RES-09

Name: RES-09
Price: 29 USD
Author: AudioThing

by AudioThing · Keys · Analog organ and strings machine

Not rated yet

RES-09 emulates the Roland RS-09, a late-1970s analog organ and string machine built on a top octave generator with divider circuits.

It adds a BBD ensemble chorus and four effects, and is on sale for $29 (regular $59).

Best for: Keys & Synths, Sound Design. Genres: Electronic & EDM, Ambient & Cinematic, Lo-Fi, Pop.

Keywords: organ, strings, ensemble, 70s, hardware emulation, BBD, lo-fi, analog, vintage, bright, pads, polyphonic, randomize, resizable UI, sound design, standalone app, subtractive, surgical, textures.

What it does

RES-09 is AudioThing's "Analog Organ & Strings Machine", a model of the late-1970s Roland RS-09. Like the original, it uses octave-divider circuits: a set of top oscillators is divided down to make the lower octaves, so every note is available at once and notes stay locked together across octaves, without the phasing you get from layered samples.

Organ and strings: two separate generators that can be played alone or blended, giving the full, buzzy tone of a divide-down string machine.
Full polyphony: because every note comes from the shared oscillators, chords of any size play without voice stealing.
Ensemble: a BBD-based ensemble effect, the chorus that makes string machines sound wide, with a rate multiplier for faster or slower movement.
Vibrato: pitch vibrato with a delay control, so it fades in after the note starts.
Effects chain: tape echo, spring reverb, overdrive and phaser, which can be put in any order.
Tuning: oscillator tuning controls for adjusting the pitch of the generators.
Presets and UI: a preset system with a randomizer, and a resizable window with brightness and contrast settings.

Version 1.1 (September 2026). The demo goes silent for 3 seconds every 45 seconds and can't save. It is currently on sale, with upgrade pricing for SX1000 and Philicorda owners.

Source: AudioThing product page

When to use it

RES-09 is much narrower than Keyscape and Mellotron V, which cover many vintage keyboards through deep sampling or tape-replay models, and Addictive Keys, which focuses on pianos and electric pianos: it is a modeled divide-down string machine and organ with one strong character, closer to a dedicated Solina-style tool than a keyboard library. Its octave-divider design means big chords stay in phase, which sampled string machines can't always do. The built-in ensemble and effects make it sound finished on its own, and it costs far less than a library. Mellotron V is the better pick if you want tape-replay strings and choirs; RES-09 is the better pick for the warm, swirling pad of a 70s string synth.

Best for: string-machine pads, chorused organ parts, lo-fi textures and big held chords.
Genres: synth-pop, new wave, electronic, ambient and lo-fi.
Look elsewhere if: you need realistic organs or a range of vintage keyboards (Keyscape, Mellotron V), or a string machine with a vocoder, which RES-09 doesn't have.

What producers say

Early users welcomed it as a faithful RS-09 emulation, with the ensemble singled out and a launch bug fixed quickly.

Loopy Pro forum users praised how true it is to the original, the excellent ensemble, and the separate level controls for each section, an improvement on the hardware.
Support: the standalone at launch had a choppy, tremolo-like glitch; AudioThing traced it to buffer sizes and fixed it in 1.0.1. One long-time customer called the support "top-notch".
Criticisms: no vocoder (the original had none either), and some wished for extra footages such as fifths.

Loopy Pro forum thread

Where to buy

AudioThing: $29 (regular $59)
Best Service: $55.50
Plugin Boutique: $59
AudioDeluxe: $59

Tutorials and reviews

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