Indulge your '80s synth fantasies with Beatskillz RetroKZ

Having already brought you a collection of '80s drum sounds in its Retrohit plugin, Beatskillz is now revisiting the decade's synths in RetroKZ. This was inspired by classic soundtracks from the likes of John Carpenter, Harold Faltermeyer and Jan Hammer, as well as iconic arists such as Prince and Michael Jackson.

This new rompler contains more than 100 sampled patches of instruments such as the Fairlight, Synclavier, Yamaha DX7, Oberheim OB-X, Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 and Roland D-50. The samples were recorded and processed using various pieces of classic outboard gear.

You can tweak the sounds using a range of sampler-style controls, and the patches are also supplied in EXS24 format.

Find out more on the Beatskillz website. RetroKZ is available now for PC and Mac in VST/AU formats priced at $39.

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Ben Rogerson
Deputy Editor

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.