Dusk Audio Sunset Circuits melds six distinct synthesizers in one free plugin for macOS, Linux, and Windows.
The flood of new Synthesizer plugins shows no signs of slowing down. The market for free synths, in particular, is growing and growing.
Dusk Audio, the developer who recently released the free DuskVerb, now has a new Synthesizer plugin called Sunset Circuits. It’s not only one synth but a 6-in-1 synth plugin.
Dusk Audio Sunset Circuits
Sunset Circuits is a new free, open-source synthesizer plugin for macOS, Linux, and Windows. I can’t say for sure whether AI was used in it.
Judging by the number of plugins Dusk Audio has released recently, I suspect Sunset Circuits was created with these modern technologies.
Sunset Circuits is a vintage-inspired synth that melds six distinct virtual Synthesizer circuits in one plugin. Unlike multi-engine synths, each mode changes the entire synth, but the layout of how you program it stays the same.
Only the color, the mod sub-panel, and a few mode-specific controls change when you switch the modes.
Six Synthesizers – One Plugin
Cosmos goes in the early 80s six-voice poly direction with DCOs, a clean filter, and BBD chorus. Oracle explores the late 70s five-voice analog polysynths with two oscillators, a self-oscillating filter, and polymod.
Then, Mono is an aggressive monophonic synth with two oscillators, sub, a fat driven filter, ring mod, and hard sync. Modular is a 70s-inspired semi-modular voice with three oscillators, a ladder filter, linear FM, an S&H, and a spring reverb.
Prism is a 4-operator FM synth with eight algorithms that takes inspiration from Yamaha synths from the mid 80s with per-operator envelopes and operator feedback. Lastly, Acid is a TB-303-style synth with a screaming diode-ladder filter and a pattern sequencer.
Alongside this, they all share the basic elements of the modulation engine with two multimode envelopes and two multiwave LFOs. An 8-slot modulation matrix manages these modulators and their targets.
Every mode also houses a programmable 16-step arpeggiator/sequencer except in the Acid mode, which is based on the TB-303.
Further, you can refine your sounds with a built-in chorus, drive, delay, and reverb. An up to 4x oversampling option is available as well as full automation support. Dusk Audio ships the Sunset Circuits plugin with 54 presets.
First Impression
I downloaded the plugin. It works, but it still has some bugs. For example, when switching presets in the VST3 version, no new sounds are loaded; it stays the same. It works fine in the AU version.
So far, there’s only a demo, and it doesn’t really reflect the plugin’s full functionality, especially since the demo guy plays it with the mouse. To me, Sunset Circuits sounds quite solid and has potential.
Dusk Audio Sunset Circuits is available now as a free download. The code is open-source and available on GitHub. It runs as a VST3, AU, and LV2.
More information here: Dusk Audio
for Linux! nice!
“I can’t say for sure whether AI was used in it.”
It is pretty obvious that AI was used since there is a CLAUDE.md and Claude is one of the contributors of the repo.
thanks for the info 🙂
The flood of cheap or free AI-slop is seriously harming legit programmers and companies that spend months and sometimes years developing new software. Not only does this cost revenue and jobs, but it also leads to a decline in innovation.
AI is here, and this is just the beginning. Unfortunately, it can no longer be stopped. I’m not a fan of it either, but it’s part of the coding world and will become even more so in the next years.
Many developers, even old-school ones, are now using AI to be faster.