PG-8X is a free VST plugin inspired by the Roland JX-8P with the PG-800 programmer, this synth is one of the many iconic analog synths from the 80s and is very capable of replicating that classic analog sound. Created by Martin Luders, this plugin goes one step beyond most analog synth emulation and can support presets created on the physical synth itself (if you happen to have a JX-8P lying around). Thanks to an active community, a large collection of presets are available including the default collection from the Roland synth itself. But if you’re looking for more than the classic sounds that come with the presets then here is what you can do with it:

Features:

• up to 12 voice polyphony
• Two DCO’s with Saw, Square, Pulse, Noise
• Hard Sync and Ring Modulation
• Two exponential envelop generators
• 24 dB resonant LP filter
• HP filter (3 stages)
• Stereo Chorus
• Import and Export of JX-8P Sysex data

Technical information:

• programmed in C++ using WDL-OL

• optimized SSE2 code
• 6 Key assignment modes:
  • Poly (re-assignment of voices)
  • Poly2 (round robin)
  • Unison (two voices in unison)
  • Unison2 (second voice shifted by 1 octave)
  • Mono
  • Mono2 (all voices in unison)

• MIDI Learn: MIDI Controllers can be assigned by right-clicking on the slider
• Automatic adjustment of oversampling

In the mid 80s, this synth was advertised as the best of both worlds because of the possibility of creating tones associated with digital synthesizers. While Roland has released their JX-8P VST, the PG-8X comes extremely close to the original and it’s completely free to use in your productions.

Click here to download the plugin and do support the developer with a donation if you enjoy the plugin.