Sonic Charge Synplant 2, popular synth plugin gets a genetic sound design boost

Sonic Charge Synplant 2 takes you to innovative genetic paths with an all-new AI-powered DNA editor that generates new synth patches for you.

In March, I first reported on the next version of the popular Synplant plugin from Sonic Charge. A Synthesizer plugin classic that has been following its own path for many years. With a unique virtual analog concept, few parameters, and versatile sounds.

At that time, Magnus Lidström gave us a sneak peek at the upcoming version. I’m just saying “genetic sound design” which caused amazement. This mighty update is now ready. 

Sonic Charge Synplant 2

Daily users of Syntplant 1 need not worry. Syntplant 2 has all the features of the original. Even patches are compatible. But Sonic Charge did a lot of coding on the plugin backend, including a complete engine rewrite. Now you are no longer alone with the plugin in the DAW artificial intelligence lives with you.

Okay, I know your thoughts and possible comments: “Go away with AI” and “boring.” Wrong; Magnus from Sonic Charge proves that AI can be awesome without facepalm marketing involved. 

Synplant 2 has a new Genopatch engine and associated editor. This opens a new interface and lets you dive deep into the world of AI-generated sounds. Sonic Charge describes it as a genetic twist on sound design. 

The Genetic Twist – Genpatch

The new Genopatch engine does not produce any sounds by itself. So no random parameter tweaking that is here sold as an innovative AI engine. It needs input content, more precisely, samples.

You can load a sample via a window. From here, the Genopatch engine generates new sounds that sound the same or similar to the source sample. And there are no limits. You can load a sample from your favorite synth, and Genopatch will turn it into a Synplant 2 patch.

This isn’t a one-patch wonder. The plugin visualizes the results of this process with strands that sprout and grow in the user interface. In these, you can follow how the engine gets closer and closer to the sound you are looking for. And great, you can use the individual results as a patch.

This balance of precision and unpredictability makes Genopatch a unique tool for sound exploration, promising Sonic Charge. The results that Genopatch generates are astounding. It feels like a sound design team is tweaking your sound in real-time in the plugin’s background. And all this is generated on your local computer. No Internet or so is required during the process. But that doesn’t stop here. 

Sonic Charge has also opened up the Genopatch engine to the user, allowing the sounds to be tweaked. You can open your sound seeds anytime and modify the underlying genetic code using the new DNA editor built-in Synplant 2. Here, you get graphical representations of familiar features like oscillator types, filters, and envelopes.

More New Features

In addition to the innovative Genopatch engine, Synplant 2 has additional performance features. New bulb modes give you alternative ways to trigger the different branches using various velocities, different ranges over the keyboard, or a layered mode. 

Further, you can explore a new mono patch support, glide/portamento, and a new exciting tempo sync function. It synchronizes any rhythmic components of the sound to the host tempo. Also new:

• instead of growing all branches, the mod-wheel can easily be reassigned to control various standard destinations, such as filter cutoff, LFO amount, envelope time, and more.
• basic MPE support with per-channel mod-wheel, pitch-bend, and pressure
• just like Microtonic, one of the best drum synth plugins out there, you can extend and mod it with Javascript.

First Impression

We have wanted the software Synthesizer’s next step for a long time. New synths are constantly coming onto the market that repeat the same concept repeatedly. Once wavetable, then VA, the next one has granular… Sonic Charge really shows software synth innovation with the Syntplant 2.

Instead of giving the user an endless wilderness of parameters at hand, Sonic Charge lets them dive into the roots in a very immediate way without overwhelming them. This is supported by a genetic (AI-driven) engine that gives you a virtual guide on the way—a brilliant concept of how you can merge AI with sound design. 

Sonic Charge Synplant 2 is available now for 149€. An upgrade from version 1 is available for 50€. It runs as a VST, VST3, and AU plugin on macOS (Intel + native Apple Silicon) and Windows. 

More information here: Sonic Charge 

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