92 KVR members have added Actuate to 61 MyKVR groups 120 times.
Download KVR Studio Manager (FREE)
Actuate is a subtractive synthesizer, Additive Synthesizer, sampler, and granulizer made in Rust with Nih-Plug and Egui.
Actuate follows a philosophy of "limited but creative options" for making sounds.
Features:
SkewSaw - A Saw with the rise skewed in one direction.
Bent Saw - A Saw wave with an incomplete bend starting another saw in the middle.
Step Saw - Looks like a staircase.
ScSaw - An 'S' shaped Saw with a Cubic for the curve.
AsymSaw - An asymmetrical saw shape.
A4I: Averaged 4 Pole Integrator.
A4II: Averaged 4 Pole Integrator II.
A4III: A4II with saturation changes.
A4IV: Averaged filter idea.
PRESETS!
Actuate will look for presets and banks here, where user is your username on your system:
Linux: /home/user/Documents/ActuateDB/
macOS: /Users/user/Documents/ActuateDB/
Windows: C:\Users\user\Documents\ActuateDB\.
This means the default bank is at:
Linux: /home/user/Documents/ActuateDB/Default/
macOS: /Users/user/Documents/ActuateDB/Default/
Windows: C:\Users\user\Documents\ActuateDB\Default\.
See the downloads page on KVR for preset packs!
Really neat synth, however this synth does feature some quirks that make it less reliable then I think it could be. First, the synth seems to be out of tune by default by about one and a half semitones, requiring the user to manually tune the oscillators individually. The next is the ADSR's release times in my opinion should be able to go much longer then they can. They are too short for creating certain sounds. The last quirk has to do with the filter ADSRs. The ADSR will retrigger for all of the notes when a new note is pressed, as opposed to only retriggering for the note that is pressed, and the release seems to only happen when the next note is pressed. (Let me know if any of this is user error).
I do really like this synths rather intuitive workflow and clean UI. While it does have some strange quirks I still think that this synth is fun and powerful.
Response from Ardura from Ardura on August 12th, 2024
Thanks for trying it out! I agree with all your points actually and I'll see if I can work them into the next update.
Also the out-of-tune stuff sounds like Actuate isn't adjusting to your sample rate? I'll see if I can fix that too, thanks again.
This is a simple-yet-powerful synth and that becomes even more evident when we consider it's still a WIP/alpha software. I really enjoyed how it sounds and its modulation section reminded me a little bit of Odin2, which is another synth with deep capabilities and a straight-forward interface. I think that in the near future Actuate can become a reference FOSS synth alongside not just Odin2, but TAL NoiseMaker and Helm as well.
to the dev: could you remove the "AnyOS" designation from the product entry? products with that designation cannot be added to "My KVR" (for some reason), which means I won't get automatic update notifications when you post them.
Hope this helps,
b.
Done, thanks! :).
?.
So far very good in features and soundquality !!.
Would it be possible to add a MSEG (MultiStage Envelope) and one Wavetable Oszilator where the MSEG could scan through the wavetable.
Maybe less tabs (for faster handling).
Perhaps a bit work on the reverb with long times (removing metallic chattering).
Hi MorpherX! Thank you for the comments.
MSEG stuff sounds interesting but I'm not sure how I would do that yet but it sounds possible...
Yeah I've had a few comments about the design so far and think it will change as time goes on to be easier :).
Also yes! Right now you can reduce decay to remove the metallic sound, but I plan to make more reverb modes in future. Good ideas thanks ?.
THIS POST HAS BEEN REMOVED
THIS POST HAS BEEN REMOVED
Please log in to join the discussion
Submit: News, Plugins, Hosts & Apps | Advertise @ KVR | Developer Account | About KVR / Contact Us | Privacy Statement | Sell @ KVR | KVR Marketplace Terms & Conditions
© KVR Audio, Inc. 2000-2026
