Twisted Electrons VMEGAfm is an emulation of the gritty hardware MEGAfm FM “Megadrive” Synthesizer for macOS, Windows, and iPadOS.
Many of France-based boutique manufacturer Twisted Electrons’ instruments draw on retro FM sounds and chiptune, using chips originally found in gaming consoles. For example, the MEGAfm Mk1 is a 4-operator FM Synthesizer with one Yamaha YM2612 chip.
For the first time, Alex from Twisted Electrons is taking the software route, bringing this particular synth to market as a plugin and iPadOS app called VMEGAfm.
Twisted Electrons VMEGAfm
VMEGAfm authentically emulates the Twisted Electrons MEGAfm FM Synthesizer and its Yamaha YM2612 core for macOS, Windows, and iPadOS. As a reminder, the legendary Sega Megadrive 2 used the Yamaha YM2612 chip as a sound engine.
According to Alex, the VMEGAfm runs the original MEGAfm firmware and uses a modeled analog output path from the Mark I hardware.
For this emulation, the developer not only recreated the engine in software but also the complete hardware interface. This offers a 1:1 replica of the hardware workflow with two changes.
VMEGAfm is a 12-voice 4-operator FM Synthesizer with 32 sliders to control the four operators. Exactly like the hardware.
Three voice modes allow you to play the 12 voices in different ways: poly12 gives you one YM channel per note with round-robin voice allocation, wide6 pairs two synth channels for each note, and unison packs all 12 voices in the same note, controllable with the fat parameter.
With the first one, for example, you get a different voice with each keystroke because the voices rotate. It’s a great mode for more experimental sounds.
4-Operator FM Synthesis
Each of the four operators is fully independent and comes with its own slider-based parameters: operator level, multiply, and a full ADSR envelope. Detune per operator from the hardware is missing because it’s too subtle, according to the dev.
The operator level sets the operator output, and higher values make a carrier louder or a modulator stronger, while multiply sets the operator frequency relative to the played note.
Eight FM algorithms let you combine operators in different ways. Select them with the dedicated algorithm knob. Feedback isn’t available for every operator but is attached to the first one, perfect for noisy results.
No filter, but modulation is onboard. In addition to the four envelopes in the operators, three freely assignable multi-wave LFOs are available. They have the same features, including four waveforms, retrigger and looping, plus rate and depth controls.
Assigning modulation to parameters is somewhat unusual for soft synths. Here, you first move a parameter, then press the button for the respective LFO. Alternatively, you can assign them via the links section, where you can see all the modulation routings.
Arpeggiating, Sequencing, & More
At the output stage, you can refine the sound with a reverb processor. This is hidden under a virtual flap, where you can access two parameters: mix and size.
The volume control also acts as a kind of shaper. At lower settings, the sound remains somewhat cleaner, but when you crank it up, the lovely crunchy, noisy character comes to the fore. It also includes vibrato with rate and depth control.
Twisted Electrons VMEGAfm also houses the same arpeggiator with various modes (up, down, up/down, random…) with rate and range controls. Alongside the arpeggiator, you can also program a transposable sequencer on the fly with the rec button.
MPE compatibility enables expressive playing. It ships with 109 factory presets, where 10 are expressive MPE sounds.
Great: VMEGAfm is also available for the iPad as a standalone application and as an AUv3 plugin. You can load the latter in GarageBand, Logic Pro for iPad, AUM, and other AUv3 hosts.
Twisted Electrons VMEGAfm First Impression
The VMEGAfm is a great virtual version of the MEGAfm Synthesizer. I can’t do an exact 1:1 comparison because I don’t have a MEGAfm Mk1, but it sounds very much like the hardware to me
It’s not your typical chiptune synth but more a glassy, superior take on these video game sounds. You can achieve various percussive sounds, but also excellent basses or experimental sounds, all with that crunchy, noisy character. Bonus point for the iPadOS version.
Twisted Electrons VMEGAfm is now available at an introductory price of 39,99€ instead of 49,99€ until August 31st, 2026. It runs as a standalone and VST3 and AU plugin on macOS (native Apple Silicon + Intel) and Windows.
The iPadOS version is out now at an introductory price of 9,99€ instead of 14,99€ until August 31st, 2026, on the Apple App Store. It runs as a standalone and AUv3 plugin on iPadOS.
More information here: Twisted Electrons
The hardware is available from my partners
Thomann
Got it on my iPad today. Sounds excellent and has a very good user interface.