Dawesome Abyss II is a major upgrade to its original colorful soundscape Synthesizer, with a deeper engine, MPE support, and more.
Update: out now!
To program a Synthesizer from scratch, you need basic knowledge of how synthesis works. Peter from Dawesome took a new beginner-friendly approach with Abyss. It uses a unique engine with spectral analysis that transforms sounds into a tone color palette.
You can browse/morph through the palette and discover new sounds. A mix of sound and sight. The concept will continue in the new Dawesome Abyss II Synthesizer, with many new options.
Dawesome Abyss 2
Abyss 2 is the successor of the unique color Synthesizer. After the beta phase, Dawesome Abyss 2 is available now with an upgrade option for existing customers.
At its core, Abyss 2 remains a Synthesizer plugin powered by a spectral analysis-to-color tone engine. “It divides the samples into many frames and, for each frame, extracts spectral data. From this, it derives a model.
Machine learning assigns a color and positions the tone colors on a palette so similar-sounding ones map close together. Machine learning is the sweet little sister of AI: no training, no stealing of data, no data centers, just a lot of pure maths”, says Peter.
Abyss 2 introduces a wealth of new features. The new version remains a polyphonic synth, but it includes a mono option if you want to make mono patches, like basses or leads.
Importing content for the spectral engine is also easier. You can now drag and drop samples on the gradient and convert them into tone colors.
A second new option lets you drag and drop samples directly onto the palettes. This extracts tone colors, so you can make custom palettes of tone colors.
The engine also comes with three macro-style synth parameters: brute, velvet, and syntify. What exactly they will do is not yet known.
Part of this major upgrade is an improved modulation engine, including a larger LFO area, a slow mode for the ADSR envelopes, and the option to modulate them.
More Powerful Effects And More
Dawesome Abyss II also introduces a new multi-FX processor with 16 all-new effect types and custom presets. No info about the addition yet, but it will probably include many from the previous plugins. There is also a better limiter.
Abyss II also adds a new polyrhythmic sequencer, allowing you to create complex melodic content. Preset browsing and managing will also be easier. The new upgrade adds a preset browser with tags, filters, and more, including packs.
Other new features include: undo/redo, setup for simple mapping of your MIDI controller to Abyss, wave drag out of recently played note, randomizer, and high contrast mode for improved accessibility
For deeper expressivity, it supports fully MPE with all possible mappings to your controllers. And don’t worry, it also works perfectly with all-non MPE keyboards and controllers.
Peter also says you can load presets from Abyss 1 and transfer user presets from AB1 with a single click.
Abyss II comes with 400+ presets created by professional sound designers. This includes 200+ new presets, and 200+ upgraded classics from Abyss 1
First Impression
Abyss is a very original Synthesizer where you can craft sounds from a different sound design perspective. I’m glad the concept is continuing. Looking forward to trying out the new version.
Dawesome Abyss 2 is available now for $89/89€ instead of $149/149€. Upgrades will be available for $45/45€ instead of $75/75€. If you bought the original Abyss in 2026, the upgrade is free.
More information here: Dawesome
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