What plugin formats does BlankSlate support?

BlankSlate ships as Audio Unit (AU), VST3 and a Standalone app. It runs on macOS as a Universal binary (Apple Silicon and Intel) and on Windows 10/11 as 64-bit.

How much does BlankSlate cost? Is it a subscription?

BlankSlate is $39 for a perpetual licence — a one-time purchase with free updates. There is no subscription and no iLok dongle required.

How many sounds and presets does BlankSlate include?

746 factory sounds, which become 1,492 with the CLEAN button — a one-click bypass of the console chain that gives every preset a second, clean personality.

BlankSlate — Analogue-Character Synthesizer Plugin · AU · VST3

Q: Does BlankSlate work on both Mac and Windows?

Yes. One purchase covers macOS (Universal — Apple Silicon + Intel) and Windows x64, in every format, with free updates.

Q: Is there a free demo of BlankSlate?

Yes. The demo is the full plugin — every sound and feature — but the audio mutes briefly on a periodic cycle and saving your own presets is disabled until you activate a licence.

Q: How does the CLEAN button work?

CLEAN is a straight-wire bypass of the entire analogue path — transformer preamp, EQ, FET compressor, dual valves and tape all at once. What is left is the raw synth voice: faster transients, more top-end detail and more headroom. It is one click, it is automatable, and it gives all 746 factory sounds a second personality for 1,492 variations in total.

Why it sounds different

The harder you play it, the dirtier it gets.

BlankSlate is not a clean digital synth — it's a saturating analogue console you play from a keyboard. Hold one note and it's warm and round. Stack a fat gospel chord and dig in, and the whole front end leans into it: the transformer blooms, the valves overdrive, the harmonics pile up into thick, gritty, soulful drive. That dirt isn't a bug — it's the entire character of the instrument.

Why it does that — the signal chain

Most synths send each note straight out. BlankSlate doesn't: every voice you play is summed and pushed through a full analogue console chain before it ever reaches your ears. A single note nudges those stages gently. A six-note chord hits them far harder — so saturation, compression and harmonic intermodulation all grow with the chord. More notes, more weight, more dirt.

Ironheart transformer preamp — the input stage every voice hits first; the hotter the signal, the more low-order harmonic thickness it adds.
Vicegrip FET compressor — clamps the louder chord and pushes it into its fast, aggressive, harmonically-rich character.
Dual valve stage — modelled 12AX7 + EL34 tubes that overdrive progressively as the level climbs.
Tape — wow, flutter and tape compression smear it all into vintage glue.

The transformer preamp, EQ and FET compressor every voice runs through.

Voices→Transformer Preamp→EQ→FET Comp→Valve Stage→Tape→Space→Master

Every note, every chord — the same path. That's why it sounds like a record, and why it bites when you lean on it.

Clean to filthy on one knob

You're always in control of the dirt. Single notes stay warm and present, and BlankSlate is voiced so dense chords stay musical rather than fizzy. Want delicate, pristine worship voicings? Back off the drive. Want full Detroit-gospel grit? Lean on the Magic macro and push the whole chain — preamp, valves, tape — into glorious overdrive. The character is yours to dial.

Warm, not harsh — polyphony-aware voicing keeps big chords thick instead of harsh.
Magic macro — one knob that ramps the entire saturation chain from clean to filthy.

The tube and tape stages that drive the saturation.

Get BlankSlate — $39 Try the full demo

What you can't get elsewhere

Six reasons it doesn't sound like your other synths.

Four dual-engine oscillators

FM + analogue per oscillator, with Shape and per-voice Drift.

Stack a glassy FM bell against three drifting analogue saws in one patch. Because Drift is per-voice, held chords never phase-lock into that flat, static digital wall.

Three full workspaces

Console · Flow · Mod — the same engine, three ways to work.

Dial it like hardware, read the whole signal path as a map, or patch it like a matrix. Nothing is buried behind a tab, so you stop hunting and stay in the take.

16-slot drag-to-patch matrix

Any source to any destination, depth set by dragging the cable.

Velocity into tube drive. Chaos into comb tune. Aftertouch into filter. Movement you can build in seconds instead of clicking through nested menus.

Dual filters, series or parallel

Saturating Ladder + multi-mode State-Variable, each with its own drive.

Run them in series for creamy four-pole thump, or split them across the stereo field for vocal, formant-like sweeps a single filter can't make.

Two chaos generators

Lorenz strange-attractor modulation, not another LFO.

Organic drift that never repeats the same way twice. Pads that keep moving over eight bars without you automating a single thing.

The outboard is inside

Transformer preamp, EQ, FET compressor, dual valves, tape — on every voice.

The chain you'd normally print through afterwards is already on the sound. Which is why a raw BlankSlate patch drops into a busy mix and just sits there.

ONE INSTRUMENT, THREE WORKSPACES

However you think, BlankSlate keeps up.

Most synths bury their depth behind tabs and menus. BlankSlate gives you three full-screen ways to work the same engine — tweak it like a console, read its signal flow at a glance, or patch its modulation like a matrix. Switch instantly; nothing is ever more than one click away.

Console

The full panel

Every oscillator, filter, envelope, and outboard stage laid out at once on a brushed-metal console — hands-on, immediate, nothing hidden. This is where sounds get dialled in.

Flow

See your whole signal path

A live map of the entire chain — Voice → EQ → Comp → Tube → Tape → Chorus → Delay → Reverb → Output. Follow exactly how your sound is built, and click the power dot on any stage to mute or bypass it on the fly.

⚡ Drag-and-drop rerouting — coming soon

Mod

Patch anything to anything

A true patch-bay matrix: drag a cable from any source to any destination, drag up or down to set depth. LFOs, chaos, envelopes, velocity, macros — all routable, all at a glance.

THE SOUND ENGINE

Four oscillators that breathe.

Two character engines per voice — switch any oscillator between FM for metallic, glassy, bell-like motion and Analogue for fat, drifting classic waves. Then make them imperfect on purpose.

OSC 1–4 · dual-engine voices

Each oscillator carries its own tuning (Octave / Semitone / Fine), level, and stereo pan, plus two analogue-soul controls that separate BlankSlate from sterile digital synths:

Shape — continuously morph the waveform, from hollow to harmonically rich.
Drift — per-voice analogue pitch instability that keeps stacked oscillators alive and never phase-locked.
FM ↔ Analogue — a per-oscillator engine switch, so one patch can blend digital edge with vintage warmth.
Unison & spread — stack voices wide with detune and stereo spread from the global shelf.

The four oscillator panels with waveform displays and Shape/Drift controls.

Comb FM · the secret weapon

A dedicated comb-resonator and cross-FM section sits beside the oscillators — feed oscillators into one another (FM 1→2, FM 2→1), tune the comb, and push feedback for everything from plucked strings and vocal formants to screaming metallic resonance.

Mix · Feedback · Tune — sculpt the resonant body of the sound.
Cross-FM matrix — route oscillators into each other for inharmonic, evolving timbres.

DUAL FILTERS

Two filters. Series or parallel. Both with teeth.

A Ladder filter for that creamy, saturating low-pass thump, and a versatile State-Variable filter you can run in series or parallel with it — each with its own drive, key-tracking and envelope depth.

Filter 1 · Ladder · Filter 2 · SVF

Ladder (12/24 dB) — the classic four-pole sound, with a built-in Drive stage that turns resonance into grit and growl.
State-Variable — low / high / band / notch response, switchable and modulatable on the fly.
Series or Parallel — chain the two filters or split them across the stereo field for complex, vocal-like sweeps.
Cutoff · Reso · Drive · Key · Env — full per-filter control, every knob automatable.

The dual filter section — Ladder and State-Variable filters.

MODULATION THAT NEVER SITS STILL

Three LFOs. Three envelopes. And chaos.

BlankSlate doesn't just modulate — it evolves. Beyond the expected LFOs and envelopes, two Chaos generators run on strange-attractor math (Lorenz) for organic, never-repeating movement you can't get from a sine.

The 16-slot patch-bay matrix

Open the Mod view and the whole modulation engine becomes a patch bay. Drag a cable from any source on the left to any destination on the right; drag the cable up or down to dial depth. No menus, no hunting.

Sources — Env 1–3, LFO 1–3, Chaos 1–2, Velocity, Key, Aftertouch, Mod Wheel, four assignable Macros, plus Random & Sample-and-Hold.
Destinations — oscillator pitch / level / shape, filter cutoff & resonance, amp, LFO rates, and more.
Macros — collapse a dozen moves into one knob for expressive, performance-ready patches.

Envelopes & LFOs with intent

Three dedicated DAHDSR-style envelopes are pre-wired to Amp, Filter and Aux, so you're making sound in seconds — then free to repatch them anywhere. Three LFOs offer classic shapes through to Lorenz chaos, free-running or tempo-synced.

Env 1–3 — Amp / Filter / Aux, fully shapeable.
LFO 1–3 — multiple shapes, free or synced, with per-LFO rate & depth.
Chaos 1–2 — strange-attractor modulation for living, breathing texture.

THE STUDIO IS BUILT IN

Every voice runs through a real console chain.

This is what makes BlankSlate sound finished, not flat. Before a note ever leaves the plugin, it passes through analogue-modelled outboard most producers reach for after the synth — preamp, EQ, compressor, tube and tape, all in the box, all automatable.

Transformer Preamp

Ironheart

A console-style input stage modelled on classic transformer preamps. Drive for harmonic thickness, Colour to dial the transformer character, Out to set level. It's the glue that makes the rawest oscillator sound expensive.

Class-A Equaliser

Contour

A musical, stepped EQ in the spirit of the great British consoles. Sweet high shelf, punchy proportional-Q mids, a fat low band and a switchable HPF — broad, confident moves that always sit right in a mix.

FET Compressor

Vicegrip

A lightning-fast FET compressor with attitude — from gentle 4:1 glue all the way to its all-buttons-in Nuke mode. Built-in Dist adds the aggressive harmonic bite that made the original a legend.

TUBE · TAPE · SPACE

Saturation, motion, and dimension.

The back end of the chain is pure vibe. A dual-tube stage, real tape wow & flutter, and a trio of studio effects turn a static patch into a recording.

Tube Stage & Tape

Push the signal through modelled 12AX7 and EL34 valves with independent drive, bias and tone, in series or parallel — soft warmth to full overdrive. Then add Wow and Flutter for the gentle pitch-instability of analogue tape.

Dual valves — 12AX7 + EL34 with Drive 1/2, Bias 1/2, Tone & Makeup.
Tape — Wow & Flutter for authentic, organic detune.

The tube stage, tape and modulation/space effects row.

Chorus · Delay · Reverb · Master

A lush Chorus, a tempo-syncable Delay, and a deep Reverb give every patch its space — followed by a transparent Master stage with a brick-wall ceiling so your sounds arrive loud, clean and finished.

Chorus — Rate / Depth / Mix.
Delay — Time / Feedback / Mix, free or synced.
Reverb — Size / Damp / Mix.
Master — output level with a safety ceiling/limiter.

Questions, answered

Everything you need to know.

Pricing, platforms, the demo, activation — the short version.

Is this a subscription?

No. It's a one-time purchase for a perpetual licence, with free updates. No monthly fee, no rental, no "you stop paying, it stops working".

Do I need an iLok?

No. There is no iLok, no dongle and no account to keep alive. You activate once with your purchase email and a 6-digit code, and it works offline after that.

Does BlankSlate work on both Mac and Windows?

Yes. One purchase covers macOS 12+ (Universal — Apple Silicon and Intel) and Windows 10/11 x64: AU, VST3 and Standalone on macOS; VST3 and Standalone on Windows (AU is a macOS-only format). Install it on your studio machine and your laptop.

What plugin formats does it ship in?

Audio Unit (AU), VST3 and a Standalone app — all included, no separate purchase. It runs in Logic, Ableton Live, FL Studio, Studio One, Reaper, Bitwig, Cubase and anything else that loads AU or VST3. Pro Tools is not supported — it loads AAX only, and there is no AAX build.

Does it need an internet connection to run?

Only once, to activate. After that BlankSlate runs entirely offline — no phone-home, no licence server check, nothing that can strand you on a session with no wi-fi.

How does the CLEAN button actually work?

CLEAN is a straight-wire bypass of the entire analogue path — transformer preamp, EQ, FET compressor, dual valves and tape all at once. What's left is the raw synth voice: faster transients, more top-end detail, more headroom. It's one click, it's automatable, and it means every one of the 746 factory sounds has a second personality — 1,492 variations in total.

Is there a free demo? What's limited?

Yes, and it's the full plugin — every sound, every feature, both platforms, all three formats. Two restrictions: the audio mutes briefly on a periodic cycle, and saving your own presets is disabled. Nothing else is held back, and both restrictions lift when you activate.

How many sounds are included?

746 factory sounds, which become 1,492 sound variations with the CLEAN button. They're organised into named banks — strings, plucks, bass, leads, keys, pads, cinematic, ethnic and texture collections — so you're browsing by sound, not scrolling one flat list.

Are updates free?

Yes. Every update is free for the life of the product — bug fixes, new features and new factory sounds alike. Optional add-on sound banks are sold separately, but the instrument itself never asks you for more money.

What makes it sound analogue?

Every voice is summed and pushed through a built-in analogue-modelled console chain — transformer preamp, EQ, FET compressor, dual-tube stage and tape — and each oscillator has per-voice Drift, so stacked voices never phase-lock. A single note nudges those stages gently; a six-note chord hits them far harder. The harder you play it, the more it saturates.

How do I install and activate after buying?

After purchase you get a welcome email linking to your account page — sign in with your purchase email to download the macOS or Windows build. Install it, open BlankSlate in your DAW, click Activate, enter the same email, and we send a 6-digit code that unlocks your machine. It takes about a minute and needs no iLok.

I have a question that isn't here.

Email support@blankslatesound.com — a person reads it.

Press play. That's the factory bank.

One patch. Two personalities.

Saturated. Weighted. Finished.

Open. Pristine. Untouched.