PG-8X

If you make synthwave, vaporwave, or any 80s-inspired electronic music, PG-8X should be at the top of your download list. It emulates the Roland JX-8P hardware synthesizer, and the virtual instrument is remarkably close to its analog counterpart. The warm pads, fat bass sounds, and analog leads all have that unmistakable 80s character. I find myself reaching for PG-8X whenever a track needs that Roland poly sound, and it delivers every time.

The plugin is straightforward to program, with a layout that closely follows the original JX-8P panel. A collection of presets is included to get you started, but the real fun is tweaking patches yourself. For more vintage analog sounds, check out OB-Xd by discoDSP (listed below), which emulates the Oberheim OB-X, OB-Xa, and OB-8 hardware synthesizers. Interestingly, OB-Xd’s filter was also used in Dexed, the FM synthesizer listed earlier on this page.