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The Flashback Black Friday deal puts 75% off this BeatSkillz synth plugin, bringing it to $19 until Nov 25, 2026. It is a sample-playback synth aimed at the sounds of 80s pop, film and TV.
The maker says the sounds come from deep sampling of real digital and analog synths, with release groups and a good amount of synthesis on top. The idea is dynamic, colourful tracks.
BeatSkillz specializes in retro-style plugins. Flashback comes after the Retro Kz and Synthwave Kz plugins, built on a newer engine for playing back samples. It offers detailed sample mapping, release triggers, filtering, envelope shaping, pitch modulation and a complete effects section.
The plugin ships with 200+ factory presets, plus arp patterns to get you started. The maker says they are inspired by top artists and composers of the 80s.
The preset list breaks down like this:
There are two multisample map engines, A and B. You can layer them or split them across the keyboard, with automatic assignment via MIDI.
The map library covers Bass, Brass, Keys, Misc, Orchestra, Pads and Synth sounds. Every control is MIDI mappable with a right-click.
Each engine has an ADSR amp envelope, an ADSR filter envelope and an ADSR pitch envelope. Three LFOs handle filter, volume and pitch, all syncable to tempo, each with rate and depth controls.
The filter is an analog-modelled ladder design with LP, HP and BP modes. You choose 12 or 24dB per octave, and set cutoff and resonance.
Other controls include pitch transpose and tune, plus portamento with a rate parameter. Velocity to volume and velocity to filter cutoff both have adjustable curves.
The arpeggiator runs up to 32 steps, synced to tempo. Steps can modulate velocity, note length and pitch. You can save your own patterns and load factory ones, and step increment and swing are included.
The FX engine offers 9 swappable effects:
The library relocate feature lets you put the content on any internal or external drive. Point the plugin at it once with the settings icon, and you can move it later and reconnect.
On Mac, Flashback runs on macOS 10.14 Mojave or later, Intel or M1 Apple Silicon, 64-bit only, as VST3, AU and AAX. On Windows it needs Windows 10 or later, 64-bit only, as VST3 and AAX.
Both platforms call for an Intel i5 or later, or an AMD Athlon 64 or equivalent, with 2 GB RAM and 300 MB of disk space.
The maker lists testing in Ableton Live 11, Bitwig, Cubase, FL Studio 20, Logic 10.7.2, Pro Tools 12 and Reaper.
Yes. The Flashback Black Friday deal takes 75% off this BeatSkillz synth plugin, bringing it to $19. The deal ends Nov 25, 2026.
Flashback comes with 200+ factory presets across keys, bass, brass, synth, orchestra, pads, animated, misc and combo sounds. It also includes multisample maps, two layerable map engines, a 32-step arpeggiator with factory patterns and 9 swappable effects.
Flashback comes as VST3, AU and AAX on Mac, and VST3 and AAX on Windows, 64-bit only. The maker lists testing in Ableton Live 11, Bitwig, Cubase, FL Studio 20, Logic 10.7.2, Pro Tools 12 and Reaper.
Each engine has ADSR amp, filter and pitch envelopes, three tempo-syncable LFOs, and an analog-modelled ladder filter with LP, HP and BP modes at 12 or 24dB per octave. Portamento and velocity curves are included, and every control is MIDI mappable.
Prices and end dates are checked at publishing time and can change, so confirm them at the store before you buy.