GX-80 Synthesizer Black Friday Deal 2026: $34, 50% off

The gx 80 Black Friday deal from Cherry Audio takes 50% off this synth plugin, which brings it to $34 until Dec 1, 2026.

GX-80 is a virtual synthesizer that merges two classic instruments: the GX-1 "Dream Machine" and its descendant, the CS-80. Cherry Audio calls it its flagship and says it was over a year in the making.

The DSP designs come from developer Mark Barton, who worked from circuit models of the originals.

What is the GX-80 synth plugin?

The maker says this is not just another CS-80 emulation. It folds the GX-1's extra features back into the CS-80 architecture, so one instrument covers both.

Cherry Audio says work began in 2021, after a CS-80 recreation had long been the most requested instrument from its users.

What does the GX-80 VST include?

The layer system is the core of it. Single layer mode behaves like the standard two-rank CS-80, and dual mode adds the GX-1's two voice ranks.

• Each layer offers 16 polyphonic voices, so two patches can sound together, either side by side across the keyboard or layered on top of each other
• Volume and pan are set independently per layer
• Four polyphonic voice ranks, and every rank pairs a tone source with sine and noise generators, high-pass and low-pass filters that can resonate, two envelope generators, and a velocity-sensitive VCA
• From the GX-1: filtered waveform outputs, a triangle wave one octave higher, and inverted filter envelope control
• Both the CS-80 and GX-1 filter designs are recreated
• A CS-style ring modulator driven by a separate oscillator of its own
• Every layer gets a sub oscillator LFO with sine, sawtooth, ramp, square, sample and hold, and noise shapes, plus tempo sync

GX-1 sliders and switches are colored orange, which sets them apart from the standard CS-80 controls.

The maker also lists 1,000 sound presets and integrated effects.

How do you play it?

For performance, GX-80 has a split keyboard mode. It supports both polyphonic and monophonic aftertouch controllers.

If you only have a mono aftertouch controller, a "last-note priority" mode simulates polyphonic aftertouch response.

Cherry Audio says the filter, envelope behaviour, portamento and glide, pitch ribbon and PWM are modeled more accurately than in any previous emulation.

Formats and system requirements

On Mac, GX-80 needs macOS 10.13 or above, 64-bit, and runs natively on Apple M1 chips including M1 Ultra. macOS 13 Ventura is supported. It comes in AU, VST, VST3, AAX and Standalone formats.

On Windows, it needs Windows 7 or above, including Windows 11, 64-bit. VST, VST3, AAX and Standalone formats are available.

For both platforms, the recommendation is a quad-core machine with 8GB of RAM. On Mac that means a 3.4 GHz quad-core or an M1 CPU.