discoDSP Corona 7 is a free major upgrade to its virtual analog + wave Synthesizer plugin, with new features including MPE support and more.
In 2023, discoDSP released Corona 6, a paid upgrade to its VA + wave synthesizer. Over the past three years, the synth has gained several additional features through free updates, including a new UI, 600+ new presets, Synth1 and Roland JP-8000 patch support, and more.
After three years, the next major upgrade is here. discoDSP has released Corona 7, and this time it’s a free upgrade.
discoDSP Corona 7
Corona 7 is a free upgrade for existing Corona 6 users. As a reminder: discoDSP Corona 7 is a hybrid Synthesizer combining traditional virtual analog synthesis and wave synthesis.
It has three VA/wave oscillators, 16 combine modes, dual zero-delay feedback filters, three envelopes, two LFOs, an 8-destination modulation matrix, built-in effects, and a 32-step arpeggiator. I particularly like the interface (white or black), which is very clearly designed.
Corona 7 introduces several new features. The synth engine now runs at 8x oversampling instead of 4x. Offline bounces use a linear-phase FIR with reported latency, while real-time keeps the zero-latency path.
A new draft playback option halves the oversampling factor while auditioning. There is also a new 1:2 interpolator for 88.2 and 96 kHz.
A highlight is the new Super-7+ option in the unison voices settings. It’s a new mode inspired by the Roland JP-8000 with mix law, per-saw stereo panning, and a unison panning spread control. The rest of the synth engine remains unchanged.
However, the arpeggiator has major changes. It now houses a sequencer arpeggiator mode, turning the velocity lane into a 12-semitone note grid drawn over a piano grid. It has a transpose function, a generative sequencer builder, and MIDI export.
Full MPE support is another highlight of Corona 7, bringing per-note pitch bend, pressure, and timbre as modulation matrix sources. It also adds a new brightness (CC74) modulation source.
Other changes include
- live modulation shown on knobs that previously had no indicator
- rewritten Synth1 and JP-8000/8080 preset converter and importer
- Effects Lock holds chorus, delay, distortion, and limiter settings, including their on/off states, across preset and bank changes
- performances improvements
- bug fixes
First Impression
In 2023, I criticized discoDSP for charging for an upgrade where the highlight was a new UI. They haven’t done that here, and Corona 7 is a free update. That’s a good decision. The new features are also great, especially MPE support.
discoDSP Corona 7 is available now as a free upgrade for existing Corona 6 users. Corona 7 is available now for 149€. You can get it for $104,30 (30% OFF) at Pluginfox for a limited time.
It runs as a VST3, AU, and AAX plugin on macOS (native Apple Silicon + Intel), Linux, and Windows.
More information here: discoDSP
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