Two synth plugins with MPE support have landed in recent weeks, and they sit at opposite ends of the design spectrum. Ultra is a feature-heavy multi-synthesis instrument that added MPE in its 1.1 update. Tupos MPE Subtractive is a compact, analog-style synth built around per-note expression from the start. If you are choosing your next expressive instrument, the contrast is instructive.
Ultra 1.1: MPE added to a deep engine
Ultra comes from Ultra Audio, founded by Nigel Stanford, a developer, sound designer and visual artist based in Wellington, New Zealand. It is not related to Ultra Analog by AAS, which is worth knowing if you are searching for it. According to Synth Anatomy's coverage, the plugin layers five kinds of source: a patented wavetable engine called Ultrawave, a classic sampler, a virtual analog section with three multi-wave oscillators and cross modulation, a supersaw oscillator, and a noise and sub-oscillator layer.
The 1.1 update is free for existing users and adds full MPE support. You switch it on in the plugin settings. Once enabled, MPE brings timbre and pitch modulation sources into the modulation engine, and it can also drive the macro controls. The update also adds 200 new presets and an expanded modulation engine.
The price is $149, down from $249 at launch, and a rent-to-own option is mentioned. Ultra ships as VST3 and AU for macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel) and Windows.
The takeaway for expressive players: Ultra is a sound-design workhorse where MPE is one more modulation source. That is a strength if you like to route slide and pressure to macros and shape a complex patch live. It is a weakness if you want an instrument whose factory sounds were designed around per-note gestures from day one, so audition how the presets respond to pressure and slide before committing.
Tupos MPE Subtractive: expression-first and inexpensive
Tupos MPE Subtractive was released on 12 October 2026 and is the second instrument in the Tupos MPE line, after Tupos MPE FM. It costs €19.99 from the developer's site for macOS and Windows in VST3 and AU formats, and one licence covers up to three computers. KVR's product listing also shows a €9.99 App Store version for Mac and iPad.
The sound engine is classic: two oscillators with sub and noise layers, a resonant filter with low-pass, band-pass, high-pass and notch modes at 12 or 24 dB, unison, pulse-width modulation, hard sync, cross-modulation and analog drift. There are filter, amplitude and pitch envelopes, a performance LFO, eight effect slots, an arpeggiator and a step sequencer.
The MPE design is what stands out. Expression is assigned directly to the knobs, and each knob shows source badges for pressure, slide, velocity, mod wheel, expression, Swell and LFO. With an MPE controller, every note gets its own pitch bend, pressure and slide. A standard keyboard with aftertouch applies pressure to the whole voice instead, so the instrument stays usable without MPE hardware. Zones can be set to Lower, Upper or Both, multi-channel mode is supported, and controller profiles are included for ROLI, LinnStrument and MIDI guitar.
Which one fits your rig?
Choose Ultra if you want a single deep instrument that spans wavetable, sampling, analog and supersaw sounds, and you are happy to build your own expressive mappings. The free 1.1 update is good news for anyone who bought it at launch.
Choose Tupos if you want to test MPE without much financial commitment, or you want an instrument where assigning pressure and slide to a filter takes one click. At €19.99 it is an easy way to check how your controller feels with a subtractive patch before investing in larger libraries.
Many players will want both. They answer different questions: Ultra asks what you can build with five engines and a large modulation system, while Tupos asks what happens when a simple synth treats every finger as its own voice. Whichever you try, remember to confirm your controller's MPE zone settings match the plugin, as a mismatch is the most common reason expression appears to do nothing.