Alesis Andromeda A6 as a Plugin

The Alesis Andromeda A6 is one of those dream-synths, you may have seen, lusted over or longed for since it's release in 2001. If so ISLA Instreuments have released a plugin version which sounds jaw-droppingly gorgeous, and is available now for £99. It's a 16-part multitimbral synth with 29 effects, in AU, VST3 and Standalone formats. ISLA are well known for their SP2400 hardware sampler / sequencer, so this new venture for them is very welcome. See the details below fdr more and head to their wesbite to get the synth. 

Here's an original SOS review: https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/alesis-a6-andromeda

Website https://islaelectronics.com/asyx
 

The Andromeda A6, recreated as a plugin. The architecture and sounds of the original instrument, recreated in software. Use it in your DAW or as a standalone instrument.

01 / Oscillators
ASYX oscillator LCD page showing waveform selection, pitch offsets and pulse width
ASYX models the behaviour of the A6's custom oscillator ASICs, whose analogue design drew on the Moog 921B. Two oscillators per voice provide simultaneous waveforms, pulse-width control, sub-oscillators, hard and soft sync, and frequency modulation. Noise and ring modulation feed the pre-filter mixer.

02 / Dual filters
ASYX filters LCD page showing both filter response graphs, spectra and modulation controls
ASYX models the A6's filter ASICs: an Oberheim SEM-derived 12 dB/octave multimode filter and a Moog 904A-derived 24 dB/octave low-pass filter. Low-pass, high-pass, band-pass and notch responses, with series or parallel routing and separate pre- and post-filter mixing.

03 / LFO
ASYX LFO LCD page showing a sine waveform and rate, amplitude, phase and polarity controls
Three LFOs with six waveforms and individual rate, amplitude, offset, start phase, duty cycle and polarity controls. Delay, trigger and clock-sync settings are available for each LFO.

04 / Multi-stage Envelopes
ASYX envelope LCD page showing a multi-stage envelope graph, sustain and smoothing controls
Three seven-stage envelopes: delay, attack, two decays, sustain and two releases. Nine selectable curves for each attack, decay and release stage, with adjustable intermediate levels. Additional controls cover looping, trigger and retrigger sources, velocity response, key tracking and smoothing.

05 / Deep Modulation
ASYX modulation LCD page showing sources, destinations, amount and offset controls
Modulation routing with independent source, destination, amount, offset and enable controls. Sources include envelopes, LFOs, sample & hold, the tracking generator, MIDI and performance controllers; destinations include envelope stage times as well as oscillator, filter and effects parameters.

06 / Sequencer / Arpeggiator
ASYX sequencer LCD grid showing sixteen steps with note, velocity, gate and rest controls
A 16-step sequencer with per-step note, velocity, gate and rest controls, alongside an arpeggiator with its own grid and setup controls. Sequence and arpeggiator settings are stored with each program.

07 / Effects
ASYX digital effects LCD showing the 29-algorithm selection list with Room Reverb selected
29 digital effect algorithms, including chorus, delay, reverb and combined configurations. Algorithm parameters and effects settings are stored with each program.

08 / Analogue character
ASYX Analogue LCD page with individual variation depths for oscillators, filters, envelopes, voice level and drift
Independent variation depths for oscillator tuning, tracking and pulse width, filter cutoff and resonance, envelope timing, voice levels, shared drift and oscillator drift. The master Analogue control scales the combined variation.

09 / Mix mode
ASYX Mix parts LCD showing sixteen part selectors and per-part MIDI channel, key range, level and output routing
Up to 16 parts per plugin instance for multi-timbral operation, keyboard splits and layered stacks. Each part has its own program, MIDI channel, key range, level and output route.

 

Comprehensive Patch Management
More than 1,200 included programs, with original factory sounds and artist banks. Search by name, author or bank, filter by category, and keep favourites close at hand.

ASYX patch library showing categories, included artist banks and Brad Holland's Dusk On Caladan program
Included artist banks - Rob Papen · Joerg Huettner · G-Storm · Dave Bessell · xu.sounddesign · Brad Holland · Andrew Longhurst

Your sounds. Across both instruments.
With MIDI connected in both directions, the A6's knobs and buttons can control ASYX. Enable live parameter sending to work the other way: changes made in ASYX are sent to the hardware. This works with compatible program parameters, so you can edit from either interface.

Import original A6 SysEx programs and banks into the library, or send the current program--including unsaved edits--back to a chosen hardware slot. You can also transfer a bank. Patch and bank transfers are separate from live editing and ask for confirmation before overwriting hardware programs.

Keep large banks in ASYX, and prepare a bank in the A6's 128-program format when you need a hardware transfer. ASYX-only features such as polyphonic aftertouch remain software features.

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