A port of the freely distributed Ensoniq SQ-80 emulation synth “SQ8L” is now available for free download.
This article covers the download information and an overview of SQ8L.
What Is sq8l-revival “SQ8L”?
SQ8L is a 64-bit port of “SQ8L 0.91b”, an Ensoniq SQ-80 emulation that Siegfried Kullmann released as freeware between 2006 and 2008. It has been rebuilt from the original binary so it runs on current macOS, Windows and Linux. The original was a 32-bit, Windows-only VST written in Delphi, and because its source code was never published it could not be loaded in today’s mainstream 64-bit DAWs. This port has been verified to produce output identical to the original across 1,176 test renders (168 factory programs x 7 MIDI scenarios). It is developed by the sq8l-revival project and is not affiliated with the original author, Siegfried Kullmann, or with Ensoniq. It is currently published on GitHub as a pre-release (beta).
Key Features
- Bit-for-bit identical sound to the original SQ8L
- Same VST2 unique ID, 512 programs and same chunk format, so projects made with the original load as they are
- Supports reading and writing library files (.8XL), bank files, and SQ-80 / ESQ-1 SysEx
- Editor can be scaled from 100% to 300% (rendered at the window’s resolution)
- Set 1 to 64 voices per program on the EMU page VOICES parameter (default is 8 voices, the same as the SQ-80)
How to Download and Install SQ8L
Download the archive for your OS (such as SQ8L-macOS-universal.zip or SQ8L-Windows-x64.zip) from the GitHub Releases page, unzip it, and copy the files for the formats you want to use into the respective plugin folders. Installation is manual.
The macOS version is not notarized by Apple, so after copying you need to remove the quarantine flag in Terminal (the command is listed on the Releases page).
Windows
- VST folder: C:\Program Files\VSTPlugins
- VST3 folder: C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3
macOS
- VST folder: Macintosh HD/Library/Audio/Plug-ins/VST/
- VST3 folder: Macintosh HD/Library/Audio/Plug-ins/VST3/
- AU folder: Macintosh HD/Library/Audio/Plug-ins/Components/
That is the free download information for SQ8L.