I forgot all about this plug-in. I was talking to a friend all about strings/pads and what he used on a few tracks, and he brought this plug up. I remember using it quite awhile ago, so I decided to give it another shot. I fired up my scratch pad; Ableton 6, loaded it up, played one note, and my CPU went to 90%, and an awful feedback lit up the master meter bright red. I guess note off, isn't in this plug-in's vocabulary. I tried it out in Cubase 5, with a midi file, Cubase crashed. Checked it out in Acid 6 Pro, nothing but feedback, changed the patch, same deal, then a ntdll.dll error. Now I remember why I never used this thing.

Sound: Feedback
Features: Can crash a Quad Xeon in seconds.
Documentation: None.
Presets: They are there.
Customer Support: Not needed.
Value for money: It's free, I didn't expect much, I wouldn't pay a cent for this.
Stability: None

I love smartelectronix, they DO make good plug-in's. Maybe this was written DAW specific? If so, I'd love to know which one, I do want to hear those pads.

If you are into any sort of electronica, trance Etc. Galactix is one of the best VST Synths going. It's taylor made for that type of music. It's a great layering synth, because it ads lots of harmonics (but you have to know what you are doing)

Galactix does what it does extremely well. It is also one of the easiest to tweak synths out there. Just a bit of fiddling with the controls and completely new and hot sounds can be created. People talk about its awesome pads, but I got some unique bass sounds, I haven't heard anywhere else.

I use this synth to inspire my writing more than any other.

If you are into hard rock, heavy metal, any type of guitar music, or harsh conflicted industrial music this synth is NOT for you, you will NOT get it. Just pass it by, and don't waste your or anyone's time saying how you don't get it. It's not meant for your type. LOL

Alex made the presets initially hard to find. To display the presets, RIGHT CLICK in the scrolling field where the pre-set name is displayed. When you do a selection list will pop up.

The only drawbacks are it's CPU usage, and it is becoming harder to wrap for DXi hosts like Cakewalk. A workaround for those who would like to use this synth with newer versions of Cakewalk would be to use OLDER versions of the VST wrappers. The newer ones bend and twist the VST completely.

All freeware comes with quirks. This one does to, but after you learn what they are (like notes don't obey the off command when triggered by stopping play of your sequencer) it's easy to work around them.

I sincerely wish Alex would come out with an updated version. I'd gladly pay for it. What ever happened to him and smartelectronix by the way?

i have been playing with this thing for a while and i had not really formed an opion on it. then i found the presets, which sounds bad but i dont feel that this is a synth designed for knob fiddlers. this synth can create wonderful strong pads, choir like. if this synth had more of an envelope section it would be one of my favorites. if your looking for pads and leads dont waste any more time and DL this synth.

Galactix is a treasure that I have been searching for since my inauguration into electronic music. I think that if you are looking for a lead synth, you have missed the point. Pads is where it's at. The chords that this thing spits out are so fat, especially with an automated cutoff sweep... Set 5 oscillators to Saw and one to 8 Sin, set the envelopes to Flat, and you have yourself the pads from the epic "Airwave" by Rank 1. It took me a week before I went to the website and found out that the Cutoff could be controlled by the Mod Wheel. Documentation would have been nice. As well, in Cubase VST3.7 (which I just so happen to be using), the song stop message does not turn off notes. This is a problem, and has resulted in a ridiculous number of crashes. Performance meter starts redlining, I hit stop, Galactix keeps going....the only way to turn off notes is with note off messages: either by playing the notes from the keyboard, or by letting the track play through the entire chord progression.

Funny little synth! This thingy has some serious sounds that are instant eighties to me! I used it in one song yet and it works great in the mix in a wonderful way. It's not up in the face but it's very clearly audible. Very nice. No preset selector yet so it's not so cool to make sounds. But as fast as this synth improved over the last few weeks I'm sure that Alex will make it even better.

Thanx a lot, Alex!

I'll review this now the interface has been revamped.

Great for those spaced out pads. Just what I was looking for. Plenty of features and best of all its free.

Thats it really!

If you like good old depeche mode like dark sounds
This thing is a must have
I find the user interface ugly as hell ...but hey ...who needs a glossy look when the inside is fabulous

Good presets provided but it`s even more fun to make your own sounds with this thing.

If you like fine realistic acoustic sounds don`t use it
If you like fat synth sounds with a strange dark reverb and that old 80`s new-wave like sound .. USE IT

update 12.30.02

It struck me that there have been revisions to the interface and additional presets that give insight into the power of GalactiX and make no doubt about it there's plenty of power. Looking back having six oscillators was a taste of the future while using preset envelopes actually made programming more intuitive.

Also keep in mind this is freeware and makes some lovely sounds more in the lush 80's synth area. GalactiX deserves more attention as many of the ideas here found in simplified form have made their way to expensive shareware.

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Although the user interface is somewhat different from traditional synthesizers after a few sessions it starts to make sense. I agree with other reviewers that it could use improvement. Another area of some concern are the preset filter envelopes. In one sense they simplify programming but it would be nice to have more control.

Currently there are few presets but they are quite good and help to teach how to program GalactiX. It is difficult to determine how far this synth can go because of some of it's design choices but some of the timbres I got out of it will make their way onto future recordings.

I like GalactiX a lot and hope it continues to develop. It is great for pads - in particular voice styles which are some of the osc. types found in GalactiX.

It's free and useful if you like spacey timbres. Don't let that stop you if you like meaty basses and good lead sounds, they're available as well but require learing the quirky interface.

Not a bad synth, but dissapointing nonetheless. I was reluctant to download it at first as I've already got plenty of VSTi's but some of the reviews here convinced me to try it out. Well this thing certainly sounds digital which is kind of nice, but I just could not get into this thing at all. The envolope presets rather than controls was a good idea by the developer, but that was about there wasn't too much else I liked about this, it's just not my thing. With some work this could really go somewhere but as of right now it's not going to be getting any use from me.

updated for vs 1.4 :

it got a very interesting sound, I love the dense pads,
the concept is pretty new as VST synth and I like the way you can design the sounds, the GUI is much better now.
It seems that AMD CPU optimization is still needed.
anyway a quick way to make a different sound.

I really can't understand those raving on it. This instrument is very plain, the sound quality is low, user interface is readible only thanks to its simplicity, but I don't like numerical parameters, even if they are easily changed by mouse. The wave shapes are boring. The filter is very basic and goes nasty when overdriven. Only several preset envelopes are available. Besides, it lacks character and I really cannot find anything special in it. These sounds are easily replicable in every other free VSTi. OK, it's nice Alex is giving it for free, but I refuse to keep it and clutter my system. Yawn!

This is a good looking, good sounding VSTI. The presets are good, although theres not many. Its capable of some great tones, and has a cool digital sound (theres enough analog emulating VSTIs), Im happy to see something a little different.

It can do some brite FM/ PPG wave sort of sounds. I did manage to program some good analog sounds including some funky bass. The modulation capabilities are really simple, not even an lfo. The only complaint I have is that I heard some very faint crackling in the upper octaves. I dont think it would show up in a mix, but I would have definitely given the sound quality a 10 without the noise. I like the color and GUI. Thanks for this nice freebie!

Such a great gift .
One thing though: when changing a preset - it delay a bit so it may be inapropriate to use with lots of program changes.
I like the choirs and the keyboard is nice !
Don't know if am wrong but it has a bit of a mellotronish sound, doesn't it?

What a great week! First, Triangle II, now GalactiX! First, the sound. It's certainly bucks the trend, with a decidedly "digital" feel. The vocal oscillators are a nice touch, and will be perfect for spacey pads. There aren't too many knobs, but I like the "preset" approach to the envelopes. This reminds me of my old Ensoniqs or the Yamaha TG-33. You lose a little control, but they essentially force you to "get the job done" and get on with making music. The whole thing is pretty self-explanatory to program, too. It's elegant in its simplicity. They get bonus point for the science-fiction theme, 'cause I'm a fan of the genre! Rene's presets appeal for the same reason (plus they are good!). Yes, CPU usage is a bit on the high side, but it never crashed. The only gripe I have is about the reverb. It's a nice touch, but I'm not nuts about the sound of it. It'll work in small quantities, but, heck, we have access to so many reverbs already, it's a non-issue, and IT"S FREE! I have no clue about the customer support, but they provided me with a free addition to my sonic arsenal, so points all around! Thanks, guys for making a good week even better!

I like this instrument a lot.

Really good sound.. very rich and full.. just hearing the sound, i would have thought it was hardware.. VERY warm.

its really easy to get a wonderful sound out of galactix..

i tend to use it for trance and ambient things..

comes with 11 different oscillator types, a cutoff and res filter, chorus knob, and a simple reverb (size and amount knobs)..

just AR - no DS in the envelope.. but it does come with different envelope types, which can vary the sound significantly.

i counted a max of 16 voices polphony

only big problem i can see is cpu usage (though im not really fond of the colors).. this thing can really hog the cpu.. especially with pads.

playing a simple 3 note chord with the magic strings preset (which btw sounds WONDERFUL) eats about 41% of my 650mhz cpu. ..melaren pad eats 60%..

however this synth is FREE, so i dont really consider it *that* big of an issue.

presets are wonderful, but only a handful to play with.. however the synth is easy to program..

If this synth gets another revision, i'd like to see the cpu utilization a bit better...

btw i gave tech support a 7.. just to be fair.. since i have never had to consult them... there should really be a n/a option on this form.