Free updates are common. Free updates that arguably justify a paid version number are not. Expressive E has released version 2.6 of Noisy 2, and it rebuilds a substantial part of the synth's engine without asking existing owners for a cent.

Noisy 2 is a bi-timbral physical modeling plugin with an unusual premise. Most physical modeling instruments offer a menu of exciters — mallets, bows, plectra, breath — that set resonators in motion. Noisy 2 uses noise as its only exciter source, then shapes what comes out of the resonators. It is a narrower starting point than something like AAS Chromaphone, but the constraint gives the synth a recognizable character: airy, granular, and unusually responsive to how you actually touch the keys.

Eleven resonators instead of five

The headline of update 2.6 is the resonator section. The count goes from five types to eleven, with five entirely new models joining the existing set.

The analog side gains a unison resonator built for wide, thick, detuned tones — a distinctly non-acoustic sound that most physical modeling synths never attempt. More interesting for sound designers are the two FM resonators. Plain FM handles the crystalline territory: bells, glassy mallets, metallic plucks. FM Feedback goes the other way, into noisier and less predictable material.

Two harmonic models follow. Harmonics brings additive synthesis into the resonator chain, letting you sculpt broad harmonic spectra rather than model a physical body. Wave Map is a 2D wavetable resonator navigated with an X/Y pad. Custom wavetables cannot be loaded yet, which is the most obvious candidate for a future update.

Remember that Noisy 2 is bi-timbral with three resonators per layer, so six resonators can run simultaneously. With eleven types to choose from, the combinatorial range of the instrument is genuinely different from what it was a week ago.

Five new noise types have also been added on the exciter side, which matters more than it sounds — in an architecture where noise is the only excitation source, each new noise color changes the attack behavior of every resonator downstream.

Effects that survive heavy modulation

The FX section receives nine new processors across the two customizable slots, alongside the fixed stereo delay and plate reverb. Expressive E describes them as fluid effects designed to be modulated hard without artifacts — Galactic Vibe, a second amp simulation, tube distortion and others.

This is a bigger deal for MPE players than a feature list suggests. Effects parameters in Noisy 2 are wired into the same MPE modulation system as the synthesis engine, so pressure, slide and per-note pitch bend can drive reverb size, distortion drive or delay feedback per note. That kind of integration is essentially impossible to reproduce with a separate effect plugin downstream, because an insert effect sees a summed stereo signal with no idea which note contributed what.

The modulation model is still the point

Noisy 2's real signature is not its resonators but how it handles modulation. There are no traditional ADSR envelopes. Instead, four expression blocks function as attack-release envelopes fed by MPE motion, blending pressure, aftertouch and envelope contour to taste. Conventional note-on/note-off triggering remains available for players on standard MIDI keyboards.

With an MPE controller connected, the synth exposes gesture-based triggers derived from Expressive E's work on the Osmose: push (accelerating downward within the key travel), lift (accelerating upward), and shake (alternating). These fire sound impulses at any point in the key's motion rather than only at the moment of contact — which is why the instrument behaves so differently under an Osmose, a LinnStrument or a Haken Continuum than under a standard keyboard.

Version 2.6 ships 150 new presets, bringing the library to roughly 1,400 patches split between MPE-optimized and standard MIDI sets. The MPE bank is the one worth exploring first if you own an expressive controller; the patches are voiced with the assumption that you will be moving continuously rather than pressing and holding.

Availability

Update 2.6 is free for existing Noisy 2 owners. To mark the release, Expressive E has dropped the full price to $89 from $149 for a limited period, with Noisy 1 upgrades at 40% off. It runs as VST, VST3 and AU on macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel) and Windows, and requires an iLok account for registration.

For anyone building an MPE-focused plugin collection, this update moves Noisy 2 up the shortlist. Physical modeling and per-note expression are a natural pairing — resonant bodies respond to continuous energy input in a way that subtractive synths simply do not — and an engine with eleven resonator types wired into gesture-driven modulation covers a lot of ground for the price.

More information: Expressive E — Noisy 2 · Coverage at Synth Anatomy