Toybox Audio has released version 3.0 of its hybrid wavetable synth, Buzz Zone, as a free update for existing users. According to Synth Anatomy's coverage, it is a large release, with new oscillator modes, 25 new effects and a redesigned interface. For players of MPE controllers, a few of the additions deserve a closer look.
What is new in 3.0
On the sound side, Buzz Zone 3.0 adds 16 new modulation modes for its oscillators, including FM, AM, hard sync and eight phase distortion variants. These can be applied to the main oscillator or to each unison voice. A new sub-oscillator routing option lets you send the sub to the output, the filter or the phase distortion section.
The effects section grows by 25 reverbs and effects, and the envelope editor gets a major upgrade. You now have Smart, Lines and Steps editing modes, freehand drawing and recording, grid snapping, lasso selection and per-envelope presets. Envelope banks can crossfade between two shapes, and that crossfade can be driven by velocity, mod wheel, aftertouch or pitch bend.
Other additions include a Utility Strip for MIDI processing (arpeggiators, note repeaters, chord generators, LFOs and CC mappers), snapshots that store up to 64 sound variations you can morph between, six new sequencers, a global tuning library with historical, just intonation and world tunings, and more than 100 new presets.
The expressive angle
Two features stand out for anyone who plays with pressure, slide and per-finger pitch. First, the update introduces per-voice and per-note pitch bend modes. Second, the new sequencers each include a piano-roll editor with per-note expression editing.
Those are the building blocks of expressive playing. In an MPE setup, each note travels on its own MIDI channel, so pitch bend, pressure and timbre can be shaped independently for every finger. A synth that handles pitch bend per note, rather than applying one bend to the whole chord, is a good sign.
There is an important caveat. The coverage we have seen does not state that Buzz Zone 3.0 supports MPE. Aftertouch is mentioned only as a modulation source for the envelope banks, and per-note expression is mentioned in the context of the sequencers. Per-note pitch bend modes are encouraging, but they are not the same thing as full MPE reception of pitch bend, pressure and slide on separate channels. Check the official product page or the manual before assuming it will respond to your controller the way a dedicated MPE instrument does.
A quick way to test it
If you own Buzz Zone or plan to try the demo, a five-minute test tells you most of what you need to know:
- Enable MPE mode in your controller or in your DAW's MPE settings, if the plugin offers an MPE switch.
- Play a chord and bend only one note. If the other notes stay put, per-note pitch bend is working.
- Press harder on a single key. Map aftertouch or pressure to filter cutoff and listen to see whether it affects one voice or all of them.
- Slide on the vertical axis of your controller and see whether a slide-mapped parameter responds per note.
If the plugin treats everything as channel-wide, you can still use it with an MPE controller, but you will lose per-note independence. Many players handle this with a controller's single-channel mode, accepting that pressure and bend affect the whole chord.
Price, formats and availability
The 3.0 update is free for current owners. The article mentions an introductory price of $48, though it does not make clear whether that applies to new customers. The synth runs as VST3 and AU on macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel) and Windows. An iPadOS AUv3 version is planned but, at the time of writing, not yet released.
Why it matters
Buzz Zone 3.0 reflects a wider trend: synth developers are adding per-note features such as per-note pitch bend and expression editing even when full MPE support is not advertised. For expressive players, that is good news, because it moves the whole market closer to treating the individual note as the unit of performance. Until MPE support is confirmed in writing, test before you commit, and keep an eye on the developer's release notes.
For a broader look at what to ask any plugin developer, see our guide to what MPE support in a plugin update really means. For background on the standard itself, the MIDI Association publishes the MPE specification.