famixplode

VST3 + AU / WIN + MAC

Seven Nintendo era sound chips in one synthesizer.

Nothing in famixplode is a sample or an impression of a chip sound. Each chip is rebuilt as the original circuit, so it buzzes, aliases and folds exactly the way the hardware did. Around them sits a modern synth: two filter stages, an FX rack and a 32 route modulation matrix.

  • The Free edition is the whole instrument
  • No time limit, no nag, no watermark
  • Guide in 14 languages

5 out of 5 from 1 ratings

An animated oscilloscope drawing the waveform of each chip in turn: pulse waves, the stepped triangle, noise, the VRC6 sawtooth, VRC7 FM and the FDS and N163 wavetables.
The famixplode window in the Default theme: chip tabs with four channel oscilloscopes, the filter section, an LFO editor, macros and a piano keyboard.

Theme

Pick a factory theme and this whole page, screenshot included, recolors the way the plugin does. In the Full edition the Theme tab lets you customize the color of every panel, label, CRT screen, knob and slider, then save your theme and share it.

The seven chips

The stock NES chip and the six expansion chips that game cartridges and the Famicom Disk System added, each one on its own tab, with 19 sound producing channels between them.

2A035 channels

The stock NES chip: two pulses with four duty cycles, a stepped triangle, noise, and a 1 bit DPCM sample player with four slots.

VRC63 channels

Konami's expansion: two pulses with eight duty settings and a sawtooth.

VRC7FM

Two operator FM from 15 ROM instruments or a custom patch you build yourself.

Sunsoft 5B3 tones

The AY-3-8910 family voice heard in Gimmick!, with three square tones, noise and the hardware envelope.

FDSWavetable

The Famicom Disk System's wavetable channel, with its hardware pitch modulator.

N163Up to 8 channels

Namco's wavetable chip: up to eight channels sharing one wave memory.

MMC52 pulses + PCM

Nintendo's mapper chip: two more pulses and a raw PCM channel.

Your samples1 bit DPCM

Turn an audio file into the console's 1 bit DPCM format for the 2A03's four sample slots. Samples keep their own pitch, so they suit drums.

What is around them

A complete modern synth wraps the chips. Modulation is per voice, so a chord does not lurch when you add a note to it.

  • 19Sound producing channels
  • 107Filter types in each of two stages
  • 48FX slots, twelve module types
  • 32Modulation matrix routes
  • 4Drawable LFOs
  • 4Step sequencers
  • 57Factory synth presets
  • 61FX presets

Filter any of the retro oscillators in a modern way

Two filter stages with 107 types each: classic low and high pass shapes, multimode filters, flangers and stranger things. Route channels separately, so the triangle bass and the pulse lead can take different paths, and modulate the cutoff to watch the response curve move.

The filter section: a response curve with a highlighted modulation band, the filter type MG LOW 6, and CUTOFF, RES and GAIN knobs beside the channel routing list.

Multiple buses and FX modules

Twelve module types, from Bitcrush and Distortion to Delay, Chorus, Flanger, Freq Shift, Multiband and the Convoluted reverb with recorded impulse responses. Build three FX chains of up to 16 modules and send each channel to the bus you want, so the triangle bass can stay dry while the lead goes out to a delay.

The Delay module.
The Bitcrush module.
The Multiband module.
The Distortion module.

Draw your own LFOs

Four LFOs you shape by hand, four step sequencers, four macros and a MOD SLIDER, all feeding a 32 route matrix that reaches almost every knob on screen. Load one of 17 LFO presets or 14 ARP presets to start.

The LFO1 editor: a hand drawn triangle shape with curve handles, a RATE knob set to 1/4 and the preset selector.

Watch it work

Hear it in three styles. Each demo opens on YouTube.

▶ Chiptune demo (opens YouTube in a new tab) ▶ Dubstep demo (opens YouTube in a new tab) ▶ DnB demo (opens YouTube in a new tab)

Free edition and Full edition

The sound is identical in both. The Free edition is the whole instrument. The Full edition lets you customize every color, and buying it directly supports the developer.

Free

$0
  • All seven chips and all 19 channels
  • Both filter stages, the FX rack, LFOs, step sequencers, macros and the full modulation matrix
  • 57 synth presets, 61 FX presets, 17 LFO presets and 14 ARP presets
  • Turn your own audio into 1 bit DPCM drum samples
  • No time limit, no saved preset limit, no nag and no audio watermark
  • The user guide in 14 languages

Full

$5

Make famixplode yours, and support the person who makes it.

  • Everything in Free
  • The Theme tab: customize the color of every panel, label, CRT screen, knob and slider
  • Start from seven factory themes, then save, load and share your own
  • Turn the CRT glitches up, or off
  • Every purchase directly supports independent development of famixplode
The Theme tab of the Settings window: presets, the BASIC palette of grouped color swatches, and the Miscellaneous switches.

A real manual

Both editions come with the user guide: a full reference manual of more than 230 pages that walks through every chip, filter, module and modulation source, in fourteen languages. Download the one you read.

  • English
  • Japanese
  • French
  • German
  • Spanish
  • Portuguese
  • Italian
  • Finnish
  • Indonesian
  • Polish
  • Vietnamese
  • Russian
  • Korean
  • Chinese

Runs on

Windows
64 bit VST3 for Windows 10 or later, a single file rather than a folder.
macOS
VST3 and AudioUnit for Apple Silicon and Intel.

Questions

Is the Free edition a demo?

No. There is no time limit, no saved preset limit, no nag screen and no audio watermark. It is the complete instrument, with every chip, every effect and all the factory presets.

What does the Full edition add?

The Theme tab, where you customize the color of every panel, label, CRT screen, knob and slider. Start from seven factory themes, save and share your own, and turn the CRT glitches up or off. The sound is the same in both editions, so the Full edition is how you make famixplode yours and support its independent developer.

Is it samples of real chips?

No. Each chip is rebuilt as the original circuit, so it buzzes, aliases and folds the way the hardware did, and it responds to every control the way the hardware would.

Can it play chords?

Yes. In Poly mode, the default, every enabled channel plays every note you send it, like a modern synth. Switch to Authentic mode and each channel becomes exactly one voice, so notes compete for channels and get stolen and reassigned the way they did on a real console.

Can I use my own samples?

Yes, mostly for drums. The 2A03's four DPCM slots play your own samples, and famixplode can convert an ordinary audio file into the console's 1 bit DPCM format for you. A DPCM sample does not change pitch with the keys you play: it always plays at its own pitch, as on the hardware, which makes it ideal for kicks, snares and other hits rather than melodies.

Can I install both editions?

Yes. The Free and Full editions install side by side as separate plugins.

Is famixplode made by Nintendo?

No. famixplode is an independent product by bash explode. It reproduces hardware designed by Nintendo, Konami, Sunsoft and Namco, and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or licensed by any of those companies.

Plug in seven chips tonight.

Start with the Free edition. Add the Theme tab whenever you want it.