KVR Audio

ultra_audio · Post by **ultra_audio** » Wed Jan 21, 2026 4:43 pm

Today, Ultra.Audio is pleased to announce the launch of our flagship synth ULTRA

Ultra features a new type of oscillator that we call UltraWave - which is like a cross between a sampler and a wavetable. It's based on an idea I had over a decade ago.

I'm a person who likes visualise audio. You may have seen my Cymatics video on YouTube. I've always enjoyed looking at waveforms, and thinking of ways to synthesise and recreate them. UltraWave extends wavetable synthesis with pitch, stereo and multi-sampling. The video above does a good job of explaining the basics.

I tried to find someone to build this as a plugin. I did know how to code, but only basic websites. I couldn't get anyone interested, so I built a prototype of the algorithm in HTML. This was very slow but it actually worked!

Eventually I found a couple of fellow Kiwi musicians, and we started the project. Learning C++ was sort of fun and sort of a nightmare. I'd like to shout out KVR developer forum which has always been a good source of knowledge.

Eventually we had to learn all sorts of coding disciplines, from Reverb design to 3d graphics. This took longer than expected... I first posted a picture of the app in 2018 (!). But, finally we are here.

We have tried to make everything as easy to use as possible, and have included a bunch of animated screens that show you the levels of your modulations etc.

The synth includes free lifetime updates. We have a lot of new features in development which we can't wait for you to see - new Oscillator types, new FX and a few surprises.

We are building out the factory patch library, and will be adding patches continually. These are included at no cost and will sync and download as they are added.

If you're interested, you can download a free trial where every feature works, except for saving.

We're excited for the launch and can't wait to see what kind of music you create with it.

There's lots more to say but I will leave it at that to start with.
Let me know if you have any questions or feedback. Thanks!

Nigel Stanford

ultra_audio · Post by **ultra_audio** » Wed Jan 21, 2026 4:51 pm

I realise there was an earlier thread about Ultra, where someone found the pre-release version... I'd like to move discussion to this thread, as the previous one mistakenly thought the synth was released a few years ago and that it had not been noticed!

It was also saying Ultra is similar to Vital. Vital is great, but not really much of an influence, beyond having GPU accelerated screens.

Amberience · Post by **Amberience** » Wed Jan 21, 2026 5:38 pm

Congrats on the release. It looks very interesting!

ultra_audio · Post by **ultra_audio** » Wed Jan 21, 2026 5:54 pm

Amberience wrote: Wed Jan 21, 2026 5:38 pm Congrats on the release. It looks very interesting!

Thank you! I didn't expect it to take 7 years

vanerio · Post by **vanerio** » Wed Jan 21, 2026 6:06 pm

Congrats and thank you for your generosity!!!

Lifetime free updates

Examigan · Post by **Examigan** » Wed Jan 21, 2026 6:09 pm

I watched the video and it looks impressive. Nice job!

Examigan · Post by **Examigan** » Wed Jan 21, 2026 6:42 pm

ultra_audio wrote: Wed Jan 21, 2026 4:43 pm If you're interested, you can download a free trial where every feature works, except for saving.

That link didn’t work for me.

This does. https://ultra.audio/

I will check it out later today, thanks!

DrOcsid · Post by **DrOcsid** » Wed Jan 21, 2026 7:12 pm

I'm certainly pretty interested in the look of this. I haven't tried a synth before with this type of integrated online patch store. I figure you can still share your patch files outside of the internal plugin ecosystem as normal like other synth plugins, right?

4_the masses · Post by **4_the masses** » Wed Jan 21, 2026 7:17 pm

[/quote]
If you're interested, you can download a free trial where every feature works, except for saving.

[/quote]

Takes you to a blank page ??

ultra_audio · Post by **ultra_audio** » Wed Jan 21, 2026 7:34 pm

4_the masses wrote: Wed Jan 21, 2026 7:17 pm Takes you to a blank page ??

Gah... sorry, have fixed the links.

Teksonik · Post by **Teksonik** » Wed Jan 21, 2026 8:10 pm

Dude I freaking hate you. The last thing I need to do now is buy another synth....

But seriously, Ultra is an absolutely gorgeous sounding synth, it just speaks to me.

The best compliment I can give Ultra is that I'm going to install the demo on my studio system which is something I rarely do.

I do have a few questions so far. A tutorial on the Sample engine would be welcome here. Loading the Sampler engine and then one of the factory samples it seems like a single sample stretched or does it have full multi-sampling capabilities?

Is there Unison for the Analog engine? I'm not seeing it so far but then my eyes suck.
Do extra sound banks also come with sample content or are they only presets?
How much more sample content is included with the full version as compared to the demo?

Puduku · Post by **Puduku** » Wed Jan 21, 2026 8:11 pm

Looks incredibly promising. A new challenger that will probably play with the big boys.

Examigan · Post by **Examigan** » Wed Jan 21, 2026 8:39 pm

I just installed it and noticed it doesn't ask where to install it... I am guessing it just goes to the default location for VST3?

Also, this isn't big deal for me, but wanted to mention I noticed in the agreement it can only be activated on one computer at a time. Some other developers allow installing on 2 or 3, as long as they are all owned by that same person who bought the software.

When you open the software and sign in, is that a one time deal for the activation?

Is it 30 mins for each session for the demo, or just 30 mins and that's it?

ultra_audio · Post by **ultra_audio** » Wed Jan 21, 2026 8:42 pm

Teksonik wrote: Wed Jan 21, 2026 8:10 pm A tutorial on the Sample engine would be welcome here. Loading the Sampler engine and then one of the factory samples it seems like a single sample stretched or does it have full multi-sampling capabilities?

Is there Unison for the Analog engine? I'm not seeing it so far but then my eyes suck.
Do extra sound banks also come with sample content or are they only presets?
How much more sample content is included with the full version as compared to the demo?

I am working on a full walkthrough video, which will go over the sampler features as well as everything else. That's a huge amount of work! Will take few days.

Sampler does not time stretch. It is not a multi sampler either. That will be a new Osc type, and a free update at some point.

Analog osc does not have unison but you can detune each of them on the left and right which would sound like 6 oscs. Right click the cents, and adjust the stereo width to do that.

If you want more, the super osc uses the same waveforms and gives you 21 unison voices. You can then make a patch with 64 saws if you add in the sub osc. But that would be madness...

If patches contain samples, they are included and will download and be available in the sample library.

The factory library is the same as the demo. There is not a lot of sample content at the moment.
We realise that we need more patches and samples, we are working on new factory sounds, which will sync and download as we add them. You'd find them in the library if you sort by date.

ultra_audio · Post by **ultra_audio** » Wed Jan 21, 2026 8:43 pm

Examigan wrote: Wed Jan 21, 2026 8:39 pm I just installed it and noticed it doesn't ask where to install it... I am guessing it just goes to the default location for VST3?

Also, this isn't big deal for me, but wanted to mention I noticed in the agreement it can only be activated on one computer at a time. Some other developers allow installing on 2 or 3, as long as they are all owned by that same person who bought the software.

When you open the software and sign in, is that a one time deal for the activation?

Is it 30 mins for each session for the demo, or just 30 mins and that's it?

Yes it's in the default VST location.

You can install on as many computers as you like, the only limit is that only once can be signed in at any one time. It's pretty quick to do, especially if you connect with google or facebook.

Announcing the launch of ULTRA