KVR Audio

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Mon Jul 27, 2026 1:49 am

So I'm on Facebook and recently joined Free VST Plugins because there was something I wanted to respond to that was in my feed. Guy was looking for a free plugin to do something. Don't remember what but I know I helped him with it.

Anyway, so now I'm getting all these Free VST Plugin group feeds. In fact, I am being inundated with them. Well, one of them had the headline...

"The Free Serum After You Get It You Can't Use It"

I was curious. So I checked it out. It was Vaporizer 2. Now I had the original but it stopped working at some point because of all my updates. So I downloaded version 2 and fired it up.

How do they give something like this away for free? I mean have you seen this thing? For a paid synth it would be amazing. But free?

My best purchase of the year.

So what do you guys think of Vaporizer 2?

TechHaus · Post by **TechHaus** » Mon Jul 27, 2026 2:31 am

Facebook really is like catnip to boomers.

Korg Supporter · Post by **Korg Supporter** » Mon Jul 27, 2026 2:44 am

wagtunes wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2026 1:49 am So I'm on Facebook and recently joined Free VST Plugins because there was something I wanted to respond to that was in my feed. Guy was looking for a free plugin to do something. Don't remember what but I know I helped him with it.

Anyway, so now I'm getting all these Free VST Plugin group feeds. In fact, I am being inundated with them. Well, one of them had the headline...

"The Free Serum After You Get It You Can't Use It"

I was curious. So I checked it out. It was Vaporizer 2. Now I had the original but it stopped working at some point because of all my updates. So I downloaded version 2 and fired it up.

How do they give something like this away for free? I mean have you seen this thing? For a paid synth it would be amazing. But free?

My best purchase of the year.

So what do you guys think of Vaporizer 2?

There was a One Synth Challenge that involved it viewtopic.php?t=604469

My biggest gripe with it is that it doesn't have ring modulation between oscillators. I think Vital can still do a lot of things it can't. But both are good.

starflakeprj · Post by **starflakeprj** » Mon Jul 27, 2026 8:03 am

wagtunes wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2026 1:49 am How do they give something like this away for free? I mean have you seen this thing? For a paid synth it would be amazing. But free?

I guess the developer felt the competition among wavetable synths and decided they had better things to do, so they stopped active development and "unleashed" it (their own word) as open source. I don't think it sold as well as it deserved to, to be honest. Serum and Vital got most of the spotlight, and then we have ANA 2, Avenger 2, RAPID, Icarus 3, and Sektor as well . The latter also seems to have stalled in development (not released as open source, but sold very cheap onec in a while), even though I really liked it. And then there are obviously many more wavetable synths that deserves more attention than they get.

I remember liking Vaporizer (I upgraded to version 2 not too long before they released it as open source), but while it sounded great, it wasn't quite as polished as the "big guns".

It doesn't look like it's getting much active development these days, even as an open-source project. Surge XT has had way more success in that regard.

Thanks for the reminder though! I think I'll download it again and give it another spin.

Teksonik · Post by **Teksonik** » Mon Jul 27, 2026 2:49 pm

TechHaus wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2026 2:31 am Facebook really is like catnip to boomers.

TikTok is like heroin to Gen Z and Gen Alpha.

Anyway here's the download page:

https://www.vast-dynamics.com/?q=products

I have had it installed for a while but never spent much time with Vaporizer 2.

Teksonik · Post by **Teksonik** » Mon Jul 27, 2026 2:54 pm

starflakeprj wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2026 8:03 am It doesn't look like it's getting much active development these days, even as an open-source project. Surge XT has had way more success in that regard.

Maybe it would be a good project for the Surge XT team?

pinbot · Post by **pinbot** » Mon Jul 27, 2026 2:57 pm

Teksonik wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2026 2:54 pm
starflakeprj wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2026 8:03 am It doesn't look like it's getting much active development these days, even as an open-source project. Surge XT has had way more success in that regard.
Maybe it would be a good project for the Surge XT team?

Totally agree with you guys on this.

Teksonik · Post by **Teksonik** » Mon Jul 27, 2026 3:28 pm

I just had a quick play with Vaporizer 2 again and yes it would be awesome if the Surge Team would take over this open source project. It does sound very good. It's a shame that it didn't become more popular. Was the price tag too high or ? I don't remember.

There really isn't anything it needs, just maintenance to assure it keeps working would be great. I tend to stay away from using abandoned plugins in projects these days.

The GUI is a bit crowed and hard for these old eyes to see clearly but I imagine an entire new GUI would be a pretty large undertaking.

Examigan · Post by **Examigan** » Mon Jul 27, 2026 3:38 pm

Teksonik wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2026 3:28 pm IWas the price tag too high or ? I don't remember.

Only $40 according to Music Radar
https://www.musicradar.com/news/vast-dy ... aporizer-2

TechHaus · Post by **TechHaus** » Mon Jul 27, 2026 3:43 pm

Arch linux users probably already know this, but it is in the Arch repository in all formats. Have had it installed for years via this method.

Andreya_Autumn · Post by **Andreya_Autumn** » Mon Jul 27, 2026 5:15 pm

pinbot wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2026 2:57 pm
Teksonik wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2026 2:54 pm
starflakeprj wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2026 8:03 am It doesn't look like it's getting much active development these days, even as an open-source project. Surge XT has had way more success in that regard.
Maybe it would be a good project for the Surge XT team?
Totally agree with you guys on this.

Appreciate the thought, and if some aspiring dev wants to work on that and benefit from our infrastructure etc etc, they should feel free to reach out!

The current Surge Team is not gonna take that initiative though. We're kinda busy with a couple other projects...

Teksonik · Post by **Teksonik** » Mon Jul 27, 2026 5:51 pm

Examigan wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2026 3:38 pm
Teksonik wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2026 3:28 pm IWas the price tag too high or ? I don't remember.
Only $40 according to Music Radar
https://www.musicradar.com/news/vast-dy ... aporizer-2

So I wonder why it wasn't more popular. $40 would be pretty much no brainer territory even back in 2019.

Teksonik · Post by **Teksonik** » Mon Jul 27, 2026 5:55 pm

Andreya_Autumn wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2026 5:15 pm The current Surge Team is not gonna take that initiative though. We're kinda busy with a couple other projects...

No one said do it right now. I don't think Vaporizer 2 is going anywhere any time soon.

Something to keep in mind when your other projects are finished. I'd say it deserves to be resurrected as much if not more than Surge XT.

Vaporizer 2...WTF????