Isla Electronics ASYX brings the Alesis Andromeda A6 to plugin form

Isla Electronics, the company founded by developer Brad Holland, has released ASYX, a software recreation of the Alesis Andromeda A6, the 16-voice analog polysynth Alesis released in 2000. Isla Electronics bills it as the first authentic emulation of the instrument, with no samples and no Kontakt. It is an independent project: the official product page states that Alesis neither partners with nor endorses it.

What ASYX recreates

ASYX follows the A6 architecture, one of the most complete analog polysynths of its era:

• two oscillators per voice, modeled on the A6’s custom oscillator chips (themselves based on the Moog 921B module), with simultaneous waveforms, sub-oscillators, pulse-width modulation, hard and soft sync, and frequency modulation (FM);
• a pre-filter mixer that also takes noise and ring modulation;
• two filters: a 12 dB per octave multimode derived from the Oberheim SEM (low-pass, high-pass, band-pass, notch) and a 24 dB per octave low-pass derived from the Moog 904A module, in series or in parallel, with separate pre- and post-filter mixing;
• three LFOs with six waveforms each, with clock sync;
• three seven-stage envelopes: delay, attack, two decays, sustain and two releases, with nine selectable curves, looping and retrigger. It extends the four-stage model covered in our ADSR envelope guide;
• a modulation matrix where each route has its own source, destination, amount and offset, plus sample and hold and a tracking generator (which reshapes a modulation source along a curve);
• a 16-step sequencer, an arpeggiator and 29 digital effects, all saved with each program.

A master Analogue control sets the simulated circuit instability (oscillator drift, voice-to-voice variations in filter, envelope timing and level). Mix mode stacks up to 16 parts in one instance, each with its own program, MIDI channel, key range and output, matching the A6’s multitimbral mode. For the difference between voices, polyphony and multitimbrality, see our explainer on synth voice count.

The link to the hardware A6

For Andromeda owners, ASYX doubles as an editor: A6 Link exchanges settings over MIDI in both directions, imports original SysEx programs and banks, and sends a program or a whole bank back to the synth, in the A6’s 128-program format. Polyphonic aftertouch, however, is a software-only feature. More than 1,200 programs are included, among them the factory sounds and banks by Rob Papen, G-Storm and xu.sounddesign.

Isla Electronics has published an official demo:

Who it’s for, what it costs, what it competes with

Who it’s for. Fans of 2000s analog polysynths who never got hold of an A6, now scarce on the used market; Andromeda owners, who gain a full editor and bank backup; producers who want a big two-filter architecture inside the DAW.

What it costs. £99 at launch, until November 5, 2026, then £149, per Isla Electronics’ store. Perpetual licence, usable on three computers, future versions included. Formats: standalone, VST3 and Audio Unit on macOS (Big Sur or later, Intel and Apple Silicon), standalone and VST3 on 64-bit Windows 10 or later; a Linux version is announced. No AAX or CLAP: the differences between these formats are covered in our plugin formats guide. No trial version is mentioned.

What it competes with. The natural rival is the Andromeda itself, long out of production, with used prices that vary widely. In software, no other emulation of this model exists so far; the alternatives are virtual polysynths with a related approach, such as discoDSP TED-8, which recreates the Oberheim TEO-5 and its SEM filter, or u-he Diva, which offers several analog filter models. ASYX stands out with its dual SEM and Moog filtering, its seven-stage envelopes and above all its link to the original hardware, which none of those rivals offers for the A6.

More software recreations are in our Vintage Emulations section.