The Plasma Star. Engineered in ice. Born to burn.
From the golden age of analog to the next generation of sound.
Meet The Plasma Star. An extraordinarily powerful virtual analog synthesizer that brings classic analog character, expansive stereo synthesis and vast sound-shaping freedom together in one instrument.
Create liquid acid basslines, warm vintage polysynths, towering analog brass, shimmering stereo pads and sounds that push far beyond the familiar.
Explore a vast collection of filters, powerful oscillators and deeply expressive voices. Bring every supported parameter to life with Xionia’s Motion Waves. Shape complex sounds with immediate, intuitive control.
From timeless warmth to completely new sonic territory.
One instrument. An extraordinary universe of analog sound.
Coming soon to
- macOS
- Windows
The sound
Every shade of analog.
There’s something magical about the way a great analog synthesizer feels.
The weight of a bassline. The movement of a resonant filter. The richness of stacked oscillators. The way a chord fills the stereo field, alive with subtle movement.
The Plasma Star puts that experience at your fingertips.
Discover the character of classic bass synthesizers, the warmth and elegance of vintage polyphony, and the enormous creative range of modern analog-inspired sound design.
Build punchy, focused basses with beautifully controlled envelopes. Create expressive leads that sing, growl or scream. Explore wide stereo textures with independent movement in every voice.
From simple, immediate sounds to intricate, continuously evolving instruments, The Plasma Star gives you deep control over the character of sound.
Warmth
Beautifully rounded basses, silky pads, rich synth strings and the unmistakable depth of analog-inspired synthesis.
Power
Commanding oscillators, aggressive filters, resonant acid lines and massive unison sounds that cut through a mix.
Dimension
Genuine stereo oscillators, expressive stereo filtering and evolving spatial movement that bring remarkable width and depth to every performance.
Expression
Responsive envelopes, individual voice character and Motion Waves that make even the simplest sounds feel alive.
From the whisper to the roar.
The oscillator engine
Power at the source.
Every legendary synthesizer begins with exceptional oscillators.
The Plasma Star combines the richness of classic analog waveforms with a flexible modern oscillator architecture.
Explore pure, commanding bass foundations. Build dense, detuned oscillator stacks. Shape pulse-width movement, hard sync, harmonic interactions and expansive unison textures.
Then take your sound into stereo.
Independent oscillator width, detuning, phase and spatial movement create rich, immersive sound directly from the synthesis engine. Go from the focused power of a monophonic bass to a vast stereo pad, with every oscillator playing its own part in the sound.
Rich at the centre. Immense at the edges.
The filter collection
From silk to savage.
Few things define the character of a synthesizer more than its filters.
The Plasma Star gives you an extensive palette of analog-inspired and original filter designs, each with its own personality.
Explore smooth, musical low-pass filters, resonant acid filtering, powerful ladder-inspired responses, expressive multimode designs and more adventurous tonal transformations.
Move from warm and rounded to sharp and aggressive. Push resonance into commanding sweeps. Add harmonic weight with drive and saturation.
And go further with two independent filters. Route oscillators through different filter paths. Combine responses in series or parallel. Blend their characters and create sounds whose harmonic structures develop in unexpected ways.
With stereo filtering, left and right channels can follow different tonal paths. A small offset creates beautiful width. Independent Motion Waves can turn those differences into constantly evolving movement.
The result is a remarkable range of sound, from classic analog simplicity to complex, animated stereo textures.
A world of filtering. Your sound, your character.
Classic character. Modern freedom.
The sounds you know. Places you’ve never been.
The Plasma Star brings decades of analog synthesis inspiration together with a new world of possibilities.
Start with liquid acid sequences, expressive slides, accents and biting resonance.
Explore the rich warmth of classic polysynths, with solid oscillators, deep bass, lush chorus and beautifully controlled envelopes.
Build imposing analog brass, vivid leads and sweeping chords, drawing on the expressive character of legendary polyphonic instruments.
Then take the sound somewhere new.
Expand a simple oscillator into a wide stereo voice. Send different sources through contrasting filters. Animate resonance and harmonic colour independently. Use Motion Waves to build evolving relationships that would take an enormous modular system to recreate.
Start with a familiar sound. Follow it somewhere extraordinary.
The entire history of analog inspiration. A new future to explore.
True stereo synthesis
A new dimension of analog.
Stereo is part of The Plasma Star’s sound-generation architecture.
Create width directly inside the oscillators, shape left and right channels through independent filtering, and give individual voices their own position and movement.
Build delicate spatial textures that gently evolve as you hold a chord. Create enormous supersized oscillator stacks whose harmonics move across the stereo field.
Let one filter open while another closes. Give different channels independent modulation patterns, or bring them together through a single expressive gesture.
Every sound can occupy a space of its own, from tight, focused mono to vast, immersive stereo.
Feel the sound expand.
Motion Waves
Every parameter. A world of movement.
- Oscillator pitch
- Pulse width
- Filter cutoff
- Resonance
- Drive
At the heart of The Plasma Star is Motion Waves, Xionia’s expressive approach to synthesis, in which movement is fundamental to the instrument.
Bring oscillators, filters, envelopes, effects and other supported parameters to life with independent, evolving motion. Create fluid sweeps, precise rhythmic patterns and complex modulation that develops over time.
Then connect the movements themselves. Let one Motion Wave change another’s depth or speed. Synchronise movements to your music or allow them to evolve through independent cycles.
Animate a filter while its resonance follows a different rhythm. Create oscillator movement that responds to the way you play. Build sounds that slowly reveal new harmonics and textures as they evolve. Complex sonic behaviour becomes something you can shape naturally.
Motion Waves are part of Xionia Core, so every star comes complete, engineered for exceptional sound generation, sound processing and Motion Wave modulation. StarShaper adds the ability to interconnect everything, so whole instruments, Motion Waves and all, can shape one another.
Movement is part of the sound.
Performance and expression
An instrument that responds.
The Plasma Star gives you the tools to shape a remarkable sound, and the expression to make it your own.
Explore precise monophonic basses, rich polyphony and expansive unison.
Bring character to individual voices. Shape attacks, releases and transitions with responsive envelopes. Use velocity, aftertouch and MPE expression to influence the smallest details or transform the entire instrument with one gesture.
Create compelling musical patterns through arpeggiation, accents, slides and harmonic tools.
Make a bassline move with precision. Let a pad grow and transform as you hold a chord. Bring a lead from a delicate whisper to a formidable roar through expressive performance.
Every sound has somewhere to go.
Your hands decide where.
Designed for the studio
Extraordinary sound. Intelligent performance.
The Plasma Star combines sophisticated synthesis with a streamlined processing architecture engineered for demanding modern production.
Efficient oscillator generation, carefully selected filter algorithms and intelligent processing allow the instrument to deliver exceptional sound quality while making practical use of your system’s resources.
Explore intricate modulation, stacked oscillators, substantial polyphony and complex stereo textures. Build powerful individual patches or bring several instances of The Plasma Star into an arrangement.
Depth when you want it. Immediacy when you need it.
More freedom to create.
One of seven
A complete instrument in its own right.
The Plasma Star is one of seven Xionia stars, each a standalone synthesizer built around one synthesis engine, with its own name, sound, visual personality and dedicated interface.
Picture an exacting, glacial machine holding a miniature star. Xionia’s design is the ice, silver, crystalline and precise. The sound is the fire of burning plasma, turbulent energy and immense power, in glowing copper, molten orange and incandescent white. Not flames everywhere. Controlled combustion.
Built on Xionia Core
One instrument. An entire universe ahead.
The Plasma Star is a complete Xionia synthesizer, with its own oscillators, filters, effects, Motion Waves, musical tools and expressive controls. It’s also part of something greater.
Built on Xionia Core, The Plasma Star shares its synthesis foundation with StarShaper, Xionia Audio’s instrument-creation environment. Bring your sounds into StarShaper with their synthesis, effects, Motion Waves, expression and musical behaviour intact and editable.
Connect analog Motion Waves to harmonic synthesis. Use percussion patterns to reshape filters. Let mathematical systems influence the character of entire instruments.
Layer sounds. Connect their parameters. Build relationships between their movements. Then turn the entire creation into a new, playable instrument of your own.
Start with The Plasma Star. Shape an entire universe.
Existing Xionia customers will be offered a crossgrade into StarShaper, with the details announced alongside its pricing.
Made by Xionia Audio
Precision creates possibility.
The Plasma Star brings Xionia’s approach to sound engineering, creative technology and intuitive interface design together in one exceptional instrument.
From timeless analog character to breathtaking modern synthesis, every part of the experience is built around one idea, that great technology should open possibilities rather than stand between you and the music.
The Plasma Star is designed and built by Xionia Audio, the pro audio division of Xionia Ltd, whose small team has more than 30 years of experience in deep software and technical development.
Friendly licensing
One-off payment, no subscription and no dongle, so licensing stays out of your way and your time goes into music rather than admin.
Fast, expert support
Help from a small team that knows every instrument inside out, because we built them. Urgent issues are answered within one working day, and everything else within 2 to 3 working days.
Frequent updates
We keep improving our instruments after release, with frequent updates that refine them and keep them working with new operating systems and hosts.
Built for the long run
Xionia is here for the long term. We make instruments to learn deeply and rely on for years, and design them so the sounds you make today keep opening in future versions and across the Xionia family.
The Plasma Star. Engineered in ice. Born to burn.
Development status
In development. Coming soon.
- Engine
- Virtual analog
- Platforms and formats
- Coming to macOS and Windows, as VST3, AU, AAX and CLAP plug-ins and a standalone app
- DAWs
- Designed for all the major DAWs, including Ableton Live, Bitwig Studio, Cubase, Fender Studio Pro, FL Studio, Logic Pro, Pro Tools and REAPER
- Release date, price and launch features
- Announced before release
First Light
Be first to hear it burn.
Join First Light for sound previews, first looks at the instruments in action and release news from Xionia Audio, including The Plasma Star.
First Light members will get an introductory offer on each instrument at its release, with the details announced alongside its pricing.
Once you’re in, tell us what you make and what you’re reaching for. We read every reply, and what you tell us helps shape our instruments.
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Frequently asked questions
About The Plasma Star, how it fits with StarShaper, and what comes with it.
What is The Plasma Star?
A virtual analog synthesizer from Xionia Audio, in development and coming soon. It brings classic analog character, expansive stereo synthesis and vast sound-shaping freedom together in one instrument. It’s one of the seven Xionia stars, standalone synthesizers each built around one synthesis engine, with its own name, sound, visual personality and interface.
What filters does it have?
An extensive palette of analog-inspired and original designs, each with its own personality, from smooth, musical low-pass filters, resonant acid filtering, powerful ladder-inspired responses and expressive multimode designs to more adventurous tonal transformations, with drive and saturation for harmonic weight. Two independent filters can run in series or parallel. The full collection will be confirmed before release.
What does true stereo synthesis mean?
Stereo is part of The Plasma Star’s sound-generation architecture, so width can begin in the oscillators themselves, with independent width, detuning, phase and spatial movement. Stereo filtering can take the left and right channels down different tonal paths, and individual voices can have a position and movement of their own, from tight, focused mono to vast, immersive stereo.
Is it monophonic or polyphonic?
Both. Play precise monophonic basses with slides and accents, rich polyphony or expansive unison, with velocity, aftertouch and MPE expression shaping anything from the smallest detail to the whole instrument.
Do I need StarShaper for Motion Waves?
No. Motion Waves are part of Xionia Core, so every star comes complete with them. In The Plasma Star, each supported parameter can have a Motion Wave of its own, with its own speed, rhythm and phase, and the waves can influence one another within the instrument. StarShaper adds the ability to interconnect whole instruments, Motion Waves and all.
Will it have effects?
Yes. Effects are part of Xionia Core, so The Plasma Star includes Xionia’s shared effects library, from EQ, dynamics and saturation to modulation, delay, reverb and formant shaping, with dedicated controls, routing and Motion Waves on their parameters. Every star has the same library, so you won’t need one star to use another’s effects. The full library will be confirmed before release.
Does it use AI?
Only where it helps. Intelligence is part of Xionia Core, so The Plasma Star can draw on it within its own instrument, with tools that analyse a sound and suggest changes you can see, adjust or reject. They’re optional, and designed to run on your own computer with no cloud connection required. The intelligence changes the parameters. The instrument’s own engine still makes every sound. StarShaper brings the same intelligence to the relationships between instruments. Which tools The Plasma Star launches with will be confirmed before release.
When will it be available?
The Plasma Star is coming soon. Release timing, pricing and the launch feature set will be announced before availability. Join First Light to hear first.
How does it relate to StarShaper?
StarShaper is Xionia Audio’s instrument creator, and it brings all seven stars together, The Plasma Star among them. The Plasma Star shapes everything within itself; StarShaper shapes the relationships between complete instruments, so they can move, trigger and transform one another. The Plasma Star is built on the same technology, Xionia Core, so the sounds you make with it open in StarShaper with their synthesis, effects, Motion Waves and expression still editable. Existing Xionia customers will be offered a crossgrade into StarShaper, with the details announced alongside its pricing.
Which platforms and plug-in formats will it support?
The Plasma Star is coming to macOS (Apple silicon and Intel) and Windows (64-bit). It will run as a plug-in on macOS (VST3, AU, AAX or CLAP) and Windows (VST3, AAX or CLAP), and as a standalone app on both. Minimum system requirements will be published before release.
Will it work in my DAW?
The Plasma Star is designed to work in all the major DAWs, including Ableton Live, Bitwig Studio, Cubase, Fender Studio Pro, FL Studio, Logic Pro, Pro Tools and REAPER, and in other hosts that load VST3, AU, AAX or CLAP plug-ins.
Who is making The Plasma Star?
Xionia Audio, the pro audio division of Xionia Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales. Xionia’s founder, Stephen Ankelen, is a hands-on technical director and senior developer with more than 30 years’ experience building production software, and he designs and codes The Plasma Star himself, as part of a team of experienced senior developers. His background includes enterprise software engineering for aerospace, extensive work integrating AI into real-world systems, and a long history in music technology and audio engineering.
How will licensing work?
One-off payment, no subscription and no dongle. Pricing and the full licence terms will be published before release.
What support and updates will there be?
Support comes from the team that builds The Plasma Star. We answer urgent issues, such as a problem that stops you working, within one working day, and everything else within 2 to 3 working days. After release, frequent updates will refine the instrument and keep it working with new operating systems and hosts.
Can I hear it yet?
Not yet. Sound previews come to First Light first, and every recording we publish will say what it was made with.