CHARLATAN³

Free Virtual Analog Synthesizer

Never miss an inspiring moment.

Charlatan is a virtual analog (VA) synthesizer with focus on sound quality and easy usability. Thanks to its streamlined UI, Charlatan never gets in your way when you like to move fast in your production workflow. Under the hood, a powerful yet not overwhelming synth engine is ready to be explored as you dive deeper into sound design. A true musical instrument that smoothly adapts to your mood and experience.

Feature Summary

Two dual oscillators per voice with custom drawable waveforms, cross-modulation (Phase Mod, linear Frequency Mod, Ring Mod), windowed hard sync and noise generator
Up to 7 unison voices per oscillator
Two filters per voice with types: 4-pole ladder LP/HP/BP, Acid LP, 2-pole Sallen-Key LP/HP/BP, Notch and Comb
Flexible filter routing (serial / parallel / dual)
Four modulation generators with freely drawable shape where each can operate either as LFO or envelope generator
Four Modulation transformers (XFORM) allow reshaping any control signal through a user-defined mapping
Arbitrary routing of modulation signals via Drag'n'Drop
High-quality master FX section: Distortion, Phaser, Chorus, Reverb, Delay, EQ
Very low CPU and RAM usage
Optional internal 2x oversampling
Preset browser
Cross-platform support: Windows / Linux / VST3 / CLAP
FREEWARE

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Latest Version 3.1.2 (Updated on 2024-04-10)

Version History

3.1.2 (2024-04-10) (Linux only)

BUGFIX: Mouse and keyboard interaction broken under XFCE and possibly some othe Linux DEs

3.1.1 (2024-04-07)

Support polyphonic glide
BUGFIX: Cannot create breakpoint via double-click in Osc waveform editor (regression from 3.1.0)
BUGFIX: Crash in Osc waveform editor (regression from 3.1.0)

3.1.0 (2024-04-01)

New Phaser FX modes (8-pole, Allpass)
New area selection in MSEG editor (Shift-Click-Drag) allows to edit as well as delete (via Delete/Backspace key) multiple breakpoints together
Add polarity switch for MSEG
Allow to switch presets via arrow keys in browser
Minor UI tweaks
BUGFIX: Regression from 3.0.1 where voices could continue processing while silent

3.0.1 (2024-03-17)

BUGFIX: Envelopes not retriggered in Poly mode if no mod target assigned
Added two more presets "Vox Humana" and "Kick Pure"

3.0 final (2024-03-15)

Double the modulation processing rate (allows faster attack and smoother audio rate modulation)
Support adjustment of modulation depth via mouse wheel
Visualize filter balance modulation range
Replace "D" switch (Direct out) in Osc panel with "Route to Filter" switch
UI polishing
Added a few more factory presets
VST3: support Sustain pedal
VST3: handle MIDI All Notes Off message
BUGFIX: Crash when attempting to add a 5th modulation to a parameter
BUGFIX: Sustain pedal handling in Legato voice mode
BUGFIX: Drawing errors in Osc harmonics editor
BUGFIX: Reverb FX sound broken when modulating time out of range

Download for Windows

CLAP / VST3 (ZIP file)

Windows 10 or later

Download for Linux