rs-met (Robin Schmidt's Music Engineering Tools) has announced the release of version 1.0 of Straightliner for Windows (VST).

Straightliner is a straight-lined subtractive synthesizer in a modern guise. You will find the well known building blocks of classic analog synthesizers (4 oscillators, a filter, 2 envelope generators) patched together in the traditional way.

However, the building blocks offer more flexibility than commonly seen in subtractive (AKA 'virtual analog') synthesizers: Instead of relying on a set of fixed waveforms, Straightliner's oscillators support loading of arbitrary (single cycle) audio files (which may be stereo). In turn, the whole signal path is laid out in stereo which allows for wide and enveloping sounds even without application of any effects. The standard ADSR model for envelopes is replaced by a flexible modulation generator which allows to define an arbitrary number of breakpoints.

The heart of subtractive synthesizers is the filter, of course. In this department, Straightliner offers a multimode filter with 15 modes, among them a sophisticated Moog model. The user interface of the synth focuses on visual editors optimized for editing on screen with a mouse instead of the commonly seen hardware oriented interfaces. These visual editors don't just 'sketch' the resulting curves but exactly represent what is being generated in a 'what you see is what you get' manner.

Key Features:

• 4 alias free Oscillators, each of which may load a stereo or mono single cycle wave file (.wav or .flac).
• Full stereo signal path for wide and enveloping sounds right from the start even without any effects.
• Multimode filter with 15 modes, among them a sophisticated Moog model.
• 2 flexible modulation generators, with an arbitrary number of breakpoints and 9 options for the shape in between any pair of breakpoints.
• Support of microtuning via import of .tun files.
• Hierarchical preset management to let you load and save presets not only for the synth as a whole but also separately for each relevant building block to easily hybridize your patches.
• Intuitive WYSIWYG user interface to let you comprehend patches at a glance - optimized for use with screen and mouse rather than mimicking hardware.

Availability and Pricing

Straightliner is available now as a VST instrument plug-in for Windows priced at €89. A demo version is available.