Absinthe is a cult classic in the world of soft synth. It was originally released in 2000, and quickly found an audience among the growing group of people making music on computers. But its last major update, Absinthe 5, was released in 2009, and Native Instruments officially discontinued the instrument in 2022, citing a lack of resources to continue supporting software in desperate need of modernization. But now Absinthe is making a grand comeback with version six, created in collaboration with original designer Brian Clevinger, and featuring presets from Brian Eno and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith.
Much of what made it so beloved remains unchanged in Absinthe 6. It is still a robust semi-modular virtual instrument with multiple synthesis engines to choose from and extensive modulation options. There’s traditional subtractive synthesis with lots of wave shapes to choose from, ranging from basic sine waves to buzzy complex chords – you can even create your own wave shapes. It also has FM, a sample player and a granular engine.
This puts it in a league with other leading super-synths such as the Omnisphere, Serum, Pigment and Native Instruments’ Massive X. But where it manages to outperform even those powered plugins is its envelope system. Instead of the standard four-point ADSR (attack, decay, sustain, release) envelopes, or even six-point DAHDSR (delay, attack, hold, decay, sustain, release) envelopes, the Absinthe 6 envelopes contain up to 68 points. These can be looping, single-shot or time-synced. The modulation system in Absinthe is extremely powerful.
This is part of what allows it to excel in evolving sonic landscapes. Native Instruments describes the Absinthe as “weird by design” and it’s hard to argue with that tag line. Many of the factory presets aren’t the kind of thing you’d find in a sci-fi or horror movie score, designed with a focus on texture and atmosphere. If you’re interested in ambient or score work, Absinthe is an interesting tool to have in your arsenal. Adding to its cinematic versatility, Absinthe 6 supports eight-channel surround sound, which is basically unheard of.
New to Absinthe in version 6 is support for MPE, giving even more expressive options to its already complex sounds. Pressing hard or sliding your finger up on a compatible controller like the Push 3 or Rollie Seaboard can open a filter, bring up a new oscillator, or turn on feedback on ethereal granular effects on a per-note basis. This means you can highlight only the highest notes in a chord progression, while keeping the root note dark and muted.
However, the most immediately noticeable change in Absinthe is the new AI-assisted preset explorer. Instead of just a list of sounds for you to click on, Absinthe defaults to a collection of dots arranged roughly by vibe. It’s no different than Obsidian’s graph view or XO sample manager. Personally, I’m not a huge fan. It’s okay to find surprises in the library of over 2,000 presets. But that makes it difficult to keep track of what auditions I’ve given, what’s new to me.
If you want to quickly change a preset without having to dive into various sound design tabs, the patch has eight macro controls, and a Mute button that semi-randomly makes slight changes to the sound you’ve loaded to create a new variation.
Absinthe 6 is available for $199 for new users. But if you already have Absinthe 5, you can upgrade for just $99.
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