Synapse Audio Proxima – Hybrid Synth with MPE for $29.99

Synapse Audio made its name with the DUNE series, synths that sound designers reach for when a patch has to be both huge and musical. Proxima is the company’s newer direction: a hybrid synthesizer that pairs analog-modelled oscillators with a full wavetable engine and wraps both in a deep modulation architecture, with MPE support for players who perform expression rather than program it. It is aimed at tonal depth and playability first — lush cinematic pads, cutting leads, arpeggiated textures and experimental design from one instrument.

Two Oscillator Philosophies, One Voice

The hybrid architecture is the instrument’s identity. Analog-modelled oscillators supply warmth, harmonic richness and the subtle instability that makes a synth sound alive; the wavetable engine extends the palette into crystalline, spectral and evolving territory, with smooth scanning and user wavetable import for timbres that are entirely your own. Neither engine is a garnish on the other — the palette runs continuously from organic analog to digital complexity, which is why Proxima patches sit in a mix with a character that pure emulations and pure wavetable synths both struggle to match. The multi-mode filter is analog-modelled with low-pass, high-pass, band-pass and notch modes plus adjustable drive and saturation, so the filter can be a scalpel or a distortion unit depending on the patch.

Modulation Without Limits

A deep modulation matrix with multiple LFOs, envelopes and sources assignable to virtually any parameter turns Proxima into a sound-design environment rather than a preset player. The arpeggiator and step sequencer add per-step parameter control and polyrhythmic capability, so sequences evolve instead of looping politely. Unison mode with configurable voice spread and a built-in chorus handles width, and the effects suite — reverb, delay, phaser, chorus, distortion — finishes patches inside the instrument. Full MPE support gives per-note pitch, pressure and slide on compatible controllers, which is where Proxima’s playability-first design pays off for expressive performers.

Where It Fits

Electronic producers building complex evolving pads and atmospheric layers. Cinematic scorers who need synth performances with emotional weight. Sound designers who want a deep matrix and hybrid oscillators in a single, coherent instrument. Pop and EDM producers after modern synth sounds with professional mix presence. It runs as VST3, AU and AAX on macOS 10.13+ and Windows 10+, in Logic Pro, Ableton Live, Pro Tools, Cubase, FL Studio and every other major DAW.

Proxima also rewards players differently from most modern synths. The unison system, with its configurable voice spread, and the built-in chorus give instant width to pads and supersaw-style stacks, while the sequencer’s per-step parameter control means a held chord can carry its own internal movement — filter steps, pitch steps, rhythmic variation — without host automation doing the work. That makes patches feel performed rather than looped. Combined with the MPE support, the instrument suits producers who play their parts in as much as those who draw them, which is a rarer balance than it should be. The effects suite completes the picture: patches arrive mix-ready instead of needing a finishing chain before they can be judged.

The Deal

A modern hybrid flagship from the DUNE lineage for $29.99. Synths with this combination — analog modelling, user wavetables, a deep matrix, sequencing and MPE — normally sit in the price tier where you audition demos for a week before committing. At this price the audition is the purchase. Instant delivery, and your next pad, lead or sequence starts from an instrument with a genuine voice of its own.

Delivery is instant on both Mac and Windows, and the first session is the audition: load it, play the wavetables against the analog oscillators, and the instrument makes its own argument within about four bars.