Native Instruments Intros Retro-Inspired SUPER 8

Native Instruments has introduced SUPER 8, a new polyphonic virtual instrument that’s designed to make it easy to get ‘the classic warm, rich tones of vintage synths’.

Key Features:

  • Modern take on vintage polysynth sounds in an eight-voice instrument
  • 350+ presets
  • Easy-to-use interface

Here’s what they have to say about it:

SUPER 8 makes it easy to tweak your sound through a clean, next-generation interface. Use simple sliders to blend up to four waveforms for each of the two oscillators. Mix the oscillators, sync them, and fold in FM oscillation for a digital edge. Apply low-pass, band-pass, or high-pass filtering, then use ASDR sliders to make quick changes to filter and amplifier envelopes.

Add motion to your patches by diving into the interface’s modulation section. Choose one or more mod waveforms, then dial in speed and phase. For maximum creative flexibility, use mod routing to map almost any source to any destination.

Need something fast? Get started right away with any of the 350+ presets – from rich analog strings and ethereal pads to deep basses, biting leads, electronic percussion, and unusual effects. Patches were inspired by legendary synths from Roland, Sequential Circuits, and others. But SUPER 8 has a character all its own. Modern presets give you combinations of oscillators, filters, and modulation settings that wouldn’t have been possible on original hardware.

Explore the full range of SUPER 8’s creative possibilities with your MIDI controller. Drive the SUPER 8 pitch wheel, mod wheel, and touch strip controls from your hardware to produce expressive leads, shifting soundscapes, and evolving textures. You can set parameters directly from the interface’s front page – or take advantage of automatic parameter mapping using a KOMPLETE KONTROL keyboard. With SUPER 8’s flexible mod routing, you can adjust pitch, modulation, filtering, keytracking, and more – all in real time.

Pricing and Availability:

SUPER 8 runs in Reaktor 6 or the free Reaktor 6 Player and is available now for US $69.

20 thoughts on “Native Instruments Intros Retro-Inspired SUPER 8

  1. Award of the ugliest GUI of the year. Welcome back to the mid 90’s where the VST technology had just been invented by Steinberg…

    1. I think the GUI looks great. As a beginner, it make me wanna dive in and try it. Unlike the intimidating, confusing mess of many other similar synths which really do have clunky outdated GUIs.

  2. I have an awful lot of subtractive synths. It’s kind of hard for me to tell what new or different thing this would bring to the table. Those sounds seem ok.

  3. Selling point: newer users may not have the fullest compliment of basics just yet and this synth clearly has some fundamental muscle. Its a plus to see animated windows for modulation, a bit like Arturia’s Pigment. That’s a helpful learning tool, but also a quick reference point. Its certainly no mini-Serum, but at $69, its not a bad workhorse at all. To me, it has a nice flavor that can cover a lot of Juno-like areas well. Its not a go-to for major modular sounds, but it seems like a good bet for beefing things up in a secondary layer.

    1. But doesn’t it seem that there are lots of available synths that provide basics? Recently, Surge (free), but even from NI, AAS, and many others.

      I wonder how snappy the modulation scan rates are, and how hard it hits your CPU. Some Reaktor based things can be pretty CPU intense.

  4. Doubt if it will sell much. Smart move would be to make things like this free for owners of the full version of Reaktor to drive sales. But I don’t see a lot of people paying $69 for it.

  5. Sounds OK. PsychicModulation’s Phonec2 has a nicer interface and a more genuine sound from what I can hear. $70 goes a decent way toward the purchase of a used Korg DW-8000. The real deal if these are the types of sounds you want to create.

  6. Stub is right enough about the basics, although the Juno-love remains high. I’m way past needing this myself, but I also remember buying some stank synths before I learned more. SURGE is a good mention; gotta walk before you can run. * I owned a pair of DW8000s at one time for that great sweet spot they hit, but I’d strictly leave one at home these days. Touring with an 80s synth is like taking your granny to Burning Man: survival is possible, but not assured, either.

    1. LOL at that analogy…Nice one on Surge – one of my favorite VSTi’s. And totally agree – my DW8K doesn’t leave the studio. If something happened to it I’d be very sad.

      1. Hello DW 8000 fans. I have one of them, but compared to my JX8P or my SQ80 I don’t like it all that much. I even have the BCR2000 hooked up to it to get the most out of it. Can you point me to some music you did featuring the DW 8000? If I do get rid of it, I would like to swap it out for a Novation Peak or something like that.

  7. I’ve actually really enjoyed Super 8 for its extremely well thought out information design and sound. It has an extremely useable interface that a clear visual hierarchy that emphasizes the most used tools. making it extremely fast to design new sounds and to audit patches. The workflow makes it enjoyable and the sounds are fantastic.

  8. Love the look. Sounds great. Easy to program. I have no need for another soft VA but were I just starting… easy 69 bucks imo.

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