Overview

Capture the tone of a boutique synthesizer powered by 26 vacuum tubes
The Knifonium is an exceptionally beautiful-sounding analog synthesizer that is driven by a whopping 26 vacuum tubes. This upscale synth features two tube-driven oscillators, a 4th order ladder filter, a ring modulator, and a gorgeous “steampunk” aesthetic.

One of the most rare synths in production today
The original hardware units are handcrafted in small batches by high-end audio device designer Jonte Knif, with his incomparable sense for detail. As beautiful as these synthesizers are, the Knifonium is much more than a stunning piece of eye-candy capable of making “weird noises". It is an exceptionally musical and inspiring instrument with so many possibilities for shaping and modulating sound. Fewer than two dozen of them have ever been made.

Even more powerful than the original
Not only is the plugin version of the Knifonium more accessible and easy to use than the original, it also includes features that aren’t possible in the analog world. This plugin emulation of the Knifonium adds 8 independent voices to the synthesizer, opening up a new universe of possibilities. Imagine an atmospheric pad sound produced by a total of 208 vacuum tubes! It also includes mid-side and stereo spreading capabilities, a unison mode for even richer sounds than the original, and a carefully-curated BX effects section, including a vintage-style phaser, SPL EQ Ranger, Waveshaper, and more, giving you a wide range of effects that you will actually want to use.

Tested and approved by Jonte Knif himself
Lead designer Jonte Knife has been making vacuum tube-based hardware for mixing, mastering, and sound design for years, gaining critical acclaim for his tube and solid state designs alike. His Knifonium was carefully crafted to be the best in its class. Brainworx engineers modeled the complete circuits of the original hardware, including all 26 tubes, applying their patented Tolerance Modeling Technology to recreate the natural variations in envelope parameters, pitch, LFO speed, and more to make this recreation sound as realistically analog as possible. Jonte confirms that the plugin sounds and behaves just like the real thing. In his words "It sounds like nothing else".

Features

  • Up to 8-voice polyphony driven by up to 208 carefully-modeled vacuum tubes.
  • A powerful effects section featuring well-known studio-grade effects.
  • A complete arpeggiator including flexible panning functions.
  • Over 300 presets included by top sound designers.
  • Mid/Side processing and onboard stereo field enhancements.
  • TMT — Brainworx patent-registered “Tolerance Modeling Technology” (US Patent No. 10,725,727)

Audio Examples

Industry Reviews

  • Hannes Bieger

    Hannes Bieger

    Mixing Engineer, Music Producer & Electronic Music Live Act

    What I love about the plugin version is the added polyphony feature. This really opened up another world for me.

  • Junkie XL

    Junkie XL

    Multi Platinum Producer, Musician, Composer

    Knifonium is going to be huge for film scores - the gnarly nature of this synth will be able to power through any mix and deliver a huge amount of weight to anything it's unleashed on.

  • edIT Beats

    edIT Beats

    Music Producer (The Glitch Mob)

    Fat analog sound but it's all about that feedback knob.

  • Eauxmar

    Eauxmar

    Electronic Music Producer & Live Act

    Knifonium really is a Swiss Army knife of a synth. Nothing really sounds like it. As I’m always striving to make the most unique sounds ever, I feel like Knifonium is amazing at doing that. The… Read More

  • Cazzette

    Cazzette

    Electronic Music Producer & Live Act

    Super fun synth to work with. There is something very magical to the built-in saturation features and the GUI is really inspiring to me. I go to Knifonium for grit analog-sounding basslines.

Customer Reviews

  • Kinfonium

    ★★★★☆
    by Drew
    This is one of the most analog sounding softsynths I've heard. While it might seem to be limited it is actually capable of a truly wide range of sounds that sound great! The included effects are… Read More
  • Awesome Sounds

    ★★★★★
    by BakedBeats
    Very happy that I got this little big synth to my collection. REally enjoying the deep sounds.
  • Glad I bought it!

    ★★★★★
    by Boris M.
    This virtual instrument blew my mind. I was hesitant to buy it as I´m still an amateur when it comes to music production but I adapted to it pretty quickly. This is a beast of a plugin! The sounds… Read More
  • Not just a synth

    ★★★★★
    by Meindert
    Sorry, bought this a view months ago, not really had time. Initial thought, okay fine. Another sort of minimoog vst...
    today took some more time, wow, what a warm sound!
    If you like… Read More
  • Impressive!

    ★★★★★
    by AORUA
    This has to be one of the smoothest sounding, yet warmest synths I have ever heard. The sound it projects is beautiful. Super clarity with nothing harsh about the sound whatsoever. The more I mess… Read More

Specifications

Supported Plugin Formats
AAX Native, AU, AAX AudioSuite, VST2, VST3

Supported Operating Systems
macOS 14 down to macOS 11
Windows 11 down to Windows 10

Mac
Intel, or Apple Silicon

PC
x64-compatible CPU

System Requirements
Display resolution: 1440 × 900px or 1280 × 960px or higher
Memory: 2 GB RAM

Downloads

With the Installation Manager you can select, download & install all the Plugin Alliance products. Select any and all formats you need for your system! Mac & PC.

ChangeLog

Knifonium

Knif Audio Knifonium - Changelog

Version 1.4.1 (Oct 9, 2023)
- General: fixed CPU spikes on Mac OS

Version 1.4.0 (Aug 15, 2023)
- General: added native Apple Silicon compatibility for AAX
- General: added macOS Ventura support
- General: improved plugin loading time in the DAW
- General: fixed issue causing Logic to crash when closing the plugin UI
- General: improved font drawing behavior
- Fixed accumulated MIDI notes being played back on reactivating the plugin from bypass
- Fixed reverb module stereo processing
- Fixed audio tails being cut off early when stopping playback with AU

Version 1.3 (Mar 15, 2022)
- General: added native Apple Silicon compatibility for VST3, VST2 and AU
- General: added macOS Monterey support
- General: added Windows 11 and Windows 10 21H1 support
- General: discontinued Windows 7 support
- General: discontinued macOS 10.9 and 10.11 support
- General: fixed metering behavior in block sizes of 2048 samples and higher
- Fixed time signature and synchronized LFO speed issues
- Fixed MIDI CC file storage issues on Windows 10
- Fixed incorrect AAX Audio Suite listing
- Fixed delayline behavior when switching presets
- Fixed an issue where legato notes may get triggered by mistake

Version 1.2 (Mar 22, 2021)
- General: Compatibility with Logic on Apple Silicon devices via the Rosetta-2 layer
- General: Fixed possible artefacts when freezing or bouncing tracks in Pro Tools
- General: Fixed automation highlighting disappearing in Studio One
- General: Improved license dialog visibility in dark mode
- Fixed possible sound vanishing upon reloading a session
- Fixed crash with engaged Arp and duplicating a track in Reaper in VST2 format
- Fixed memory leaking

Version 1.1
- skipped

Version 1.0.1 (15 Jul, 2020)
- fixed aliasing issues at higher registers

Version 1.0 (26 Jun, 2020)
- Release version