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

WT

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.

macOS

Download for Mac (.dmg)

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

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

Windows

Download for Windows (.exe)

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

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

Linux (experimental)

Experimental preview

The Linux build is an early, experimental port and is not feature-complete. It’s free to try while in preview, but expect rough edges — see the limitations below.

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
• An X11 or XWayland desktop session
• Standard desktop libraries (X11, freetype, fontconfig, ALSA) — 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 plays through the system default output (ALSA, or JACK when a JACK server is running) and the engine starts automatically — toggle it with Audio > Run. All connected MIDI input devices are opened automatically, so a plugged-in keyboard just works.

Not working yet

• Audio/MIDI device selection UI (default output device, all MIDI inputs)
• Plugin (VST3/AU) export
• Drag-and-drop from the module browser
• Tabs, scrollbars, multiple windows

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.

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

Download SynthEditCL Installer (.exe)

1. Run the installer
2. Tick “Add to PATH” if you want SynthEditCL.exe available system-wide (recommended)
3. 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

v1.6.171 — 2026-08-05

• hand the mac Xcode project the HarfBuzz include path
• configure failed when synth_ui_tests was skipped
• breadcrumb bar draws container thumbnails on mac

v1.6.170 — 2026-08-05

• more natural auto-line-tracing

v1.6.169 — 2026-08-05

• export refuses missing modules instead of crashing
• audio capture for the Wayland editor
• a view change severed the side panes’ hosts
• a missing stock module is a broken installation, say so
• Preferences panel for the Wayland editor

v1.6.168 — 2026-08-05

• tab strip for the Wayland editor
• ship the Selawik font files
• search box for the module browser
• say OS-height explicitly in the SDK3 text adapter
• never discard unsaved changes silently
• module browser and properties panes for the Wayland editor
• menu bar for the Wayland editor
• layout tests render through the CPU backend on Linux
• keyboard shortcuts for the Wayland editor
• destroy the editor views before the document, not after
• define FONTS_DIR for synth_ui_tests
• cross cursor while click-placing a module
• canvas scrollbars for the Wayland editor
• bundle Selawik so text measures the same on every platform
• async message boxes, and make them visible on linux at all
• adapt to gmpi_ui’s registerBundledFont signature
• View menu toggles for the side panes
• SynthEdit on Wayland, no toolkit and no X11
• Spectrum Analyser - fixed possible crash when changing FFT size
• Properties browser can now select new (non-existing) files on filename pins.
• PipeWire audio for the Wayland editor
• ALSA sequencer MIDI for the Wayland editor
• —connect rejects bad pin indices instead of crashing

v1.6.167 — 2026-08-03

• build on Linux — CPU-backend factory and GCC portability fixes
• SynthEditCL builds and runs headless on Linux

v1.6.166 — 2026-07-31

• wavetable 16-bit WAV export wrapped at full scale
• blank canvas on single-tab documents (first tab auto-selects, so the view rebuild never fired)
• [0228] xml datatype=“audio”
• JUCE_JACK only where the JACK headers exist (Windows build broke on jack/jack.h)

v1.6.165 — 2026-07-29

• show busy cursor while rescanning modules and vsts

v1.6.164 — 2026-07-28

• properties pane live-updates pin names, wire changes and midi learn status
• layout inspection works in realtime now
• fix possible crash when hovering audio pins
• [0236] ‘Poly to Mono’ fails second time the same voice is allocated

v1.6.162 — 2026-07-27

• new modules “Sample and Hold2’ fixes issue with missing a ‘hold’ at time zero
• crash hovering the spare pin of an autoduplicating module after project load

v1.6.161 — 2026-07-21

• load wavetables on a background thread in Wavetable Osc
• limit Wavetable Osc display to 32 evenly-spaced slots
• hot-reloaded modules now rescan their module description, so pin/parameter changes are picked up
• fix for possible MIDI driver crash on exit
• fix a crash in module hot-reloading.
• change delay 3 default interpolation

v1.6.159 — 2026-07-17

• restyled Wavetable Osc Display
• native MIDI-assignment ‘Edit…’ dialog for Windows plugins
• native MIDI-assignment ‘Edit…’ dialog for Mac plugins
• add ‘Load MIDI’ / ‘Save MIDI’ patch commands
• add ‘Load MIDI’ / ‘Save MIDI’ patch commands
• ALT + middle-button passes the event to the module under the mouse

v1.6.158 — 2026-07-16

• load a wavetable’s real slots instead of padding to a fixed 64
• FFT-resample wavetable frames both ways, drop linear fallback

v1.6.157 — 2026-07-16

• simplify Compensated Delay to a pure latency fixer
• round-trip module latency through ExportModuleInfo
• round the oversampler’s inner->outer report conversion
• keep calcReportedLatency in step with calcDelayCompensation overrides
• fix crash deleting a container the breadcrumb trail remembers
• add Delay3 - modernised GMPI echo delay
• Ctrl+D shows debuggers on selected modules of current view
• Compensated Delay over-reported latency at some sample rates
• Compensated Delay latches its report at compensation time and snaps it to the delay line’s tap count

v1.6.156 — 2026-07-15

• add Ctrl+D presenter command to toggle debugger on selection

v1.6.155 — 2026-07-14

• Compensated Delay module + decoupled reported-latency pass

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

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:

1. In SynthEdit, open the registration settings and click the Activate button
2. This launches the Moonbase website in your browser
3. 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.