DME
GPL-2.0 license
Ensoniq® SD-1 32-Voice VST/AU Emulation
MAME®-based VST3/AU cycle-accurate emulation of the Ensoniq® SD-1 32-Voice synthesizer built with JUCE®
 Ensoniq SD-1 with Compact panel in FL Studio
 Ensoniq SD-1 Preset/File Manager
Ensoniq SD-1
The SD-1 (1990) comes from a long line of Ensoniq's evolving Transwave® wavetable digital synthesizers. It began with Ensoniq's earliest synthesizer, the ESQ-1. That led to the SQ-80, then the VFX and VFX-SD (the latter featuring an on-board sequencer) and then to the SD-1 (and it eventually led to the Fizmo). The SD-1 allows for additive synthesis using waveform modulation, a sort of wavetable synthesis. This puts it into a unique class of digital synthesizers along with the PPG Wave series and Waldorf Microwave series.
The SD-1 can create all sorts of acoustic, electric, digital, and analog-like sounds. Its piano sound has over 1 MB of 16-bit waveforms to give it a full and rich realistic tone not found in other digital synthesizers of the time.
A single patch can contain up to 6 of the 168 waves in its ROM memory that can be combined and layered. Advanced and analog-like synth parameters including its dual multi-mode digital filters, three 11-stage envelopes, LFO, and 15 modulation sources allow you to further shape and morph your sounds. There's even a built-in 24-bit VLSI dual effects processor with reverb, chorus, flanging and delay. The SD-1 also has a standard 61-note keyboard with velocity sensitivity, polyphonic aftertouch and full MIDI implementation with 12 channels for multitimbral functions as well as four 16-bit DAC outputs. Like the VFX-SD, the SD-1 has a professional quality on-board sequencer making it a complete all-in-one music production workstation. This is a 24-track sequencer with 25,000 note capacity and it holds up to 60 sequences and 20 songs. There is quantization (96 ppqn), real-time or step entry, looped or linear mode, and auto-punch in/out. Tracks can be set to control the SD-1's internal voices or external MIDI equipment, or both at the same time! An on-board 3.5" disk drive allows you to store your programs, sequences, songs, and even MIDI SysEx data. The SD-1 is compatible with all VFX and VFX-SD program librarys too! Source
About this project
We are Sojus Records, one of the longest-running netlabels still active. We are musicians, not programmers, but we love old synths and emulations. We decided to build a fully featured VST3/AU version of the MAME-emulated Ensoniq SD-1/32, which has never been emulated before. Thanks to the recent AI coding revolution, we have successfully built it. Finally a good use of vibe coding! This proof-of-concept is an important step for both musicians and coders. We are looking forward to bringing other MAME synths to life in the future!
Download
IMPORTANT - ROM Files Required! Read this section for more info!
Win x64 VST3 W10+
Win x64 VST3 oldskool AVX1 for pre-Haswell machines
macOS Universal Binary VST3 macOS 11 or newer Read this section for more info!
macOS Universal Binary AU SELECTED DAWS ONLY macOS 11 or newer Read this section for more info!
Linux VST3 AVX2
Linux VST3 Generic for oldskool CPUs
What's working?
Everything. Check the original manual here: SD-1 Manual at Polynominal
Features:
NEW: Full featured preset and disk manager.
Browse and play any preset with MIDI keyboard from:
internal: RAM, ROM 0 and 1, attached cartridge
any external folders: supported VFX, VFX-SD, SD1 .SYX files, cartridge files, .HFE/.IMG disk images.
Instant single program, preset and full .SYX bank import.
Export single program and preset .SYX and .SYX banks from INT RAM, attached cartridge, disk images and cartridge files.
There's no need to switch the SYS-EX in menu from now on as it's always enabled at boot.
Big thanks to Joe McMahon for his awesome sd1diskutil tool which is embedded and working under the hood.
Simplified ROM handling for easy installation We completely overhauled how ROM files are handled to make the installation process bulletproof and musician-friendly
Musican method: Obtain the Ensoniq SD-1/32 sd132 AND Ensoniq LCD 2x40_vfx ROM files. Start the plugin and it displays a friendly warning screen with a "Locate ROMs..." button. It opens a multi-select file browser where users can pick .zip files, loose .bin files or just open a folder with the files The plugin handles the extraction and copying transparently. Read the ROM Installation for more info!
Reworked MIDI automation This time really

Every panel button can be automated and assign to virtual or physical MIDI controller. Read the FAQ for more info!
NEW: Full MIDI out
NEW: Removed instance blocking You can load as many instances of a plugin as you want in your DAW! Thanks to kbaccki for investigating the singletons.
NEW: macOS AU first public build for SELECTED DAWS ONLY! Please note that the AU plugin is ONLY for Logic, GarageBand, MainStage, Ableton Live, Fender Studio Pro (Studio One) and Reaper. Any other DAW must use the VST3 version! Tested on Logic 11, Fender Studio Pro 8, Reaper 7, Ableton Live 12.
NEW: Preset saving macro button for users without MIDI controllers Read the FAQ for more info!
Windows 10+ 64 bit VST3 AVX1/AVX2, Mac Intel+ARM Universal Binary VST3 and AU, Linux VST3 Generic/AVX2
Global settings saving, VST3/AU state saving
4 different panel layouts with resizable GUI and VFD display
Buffer setting
4 outputs: stereo main out, optional stereo aux (dry signal with no effects)
Can load and save all compatible VFX/VFX-SD/SD1-24/SD1-32 disk images (.img, .hfe, .dsk, .eda) and cartridges (.eeprom, .rom, .cart, .sc32) Read the FAQ for more info!