Superwave P8

I was looking for a softsynth of my favourite real synth (the JP8000) and finally, after a lot of vsts, I discovered Superwave P8.
This has to be THE JP8000 emulator of the bunch. Its sound quality is brilliant, it produces huge, fat strings, pads, sweeps that are dance essentials. If you've ever used AXS, think of that but with far superior sound quality, and of course VST integration.
I'm not much into the grey theme though; I'd much prefer to see it done in sexy silver or JP blue!

At first, I find the GUI overwhelming: there is just so much going on and so much control. Which is great, btw. It has 2 oscs with all the usual waveforms, and then it has 'superwaves', which really give the unit its huge fat sound. Along the top of it are 7 superwave controllers (which seem to only affect superwaves) that allow you to detune 7 superwaves it seems for each osc. I really like how you have two knobs for L/R pan pos, so you can position your sound anywhere in the stereo field that you like with as much width as you like. The delay fx are slightly complex, allowing you to have control over left and right delay lines. Basically, every parameter has oodles of control for really adjusting the sound to fit what you're doing.
The filters are unique for this synth in that they work extremely well for big sweeps, pads, strings, etc but they seem to lack 'bite' when you want to get certain bass sounds out of it, so I use other VAs for bass (and it's not quick to program in a simple punchy bass sound all those controls - you end up having to manually reset everything just to switch everything off and get an unaffected sound - very time consuming).

Presets: This is one of the few synths around that has incredibly useable presets. So much so that I don't think I'll bother programming it much at all, apart from simple filter mods. They really show off this machine perfectly. Drool-inducing!

Overall, the perfect machine for strings/pads/ambient sweeps. Don't forget it's FREE! Youd pay top-dollar for a hardware equivalent of this thing! Thousands have!
A massive thanks to the Superwave team!Read Review

This just may be the best free synth out there. I can't believe I didn't try this sooner. The sound is so rich and fat, it's just beautiful. I'm a vst minimalist, but this one is definitely staying in my vst folder. I can't believe it's free! :)

Superwave comes with a list of midi CC's so you can set your controller for controlling the parameters, which is a very nice feature for a free softsynth.

The presets are excellent and really showcase Superwave's ability to do rich analog sounds. The brassy sounds are some of the nicest I have heard in a virtual synth. This synth is a great choice for trance sounds, but I'm using it for ambient pads and sweeps and I'm very pleased.

Try this synth if you have not already!Read Review

This is one of my favourite freeware synths. It's perfect for trancy lead sounds and full,warm pads or strings. I'm quite new to using VSTi's and mostly I have a lot of trouble figuering out what all the buttons and switches do, but the Superwave P8 has a clear, easy-to-use interface and when you turn a knob or clik a button it intantly becomes clear what the knob or button is for and what the posibilitys are, even for a n00b like me. The presets contain al lot of nice sounds and with a little tweaking they sound just right in your music. The Superwave P8 is also very stable, it has never crashed on my computer (unlike some payware synths!). Best of all: The Superwave P8 is free. Just download it and in minutes you'll experience it's usefullness!Read Review

SuperWave is one of those soft synths that has a distinctive sound. The UI is spectacular, of course, and the synth features are very well conceived, but what really makes this synth is the sound. Put simply, it is a great, great VA.

Loosely modeled after the Roland JP8000/8080, this synth comes with a great set of presets that do an excellent job of showing off its capabilities - and its full-bodied, warm sound. It's not a bread-and-butter VA sound like you might get in, say, a DreamStation, but it is highly usable and flexible.

I have had a few problems with the synth - stuck keys being the biggest, but the occasional crash also happens. Your mileage may vary.

Despite the fact that this synth was developed using SynthEdit, it really shines as a pro-level product. Why the developer gave it away free is a bit beyond me - but I'm glad he/she did.Read Review

HI

This one amazed me. I you need pads (trance, house, new age, electronical, pop), this is it! This vst is sooo cool. And you can control if with your midi control surface. Midi controller list included. you don't need more. You don't need to understand the knobs. They are obvious. You need to experiment a bit.

It has good knobs and good funcionality. I cant wait for the trance synth he is working on. This shouldn't be free I think. This would sell!! But at the same time I don't mind having it at home. This sounds much better than the pro 53 or the fm7 things.

One of the best in my collection.Read Review

I have been using Superwave P8 since V1.4 and it impresses me every time I use it. I think of all the vsts claiming to have a warm and fat sound, but when you hear it you feel disgusted. The only other vsts that are close to a vintage sound are Pro 5-3,PPG wave,Moog Modular V.

Now since you have to pay for those, Superwave P8 is the perfect alternative. I am using it in my upcoming album, and it works great for Trance, Electro, Electro Clash etc...

If you love the vintage sound, or if you own a Jupiter 6 or 8, its time to retire those and use P8.

Many thanks to Chris Gill for making this FREE Gem. I cannot wait for Superwave Trance Pro and the others he is working on.

Pros
- Great vintage analog sound
- Good sounding presets that you can actually use!
- Nice looking GUI
- Stable, no crahes so far
- Gets updated frequently
- Free and easy download

Cons
- Some presets use a moderate amount of CPU, but the sound is worth it!Read Review

As freebies go, especially as SynthEdit synths go, this is up there with the best. Not necessarily in terms of features (it has some limitations), but in terms of sound. Played purely with 1 or 2 voices, it's fairly ordinary. BUT ... some people consider the extra detuned oscillators as a gimmick ... well, it may be, but the point is that most other VSTis don't offer this facility, and when used, it makes SuperwaveP8 a very strong-sounding dominant synth.

Basically it has 6 extra voices (identical to the main oscillator) but all detunable by independent amounts - and you can do this with both oscillators - so it makes for a huge amount of oscillators (14!) and a wide thick soupy sound - very "analogue". When you consider that some big analogue patches used detuned VCOs and PWM and chorus to make the distinctively analogue sound, then these extra "Superwaves" aren't cheating - they are offering you a classic analogue trick that standard synths don't offer.

A very good set of patches to start off with, all of which identify what type of sound easily - you want a Jarre sound or a Numan or Van Halen pad, then it's labelled. No gimmicks - it just shows you what it's capable of.

I especially like the sync sound - it can squeal sharply and also be used subtly and musically - the 2nd oscillator can sweep from a good set of mod options from envelope, LFO, midi or whatever - in fact the whole modulation set is very flexible - not possibly set out as well as it could be in the GUI, but there are alot of options there.

The GUI - I have some problems with it, but overall it is well thought out and obvious - it looks like a real synth should in most aspects, so it is easy to program. Filters are set apart from envelopes and LFOs and modulation options - you really can't find it too difficult to tweak even if you are new to synth programming.

FX - nothing amazing, but sound an integral part of the patch unlike many other VSTis. You can argue whether VSTis should or shouldn't have FX, but this one works well - simple delays that don't overpower the patch.

It's not a do-everything synth by any means, but if you like fat analogue sounds (especially pads) then SWP8 is better than many commercial synths. Capable of basses (similar in a way to the Juno sound - big flabby bass useful for some styles,but not others). Good for leads and some special FX.

There are some problems such as not being able to latch LFOs to song position (i.e it won't restart the LFO at the start of a bar - it freewheels) but this is more a Sythedit problem than a SWP8 problem.

There are some Synthedit synths out there that are weird and wonderful, but often unusable. Some are useable but bland. SWP8 is both useable and flexible. You could replace some bog-standard analogue h/w synths with SWP8. A problem is that it's so fat sometimes that it overpowers your mix - 14 DCOs is not always good so use sparingly.

One of the better Synthedit creations- very very useable.Read Review

This is an exceptional VSTi - and I would say that if it cost money too. But it's a freebie.

Remember the early 80s, those thick, dark fizzing, resonant sounds loved by Ultravox, Numan, Humanm League etc.....well they are here. Remember those massive machines that cost a year's wages and broke your back when you carried them onto the stage - this is is the free, non-hernia version.

Immediate retro analogue pleasure - you will want to launch into renditions of "Are friends electric" or "Oxygene". But there's a place in today's music for this sound too.Read Review

If you doing trancestuff (or just trying...), you must try this!

Instant ffffat hooversounds, assertive leads and mighty pads for the cost of a download !

GUI looks cool but is a little too dark and the letters are too dark also and tiny (and it takes some time for establishing).
the build-in effects(chorus and delay)are adding just the right "plus" of even more "fatness".
Stepping through the presets, you can get easily an idea what this beast offers.
CPU-usage is below average, but some presets are a bit hungrier than others.Read Review

This is an absolutely awesome instrument!
Its sound remembers me that hybrid,acid kind of the japanese sinths of the early 80s
(beside an other great sinth:the Juno x 2) but its huge powerfull character,its energetic and drastic sound beats all competitors,and it's FREE!!!!!! (INCREDIBLE INDEED!).
A quick listening to its beautiful presets took to my mind the sound of a lot of songs and soundtracks of the 80s pop/rock and "new wave" era (the Van Halen Jump preset is fantastic,and so many others,such as the JM Jarre serie and so on) with the deepness and warmth of a real analog instrument.
It could well worth 80-90 Euros,but they gave us as a gift : realistic osc and filters great effects; believe me this is not the usual,boring soup,it's a masterpiece with a rich sound and a professional GUI!
Don't miss it !Read Review

i downloaded this synth off of my forum and i didnt know what to expect when i did . so i installed it in my sequncer with high hopes . what i got was a synth no less then amazing . its clear that the maker was going for a jp 8000 emulation . having never owned or tryed one i cant say if its comparible but from what ive heard from other users its nothing like the jp in its own right but its still quite a comparible synth . one thing i realy like is when you tweek the seven oscs you can get a super saw sound thats quite realistic . another thing great is the built in delay effects . they realy make the synth stand out . the presest that come with the superwave are quite nice i realy liked them and they do a good job showing what this synth is capable of . my favorite preset is the x-files preset it realy sounds like the x files sound . another one i like is the chariots of fire preset it does an exelent job of showing the polyphonic power of the superwave even though its a little cpu intensive for my pentium 2 400mhz computer . one thing good though is you can change from mono to poly so its not so cpu intensive even so people with fast machines should have no problem with this synth as compared to other synth of the same its very good on the cpu . all and all a very enjoyable and very capable synth thatyou will find many uses for in your instrument rack .Read Review