Installation

New in v1.6

Update 01Platform

Mac

Native macOS

First-class macOS support on Apple Silicon. Code-signed VST3 and AU exports, AU validation passing, ships as a single signed .dmg.

Update 02Sound

Wavetable Osc Refresh

Built-in test waveforms (Saw, Sine, Square, Noise, and more), anti-alias mip at the top end, preserved phase for asymmetric shapes, sidebands dropped ~57 dB.

Update 03Plugins

⇲

Resizable Plugin Windows

VST3 and AU plugins now resize cleanly on macOS, with DPI-aware refresh when the host changes scale. WASAPI driver support on Windows.

Update 04Workflow

∿

Live Hoverscopes

Hover any pin or wire to see the signal as a mini live scope. Now works on GUI modules and IO modules, with improved hit-testing on pins and lines.

Update 05Skins

◧

Project-Specific Skins

Drop a sister folder next to your project (e.g. mysynth.skin/) and SynthEdit searches it first for skins and fonts. A _fallback skin holds your custom assets, plus a new “Browse to Project Skin” menu.

See the full changelog for every release in the v1.6 line.

Download

A free 60-day demo is available that lets you explore the full feature set, including exporting your work as VST or AU plugins. After 60 days you’ll need a license to keep using SynthEdit.

A license costs €170 — a single payment covering all current versions, with no subscription and no royalties on what you export. The experimental Linux build is free while it’s in preview.

macOS

Download for Mac (.dmg)

Requires an Apple Silicon Mac (M1, M2, or later) running macOS Tahoe or later.

Open the .dmg file
Drag SynthEdit to your Applications folder
Launch SynthEdit from Applications

Windows

Download for Windows (.exe)

Requires Windows 10 version 1809 (build 17763) or newer, 64-bit.

Download and run SynthEdit-Setup.exe.
The signed installer unpacks the MSIX payload, installs the required Windows framework dependencies, then installs SynthEdit. No administrator prompts; no certificate to trust.
SynthEdit launches automatically when the install finishes. Next time, launch it from the Start menu (search “Synth Edit”).

Linux (experimental)

Download for Linux (.tar.gz)

Requirements

64-bit x86 Linux with glibc 2.39 or newer — e.g. Ubuntu 24.04+, Fedora 40+, or equivalent
A Wayland desktop session — required to run the editor. SynthEdit is a native Wayland client with no toolkit and no X11 path, so it will not start under a legacy X11-only session (and there is no XWayland fallback). Any current GNOME, KDE Plasma or Sway session is fine. This applies to the editor only — see Exported plugins below for what your plugins need.
Standard desktop libraries (libdecor, xkbcommon, harfbuzz, freetype, fontconfig, PipeWire for audio, ALSA for MIDI) — preinstalled on any normal desktop distro

Install and run

tar -xzf SynthEdit-linux-x64.tar.gz
cd SynthEdit
./SynthEdit

The PlugIns/ folder next to the executable holds the factory modules; third-party modules are scanned from ~/.local/share/SynthEdit/modules.

Audio and MIDI

Audio output goes through PipeWire, to the system default device — there is no JACK or plain-ALSA audio backend. The engine starts automatically; toggle it with Audio > Run. MIDI input uses the ALSA sequencer, and every connected MIDI device is opened by default, so a plugged-in keyboard just works.

Edit > Preferences (Ctrl+,) sets the sample rate, buffer size and MIDI input/output. Changes take effect immediately — a running engine is restarted for you. The audio device list currently offers only PipeWire’s default sink; to send SynthEdit somewhere else, route it in your desktop’s own sound settings.

If you hear dropouts

PipeWire decides the audio period itself, so Buffer size is a request rather than a guarantee.

Match SynthEdit’s Sample Rate to the one PipeWire is using (pw-metadata -n settings | grep rate) so nothing has to be resampled.
Give audio threads realtime priority — adding yourself to the pipewire group is usually enough (sudo usermod -aG pipewire $USER, then log out and back in).
Audio inside a virtual machine is emulated and glitches regardless of these settings; a larger buffer in your VM’s audio settings helps.

Editing

Insert modules by double-clicking them in the browser (or single-click one, then click the canvas where it should go). Tabs above the canvas track each open container view (middle-click closes a tab), the canvas pans via scrollbars / mouse wheel and zooms with Ctrl+wheel, and the usual keyboard shortcuts work (Ctrl+Z/Y, Ctrl+X/C/V, Delete, Ctrl+N/O/S, F5 toggles audio).

Exported plugins

Linux export ships, but like the rest of the Linux port it is very new — treat it as experimental and test your plugin in the hosts you care about.

The Wayland requirement applies to the editor, not to what you build with it. A plugin exported on Linux carries no dependency on the editor’s Wayland backend. It ships with both display-server paths in the one binary and picks between them when the host opens its window:

Wayland where the host supports it — the kPlatformTypeWaylandSurfaceID embedding added in VST3 3.8.0.
X11 everywhere else — the long-standing kPlatformTypeX11EmbedWindowID. This is the path an X11 DAW such as Ardour takes, and also what a Wayland desktop gets when the host embeds its plugins through XWayland.

The choice is made by asking the host what it supports, not by looking at your desktop session — only the host knows which one it actually uses. So there’s one build to ship, and your users don’t need a Wayland session to run your plugin.

Not working yet

Picking a specific audio output device (only PipeWire’s default sink is offered)
Multiple windows (tear-out)

You can open, edit, and save projects, and the full structure view renders natively. Feedback to jef@synthedit.com is very welcome.

AI Assistant Support

To drive SynthEdit from Claude Code, Cursor, or any other MCP-compatible AI assistant, you need the headless SynthEditCL command-line tool. The setup differs slightly by platform:

macOS — already done. SynthEditCL ships inside SynthEdit.app. Skip ahead to the MCP connector guide to wire up your AI host. (Prefer not to install the GUI? A standalone SynthEditCL_mac.zip is also available — unzip it and point SE_CLI at SynthEditCL.app/Contents/MacOS/SynthEditCL.)

Windows — install the standalone command-line tool. Works with or without the GUI.

Download SynthEditCL Installer (.exe)

Run the installer
Tick “Add to PATH” if you want SynthEditCL.exe available system-wide (recommended)
Continue to the MCP connector guide to configure your AI host

Linux — download the standalone command-line tool. Fully headless: no Wayland session, no GPU — it works over ssh and in CI, so it isn’t limited by the editor’s experimental status.

Download SynthEditCL for Linux (.tar.gz)

Extract into /opt or your home directory: tar -xzf SynthEditCL-linux-x64.tar.gz — the MCP server auto-detects /opt/SynthEditCL/ and ~/SynthEditCL/, as well as SynthEditCL on your PATH. (Extracted somewhere else? Set SE_CLI to the extracted SynthEditCL/SynthEditCL executable in your MCP host config.)
Continue to the MCP connector guide to configure your AI host

Common Issues

Module XML Problems

This happens when a third-party module has typos in its XML definition. The fix is to get the latest update for those modules from their original developer — newer versions correct these mistakes.

Scrolling or Zooming Past the Document Bounds

You can now scroll and zoom beyond the edges of the document. This is intentional — it lets you position the part of the document you’re working on comfortably within the view.

Slight Delay When Resizing the Module Browser

There is a slight delay when you adjust the size of the module browser. This is intentional — it reduces the load on your graphics card from recreating a fresh swapchain on every size change.

Recent Releases

Recent changes and fixes. View full changelog

v1.6.193 — 2026-08-24

synth_ui_tests was missing the derived folder defines
right-click on a selected module’s outline shows its context menu
filename pins now say whether the file is read or written
click selects the module in front of the current selection

v1.6.192 — 2026-08-23

resolve windows file paths in mac and linux plugins

v1.6.191 — 2026-08-23

sign by identity hash, not by name

v1.6.190 — 2026-08-21

more consistent calc of view zoom
mac bitmapPixels leaked a rep and an NSImage per lock
mac SolidColorBrush::SetColor leaked an NSColor per call

v1.6.189 — 2026-08-21

grey “Goto Rack” at the rack instead of omitting it

v1.6.188 — 2026-08-20

the Xcode app follows two headers the carve-out moved

v1.6.187 — 2026-08-19

trust the notary verdict, not the —wait connection
substitute a bad host tempo instead of only complaining about it
stop trimming away the indent that groups a dialog’s lines
stop labelling Linux modules “Windows” in the export log
stop —add-module losing negative coordinates
set-plugin-info â€” plugin identity without the GUI
report each module’s type id in —dump
report each module’s pins in —dump, and clean up render-audio’s recorder
real VST3 export, and survive a second render crash
keep a multi-line dialog together on stdout
honest panelRectsFinalized, master-space absolutePanelRect in —dump
fail when a module could not be copied into the plugin”
fail when a module could not be copied into the plugin
draw plugin ids from real entropy on Linux
compile Dialogs_editor2.cpp into the Mac app, restoring the link
an se_export tool
accept pin names and $alias handles in the typed tools
a centred per-note pitch bend detuned every note +3 semitones
a —set-plugin-info verb
SynthEditSem tolerates a format gmpi_plugin declined
Export Plugins menu item and an export options dialog

v1.6.186 — 2026-08-18

the three V1-critical rack prefabs, and ship them
separate view chrome settings for tear-out windows
save the editor window layout in the document
restore the real default when a settings attribute is absent
restore tear-out windows between sessions
independent view chrome for tear-out windows
compose the export engine with the GMPI->VST3 wrapper (Linux)
answer a zero-size measure() probe with the size we want
an absent module database is not an error
Export GMPI Plugin from the Wayland editor’s File menu

v1.6.185 — 2026-08-14

profile structure-view scroll rendering across d2d/cpu backends
correct stale IO_base.h include path in CoreMidiDriver.cpp

v1.6.184 — 2026-08-14

cache structure-view brushes for faster scroll redraw

v1.6.183 — 2026-08-13

the Preferences sample rate now survives a restart
open a blank project when no MRU file loads at startup
bring the Wayland menu bar in line with Windows and macOS
a module locked by another process crashed the editor on startup
a View menu to show or hide the editor’s panes and bars
—get-param could not read the editor it was attached to
—delete reported success without deleting anything

v1.6.182 — 2026-08-12

serialise <PatchPoints>, so patch cables survive save/reload

v1.6.181 — 2026-08-11

se_attach reaches a running editor on macOS
say which container the live pointer verbs address
resize buffers in place on panel resize instead of rebuilding the whole client
rename and audio-transport verbs
no sound on first use of the Mac app
initialize undo/redo descriptions so Edit menu text isn’t blank before any command runs
correct off-by-one in MIDI Out combo index so saved preference reloads correctly
clear additional-files list before reloading it in export dialog view model
a live command channel for the Mac editor
CL bundle fails codesign on staged Finder detritus

v1.6.180 — 2026-08-11

make Install.ps1 VCLibs error matching locale-independent
WaveTable slot-count constants fail to link on x86_64

v1.6.179 — 2026-08-10

synthetic presses carry the NEW flag, like real ones
se_attach - point the tools at the running editor
run the real verb set against the running editor
route the pointer verbs into the live on-screen view
list prefabs, and flag deprecated (Debug-only) modules
file-based tracing for the pointer path
don’t let an in-process host block on stdin
clearer activation messages
a synthetic drag must approach before it presses
‘Buy me a coffee’ donation link in Help

Demo vs Full Version

Feature	Demo	Full Version
Build synths	Yes	Yes
All modules	Yes	Yes
Save projects	Yes	Yes
Export VST/AU plugins	Yes	Yes
Time limit	60 days	None
Price	Free	€170, paid once

The demo is fully featured — you can build synths, save projects, and export commercial-quality VST or AU plugins for the full 60 days. After that, a license keeps everything working with no further restrictions.

Activation

Licenses are handled through Moonbase, our new licensing partner (the previous provider, ShareIt, has closed down).

To activate your copy:

In SynthEdit, open the registration settings and click the Activate button
This launches the Moonbase website in your browser
Create a Moonbase account using the email address associated with your SynthEdit license

Most existing customers’ email addresses have already been imported into Moonbase, so activation should work straight away. If you hit any trouble, email jef@synthedit.com and Jeff will sort it out.

Next Steps

Once installed, follow the Your First Synth guide to build something right away.