The soul of 80s hardware. The power of modern production.
Hear vintage hardware character reshaped for modern synthwave, electronic and cinematic productions.
Retrowave 2 starts with real sampled synthesizers from the 1980s, then gives you the tools to push that unmistakable character into a bigger, richer and more modern production sound.
The character comes from the source. Analog, digital and hybrid hardware from the 1980s gives Retrowave 2 the imperfect, colorful tone that made those instruments instantly recognizable.
But modern productions demand more than simply replaying an old synth. Retrowave 2 lets you layer two sources, reshape their movement and envelope, spread them across the stereo field and build additional weight, motion and atmosphere around the original sound.
Built-in EQ, compression, phaser, delay, convolution and reverb are not there just to make the feature list longer. They are part of the workflow that takes vintage source material and pushes it toward a polished contemporary sound without losing the character that made it interesting in the first place.
Real sampled 80s hardware gives every patch its character before any modern processing is added.
Layer two sources, add movement and reshape the envelope to turn familiar vintage colors into something that feels new.
Built-in processing adds weight, space and polish without forcing you to build a long external effects chain first.
A full hands-on look at the Retrowave sound palette and workflow, built around the same sampled 80s lineage that powers the Retrowave family.
Users highlight the Retrowave sound for doing the heavy lifting in 80s synth-pop productions and for working across synthwave, synth-pop and cinematic writing.
Vintage samples are only the starting point. Retrowave 2 combines real 80s hardware sources with synthesis, modulation, sequencing and built-in processing to shape them for modern production.
The sampler is built around sounds captured from real analog, digital and hybrid synthesizers of the 1980s. Fine tuning, transposition, noise and randomization controls let you reshape the source before adding anything else.
Layer the sampled source with a separate main oscillator and sub oscillator. Shape the oscillator with waveform selection, octave control, pulse, unison, detune and stereo spread, then reinforce the bottom end with the dedicated sub section.
Add modulation with the LFO, including frequency, fade-in and modulation-wheel control. Shape the response over time with a full AHDSR envelope covering Attack, Hold, Decay, Sustain and Release.
Build rhythmic synth parts inside the instrument with control over note pattern, velocity and note length, plus direction, step count, speed and octave range.
Compressor, phaser, delay, convolution and reverb let you add density, movement and space without leaving Retrowave 2. The convolution section includes impulse selection with pre-delay, high-cut and damping controls.
Shape the final frequency balance with the built-in graphical parametric EQ, using frequency, gain, Q and selectable filter shapes to make the patch sit where you need it in a modern production.
Keep the 80s character, but build the mix like a modern production. Push supporting synths deeper, bring the lead forward and give the low end more physical weight.
Give your Retrowave 2 arrangement real depth. Push pads and supporting synths further back instead of leaving every layer flat and equally close.
View Virtual Stage FX
Pull a Retrowave 2 lead out of a dense synth arrangement and bring it closer to the listener without simply turning it up.
View Nearizer FX
Give the Retrowave 2 bassline and the drums around it more perceived size and weight, so the low end feels powerful and current.
View Upsizer FX
