Analog's Dream

01Getting Started & Install

Analog's Dream is a polyphonic synth-plus-sampler from NHOF Software. Its heart is a bank of three oscillators whose tone is set by a selectable oscillator voicing — a set of precisely modeled analog VCO characters you can swap and blend. On top sit a sub oscillator, ring modulator, noise, and a fully blendable sample layer you can drop your own audio into. A zero-delay-feedback multimode filter, two ADSR envelopes, an LFO, and a full master effects rack finish the voice — and a performance layer of scales, chord progressions, a 32-step sequencer, and a grid-locked arpeggiator sits on top of all of it.

Formats & platforms

• VST3 and Standalone — macOS and Windows.
• Audio Unit (AU) — macOS, for Logic Pro, GarageBand, and other AU hosts.
• Mac builds are Universal (Apple Silicon + Intel) and Apple-notarized.

Installing — the one-click installer (recommended)

• macOS — open Analogs Dream Installer.pkg and follow the prompts. It's Universal (Apple Silicon + Intel) and Apple-notarized — installs clean, no warnings. It places the VST3, AU and Standalone for you and removes any older copy so you never run a stale build.
• Windows — run Analogs Dream Installer.exe. (Right-click the .zip → Properties → tick Unblock before extracting if shown; if SmartScreen appears, More info → Run anyway.)
• Launch your DAW and rescan plug-ins if it doesn't pick up the instrument automatically. Analog's Dream appears under manufacturer New Hall of Fame Studios as an Instrument · Synth.
• Prefer to play outside a DAW? Open the Standalone app, pick your audio output and MIDI input in its settings, and play.

Prefer to place the files yourself?

• macOS — copy the components manually: the AU into /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components and the VST3 into /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3. Because the build is notarized, Gatekeeper opens it without a security prompt.
• Windows — copy the .vst3 into C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3.

First sound in 60 seconds

1. Insert Analog's Dream on an instrument/MIDI track (or open the Standalone).
2. Play a few notes — you'll hear the default patch.
3. Step through patches with the PATCH arrows in the header.
4. Turn the big Cutoff knob and one voicing selector — that's the fastest way to hear the range of the instrument.

The interface at a glance

The window opens at 980 × 792 px and resizes with a fixed aspect ratio. It's a single face — no tabs. Top to bottom:

• Header — the title, the PATCH preset display with prev/next arrows, an OUTPUT meter, and strips for SCALE / CHORD, aftertouch, and (when active) the arpeggiator.
• Oscillator Bank — the three oscillators plus the big selectors: VOICING · TONE, BEHAVIOUR · FEEL, and ENGINE, plus PW / DRIFT / SYNC.
• Mixer · Sampler, Filter · VCF, Envelopes · ADSR, LFO · Mod, Effects, and Master · Global panels.
• Bottom band — sample LOAD, FX INSERT, MIDI ASSIGN, AUTO SEQ, and the on-screen keybed with pitch/mod wheels.

02Sound Engine & Oscillator Voicings

Each of the three oscillators has four controls: Wave, Oct (octave), Detune, and Level. Above them sit three selectors that shape the entire oscillator section at once.

VOICING · TONE — the analog characters that defined an era

This selector chooses which classic analog VCO character the oscillators take on. Each is a distinct spectral voicing — a full re-voicing of the oscillator section, not an EQ preset — precisely modeled from the sound of the vintage synth chips that shaped decades of records. Swap them freely, or blend one voicing's tone with another's feel.

BEHAVIOUR · FEEL

Independent of tone, this selector changes how the voice plays — filter slope (2-pole vs cascaded 4-pole ~24 dB), resonance emphasis, filter drive/growl, oscillator drift amount, and cutoff bias. Options are Jay's Settings (the neutral default) plus each of the five voicing feels. Mix any tone with any feel — for example, the darkest tone with the rock-solid tuning behaviour.

ENGINE

Two oscillator rendering engines carry the same voicings. Engine 1 (Classic) is the original character path. Engine 2 (Update), the default, is the optimized split linear/nonlinear path. The tuning tables are identical; only the rendering differs — A/B to taste.

Oscillator character strip

• PW — pulse width for the pulse/square waves.
• DRIFT — analog tuning drift. At 0 the oscillators are dead-stable; higher is looser and more alive.
• SYNC — hard-syncs oscillators 2 and 3 to oscillator 1 for the classic tearing sweep.

Sub, Ring & Noise (Mixer panel)

• Sub Wave — a sub oscillator one octave below osc 1, selectable SINE / TRI / SAW / SQR; Mix Sub sets its level.
• Ring Ratio + Mix Ring — a ring modulator whose carrier is note × (0.5…8×).
• Mix Noise — white-noise level.
• Mix Osc 1/2/3 — per-oscillator mix levels.

03The Sample Layer

Analog's Dream is also a sampler. Layer and blend your own sample under the analog engine, or play it on its own. In the Mixer · Sampler panel and the bottom control row:

• LOAD — imports a .wav, .aif, .aiff, or .flac file. Its root maps to MIDI note 60, so it plays chromatically from the keybed. The sample name shows next to the button.
• Sample Level — blends the sample against the oscillators.
• MIX / SAMPLE ONLY — MIX layers the sample alongside the oscillators; SAMPLE ONLY makes it the sole source (oscillators, sub, ring, and noise are muted).
• Smpl Start — sets a playback start offset (up to halfway into the file).
• Smpl Loop — toggles SMPL LOOP (sustains a loop region) vs SMPL 1-SHOT. Longer samples loop a sustain region with Hermite interpolation, pitched by osc 1's octave/detune.

04Filter, Envelopes & LFO

Filter · VCF

Envelopes · ADSR

Two full ADSR envelopes with exponential times (Attack 0.002–4 s, Decay 0.01–6 s, Release 0.02–8 s):

• Filter Env — F.Attack / F.Decay / F.Sustain / F.Release, routed to cutoff by the Filter Env depth.
• Amp Env — A.Attack / A.Decay / A.Sustain / A.Release, controls loudness, with click-free retrigger on voice reuse.

LFO & Modulation

• LFO Rate — 0.05–18 Hz.
• LFO Depth — modulation amount.
• LFO Shape — SINE / TRIANGLE / SAW UP / SAW DN / SQUARE / RANDOM (sample-and-hold); the waveform is drawn on the knob face.
• LFO Dest — Cutoff / Pitch / Amp.
• LFO Delay — fade-in time (up to ~2.5 s).
• Mod wheel — on-screen and hardware, with a MOD dest box (Vibrato / Cutoff / Tremolo) and a MOD AMT knob.
• Pitch wheel — ±2 octaves (±24 semitones), spring-return.
• Aftertouch (AT) — poly or mono; opens the filter and swells the amp.

Voices, Mode & Glide (Master panel)

• VOICES — 8 / 16 / 32 (oldest-voice steal).
• MODE — Poly / Mono / Legato.
• Glide — portamento time, active in mono, legato, and poly.
• Master — overall output volume.

05The 32-Step Automation Sequencer

The AUTO SEQ button opens the floating sequencer panel:

• Target — Cutoff, Resonance, Pulse Width, Reverb, Delay, Drive, or Volume.
• REC — captures live knob moves into the lane while the host plays.
• PLAY — the lane drives the target knob (mutually exclusive with REC).
• CLEAR — resets all 32 steps to center.
• 32 draggable step bars — draw the shape by hand, or record it. The clock follows host PPQ at 16th notes when hosted, or the arp tempo when standalone. The sequence saves with the plugin state.

06The Host-Synced Arpeggiator

When ARP is on, the arp strip appears in the header:

• LATCH — holds notes after you release them.
• Pattern — 14 patterns: Up, Down, Up/Down, Down/Up, Up/Down (inclusive), Converge, Diverge, As Played, Random, Random Walk, Chord, Octaves, Thumb Up, Pinky Up.
• Rate — 1/4, 1/8, 1/8T, 1/16, 1/16T, 1/32 — all locked to the host grid.
• Spread — octave range 1–4 (adds octave copies of the pattern).
• DISPERSE — note-spread/dispersion, 0–100%. Fans the sequence symmetrically out to ±1 octave within the run — distinct from the octave Spread above.
• TEMPO / BPM — 40–300 BPM. Right-click the BPM readout to toggle "Lock to host BPM" vs a manual tempo. Host-sync is on by default: hosted, it slaves to the DAW / Blapp playhead.

07Chord Progressions

SCALE locks the keyboard to a scale; CHORD makes each key play a diatonic chord. The scale-picker popup has five categories:

• Root — all 12 keys.
• Scale — 20 scales, including the modes (Dorian, Mixolydian, Lydian, Phrygian, Locrian), Lydian Dominant, Altered, Whole Tone, both Diminished forms, both Bebop scales, Major, Minor, Harmonic/Melodic Minor, Major/Minor Pentatonic, Blues, and Chromatic.
• Chord type — 9 types: 7th (jazz), 9th (soul), 6th, Triad, Sus2, Sus4, Triad + Oct, Power (5th), Octave.
• Mood / progression — 11 genre progressions: Scalic, Pop I–V–vi–IV, Jazz ii–V–I–vi, Soul, Funk vamp, Gospel, Doo-Wop, Blues, Neo-Soul, Rare Groove, Prog Rock.
• Progression length — Auto or 4–16 steps.

08Host-BPM Sync

All of Analog's Dream's time-based movement can slave to your session tempo. When the plugin is hosted — inside The Blapp Machine or any DAW — it reads the shared playhead and locks to it:

• Arpeggiator — rate divisions ride the host grid and re-align on the downbeat and every loop wrap (see section 06).
• 32-Step Automation Sequencer — the step clock follows host PPQ at 16th notes.
• Delay & LFO movement — musical, tempo-referenced motion when you want it.

Standalone, the arp/sequencer run from Analog's Dream's own tempo. Right-click the arp BPM readout to switch any time between "Lock to host BPM" and a manual tempo.

09Effects & FX Insert

A master effects chain runs on the synth's output: drive → parallel chorus / delay → reverb → soft limiter.

FX Insert — host another NHOF plugin

The FX INSERT button lets you load an NHOF effect — or any .vst3 / .component — as a master insert that runs after the synth's own effects. Open its UI, bypass it, or remove it from the same menu. Chain a full NHOF effects rack onto your patch without leaving the instrument.

10Presets

• PATCH display — the header shows the current patch name with prev / next arrows to walk the factory bank.
• Everything saves — the voicing, behaviour, engine, sample layer (and its file reference), scale/chord/progression choices, arp settings, the 32-step sequence, and the full MIDI map all store with the plugin state, so a saved session or DAW preset recalls the exact instrument.
• Standalone keeps its own settings between launches.

11Keyboard & MIDI

Playing

• Play from any MIDI keyboard or your DAW's piano roll; the on-screen keybed also responds to clicks.
• Pitch wheel spans ±2 octaves; the mod wheel routes to Vibrato / Cutoff / Tremolo via the MOD dest box.
• Aftertouch (poly or mono) opens the filter and swells the amp for expressive holds.

MIDI-Learn

The MIDI ASSIGN button opens a full-window overlay. Click a knob to arm ("LEARN…"), then move a controller — the CC binds to that parameter. Right-click a knob to clear it. Binding uses learn-on-movement, so idle controllers that stream values won't grab the assignment. One CC per parameter; the map saves with the state and works even with the editor closed.

Controllers

Any class-compliant MIDI controller works. Hardware such as the Nektar Panorama P4 or Novation SL MkIII maps cleanly via MIDI-Learn. In the Standalone, pick your controller as the MIDI input in settings; in a DAW, route the track's MIDI to the instrument as usual.

12Troubleshooting & FAQ

The plugin doesn't appear in my DAW

Rescan plug-ins. Confirm the VST3/AU is in the standard folder (see Install). On macOS, AU hosts sometimes need a relaunch after the first validation.

No sound

Analog's Dream needs MIDI input — make sure the track is armed/receiving MIDI. If SAMPLE ONLY is engaged with no sample loaded, load a file or switch back to MIX. In the Standalone, confirm the audio output device and MIDI input are selected.

Standalone went silent after I renamed it

Re-tick your controller in the Standalone's MIDI settings once — renaming a JUCE standalone clears its Active-MIDI-Inputs list.

The arp drifts / doesn't line up with my loop

It shouldn't — the arp is grid-locked and re-aligns on the downbeat and at every loop wrap. Make sure host-sync is on: right-click the arp BPM readout and choose "Lock to host BPM." If you want a free tempo instead, toggle it to manual there.

My 32-step sequence isn't moving the knob

Set a Target, then engage PLAY (REC and PLAY are mutually exclusive). When hosted, the step clock follows the transport — start playback so PPQ advances.

Is it Apple Silicon native?

Yes. Mac builds are Universal (Apple Silicon + Intel) and Apple-notarized, so they run native on both and open without security prompts.

How many voices can I play?

Up to 32, selectable 8 / 16 / 32, with oldest-voice stealing.

Can I use my own samples?

Yes — load .wav, .aif, .aiff, or .flac into the sample layer and blend it under the analog engine, or play it solo with SAMPLE ONLY.

How do I get support?

Email sales@newhalloffamestudios.com. Your purchase is your license — no subscription, no online check-in required to play.