AudioKit King of Digital is a new iOS AUv3 synth app that takes you back to the sounds of famous vintage digital synthesizers.
The digital age of synthesizers began in the 80s. These were the years of the now legendary Yamaha DX-7, the Roland D-50, and the Korg M1. Also known as the legendary trio. They made sounds that were not possible with analog synthesizers.
All three had a very characteristic timbre that can still be recognized today. In the 90s and 2000, many more synths followed that were based on digital synthesis like FM, phase distortion, or virtual analog.
Many musicians remember this time fondly. Also the AudioKit developers. They have dedicated a new synth app to the digital synth age.
Audiokit King of Digital
King of Digital is the next chapter in the “King” app series. This app focuses on the sound of vintage digital synthesizers from the 80s, 90s, and 2000s. It’s also the successor of the Digital D1 app, released in 2019.
Important: the app does not aim to imitate or emulate specific synths. It’s more about celebrating the character of these synths in a fun and playable synth instrument.
The dual-layer core uses a combination of virtual analog synthesis and PCM samples, playable with up to 64 voices.
5 PCM cards with more than 3GB of new original sample content (compressed to under 500MB) were recorded from vintage analog and FM synths. Including the PCM cards from the previous D1 synth app as a bonus.
A side note: the developers didn’t sample PCM samples from the vintage synths. So no reason to worry Roland or Korg.
Dual Layer Engine
King of Digital has two layers per voice, each of which can be loaded with a PCM sample. Each layer has its own shaping controls, including level, tune, fine, and pan.
Then, you can adjust an ADSR envelope per layer and have the ability to create the perfect mix of both sound sources. There are also three LFOs that are freely mappable and can also do wilder stuff. For example, you can modulate an LFO with another.
To add the final touch, King of Digital also features a multi-FX section with a rich-sounding reverb, a phaser, a delay, a distortion, a flanger, and more. Lastly, it hosts a vintage-style step sequencer that can be routed to specific layers.
Not to forget, it has full MIDI support, is a standalone app and AUv3 plugin, and offers keyboard splits. A great addition for synth players.
The app has plenty of vintage, ear candy sounds that will keep you busy for many hours. It ships with over 900+ presets from sound designers and beta testers from the iPad music-making community.
And thanks to the 5 PCM cards full of sound sources, a vintage digital synth world is open to you that allows you to design endless new presets.
First Impression
Another excellent Synthesizer app from the AudoKit team. You don’t need to be a sound design expert to use the app to travel back in time to the early days of digital synthesizers.
It’s super straightforward to use and inspires with the first notes you play. If you have fun with the sounds of vintage digital synthesizers and use iOS, this app is a must-have.
Audiokit King of Digital is available now for an introductory price of $3,99 instead of $19,99. It runs as a standalone and AUv3 plugin on iPhones and iPads.
More information here: AppStore
Love it! In a visceral way.
Spent some time patchsurfing and it felt really good.
Randomly selecting different PCMs often produces neat results, which are immediately usable.
Just wish it supported microtonality, as D1 did. I can still use it with Entonal Studio, monophonically. Would be even better if it supported MPE!
A really good app! Audio kit hasn’t let me down so far 🙂