GX-80

The deal

$39 at JRR Shop (down from $69). No coupon needed.

What it is

The GX-80 is Cherry Audio''s circuit-modeled recreation of two mythical Yamaha instruments - the GX-1 "Dream Machine" (a room-sized organ synthesizer that sold for over $60,000 in the 1970s) and the CS-80, the polyphonic synth famously used by Vangelis on Blade Runner. Cherry Audio combined both architectures into a single plugin with dual-layer operation: 16 voices per layer, playable simultaneously as stacked timbres or in keyboard split mode. The modeling was done by Mark Barton, who is well regarded for accuracy in this space. You get the GX-1''s extended oscillator types (highpass pulse, bandpass sawtooth, octave-up triangle) alongside the CS-80''s distinctive filter character.

Who it''s for

Film composers and producers chasing that classic Vangelis or Herbie Hancock sound will find the GX-80 is the most direct path there outside of tracking down hardware that costs tens of thousands of dollars. It also works for anyone who wants rich, expressive polysynth textures - the aftertouch implementation is excellent.

Key features

• Dual-layer architecture with 16 polyphonic voices per layer
• Full recreation of both GX-1 and CS-80 filter designs in a single instrument
• Polyphonic and monophonic aftertouch support
• Ships with over 1,000 presets designed by industry veterans