
It just seat in every mix. It's truly a powerhouse and a learning tool for modulation and the effects routing is genius.
I would like to say that Surge is the only synth I've used that I've been able to make crazy-scary renditions of acoustic sounds from woodwind to brass to dog vocal tracts. Surge is definitely one of the only synths on the market that allows you to explore these things because of its combination of featureset and tweakability. To tap into this, just enable the feedback routing, add feedback, add resonance in the filters, enable keytracking of filter, etc.
I will, however, agree that it does not sound sweet like modern synths. But what modern synths lacks, Surge definitely has. Its tweakability invites insanity.
Hello everyone, just wanted to say I purchased Surge in Feb 2012 and haven't looked back yet.
Though it may not be the most technically advanced soft-synth out there it definitely has a certain something about it. I keep finding myself creating really exciting and attention-grabbing sounds whenever I just sit down and start experimenting with it. This is something I have not really found with the two other synths I have taken the time to learn in depth - Albino and Zebra.
Those 'in the know' say it is best to just pick one machine and learn to program it really well, as opposed to purchasing all the vsti's out there. So, following on from that I have made Surge my number one sound-software, along with Reaper and Halion 3. Surge seems to do a really good job of most of the basic sounds like bass, drums, keys and fx.
I think what makes it for me is it's fundamentally rock 'n' roll sound quality, everything sounds so fat and juicy with a great attitude - it seems incapable of making bland sounds. Claes, the developer, really has done a great job on this synth - it looks like he really knows about programming nice sounding oscillator and filter algorithms.
That's all for now, I've just got to go and program a totally overdriven, pulse-width-modulated, digitally aliased, resonant-comb-filtered, waveshaped, step-sequenced and delay-drenched monstrosity! Dave.
This Synth is an absolute BEAST!!!!! How this doesn't get more attention or credit is beyond me. I cant wait to see what Vember puts out next cause I'm a huge fan of theirs. Anybody who hasnt tried this synth out needs to ASAP!!! Amazing work to those involved in the development of this great machine. Please tell me you guys are working on VST's to release soon or in the near future.
+10 from me. probably used this longer than most other synth plugs but i still find things it can do. once you know your way around it can pretty much fill any sound needs. a brilliant bit of kit :)
+1.
I agree, for me too, this is the synth that i have been using for the longest time. It has a unique sound and a great user interface, and even if it can't really compete with modern synths like Spire and SynthMaster, when it comes to modern edm sounds, it still has "it" and is great fun to play around with. To bad Claes/Vember Audio doesn't develop it anymore. I guess that Bitwig took all of his time.
+1.
An evergreen in Software Synthesis with his a own digital character. Intresting how many still using these synth.
Good work.
Surge is now free and open source, the price and links should be updated.
This VST is a keeper. So many sound presets and options for free VST is amazing. Love that there are a lot of sounds with dark, creepy vibe to them. :).
I also made a demo video for the VST for people to check out before downloading.
Thank you for synth and for opensource.
How about a portable version of one?
It'd be really great.
Big up.
Just wanted to say I've created a FB group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/surgesynth/.
A few people from the project have already joined -- hopefully the group will help the synth grow. I'm a big fan of the synth myself, I think the modulation system is absolutely brilliant, combining LFO and envelopes that way. I'll be spending a lot of time with this synth :).
I am impressed with this synthesizer. Its wide possibilities impress me. This is one of the best synthesizers to date. Although free.
Oh wow, have just discovered Surge - as others have noted, it's a bit odd, but once you start playing around with it, the capability really shines. Early days for me yet, but just mucking about with the A/B dual and split scenes takes me back to the good old days of hard synths where it was a norm (at least on all the machines I've used). Add to that the arsenal of patches already available, quality of sound and and parameter controls it's awesome - and goddam it, this baby is free!!!! Despite only a couple of hours in, the control layout, which initially threw me off, is actually very intelligently designed - the patch management is very clear and functional (love being able to add a comment and add my own category), the FX management looks very comprehensive, love the routing / filter configuration approach) and the wavetable capability looks very comprehensive, very quick to create an interesting sound.
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I've had Surge for some time and I started wondering if you could combine presets, say a sequence with a pad and its doable. Bring up a sequence preset, right click on A and copy it, then open up a pad preset and right click on B and paste. Click Dual for both A and B then presto you have two presets in one without reinventing the wheel. You can save it to your User folder with a new name and for added fun turn on more oscillators.
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Hello all.
I am using Surge via Blue Cat Audios Patchwork and for whatever reason, Surge now refuses to load presets. I am providing a link to the error message below:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AkVkSOtuGusWkqthhnOaHypyZ2EnEQ?e=AX7AC3
The weird thing is, it was loading presets fine earlier, now it won't. I don't recall changing anything that would cause Surge to stop loading presets. Any advice?
Surge XT has a different VST id, host can't do it...
Wants only to be installed on the C-drive. Like it's 1981. So, no install, no points.
You can set the path. Check it.
Incredible synth, just incredible.
A collection of FREE organic/analog sounding presets, including a new skin for Surge XT + new SKIN: https://coroniumrecords.blogspot.com/2024/02/30-free-presets-for-surge-xt-synth.html
Does anyone know of an iOS build of Surge XT being possible? I've dabbled in compiling it from source myself for iOS but my skills (esp. with iOS) are limited.
It seems the UI might be the biggest hurdle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKdpUBx3uzw
The Sonic Transformation Soundset by HO for the Surge Synth Team - Surge XT VSTi
Inside the Download: 1 Soundbank " Sonic Transformation " by HO with 151 Presets.
Genres: Trance - New Wave - Electro - Industrial - Modern Synth Music.
Styles: Arpeggios - Basses - Effects - Leads - Pads - Sequences.
Wavetable Pack by Arty (*.WT & *.WAV) 1839 Files / 32 MB.
Format / File Size: Soundbank (*. FXP) / 19 MB.
For: Vember Audio - Surge v1.6.1.1 or newer.
Release Date: June 2019.
Price: Free - Gift.
https://www.kvraudio.com/product/the-sonic-transformation-by-sonic-sirius
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