Native Instruments has unveiled Absynth 6, marking the return of a legendary semi-modular synthesizer built for creating textures and soundscapes that evolve and breathe, adding new, otherworldly dimensions to your sound.
Developed in partnership with Absynth creator Brian Clevinger, Absynth 6 adds an AI-powered browsing experience and modern compatibility.
Absynth’s signature suite of effects and groundbreaking hybrid engine combine granular, FM, wavetable, and subtractive synthesis for sounds that go beyond patches to create entire soundscapes.
The semi-modular powerhouse, overhauled for a new generation of musicians, features full MPE polyphonic aftertouch, surround support and an AI-powered browser.
“Our very first product – nearly 30 years ago – was a synth”, says Simon Cross, Chief Product and Technical Officer at Native Instruments. “Returning to Absynth brings us back to the heart of what inspires us. It remains one of the most singular instruments in electronic music, and we always knew its revival could only come with the involvement of Brian Clevinger himself.”
“When I originally created Absynth,” says Brian Clevinger, “I wanted an instrument that invited people to lose themselves in sound. Seeing it evolve into Absynth 6 has been genuinely moving. It still has that strange, alive quality, only now with the range and precision to inspire a new generation of explorers.”
Absynth 6 represents an evolution for one of the best loved soft synths of all time, one that enabled a generation of producers and composers to create never before heard sounds across ambient and dance music, and scores for film, television and videogames.
Reflecting this heritage, Absynth 6 launches with a suite of presets, created by musicians that best embody this restless creativity; Brian Eno and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith at launch, with more to be added in future updates.
Absynth 6 Key features:
- Hybrid semi-modular engine combines subtractive, FM, sample-based, and granular methods.
- Living modulation: Sculpt textures that breathe and transform with the hyper-detailed 68-point envelope generator.
- Inspiring mutations: The classic Mutator offers intelligent preset generation with depth and randomness controls for instant inspiration.
- Modern expressiveness: Full MPE and polyphonic aftertouch support enables nuanced, per-note performances.
- Surround sound and microtuning: Absynth 6 features true multichannel surround spatialization and MTS-ESP support for global microtuning and new harmonic systems.
- Preset Explorer: The preset library is arranged into an intuitive visual map so musicians can browse sounds by timbral quality, or as a classic browser.
- Spatially bend Absynth’s unique suite of creative effects like Aetherizer and Cloud Filter with per-effect surround control.
- Legacy patches and presets: Explore vintage patches all the way back to Absynth 1, and load your own presets from Absynth 4 and 5.
- New artist presets: From Brian Eno, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Richard Devine.
Absynth Preset Explorer. The new Absynth Preset Explorer reflects Native Instruments’ evolving approach to AI: reduce friction, keep artists in control, and encourage exploration over automation.
A deep-learning model analyses the timbral traits of every preset, arranging the library into an intuitive visual map so musicians can browse by feel rather than scroll through linear lists. Simple filters let users shape their own aesthetic path, while the system handles the heavy analysis behind the scenes.
“AI should widen the creative field, not collapse it,” says Andy Sarroff, Head of Applied AI at Native Instruments. “The Preset Explorer listens closely, then gives that insight back to the musician in a way that sparks discovery. It’s a guide, not a substitute for craft.”
Weird by Design. The Preset Explorer has also informed the visual campaign for Absynth 6, created in collaboration with digital artists Weirdcore, known for his live visuals for Aphex Twin, Radiohead, Charli XCX and Oneohtrix Point Never; and radical post-internet designer Swarmm.
Taking inspiration from the AI-powered matrix of the preset explorer, as well as Absynth’s reputation for world building, the hero video transports us to a liminal urban geography, intervened by sweeping glyphs and gaussian-splat renders, conjuring a hidden world of creativity beyond the surface of the ordinary.
Weirdcore will continue to bring Absynth 6’s Weird by Design philosophy to life with the rolling-release of specially commissioned ‘visualizer artworks’, based on original Absynth 6 compositions from a host of renowned DJ’s and producers. Each original track will be paired with custom visuals, with an original track by multi-hyphenate Australian polymath HAAi, with more artists to be added in the weeks to come.
The release of Absynth 6 represents a continuation of a legacy and a passing of the baton, presenting new possibilities of sound creation, and opening the field to a generation of producers, unafraid to explore, and ready to make their mark on the future.
Pricing and availability:
Native Instruments’ Absynth 6 is available now via the Native Instruments online store. For new users of Absynth, Absynth 6 costs MSRP: $199 – €199 – £ 179. Absynth v. 2-5 owners can upgrade to Absynth 6 for $99 / €99.
For more information, get all the details at www.native-instruments.com.
Finally something interesting from Native Instruments
Hell yes! This is the best Native Instruments news in years.
Great update- this and Komplete Kontrol 3.x – NI are back on form.
Good stuff NI going back to do what people actually want and collaborate with Brian. Good first step, lets see if they keep up.
Awesome!
Nice. I can do without the Richard Devine presets though..
who is Richard Devine and who uses presets?
Richard Devine is allegedly a “sound designer” (in)famous for making most cr^ppy and unusable presets for synth plugins. Pure form of utter pretensionalism.
people who make music, not sounds!
Media composers on a deadline
Oh my god, someone beat me to the punch. To put Richard and Brian in the same sentence is……interesting. I appreciate his technical prowess and his output across multiple platforms of what must be 50 “sounds”/day given that his presets infest just about every synth and effect plugin, but I find that I now completely ignore Devine’s presets unless I am amusing myself, finding them to be unmusical unless you are interested in glitch or chaotic noise, in that case he is a savant. And he is everywhere, Eventide, Arturia, NI, UVI, AAS, Madrona….must be a nice job if you can get it. Now Brian’s presets, that is worth a look! I’ll stick with my own presets.
Absynth 6 has arrived. Yes, I’m older, and I’ve been making music for a very long time. Back in the mid-90s, the first VST instruments were just being born, and Absynth was one of them. But even before that, Native Instruments released an FM synthesizer that was supposed to be a DX7. I owned a real DX7 at the time, and honestly, their version sounded nothing like it. People called it a sensation, but I kept asking myself: how can you claim this virtual FM synth sounds like my actual DX7 sitting right here?
My real DX7 sounded like flesh and blood — rich, alive, warm. The NI version sounded like instant coffee. Meanwhile, the real DX7 was like freshly ground espresso from a proper Italian machine: fresh, fragrant, full of character.
And then there was Absynth. To me, it always sounded like a giant cloud — undefined, floating, and I had no idea how anyone was supposed to write a hit with it. I simply couldn’t connect with it. Eventually Absynth kind of disappeared into the universe, and nobody really missed it.
And suddenly boom — today it returns at light speed. Out of nowhere. Absynth, the “great pope” of its era, the big blurry cloud nobody ever fully understood, is attempting a comeback. Interesting. We’ll see how it goes this time, and especially how close it is to the original. Personally, I never missed it — and I doubt I’ll miss it in the future.
The same goes for NI’s attempt at a DX7. Yes, it still exists today, with effects and filters and all kinds of extras. But it still doesn’t sound like a DX7. Many manufacturers have learned how hard it is to truly recreate that sound. They all get close, but it’s always like instant coffee compared to the real thing.
Are any demos available for the Eno sounds?
I’m not an Absynth user (it’s always struck me as a little dauntingly complex). But maybe it’s time to reconsider.
Much more than I have expected for update price 🙁
$99 is a little bit too rich for me….
BTW; How come Arturia can provide free updates for their rather excellent Pigments and NI can’t…
to be fair only pigments got free updates all their 800 other plugin updates are paid
As long as Brian is getting a cut of the upgrade price – I’m supportive – I took a look at Absynth 6, and the spirit of the original is older but intact!
Annoying that this title used to be part of Komplete, then NI abandoned it, and now a few years later they relaunch it but you have to buy it separately if you want it before next fall when the next Komplete will be released.
I think what doesn’t sit well is that Absynth used to be part of Komplete, and now it’s sold separately for the next year until the next Komplete bundle comes out. So I paid for Komplete (and multiple upgrades), they dropped this title from it for 3 years, and now they charge separately for this title.
I agree that if you used to own Absynth basically since the beginning, it doesn’t make any logical sense to have to pay for it. I’m curious but not 100 bucks curious. Hard pass for me.