Acustica Audio’s modelling technology has been subject to much praise, with their ever-expanding collection of plug-ins offering authentic recreations of many classic outboard devices. Their most recent release, however, marks their first step in a new direction and sees them deliver their very first soft synth.
Thing is described by the company as a “synthesizer suite”, and is said to faithfully capture and reproduce the tone of one of the most iconic instruments of the 1980s — it’s safe to assume from the design that the synth in question is the Roland Jupiter-8. Interestingly, Acustica say that the release is the first in their new Marea series, so it looks like more instruments are set to follow.
There are actually two instruments included: Thing 8 (TH8) and Thing 5 (TH5). The first is a fully fledged eight-voice instrument that promises to capture the legendary instrument in all its glory, while the latter provides a scaled-down version with a streamlined interface designed for capturing ideas quickly. Both have been built using Acustica’s new MUST (Modular Unified Synthesis Technology) technology, a method that is said to combine analogue circuit behaviour modelling with Acustica’s signature convolution-based emulation techniques.
The GUI recreates the Jupiter-8’s panel layout, and the instrument promises to preserve the character of the original synth, capturing the warmth, depth and character that made it so popular. As is often the case with modern recreations, Thing also brings some new functionality to the table, and comes loaded with a selection of built-in saturation, EQ, delay, reverb and chorus effects inspired by Acustica’s plug-ins.
A collection of 500 factory presets are included, demonstrating what both TH8 and TH5 are capable of while offering some inspiring starting points for new patches.
Compatibility
Thing is supported on PCs running Windows 10 or above, and Macs running macOS 10.14 (Intel machines) / macOS 12 (Apple Silicon machines) or higher. VST3, AU and AAX plug-in versions are available.
Pricing & Availability
Thing is available now, and is being offered at an introductory price of €179 (reduced from €229) until 27 December 2024.
