Expandable polyphonic synthesizer

Shape motion.
Build sound.

A deep, playable synth where oscillators grow with the idea—and every route, movement and effect stays within reach.

Download the free beta Explore the engine

MaxVRS VST3 · AU 0.9.x Beta · Free

The actual MaxVRS plugin interface running on Windows

Up to 32 voice polyphony

6 oscillators per group · up to 3 layered groups

Explore

Inside the engine

Make the signal
your own.

Every section is made to reveal depth when you need it and stay out of the way when you do not.

01 / Source / Oscillators

Build the voice at the source.

Start with one Wave Factory oscillator, expand to six per group, and layer up to three independently shaped groups.

Wave Factory

Morph continuously from Sine through Triangle and Saw to Square. Shape the result with Warp, Fold, Asymmetry, Skew / Width, Curve, Smooth / Edge, and Harmonics while comparing the original and modified waveforms live.

Harmonic Cloud

Choose Classic, Shimmer, Hollow, Steel, or Vintage character, then shape Voices, Detune, stereo Spread, Focus, Drift, and Tone. The voice profile and stereo-width display follow live modulation.

Noise

Choose White or Pink noise directly from the preview, then shape its spectral balance with Color and its activity with Density. Watch the resulting texture in the live display.

Wavetable

Browse 32 built-in tables across eight categories. Scan their frames with Position, reshape the waveform with Warp, and use Phase and Unison to make the result precise or expansive.

Sample / Chop

Import WAV, AIFF, FLAC, or OGG for One Shot, Loop, Ping Pong, Slice, or Granular playback. Use grid, transient, or manual slicing and edit pitch, level, pan, probability, and ratchets per slice. Keep Length preserves phrase timing as you play different notes with Keytrack enabled.

Piano

Play the built-in Electric and Felt models immediately, or download or locate the optional Salamander Grand Piano bank from the oscillator. Shape the response with Tone, Decay, and Touch, plus the shared tuning, level, and pan controls.

Sample Harmony

Add three scale-aware harmony voices with individual toggles, intervals, and levels. Balance them with Original and Blend, widen with Spread, and shape the grains with Texture. Choose a local Key and Scale or follow the arpeggiator scale.

Sample Formant

Preserve vocal character during pitch changes or shift its resonances by up to ±12 semitones. Formant processes conventional sample playback and Harmony voices; in Granular mode it applies to Harmony only.

Group Filter

Shape the combined group with low-pass, high-pass, band-pass, or notch filtering at 12 or 24 dB/oct. Adjust Cutoff and Resonance directly on the interactive response graph.

Trance Gate

Give each group its own rhythmic gate with up to 32 steps, On / Off / Tie states, and editable step levels. Sync the pattern and shape each pulse with Depth, Attack, and Release.

Group strip: Glide enable and time, Legato behaviour, lane destination, group level, oscillator count, and the add-source control live together above the stack.
Six source engines: Choose Wave Factory, Harmonic Cloud, Noise, Wavetable, Sample / Chop, or Piano for each oscillator slot. Click a source preview to browse its waves, tables, or sound styles.
Oscillator header: The colour stripe handles enable, mute, and solo. The header also exposes actions, help, Level, Pan, Octave, and Fine tuning.
Wave Factory: Morph continuously through Sine, Triangle, Saw, and Square, then shape the result with Warp, Fold, Asymmetry, Skew or Width, Curve, Smooth or Edge, and Harmonics.
Harmonic Cloud: Build a dense bank of partials with Voices, Detune, and stereo Spread, then focus its spectrum and introduce organic movement with Drift and Tone.
Live waveform: The graph compares the computed source with the modified signal, so shaping and incoming modulation remain visible while you play.
Phase: For periodic sources, Varied uses Phase Spread to control how far starting phases differ. Fixed restarts each note at the selected Start angle for repeatable attacks.
Unison: Stack supported Wave Factory, Wavetable, and Sample / Chop voices with Voices, Detune, and stereo Spread. Harmonic Cloud has its own voice controls.
Oscillator modulation: Route an oscillator into a later source using Linear FM, Exponential FM, Phase, AM, Ring Mod, Hard Sync, PWM, or Wavefold, with destination, lock, and depth controls.
Amp Envelope: Shape each group independently with a curved ADSR editor, Raw or Smooth transient response, and a One Shot mode for percussion.
Wind Articulation: Add a filter Bite, pitch Scoop, and delayed Vibrato to a group. Set vibrato Rate and Delay for expressive attacks and sustained notes.
Oscillator actions: Duplicate, copy, paste, or save individual oscillator presets. Randomize Tone, Movement, or Everything Safe while preserving source selection, levels, routing, and sample structure.
Preset library: Browse Factory and User collections by category, inspect descriptions and named macros, and save complete .mvrs patches. Save individual sources as .mvrsosc presets, or return to a saved patch with Reset.
Group filter: Choose low-pass, high-pass, band-pass, or notch response, select 12 or 24 dB/oct slope, then set Cutoff and Resonance against the live response graph.

02 / Motion

Movement with a visible purpose.

Add only the modulators a patch needs, inspect their shape, and manage every destination from either side of the route.

Actual MaxVRS Motion workspace showing a modulation envelope, source stack, and open influence list — Actual plugin UI · Motion workspaceCaptured from MaxVRS

Mod Envelope

Shape modulation with Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Release while editing the response directly in the visual envelope. Assign and route controls stay available in the header.

LFO

Choose from five waveforms and Retrigger, One Shot, or Free Run modes. Run freely in hertz or lock to tempo, then use Delay and Fade to bring movement in gradually.

Step Mod

Draw a bipolar sequence with 4, 8, 16, or 32 steps. Choose Forward, Reverse, or Ping Pong travel and a free or synced rate, then use Smooth to soften transitions.

Random

Generate repeatable random motion in Hold, Glide, or Smooth shapes. Control its speed, soften changes with Slew, and regenerate the sequence whenever a new variation is needed.

MSEG

Build a custom shape from two to eight points with individual segment curves and a global curve. Loop or play once with free or synced timing, starting from Rise, Fall, Triangle, Swell, Pluck, or Pulse presets.

Mod Envelope: A curved ADSR modulation source with Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release, and a direct visual envelope editor.
LFO: Sine, Triangle, Square, rising Saw, and falling Saw shapes with Retrigger, One Shot, or Free Run modes, free or synced timing, Delay, and Fade.
Step Mod: Draw 4, 8, 16, or 32 bipolar steps, choose Forward, Reverse, or Ping Pong travel, use free or synced timing, and smooth transitions between steps.
Random: Generate repeatable seeded movement with Hold, Glide, or Smooth shapes, rate or division timing, Slew, and Regenerate.
MSEG: Edit two to eight bipolar points, segment curves, and a global curve. Loop or play once with free or synced timing, or start from six shape presets.
Arpeggiator: Build 8, 16, or 32-step patterns across up to eight note rows, with ties, step velocity, Gate, and note or rhythm presets. Choose host or note sync and a musical scale.
Follow Chord: Let the arpeggiator recognise major, minor, and common extended chords. Root and scale update at step boundaries while your pattern and rhythm keep playing.
Assign: Arm a source and touch a compatible synth, lane-effect, or Motion control to create a route. Modulate supported modulator controls to build evolving movement.
Routes / Influence List: Manage up to 64 routes from the source or destination. Set depth from −200% to +200%, invert, mute, or remove each route while keeping the saved base control value.

03 / Lane Effects

Finish each layer independently.

Build ordered racks across two effect lanes with 14 effect types, live visual feedback, and in-context control guides.

Actual MaxVRS Lanes workspace showing Stereo Delay, Reverb, Phaser, and EQ effect cards across two lanes — Actual plugin UI · Lanes workspaceCaptured from MaxVRS

Lane strip: Each lane has independent output routing, level, scrolling, and an ordered rack. Effect stripes provide enable, mute, and temporary solo.
Delay: Digital, Ping-Pong, Tape, and BBD modes with Time or Division, Feedback, Tone, and Mix; Advanced adds Pitch, Diffusion, Taps, Reverse, and Freeze.
Stereo Delay: Independent left and right timing, feedback, and mix, with Link, Tone, and cross-feedback from left to right or right to left.
Reverb: Room, Hall, Gentle Hall, and Plate spaces with Size, Damping, Decay, and Mix; Advanced adds Pre-delay, Diffusion, Width, Low Cut, and Modulation.
Chorus: Classic, Ensemble, and Dimension voices with Rate, Depth, Width, Voices, Tone, Feedback, and Mix plus Advanced delay, filtering, shape, and drift.
Filter: Low-pass, high-pass, band-pass, or notch filtering with 12/24 dB slope, Cutoff, Resonance, Drive, and Mix.
Drive: Soft, Hard, and Asymmetric saturation with Drive, Tone, Level, and Mix; Advanced exposes Character and Bias.
Phaser: Two or four all-pass stages with Rate, Depth, Feedback, and Mix for focused movement or a deeper sweep.
Flanger: Free or synced Rate, Depth, Feedback, and Mix; Advanced adds Manual delay, Polarity, Stereo phase, Shape, and Tone.
Tremolo / Auto-pan: Rate or Division, Depth, Stereo Phase, and Mix, with Advanced Shape, Symmetry, Phase, and Gain Law.
Compressor: Stereo-linked dynamics with live input/output history and a transfer curve. Set Threshold, Ratio, Attack, Release, Mix, and Peak/RMS detection; Advanced adds Knee, Makeup, detector HPF, and Auto Release.
EQ: Low and High shelves plus a Mid bell, with frequency, gain, and Q controls for every band, Amount, and Output always visible. Drag graph points, adjust Q with the mouse wheel, and enable the before/after FFT view.
Bitcrusher: One to 24-bit quantisation and 1x to 64x downsampling with Tone and Mix. Compare waveforms or FFT spectra; Advanced adds Drive, Dither, Jitter, filter placement, and Output.
Stereo Imager: Control Width, Pan, Stereoize, Bass Mono, and Output with a live stereo scope and correlation meter. Drag Pan on the graph, adjust Width with the mouse wheel, and check the result with temporary Mono audition.
Shimmer: A pitch-and-feedback ambience with Size, Shimmer, Tone, and Mix; Advanced adds Decay, Pitch, Pre-delay, Width, and Low Cut.

04 / Perform

Turn a patch into an instrument.

Keep the most expressive controls on a compact rail that stays available beside the sound-design workspaces.

Actual MaxVRS Perform rail showing four macros and the modulation wheel beside Source, Motion, and Lanes — Actual plugin UI · Perform workspaceCaptured from MaxVRS

MOD wheel: A live MIDI CC1 source mirrored by the vertical on-screen wheel. It shares the same Assign and Influence List workflow, while its current position remains performance state rather than preset state.
Macros 1–4: Four independent 0–100% host-automatable performance sources, each with its own saved value, display name, assignment state, and route count. Pair related destinations or drive multiple synth and lane-effect targets with individual bipolar amounts.
Velocity: Use incoming note velocity as a performance source to make patches respond dynamically to how softly or firmly each note is played. Assign it to synth and lane-effect controls with individual bipolar amounts.
Pressure: Turn incoming MIDI pressure into expressive real-time modulation. Route it through the same Assign and Influence List workflow to shape timbre, movement, effects, or level while holding a note.

Shape motion.Build sound.

Make the signalyour own.