SX1000
Vintage Analogue Synth
Analog Synthetone
SX1000 is a faithful emulation of the JEN SX1000, a vintage Italian synth released in 1978.
The SX1000 was one of the earliest affordable analog synthesizers, designed for musicians seeking hands-on control without breaking the bank.
We have carefully emulated the SX1000’s M110 chip, and also expanded its capabilities by adding features like polyphonic mode, a sub-oscillator (down to -3 octaves), and additional controls for legato modes.
We’ve also integrated an arpeggiator borrowed from a vintage classic polysynth and enhanced the sonic possibilities with four effects featuring flexible routing.
SX1000 is available for macOS, Windows, and Linux (VST, VST3, AU, AAX, CLAP, Standalone).
It’s also available on the App Store for iOS and iPadOS (AUv3 and Standalone).
JEN SX1000 Synthetone
The JEN SX1000 Synthetone is an analog monophonic synthesizer introduced in 1978 by the Italian company JEN Elettronica S.r.l.
It holds the distinction of being one of the first affordable synthesizers widely available in Europe, making analog synthesis accessible to a broader range of musicians during a time when such technology was often prohibitively expensive.
At the core it’s a monophonic synth with a single oscillator capable of sawtooth, square, and pulse waveforms, complemented by a noise generator with white and pink sources. We have expaneded it with a full polyphonic mode, sub-oscillator (up to -3 octaves), additional controls for legato modes, velocity, and more.
The filter section features a 24dB/octave resonant low-pass filter, with a very distint and organic sound and with classic self-oscillation. It includes basic modulation capabilities: an LFO for vibrato, tremolo, or filter modulation, which we expanded with additional waveforms and sync mode.
It also features two ADSR envelopes for controlling the volume and the filter.
Sub-Oscillator Mod
The SX1000 was notably easy to modify. In fact, we modded ours nearly 20 years ago by adding a sub-oscillator using a simple flip-flop circuit. The principle is the same as in the divide-down organs. Since the original version had only one oscillator, this mod was essential for adding more sonic possibilities.
What Noise?
We’ve fully emulated the infamous MM5837 digital noise source (white/pink noise), also found in other classic analog synths like the Sequential Prophet 5, Korg MonoPoly, and Oberheim OB-X. However, you can choose to disable it, as this chip has a very short 17-bit LFSR (Linear Feedback Shift Register), which means the noise it produces repeats every few seconds. This repetition is audible and has been described as sounding like a steam train puffing, rather than smooth white noise.
Arpeggio
The SX1000 did not feature an arpeggiator so we decided to borrow and expand an iconic arpeggiator by a classic analog poly-synth: the Roland Juno 60.
It features:
- up, up & down, down, random mode
- 4 octave range
- adjustable rate and sync
- hold/latch mode
- note order (pitch, key pressed)
- chord mode
Effects
The SX1000 includes a set of four high-quality effects, inspired by classic gear and designed to complement the synth’s character.
The effects section features:
- Tape Echo, based on our Space Echo emulation Outer Space
- Spring Reverb, adding classic vintage reverb
- Wave Folder, for rich harmonic distortion inspired by the legendary Serge Wave Multipliers
- Flanger, BBD based, capable of everything from subtle modulation to swirling textures
You can rearrange the effects in any order using drag and drop.
Comparison
Here’s a couple of quick jams switching between the original JEN SX1000 and our plugin emulation.
We spent months matching every knob and parameter to capture the vintage vibe down to the tiniest detail.
SX1000 Demo
Try SX1000 for free with some limitations: silence for 3 seconds every 45 seconds, saving disabled.
If you like it, you can purchase a license and then authorize the demo version.
macOS
Requires macOS 10.13 or higher
AU, VST2, VST3, AAX, CLAP, Standalone
(64bit only)
Windows
Requires Windows 7 or higher
VST2, VST3, AAX, CLAP, Standalone
(64bit only)
Linux
Requires Ubuntu 20.04 or newer
VST2, VST3, CLAP, Standalone
(64bit only)
Specifications
- 1 Osc (saw, square, pulse)
- Suboscillator (up to -3 octaves)
- 1 LFO (vibrato, filter, PWM)
- 2 envelopes (volume, filter)
- 24 dB/oct resonant filter
- Oversampling
- 4 Effects (echo, spring reverb, wave folder, flanger)
- Arpeggiator
- Resizable Window
- Brightness and Contrast Controls
- Preset system with randomizer
System Requirements
Windows 7 – 11
2GHz CPU, 4 GB RAM
VST2, VST3, AAX, CLAP, Standalone (64-bit)
macOS 10.13 – macOS 15
2GHz CPU, 4 GB RAM
VST2, VST3, AU, AAX, CLAP, Standalone (64-bit)
Universal 2 Binary
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
2GHz CPU, 4 GB RAM
VST2, VST3, CLAP, Standalone (64-bit)
Copy Protection
To activate your plugin you can choose between Online and Offline authorization.
Create an account, log in through the plugin to activate, or download your license file for offline activation.
Activation
1 license up to 3 computers
No iLok
No dongles, no cloud
No Internet
No connection required to activate
Changelog
2025/01/31: v1.0
- Release!