Everything you need to know about Absynth 6 by Native InstrumentsNative Instruments’ Absynth 6 has arrived after a week of teasers from the brand. The hybrid, semi-modular soft synth boasts a powerful system of effects, synth engines, and a new AI-powered preset browser, which all help bring this revered classic into the modern era of music production.
Granular, FM, subtractive and wavetable synthesis are all on board Absynth 6, with presets created by Brian Eno, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Richard Devine. NI’s messaging of Absynth 6 is that it’s “weird by design,” with digital artists Weirdcore and Swarmm contributing to the visual design of the new soft synth.
Here’s what you need to know about the revival of Absynth.
READ MORE: Native Instruments Absynth 6 review: The return of a vintage classic
Absynth 6 key features at a glance

Plugin and standalone software synthesizer, in VST2, VST3,
Includes effects plugin variant
Hybrid, semi-modular synth engine
3 multi-model oscillators
2 multi-model processor stages per oscillator
2 multi-model master bus processors
28 envelopes with a maximum of 68 breakpoints per envelope
3 advanced LFOs
Master effects processor
Custom waveform creator
Mutate parameter randomisation
Full MPE and polyphonic aftertouch
Innovative graphical Preset Browser
Presets by Brian Eno, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Richard Devine
Surround sound and microtuning
Legacy patches from all previous versions of Absynth

What happened to Absynth 5, and when did Absynth 6 start being made?
Around three years ago, Native Instruments announced that Absynth, perhaps the best pad and soundscape synth to ever exist, was being discontinued – no more sales, no more support, no more updates. Those with a license could continue to download, install, and use the software, but this was ultimately the end of a synth so innovative and accomplished that its every patch could be a near symphony in its own right.
Or so it seemed.
Fast forward to summer 2025, when I had just about got over the loss, and NI wrapped up one of its press events with a huge tease: A large “6” on a green background. Not just any old green — it was the same shade as traditionally used by Absynth. “Could it be…?” I asked my contact at NI. “Yup,” they confirmed.

Why has it taken so long for Absynth 6 to be released?
Absynth first hit the shelves in the early days of the soft-synth revolution, way back in 2000. Following a now familiar pace of updates, by 2010 the synth had reached version 5. And there it stayed for 12 years, right up to the 2022 deprecation announcement.
Of course, it was around 2010 that NI started to become the industry behemoth that it is today, and so it’s little surprise that its attention was focused on newer products and technologies. And, to be fair, there was little need to pour attention into Absynth 5: it was already a mature, respected and highly evolved product. Users held out hope for an update that would bring new patches and new Absynth-flavoured toys to play with, but didn’t feel dissatisfied with what they had with Absynth 5.
This changed when Apple Silicon Macs came along. Absynth could not run natively on the platform and, with the synth having fallen so far behind the technological curve, it would take a lot of effort to bring it up to date and furnish it with the features demanded by modern producers.
With so many other products to develop and maintain, NI eventually concluded it didn’t have the bandwidth to drag such an aged product into the 2020s and beyond.
But nobody can accuse NI of having grown too big to listen to its users. With the weeping and wailing of distraught Absynth users ringing in its ears, NI got together with the synth’s original developer, Brian Clevinger, and started making plans.

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Why is Abysynth 6 such a big deal?
“When I originally created Absynth,” says Brian Clevinger, “I wanted an instrument that invited people to lose themselves in sound. Seeing it evolve into Absynth 6 has been genuinely moving. It still has that strange, alive quality,” Clevinger says in a press release.
By the time Absynth 5 came out in 2010, the synth had firmly established itself as the go-to instrument for creating breathtaking pads, ethereal soundscapes, otherworldly SFX, warped and off-the-wall interpretations of acoustic instruments, and a very good line in classic analogue and digital synth tones.
It’s hard to understate Absynth’s tone-wrangling prowess. Although made up of familiar synthesiser fare – oscillators, filters, and all the rest of it – the instrument’s semi-modular architecture and generous supply of envelopes and modulators combine to create some of the most achingly beautiful (and, indeed, terrifyingly hellish) sounds you will ever hear from a synth. Pads contain phenomenal sonic detail, soundscapes endlessly shift and evolve, classic synth tones and acoustic instruments gain extra dimensions of real-time control and performability.
These core capabilities remain in Absynth 6, but are now graced by a decade-and-a-half of technological progress and advances in UI and UX design. MPE and polyphonic aftertouch support add a new depth of interaction and performance to the synth. Extensively editable envelopes with flexible breakpoints and shapes provide an astonishing toolset for creating powerful rhythmic, evolving, and just plain mad modulations. The overall presentation has been updated to look crisp and modern, and an all-new (and stunning) graphical patch browser makes it easy to hunt out the perfect sound from within the instrument’s vast patch library.
Moreover, Absynth was the godfather of the quasi-randomisation of patches seen on so many synths today, its near-legendary Mutate system able to morph and warp a chosen sound by a controllable amount whilst retaining elements of that sound’s original character. Many a happy sound design accident has started with a click on Absynth’s Mutate button, and this is now enhanced with greater visibility of, and control over, what the Mutate system is doing.
Many other synths on the market today can create sounds akin to those that are Absynth’s raison d’être. Uber-synths such as Pigments, Serum and Falcon – plus, indeed, NI’s own Massive X – can all produce similarly enthralling sounds and textures.
Yet there remains something special about how Absynth performs. It’s easy and intuitive to use, and gives the impression of having a near-magical ability to produce sounds that are instantly exciting and inspirational. So much so that browsing through its voluminous patch library takes forever simply because of the constant distraction of new musical ideas that flow from the gorgeous tones the synth produces.
We normally think of classic vintage synths as being dusty old slabs of hardware, yet despite being a soft synth, I can’t help but think of Absynth’s return with the same awed excitement as when Moog released the Minimoog or Sequential put the Prophet back into production. This really is the return of a vintage classic.
How much does Absynth 6 cost?
Absynth 6 can be bought as a one-time license for $199/€199/£179. If you’re already an owner of Absynth versions 2 to 5, you’ll be eligible for an upgrade from Native Instruments — Absynth 2-5 owners can upgrade to Absynth 6 for $99/€99/£99
Is Absynth 6 worth buying?
In my review of Absynth 6, I said: “Absynth 6 is a masterstroke, its updates making it better than ever without sacrificing any of its originality and unique appeal…The graphical browser is exceptionally intuitive and, more importantly, makes light work of finding suitable sounds. Once you find something close to what you want, you can easily check out all of the other patches in the same timbral neighbourhood. It really is the most effective sound browsing system I’ve ever encountered.”
Absynth 6 is available now.
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