Usynth VORTEX

Name: Usynth VORTEX
Price: 19 USD
Author: UJAM

by UJAM · Synth · Trance synth

Not rated yet

A synth for late-90s and Y2K trance, with supersaw leads, rave stabs, gated arps and pads.

It has 100 synth patches, 100 global presets and a sequencer/arpeggiator; it lists at $49 and was $19.11 on sale.

Best for: Keys & Synths. Genres: Electronic & EDM.

Keywords: arpeggiator, leads, 90s, basses, sequencer, Y2K, pads, digital classic, hardware emulation, macro controls, classic, FM, modulation matrix, multisampled, preset-driven, randomize, sample-based, strings, subtractive, virtual analog, wavetable.

What it does

VORTEX is a preset-led Usynth of "Y2K Trance Essentials": the supersaws, rave stabs, arps and hard trance basses of late-90s and early-2000s trance, made for fast, high-energy club tracks.

Sound categories: leads and anthems; basses, rave stabs and chord hits; arps and gated sounds; pads, keys and strings; and noise and FX.
One-screen layout: three blocks, Sequencer, Synthesizer and Finisher, each with its own preset list and large knobs, all on one screen.
Macro knobs: five macro knobs per patch, alongside controls such as note length, swing, drive and character, plus delay, ambience and volume.
Surprise: randomizes the sound, with a Small or Big range for how far the variation goes.
Sequencer/arpeggiator: driving arps and gated patterns from a held chord.
Presets: 100 synth patches and 100 global presets, with built-in multi-effects.
Engine: the shared Usynth engine, with two layers per voice mixing virtual analog, wavetable, FM and multisample synthesis, a multimode filter, 5-stage envelopes, LFOs and a 12-way modulation matrix. You don't edit it directly; you work through the macros.

A free trial download is available. VORTEX was released on November 15, 2025, alongside DUST and WEBCORE.

Source: UJAM product page

When to use it

VORTEX is the faster route to classic trance parts: you pick a supersaw, stab or gated arp and shape it with a few knobs. Compared with Sylenth1, Hive 2 or Serum 2, it can't build sounds from oscillators and filters, but it skips the hunt through preset banks and gets a usable anthem lead in seconds. It costs much less than those synths. It also beats them for quick ideas, while they win as soon as you need a patch that isn't in its 100 presets.

Best for: supersaw leads, rave stabs, gated arps and hard trance basses, ready in seconds.
Genres: trance, hard trance, psytrance, techno and EDM.
Look elsewhere if: you want to program patches yourself; Sylenth1, Hive 2 or Serum 2 give full control over oscillators and filters.
Tip: high-pass the supersaw leads so they don't clash with the kick, use rave stabs sparingly, and resample the Noise & FX sounds as raw material.

What producers say

The one detailed review found it a big time-saver for trance sounds, with the lack of deep editing as the main limit.

goothbomb (note.com review) said "the time spent searching for super saws has completely vanished" and praised the one-screen layout and the quality of the 100 patches, which also worked for techno, hard techno and psytrance.
Criticisms: no direct oscillator or filter editing, so it's no tool for learning synthesis; and few user reviews existed at the time.

goothbomb (note.com) review

Where to buy

AudioDeluxe: $19 (regular $49)
Plugin Boutique: $19 (regular $49)
Best Service: $46.07
UJAM: $49
PluginFox: $49

Tutorials and reviews

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