Yup, guys)
Guy who is now a Bitwig Studio developer, released his old, but very fat sounding synth for free and open-sourced. Supports VST3 x64, as well as macOS, Linux
Upgraded to 1.6.0 (31 May 2019)
It has a lot of new features, presets, wavetables. A lot of improvements and fixes for UI/GUI, stability, performance, DSP, preset manager, overall better work etc. Zoomable GUI, full x64 support for Windows, MacOS, Linux, and x86 for Windows. AU, VST2, VST3. Code cleanups. No more presets crashing. And many more other stuff. By the way, it is still unfinished and there will be tons of improvements, fixes and new stuff!
Read changelog below for details! Changes are since the final old paid-version from long ago (1.5.3 or 1.5.4). Probably, changelog starts with first 1.6.0 beta 1/2/3/4 versions released on September 2018, which were summed up and marked as "Up to version 1.6.0-beta-5".

System Requirements:

MAC

• Intel MAC running at least macOS 10.11
• Minimum of 4GB of RAM
• VST-compatible or AU-compatible Host application

WINDOWS

• Windows 7 and a recent intel processor (at least Pentium 4 or above)
• Recommended: Computer running Windows 7 64 bit or newer
• Minimum of 4GB of RAM
• VST-compatible Host application
• x64-compatible CPU, OS and Host is required to use the 64-bit version

LINUX

• PC Running a Linux Distro
• The computer's CPU must support the SSE2 instruction set. This has been supported on Intel CPUs since Pentium 4, and on AMD CPUs since Athlon 64.
• Minimum of 4GB of RAM
• VST-compatible Host application
• x64-compatible CPU, OS and Host is required to use the 64-bit version

https://surge-synthesizer.github.io/

 

Last edited: Jun 1, 2019

http://vemberaudio.se/surge.php

 

THANK YOU ...It sounds pretty cool ...Love the Pads

 

If they just released it, why would it be abandoned/disappear? Now that it's on github, it's already been forked to 14 new repositories in just 7 hours. There is no stopping it now! I hope that somebody does a native Linux port before I hurt myself trying to figure it out.

 

It's cool that Claes (who is also the brain behind Bitwig Studio) did this.
Surge has been THE most used synth of mine (for 12+ years). A real workhorse. Subtractive, WT and FM hybrid. The modulation design was kinda groundbreaking when it came, and the overall GUI design is one of the most user friendly. Sonically it's great, even though some things can be worked on (which is open to be improved now). It allowed me to teach myself sound design in a much clearer and precise way.

 

My most used synth is still the Nord Lead 3 and Surge comes close to it in the software world, followed by FAW Circle.

 

Because he didnt update it since long ago. Now it is freeware. His samples, both shortcircuit 1and 2 are not longer supported. What you think? Github probably will keep links, but who knows What me happen.

 

Dear all !
Can someone plz point me exactly to downloadlink for mac version ?
The whole Github thing is abacadabra for me
Or is it only Windows ?

Thank you and Warm Regards.

 

I don't think there is one yet.

It is basically a version-control system. Like if you and I had a music project on there, we could keep track of who changed what, access different versions of the same stems over time, etc. But most people use it for source code.

The binaries appear to be only for Windows so far, but with some tweaks the code will be ported to compile on other systems as well.

 

Thank you for your help !
Fingers crossed regarding an OSX port.

 

Thanks for the links. Looks like an interesting find.

 

1.6.0 final (31 May 2019)
Updated since previous year when it was released for the first time, as free and open-source (1.6.0 beta 3 as i remember).
A tons of changes, improvements, fixes, more features and presets/soundbanks, much less crashes, so no more preset crashing, GUI/UI improvements, stability/performance fixes, updated SDK and overall code cleanups, and much more. And as said before, it is x64, for Windows, Mac and Linux, VST3 support and more

https://surge-synthesizer.github.io/manual/changeslog.html

 

Last edited: May 31, 2019

Loved this synth before it was freeware and i think its the best free synth, does so much [everything @Baxter mentioned], easy to use and sounds awesome [presets do not do it justice at all], taught me loads about sound design and is great for making kicks with pitched sinewaves as the modulation routing is so easy. Here's a bit of fun i had making a tune [including drums] with just surge, no samples, bitwig stock audio fx, effectrix... unmixed, unmastered and with a long empty bit at the end...

 

https://surge-synthesizer.github.io

 

Fixed my previous post (posted several hours ago): now it is 1.6.0 final version.

 

Version 1.6.0-beta-9 to 1.6.0
UI Fixes:
Fix the ‘zoom-dance-on-open’ problem where VST2 and 3 would show at 100% then zoom up to your default zoom.
Disable zoom in Cakewalk
Resolve a problem where the wavetable menu was truncated after selecting an item in some cases
Find SVG for live for mac version 9 in default location if the bundle is incorrectly set

Synth and Effects:
Rotary speaker temposync supported correctly
Midi channel 3 works properly in single scene mode
Correct crash for very large wavetables by growing wavetable storage size
Correct a mis-mapping in VST3 of global parameters (such as FX 1 Send) to the control set

Code and other changes:
Multiple changes to enable the surge-rack project
Fix a problem with incorrectly truncated memory for configuration on linux
Improve linux vst3 packaging script (but linux vst3 still is non-functional)
Move headless windows build to cmake

Version 1.6.0-beta-8 to 1.6.0-beta-9
Move the entire UI to vector / SVG rendering for elements rather than bitmap rendering. This leads to cleaner pixel accurate zooms at all resolutions.
Fix a problem with VST3 where pitch-wheel was mis-centered, meaning any use of the pitch wheel stuck surge out of tune and some hosts (most notably Fruity Loops 20) were always a half step sharp in VST3.

UI fixes and features:
Correct a VST3 Mouse Wheel bug where, at some zoom settings, a mouse wheel would move an unrelated control slider.
Add user-selectable mouse speed settings allowing consistent speed by slider.
Add ability to re-scan all user folders when content has changed.

Code Cleanups, API changes, and crash fixes:
Fix a crash when midi program changes selected a patch out of bounds (but midi program change support is still inadequate)
Variety of code cleanups, including support for a headless build completely free of vstgui and vstsdk, and code changes to allow surge to build the dsp engine in the VCV Rack environment
Fix a variety of small memory and uninitialized errors.
Add a python script to dump a surge patch to stdout.
Add a File/Open dialog in the UserInteractions namespace.
Improved developer documentation on builds, git, and more.

Version 1.6.0-beta-7 to 1.6.0-beta-8
Fix a major problem in the audio engine where QuadFilterChainState was uninitialized occasionally driving the filters unstable resulting in a large audio “Click/Pop” rather than sound
Fixed a memory leak where surge leaked 3 oscillator references on each voice

Several improvements to the developer-only headless codebase:
headless can write wav files and read midi files
headless can run stress tests

New Content:
Several new MPE factory patches
New organ wavetables from layzer

Other Fixes:
Wavetable and Window navigation arrows no longer pixelated at high zoom
Default XML stream fixed so MPE pitch bend default saves properly
HPF default set properly in all the init patches

Version 1.6.0-beta-6 to 1.6.0-beta-7
VST3 Host:
The VST3 Host was substantially improved in this version
Support note velocity, pitch bend, midi controllers, modulation, and MPE
Support DAW automation correctly
Show parameter names correctly on Mac

MPE:
Mono voices no longer have stuck or mistuned notes
Menu allows setting of mpe pitchbend
5 factory patches in the MPE folder

Wavetables and Effects:
Add three wavetable packs from user layzer; “vocals” “PPG” and “morph”
Users can place their own .wt Wavetables in subdirectories in their User Data Folder and see them in the wavetable menu once surge restarts (macOS: “~/Documents/Surge/wavetables”)
Third party wavetables are now present at Factory Data Folder (macOS: “/Library/Application Support/Surge/wavetables_3rdparty/”)
Implement a python script to create and explode .wt files
Add an “Init” setting for each effect type
Take the chorus effects from “Delay/Chorus” and move them to “Chorus”; rename “Delay/Chorus” to “Delay”

User Interface:
Fix a problem with flickering in the Effects area
Fix elements which would dissapear on Linux in modulation mode
Update LFO TempoSync labels to include 1/128 and 1/256th notes
Both right and left button show wavetable menus
Fix the FM2 labels (it was previosly labeled “FM3”)
Change WaveTable “Shape” parameter label to “Morph”
Set Controller To… -context menu now accurately shows CC#0 - CC#127 and is split by 20s
Fix a VST zoom problem where repeated zoom in and out could make the surge “walk” inside the frame
About menu now lets you open a Finder / Explorer for “Open User Data Folder” & “Open Factory Data Folder”
Make the about screen use Lato font
Supress the ctrl-click-reset gesture in LFO (which meant ctrl-click in step sequencer lost changes)

Other Changes:
Rename 32 bit surge dll “Surge_x86” on windows to avoid conflicts
Move the AU to the same zoom implementation as the VSTs
Add a headless app which plays all patches; build it with cmake
“OK/Cancel” dialog Linux (unimplemented) defaults to OK, allowing for patch overrides
Fix a problem where locales which didn’t use “.” as a decimal separator could not parse Surge patches
Update to developer documentation and some build tools

Version 1.6.0-beta-5 to 1.6.0-beta-6
Fix a major bug with font loading on Windows which would lock resources and hang some systems
Implement scrollwheel for all slider controls

Sub-folders for EFX Presets:
Added the Arty Distortion pack (9 distortion preset FX)
Added the Arty Reverb pack (4 reverb preset FX)
Added the Arty Delay pack (11 delay preset FX)
Use Lato on linux as well as mac and win
Slow down modulation blink time on Linux
Only Shift is used to do swipe moves on sliders
Shift-swipe moves dismiss popup properly

Up to version 1.6.0-beta-5
Platforms:
macOS: 64-bit AudioUnit, VST2, VST3 can be compiled, built and run.
Windows: 64-bit VST2, VST3 can be compiled, built and run.
Windows: 32-bit VST2, VST3 can be compiled, built and run.
Linux: 64-bit VST2 can be compiled, built, and run.
Packager (as .msi, .dmg/.pkg, and .deb respectively) for all three operating systems

Presets and Waves:
Sub-folders in patches become sub-categories in menus.
Certain presets would glitch when multiple notes were played, these clicks and pops no longer happen.
Drag’n’drop of wavetable (.wt) to now works
Drag’n’drop of wavefile (.wav) to Surge now shoots an error instead of crashing
Preset and WaveTable subfolders are now sorted alphabetically instead of randomly.
Loading of presets works
Wavetable loading improved (all extensions capitalisation supported: .wt, .WT, .Wt, .wT - no longer only .wt and others ignored)
Pressing +/- next to Patch will select the next (not the 31th) and the previous patch accurately.
Pressing +/- next to Category will select the next (not random) and the previous category accurately
Wavetable Next/Previous arrows work accurately and allow for scanning through each and every wavetable in the wavetables-folder.
Switching patches no longer crashes
Storing of patches works - if you write on Name and click on Category - the Name no longer reverts to”previous name”. Same with Category, Creator, Comment.
If you try to overwrite a patch that already exists, you will get an informative prompt to the tone of “this preset x already exists, are you sure?” (Mac and Win).
You can no longer save a preset with no name.
You can no longer save a preset into a category with no name.
Right-clicking on preset name will show all presets in that category.
Checkmarks added to Category and Preset (showing Category and selected Preset)
Checkmarks added to Wavetable (showing folder + selected wavetable)

Zoom:
Surge supports a zoomable UI on all platforms
You can now use + / -, cmd+ / cmd- to Zoom the interface
Classic Surge Skin has been re-done to be 1:1 but clearer and higher resolution bitmaps (less pixelation)
VSTGui Scaling bugs fixed
Maximum zoom, minimum zoom
Zoom, resize menu positioning issues fixed for Linux

Other UI:
LFO Waveform is displayed correctly
Wavetable is displayed correctly
All menus are correctly implemented
Modulation names can be accurately renamed (Mac and Win)
If you bind more than one parameter into a modulation, and remove the first parameter, the Modulation box updates to the correct parameter-name (Bind Cutoff, Bind Resonance, Remove Cutoff = Modulation box no longer says “Cutoff”).
If you Clear All binds from a Modulation box (Bind Cutoff, Clear All) - the Modulation box updates to “-“, no longer stays as “Cutoff” even with no bind.
Polyphony count was inaccurate and updated only when the area was clicked, now updates in real time.
Polyphony count does not fluctuate while notes are being played
Use Lato -font for macOS + Windows
Umlauts ä/ö/å are correctly displayed in folder names.
Surge now uses a VST3SDK VSTGUI with additional fixes

Hosts:
VST2 / AudioUnit automation (bind parameters to DAW) learning works accurately (no longer spews forth a correct parameter and a wrong one)

New Content:
Added the inigo_kennedy_03 pack (31 presets)
Added the Nick Moritz pack (85 presets)
Added the Zoozither 2 pack (40 presets)
Added the Layzer Vocal pack (32 wavetables)

Documentation:
New Website created at http://surge-synthesizer.github.io
1.6.0 Manual has been converted from PDF to HTML - available at http://surge-synthesizer.github.io/manual

Other:
Scene Highpass has been set to 6.875Hz instead of the default 50Hz
Typos fixed: EFX presets used to be called Rhytmic, renamed to Rhythmic
UTF8 paths supported for wavetables
No longer crash if installation if faulty, also warn loudly if installation is faulty
Linux screensize detection sets zoom bounds properly
More accurate FX sorting and correction of typos in FX names

 

Last edited: May 31, 2019

I need to finally take a look at this....1,010 presets and 183 wavetables is just crazy. The website looks and feels solid too!

 

Yes, it is back! Fresh upgrade.
Today is the second birthday of this synth. Final version since long ago. And it is a freeware now. Enjoy, guys. More coming soon I hope)

 

Last edited: Jun 1, 2019