Roland, Native Instruments, Slate Digital: 3 Strong Plugin Deals for Digital Synthesis, FM Sounds, and Vocal Tuning
A Digital '90s Classic, the Legendary FM Synthesizer, and a Modern Pitch Corrector on Sale
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Roland, Native Instruments, Slate Digital: 3 Strong Plugin Deals for Digital Synthesis, FM Sounds, and Vocal Tuning · Source: GEARNEWS
Roland brought the JD-800 back this week, that digital cult synth from 1991 that even future Spectrasonics founder Eric Persing had a hand in building. And for €68.43. Things get even cheaper from there: Native Instruments FM8, the successor to the legendary Yamaha DX series, is currently down to just €9.91, a price that makes you look twice. Rounding things out is Slate Digital MetaTune, a pitch corrector that handles both invisible correction and full-on robo vocal effects, for €73.88. Three completely different tools that together cover vintage synthesis, FM sounds, and modern vocal tuning.
Software Deals of the Week
Roland JD-800: Now 54% Off
Roland launched the JD-800 as a standalone plugin for the synth’s 30th anniversary, after the classic had previously only been available as a Model Expansion for Zenology. The 1991 synth ran on linear arithmetic synthesis, the same technology behind the famous Roland D-50, and Eric Persing, who later founded Spectrasonics, was a key part of its development.
Every patch runs up to four independent voices, each with selectable D-50-style waveforms, a resonant multimode filter, three multi-stage envelope generators, and two LFOs. Roland didn’t lean on simple samples for the emulation. Instead they combined the original waveform data with advanced modeling techniques. The effects section got a real expansion too, with seven freely reorderable effects including distortion, enhancer, spectrum EQ, phaser, chorus, and a triple-tap delay, plus a master EQ. All 64 original hardware presets are included, alongside 64 new patches built for a more current sound.
In practice, the Roland JD-800 is a natural fit for those glassy, shimmering digital tones that defined ’90s productions from 808 State to Underworld. Splitting all four voices individually across the keyboard opens up complex layer and split configurations that would be genuinely tough to pull off with the original hardware. The massive interface, faithfully recreated down to the layout, scales freely for high-resolution screens, which makes working with all those controls a lot less fiddly.
Through September 30, 2026, grab the Roland JD-800 here at Plugin Boutique* for €68.43 instead of €151.13 with 54% off.
Native Instruments FM8: Now 90% Off
Native Instruments released FM8 as the successor to the celebrated FM7, and in the process pushed well past what classic Yamaha DX-style FM synthesis could do. Instead of sticking to the fixed algorithms the DX7 and its relatives forced on you, FM8 gives you a fully open modulation matrix with six operators, plus distortion and filter operators that go beyond traditional FM architecture entirely.
The Easy Edit page gives you an accessible way into what’s normally a pretty intimidating type of synthesis, since complex parameters get controlled automatically through simple knobs. A graphical sound morphing feature lets you blend between four presets sitting at the corners of a vector-style interface, which is great for evolving, organic sounds. Twelve solid effects, including phaser, flanger, tube amp, and overdrive, round out the signal. Over 1,200 factory presets plus the ability to import classic DX and TX sysex patches make FM8 worth a look even if you’re coming from the original hardware.
At home in the studio, FM8 covers a genuinely massive sonic range, from those signature bell-like electric pianos and DX basses to complex, evolving pads and percussive textures. The arpeggiator, running up to 32 steps, works essentially like its own step sequencer and opens up rhythmic options that go way beyond a typical arpeggio pattern. For under ten euros, FM8 is one of the flat-out best deals this week.
Through September 30, 2026, grab Native Instruments FM8 here at Plugin Boutique* for €9.91 instead of €105.91 with 90% off.
Slate Digital MetaTune: Now 50% Off
Slate Digital built MetaTune as a real-time pitch corrector meant to handle two very different jobs at once: subtle, invisible correction and loud, obvious tuning effects. The plugin is designed for monophonic sources like vocals or solo instruments, though the Groups feature lets you apply it across multiple tracks at the same time.
Negative Speed produces ultrafast, robotic corrections that go well beyond anything a standard pitch corrector offers. The Note Stabilizer keeps unwanted pitch flutter in check, even at the most extreme settings. HeatMaps show incoming and outgoing pitch in real time, which makes landing on the right note a lot easier without needing deep scale or chord knowledge. A built-in doubler delivers wide, thickened vocal sounds right inside the same plugin, no extra instance required.
In practice, MetaTune works just as well for quiet live correction as it does for the hard, obviously tuned vocal sounds all over pop, trap, and dance productions right now. The Groups function lets you control several MetaTune instances at once, which saves real time on productions with dense vocal stacks. If you’ve ever manually kept a handful of instances in sync by hand, you’ll appreciate that workflow shortcut immediately.
Through October 1, 2026, grab Slate Digital MetaTune here at Plugin Boutique* for €73.88 instead of €147.76 with 50% off.
*Note: This article about this week’s software deals with the plugins Roland JD-800, Native Instruments FM8, Slate Digital MetaTune contains affiliate links that help us keep Gearnews running. The price for you always stays the same! If you buy something through these links, we receive a small commission. Thanks for your support!
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