Dev tools · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to A 16-control subtractive synth for microcontrollers (39k ELF, web demo)
This toy retro synth installs and runs on esp32-s3 or p4 as an ELF file under BreezyBox firmware. It uses my work-in-progress immediate mode TUI library in C. Web-based version via emscripten: https://mini000.itch.io/beeper Source code: https://github.com/valdanylchuk/beeper Demo video running on Tanmatsu (esp32-p4): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCH9XYZ7QB0 The main challenge I was going for was actually to find a nice minimal set of controls for a subtractive synth. Usually there are 40-50 of them in "simple" synths; I ended up with 16.…
Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes.
- 1IU
Hi Hacker News, This is definitely out of my comfort zone. I just wanted to show you guys because I'm super proud of it. It's a 100% faithful recreation based off of the schematics, patents, and ROMs that were found online. So please watch the video and tell me what you think https://youtu.be/auOlZXI1VxA The reason why I think this is relevant is because I've been a programmer for 25 years and AI scares the shit out of me. I'm not a programmer anymore. I'm something else now. I don't know what it is but it's multi-disciplinary, and it doesn't involve writing code myself--for…
Jan 2026 · its alternatives →
- 2
Studio2600 for the Atari VCS / Atari 2600 – Online demo powered by Javatari
2018 · masswerk.at · its alternatives →
- 3AJ
SYNTHI-JS is a JavaScript emulation of the legendary EMS Synthi A analog synthesizer.
2016 · alexnisnevich.github.io · its alternatives →
- 4
A Flipper Zero clone, but cheapest, DIY and simply Open Source, made with Arduino IDE - lraton/FlopperZiro
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 5
I built k-synth as an experiment to see if a minimalist, K-inspired array language could make sketching waveforms faster and more intuitive than traditional code. I’ve put together a web-based toolkit so you can try the syntax directly in the browser without having to touch a compiler: Live Toolkit: https://octetta.github.io/k-synth/ If you visit the page, here is a quick path to an audio payoff: - Click "patches" and choose dm-bell.ks. - Click "run"—the notebook area will update. Click the waveform to hear the result. - Click the "->0" button below the waveform to copy…
Mar 2026 · octetta.github.io · its alternatives →
- 6
EP–133 K.O. II▲146The latest synth from Teenage Engineering
2023 · teenage.engineering · its alternatives →
- 7IB
Hey HN, I’m an ex-Google engineer trying to get back into music production. I needed a way to sequence my hardware synths using AI contexts without constantly switching windows, so I built this. It runs entirely in the browser using WebMIDI. No login required. It connects to your local MIDI devices (if you're on Chrome/Edge) and lets you generate patterns. Tech stack: [React / WebMIDI API / etc]. Link: www.simplychris.ai/droplets Code is a bit messy, but it works. Feedback welcome.
Dec 2025 · simplychris.ai · its alternatives →
- 8
Keyboard-controlled music sequencer, sampler, and synth - kofigumbs/typebeat
2022 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 9PP
Write up of an embedded project I made to control my analogue synthesizer. Happy to answer any questions or provide any further details of this project if wanted.
2024 · doug.lon.dev · its alternatives →
- 10
Emulation of the Roland Juno-106 analog synth. Contribute to stevengoldberg/juno106 development by creating an account on GitHub.
2015 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 11
Hi HN! Last year the project I launched here got a lot of good feedback on creating speech to speech AI on the ESP32. Recently I revamped the whole stack, iterated on that feedback and made our project fully open-source—all of the client, hardware, firmware code. This Github repo turns an ESP32-S3 into a realtime AI speech companion using the OpenAI Realtime API, Arduino WebSockets, Deno Edge Functions, and a full-stack web interface. You can talk to your own custom AI character, and it responds instantly. I couldn't find a resource that helped set up a reliable, secure websocket (WSS) AI…
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 12
io808▲122The classic drum machine synthesizer brought to the web.
2016 · io808.com · its alternatives →
- 13IB
We wanted to do something very challenging to prove to ourselves that we can do anything we put our mind to. The reasoning for why we chose to build a toy TPU specifically is fairly simple: - Building a chip for ML workloads seemed cool - There was no well-documented open source repo for an ML accelerator that performed both inference and training None of us have real professional experience in hardware design, which, in a way, made the TPU even more appealing since we weren't able to estimate exactly how difficult it would be. As we worked on the initial stages of this project, we…
2025 · tinytpu.com · its alternatives →
- 14
- 15
Wario Synth▲78Search any song, get a Gameboy version. Emulates Nintendo's Sharp LR35902 sound hardware: 2 pulse waves for melody/harmony, 1 wave channel for bass, 1 noise for percussion. Finds MIDI sources, parses tracks, maps to GB roles, resynthesizes with Web Audio. Everything runs client-side. Site: https://www.wario.style Open source: https://github.com/b1rdmania/motif Hobby project, non commercial, so please don't sue me.
Jun 2026 · wario.style · its alternatives →
- 16
Body: I built a polyphonic synthesizer in Python with a tkinter GUI styled after the Moog Subsequent 37. Features: 3 oscillators, Moog ladder filter (24dB/oct), dual ADSR envelopes, LFO, glide, noise generator, 4 multitimbral channels, 19 presets, rotary knob GUI, virtual keyboard with mouse + QWERTY input, and MIDI support. No external GUI frameworks — just tkinter, numpy, and sounddevice.
Feb 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 17
Hi HN! We're a small team in Lille (France) who make synthesizers and MIDI controllers. We've just released a virtual plugin version of our hardware synth Anyma Phi, which offers a semi-modular environment with a focus on physical models, although there are several other kinds of synthesis. Here's a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6efDQ9GmRpg We're not pivoting to VSTs, it's just that it was a practical way of investigating several issues and helping us with the ongoing development of our upcoming Kickstarter-backed synth (Anyma Omega) and MPE controller (Loom), and a…
2024 · aodyo.com · its alternatives →
- 18
A synth piano synth that generates all of its audio files dynamically using JavaScript and data URIs. Choose from a variety of sounds styles and play with the looper, visual waveforms, and more.
2012 · mrcoles.com · its alternatives →
- 19
This is part of my journey on pybind11. I wrote a tiny FM Synthesis library in C++ and a Python wrapper for that using pybind11. There is a command-line piano app in the examples directory if you want to play with it. Here is the link: https://github.com/charstorm/koelsynth/tree/main/examples/si... My next target is to attach this to some kind of physics simulation - like a bunch of balls moving around in a box with some internal walls. When the ball hits certain trigger points, it produces the sound.
2023 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 20IJ
Hey all. For the last few years, I have been developing a software synthesizer as a side project. It's taken longer than I both hoped and feared, but earlier this week I finally shipped 1.0. Details about the synth itself are up on my website, https://lhiaudio.com/. For those who are unfamiliar, in music production, there are host applications (such as Logic Pro, Ableton Live, or REAPER) in which most of the work (such as recording or sequencing MIDI data) is done. These applications generally have some built-in tools for the actual generation and processing of audio data, but…
2018 · its alternatives →
- 21AA
Hey y'all, So - the main idea of this is to make a WebAudio synthesis/sequencer tool which humans can use via the UI, but where the big unlock is for agents to drive with MCP It's semi decent as "make a groovy jazz track", especially for retro sounds - but the real use case is more like "make a jetpack whoosh effect I can control via code at runtime - where the sound changes based on character health or how much fuel is left" In other words, the target audience is not musicians (except maybe of the Max/MSP sort), but more like creative coders who want to shape the sound iteratively…
Jun 2026 · audio.awsm.fun · its alternatives →
- 22
I have been entranced by Berlin School music for years. I love those evolving and interwoven arpeggios. Latching an arp is often my favorite way to noodle on a synth, and yes it’s because I can’t play to save my life. Last month I got tired of waiting for someone else to build my dream arp machine, so I built my own in the form of a web synth. It is purpose-built for sculpting and performing with melodies. I call it the AM-1 Arpeggio Machine. My next goal is to port the web engine into hardware format (using the Daisy Seed). But in the meantime, since the web app is perfectly usable, I…
Aug 2026 · crux.garden · its alternatives →
- 23
C Pixels-based graphical audio synthesizer implemented as a WebSocket server - grz0zrg/fas
2020 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 24
Inspired by the recent Boards Of Canada announcement, I've been in a low-fi electronica mood lately and was going back and forth with Claude on how to design similar instruments in the browser that fit the genre. One thing led to another and pretty soon I had a fully browser based polyphonic synthesizer / drum machine / sequencer. The interface and workflow was heavily inspired by the Rebirth338 application released back in the 90's, but with lo-fi synth voices rather than the original 303 & 808 emulation. I know there's a significant overlap of developers and musicians and I…
May 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
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Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →