LYNX 0.1.19-alpha

LYNX 0.1.19 alpha: everything 0.1.18 left out: FL's VFX note effects, Layer, X-Y / X-Y-Z Controllers, Dashboard and Voltage Controller, the Wave Candy analyzer and an audio-reactive Visualizer with video export, a Hardware Insert for outboard gear, more Patcher features, and fixes for FL pitched audio clips and the Export start. Windows, macOS and Linux. Website: lynx-share.com.

Important

Still an alpha. Bug reports are very welcome in Issues. The macOS build is not notarized yet: right-click › Open the first time.

Downloads

System	File
Windows 10/11 x64	LYNX-0.1.19-alpha-setup-x64.exe (installer) or LYNX-0.1.19-alpha-windows-x64.zip
macOS 11+ (Intel and Apple silicon)	LYNX-0.1.19-alpha-macos-universal.dmg
Linux x86_64 (glibc 2.35+, e.g. Ubuntu 22.04 or newer)	LYNX-0.1.19-alpha-x86_64.AppImage or LYNX-0.1.19-alpha-linux-x86_64.tar.gz

Checksums in SHA256SUMS.txt. The AppImage can update itself with AppImageUpdate.

New

• FL's VFX note effects: Key Mapper, Color Mapper, Level Scaler, Keyboard Splitter, Envelope and Sequencer now work in LYNX. They are note processors that sit in a Patcher between the incoming notes and the instruments, or on a Channel Rack channel, where Add › VFX (note effects) sends their notes to a MIDI port. Each one has its own editor. FL's factory presets load from FL Studio's folder, and .flp projects that use them import with their settings. Among other things they can map notes to chords and scales, split the keyboard into zones, animate pitch, pan and volume per note, and arpeggiate or sequence from FL's bank of 128 programs. VFX Script keeps its Python script and settings but does not run them yet: its notes pass through unchanged.
• Browser folders window: the options button beside the Browser's search box › Show folders... now opens a window with every folder of that Browser (and of the Sample browser, its own): tick what you want to see, add your own folders with Add folder..., and take a folder you added out again with its × (the folder stays on your disk). Right-click one of your folders › Remove this folder from the Browsers does the same.
• The Browser's "Show" filter hides empty folders: with Audio files only, Samples and SoundFonts, Presets or Projects and MIDI, folders that hold nothing of that kind are left out of the tree, so you only open folders that have something for you. It reads the Browser's search index, so the Browser never stalls; folders not indexed yet stay listed until the index knows them.
• Layer channel: FL's Layer works in LYNX. It makes no sound of its own: every note it gets plays its children (select channels in the Channel Rack, then Set children). Random and Sequential play one child per note, Crossfade blends neighbouring children with the Fade knob, and each child can keep to a key range (drag the ruler over its Misc keyboard, or Layering › Split children for one key per child). .flp projects with layers import with their children, modes and key ranges.
• X-Y and X-Y-Z Controllers, Control Surface and Dashboard: FL's controller plugins are in LYNX with their own editors. The X-Y (-Z) Controller glides its outputs to where you click with FL's speed and acceleration; the Control Surface (on a mixer insert) and the Dashboard (on the Channel Rack) are panels of knobs, sliders, buttons and X-Y pads you lay out yourself. Every output can drive any knob: right-click it › Link to internal controller. They are in the Patcher too, and FL projects that use them import with their links working.
• Voltage Controller: FL's control-voltage generator, for modular synths through a DC-coupled audio interface. Its notes become pitch (1 V or 1.2 V per octave), gate, trigger, velocity, Mod X/Y or clock voltages on the channel's output and up to three more pairs sent to mixer inserts, each with its own offset, scale and polarity. FL projects that use it import with its settings.
• Hardware Insert: a new mixer effect (a mixer slot › Hardware Insert) puts outboard gear in an insert. It sends the insert's signal to the audio-interface outputs you pick and brings it back from the inputs your gear is wired to. Ping measures the round trip through the cable, and LYNX delays every other track to match, so the outboard return lines up with the rest of the mix to the sample. It has send and return gain, phase invert, dry/wet and meters for both directions. Exports pass the dry signal and the Export window says so: record the return to keep it.
• Wave Candy and Visualizer (new Visual category): two new mixer effects that show the sound without changing it. Wave Candy is an analyzer with an oscilloscope, a spectrum, a scrolling spectrogram, peak / RMS / VU / LUFS meters and a vectorscope (hover to read frequency, note and level; Hold freezes it). Visualizer draws audio-reactive scenes — spectrum bars, circle spectrum, waveform, particles, beat rings, your own pictures and text that pulse with the beat — in a preview, in full screen and as a video of the whole song (Export video…: an MP4 when ffmpeg is installed, otherwise PNG frames + WAV). Both are in the plugin picker and the Patcher under Visual; FL projects with Wave Candy or ZGameEditor Visualizer import (the Visualizer as the closest LYNX scene). They cost the audio nothing measurable and stop redrawing in silence.
• Patcher: LYNX's and FL's instruments open their editor from a node: double-clicking a Synth, Sampler or FL-engine node (3x Osc, Sytrus, Harmor, FL Keys…) inside a Patcher opens the same editor it has on a channel, and the sound keeps playing while you turn its knobs.
• Patcher: plugins that send MIDI play the nodes cabled to them: a plugin node that outputs MIDI (an arpeggiator, a MIDI effect) gets a MIDI out pin; cable it to instruments, MIDI Out or VFX nodes and they play its notes.
• Envelope Controller: Mod X and Mod Y can be automated: right-click the Mod X / Mod Y knobs › Create automation clip or Link to controller, also from a control cable in a Patcher.
• FL projects with a Dashboard open with their panel: a Dashboard channel from FL comes over as LYNX's Dashboard with the same controls, names, values and positions, and the knobs it drives in FL stay linked.

Fixes

• FL projects: pitched audio clips play at the right pitch: an audio clip's channel pitch, root note and the Sampler's Time stretching PITCH knob (and MUL without a TIME) now come over from FL like FL plays them — stretch modes keep the clip's length, Resample changes speed and pitch. Checked against FL renders; FL's demo NewStuff now matches FL's harmony far more closely.
• Mixer: the knob names and values of the selected effect were cut by the EQ when the Mixer was medium-height (e.g. at 150% zoom). The EQ now folds when the effect's controls need the room, and the panel scrolls when even that is not enough.
• Windows taller than the screen: fixed-size windows (Settings, New project, Clip properties, Plugin manager, Shortcuts, Export audio, Customize toolbar…) that are taller than the screen at 150–200% zoom or on small laptop screens now scroll inside, so their buttons are always reachable.
• Mod wheel, aftertouch and pitch wheel inside the Patcher: a controller's mod wheel, other CCs, channel aftertouch and pitch wheel played into a Patcher channel now reach the plugins cabled to its notes (before, only the notes got through). LYNX's own instruments keep ignoring the mod wheel, like FL's native instruments: to use it, right-click a knob › Link to MIDI controller and move the wheel.
• Controllers on a quiet insert froze: a Formula Controller (or any controller) on an insert with no audio no longer freezes after a second of silence (LYNX's power saving skipped it).
• Export: the start of the song could be missing: the Export window sometimes rendered the first moments of a song (up to about two seconds) as silence while the song already moved on. The render now starts with the whole project ready.
• Notes into a Patcher on a mixer insert land on time: notes a MIDI Out, VFX or plugin channel sends to a Patcher on a mixer insert now start on their exact sample instead of at the start of the audio block, and they wake that Patcher if LYNX's power saving had put it to sleep.
• Voltage Controller "1.2 V/oct": now outputs the same voltages as FL Studio.

LYNX 0.1.18-alpha

LYNX 0.1.18 alpha: pro audio recording (sample-accurate takes, round-trip ping, punch in/out, loop takes and comping, crash-safe recording), a clean mixer and your own new-project setup, Browser filters and a separate Sample browser, themes, a full Patcher plugin menu and Envelope Controller, sample pitching, better 150% zoom and compact menus, plus the fixes reported in issues #7, #8 and #9. Windows, macOS and Linux. Website: lynx-share.com.

Important

Still an alpha. Bug reports are very welcome in Issues. The macOS build is not notarized yet: right-click › Open the first time.

Downloads

System	File
Windows 10/11 x64	LYNX-0.1.18-alpha-setup-x64.exe (installer) or LYNX-0.1.18-alpha-windows-x64.zip
macOS 11+ (Intel and Apple silicon)	LYNX-0.1.18-alpha-macos-universal.dmg
Linux x86_64 (glibc 2.35+, e.g. Ubuntu 22.04 or newer)	LYNX-0.1.18-alpha-x86_64.AppImage or LYNX-0.1.18-alpha-linux-x86_64.tar.gz

Checksums in SHA256SUMS.txt. The AppImage can update itself with AppImageUpdate.

New

• Instant Browser search with a search index: searches read an index of your Browser folders (kept between sessions), so results show up at once; a folder searched for the first time shows results while it is being indexed. LYNX notices changed folders by itself after a search, and the Browser's menu (☰ on its title bar) shows the index (files, folders, last check) with Refresh search index and Rebuild search index.

• Choose what the Browser shows: right-click a top-level folder (or Current project / Plugin database) › Hide from this Browser, or use the new options button beside the search box › Show folders to tick only the folders you want (FL demo projects, presets, Documents, Desktop… can all go; Show all folders brings them back). The same button sets what is listed: All files, Audio files only, Samples and SoundFonts, Presets or Projects and MIDI — in the folders and in search results. Remembered between sessions.

• Sample browser window: View › Sample browser (separate window) opens a second, independent Browser in its own resizable window, made for samples: it starts with only your sample folders (FL Packs, Music, Downloads, your own folders) listing samples and SoundFonts, and has its own folders and filter. Preview, search and drag samples from it onto the Channel Rack, Playlist or Mixer like from the main Browser. It reopens where you left it.

• Compact Browser menus: the right-click menus of files and folders lost their System / Tags titles; Starred is one click away and the file actions sit in one File sub-menu.

• Stop button for the Browser preview, next to the preview volume knob.

• Drag plugins from the Browser: in Plugin database, drag a generator (VST/VST3/CLAP/LV2 instruments, LYNX and FL engines) onto the Channel Rack to add it as a channel, and an effect onto a mixer insert or an effect slot.

• Arrow keys in the Browser, like FL: Up/Down walk through every row (folders too) and preview each sample; Right opens a folder, Left closes it or goes to its parent folder.

• Follow on/off (auto scrolling): a Follow button in the Playlist and Piano Roll toolbars (also View › Playlist / Piano Roll follows the playhead). Off, the view stays where you scrolled while the song plays, so you can move around freely. Remembered between sessions, and assignable to keys in Options › Shortcuts.

• Piano Roll playhead in Song mode: the Piano Roll now shows the playhead whenever the pattern you are editing plays, also from a Playlist clip in Song mode, and pages along with it when Follow is on.

• Pattern selector in the Channel Rack: the rack's title bar has ◀ Pattern ▾ ▶: click the name for the list of patterns (and New pattern), the arrows or the mouse wheel for the previous / next one.

• Quantize 50%: moves note starts halfway to the grid (again: halfway again), in the Piano Roll's note menu and window menu. Quantize starts, Quick quantize and Quantize 50% are now shortcuts you can reassign in Options › Shortcuts (Shift+Q / Ctrl+Q by default; 50% has no key until you give it one). The Playlist got Quantize the clips' starts (Ctrl+Q) and its 50% version too.

• dB scale on the master meter: +3, 0, -3, -6, -12 … -48 printed beside the Mixer's master meter; short mixers show fewer numbers so they never overlap.

• Audio Editor volume knob: a playback volume knob next to Loop (double-click for 100%). It only changes what you hear and is remembered; Tools › Amp... changes the audio itself.

• Themes: Options › Theme (also a Theme page in Settings) changes the accent color (color wheel, HSV or hex), the background and the workspace behind the panels, which can also be an image (fill, fit, stretch, tile or center, with opacity and dim). Six built-in presets, your own presets, and import/export of .lynxtheme files to share them. Changes apply live, text stays readable on light or dark choices, and Default brings back the usual LYNX look.

• Color wheel for tracks, channels and patterns: the Rename and color dialogs have a color wheel with a hex field, and every Change color menu (mixer tracks, channels, patterns, playlist tracks and clips) has Custom color....

• Plugin presets: the plugin window has ◀ ▶ and a Presets menu with the plugin's own presets, your presets, Save preset…, Load / Export preset file… (LYNX .lynxpreset for any plugin, VST2 .fxp/.fxb, VST3 .vstpreset). Saved presets also appear in the Browser under Plugin presets; double-click one to load it.

• Last tweaked in the toolbar: the right end of the hint bar shows the last knob or plugin parameter you moved, with its value; click it for that parameter's menu (create automation clip, link to controller, edit events, init song with this position, type a value). Handy when a plugin's own window gets in the way.

• Patcher: every plugin in Add plugin: right-click the Patcher map › Add plugin is laid out in columns like FL's, by category (Generators: Controller, Drum, MIDI, Misc, Patcher, Sampler, Synth classic, Synth special; Effects: Controller, Delay reverb, Distortion, Dynamics, Filter, Flanger, Misc, Patcher). It lists the Envelope and Keyboard Controllers, MIDI Out, the Formula and Peak Controllers, every FL engine and effect, a nested Patcher and Sampler (choose file)..., plus Open plugin picker..., Browse plugin database and More... (your VST/VST3/CLAP plugins). Controllers expose their outputs to link to parameters; MIDI Out has a MIDI out pin.

• Patcher MIDI ports: right-click From LYNX / To LYNX › Events has Activate all, Deactivate all, Deactivate unused, Notes and MIDI port 0–255 (the active ones ticked); To LYNX also has Audio ›. A MIDI Out channel on port N reaches the Patchers (Channel Rack or mixer) with MIDI port N active, a Patcher can send to its To LYNX ports, and MIDI Out nodes inside a Patcher pass notes on with their MIDI channel. FL projects import with their Patcher MIDI pins and cables.

• Envelope Controller sections: the editor's dropdown now has Envelope, LFO, Keyboard mapping, Velocity mapping, Modulation X / Y mapping and Random, plus Base / Env / LFO knobs, Bipolar, Continuous output, an X/Y pad, a key-range keyboard and ATT / DEC / SUS / REL knobs with Time in beats. The LFO page has Speed, Tension, Skew, Pulse width, tempo sync, Global and a live wave preview. FL Envelope Controller presets import with all of this, and the same editor opens for Envelope Controller nodes inside a Patcher.

• Pitch... for samples and audio clips: right-click a sample channel in the Channel Rack, or an audio clip in the Playlist (clip menu) › Pitch...: semitones, cents and Keep length. With Keep length the stretch engine changes only the pitch; without it the sample is resampled like tape (higher is shorter) and the clips of that file follow its new length. Keep length also works on a sample channel without a stretch: its keys then transpose without changing the length.

• Compact menus: right-click and drop-down menus are now about as tight as Windows' own menus (smaller rows, section titles and separators), so more fits on screen, especially at 150% UI zoom. Prefer the roomier look? Options › General › Menu density › Comfortable. The Settings pages are a little tighter too.

• Alt = no snap on the rulers too: hold Alt while clicking or dragging on the Playlist ruler to scrub the song position freely, off the grid (Alt already freed clip and note moves, resizes, fades, the knife and time selections). The Piano Roll ruler now moves the position on click/drag as well (Alt for free placement); the hint bar mentions Alt.

• Hardware recording, sample-accurate: recorded audio now lands on the Playlist exactly where you played it, to the sample (before, the clip start was rounded and could be up to ~half a millisecond off). The compensation includes the delay of effects on the Master (a lookahead limiter, for example). See the figure and its parts in Options › Audio › Recording latency compensation.

• Measure your interface's round trip (ping): connect an output of your interface to an input with a cable, pick them in Options › Audio › Recording latency compensation and press Measure the round trip. LYNX sends a few clicks, measures exactly how late they come back and uses that for every recording on this device setup. Fine adjust moves takes by a number of samples if you want.

• Record audio with one key: Shift+R arms the selected mixer insert (or asks for its input), records and plays; Shift+R again stops, and the clip is on the Playlist. Takes are named after the insert (Guitar_Take3.wav); FL-style names are ...

LYNX 0.1.17-alpha

LYNX 0.1.17 alpha: a Linux release. A native PipeWire driver with real-time priority (no root), plugins in a separate process on Linux too (also Windows plugins through yabridge), much smoother drawing on Linux, and the AppImage in your applications menu. Windows, macOS and Linux. Website: lynx-share.com.

Important

Still an alpha. Bug reports are very welcome in Issues. The macOS build is not notarized yet: right-click › Open the first time.

Downloads

System	File
Windows 10/11 x64	LYNX-0.1.17-alpha-setup-x64.exe (installer) or LYNX-0.1.17-alpha-windows-x64.zip
macOS 11+ (Intel and Apple silicon)	LYNX-0.1.17-alpha-macos-universal.dmg
Linux x86_64 (glibc 2.35+, e.g. Ubuntu 22.04 or newer)	LYNX-0.1.17-alpha-x86_64.AppImage or LYNX-0.1.17-alpha-linux-x86_64.tar.gz

Checksums in SHA256SUMS.txt. The AppImage can update itself with AppImageUpdate.

Linux audio

• Native PipeWire driver: LYNX now talks to PipeWire directly (Options › Audio settings › Driver › PipeWire (native)), chosen automatically on the first start when PipeWire runs (then JACK, then ALSA). Low latency at 32–2048 samples, shared with other programs; System default follows the output picked in your desktop's sound settings (also when you plug in or remove a device), and LYNX shows up as LYNX in pw-link, qpwgraph or Helvum for routing. It survives a PipeWire restart. Nothing extra to install.
• Real-time priority without root: LYNX asks for real-time scheduling for its audio threads (your audio-group limits, RealtimeKit or the desktop portal). Options › Audio settings shows whether it got it, and if the sound breaks up without it LYNX explains once how to enable it. Details in docs/LINUX.md.

Linux plugins, drawing and the AppImage

• Plugins in a separate process on Linux too: Options › Plugins › Run plugins in a separate process now works on Linux (checked with VST3 and LV2 plugins and with Windows plugins through yabridge). A plugin that crashes or freezes is muted within moments and LYNX keeps running.
• Windows plugins through yabridge: checked with yabridge 5.1.1 and Wine 10.0, scanning, the plugin window, playback, export and the separate process all work. Notes in docs/PLATFORMS.md.
• Faster drawing on Linux: knobs and rounded panels are drawn from cached images, so the Mixer is up to 8× cheaper to draw while playing and the Mixer and Playlist scroll smoothly (almost no frame over 16 ms) even in big projects.
• AppImage in the applications menu: the setup wizard (and Options › General) can add the AppImage to your applications menu and open .lynx files with it; the entry follows the AppImage if you move it. From a terminal: --menu-entry on / off.
• Linux crash files now name the signal and list the crashing thread's frames, so crash reports from Linux are useful.

LYNX 0.1.16-alpha

LYNX 0.1.16 alpha: cleaner sound (new time-stretch, exact exports, better previews), a native SoundFont player with preset search, opt-in crash reports, singing live through imported FL Studio projects, a big speed-up, and more of FL Studio's piano roll and playlist tools. Windows, macOS and Linux. Website: lynx-share.com.

Important

Still an alpha. Bug reports are very welcome in Issues. The macOS build is not notarized yet: right-click › Open the first time.

Downloads

System	File
Windows 10/11 x64	LYNX-0.1.16-alpha-setup-x64.exe (installer) or LYNX-0.1.16-alpha-windows-x64.zip
macOS 11+ (Intel and Apple silicon)	LYNX-0.1.16-alpha-macos-universal.dmg
Linux x86_64 (glibc 2.35+, e.g. Ubuntu 22.04 or newer)	LYNX-0.1.16-alpha-x86_64.AppImage or LYNX-0.1.16-alpha-linux-x86_64.tar.gz

Checksums in SHA256SUMS.txt. The AppImage can update itself with AppImageUpdate.

Fixes

• Opening the Parametric EQ froze LYNX (since 0.1.10; it looked like a crash when opening an EQ). Fixed. Plugin editors now draw without the GPU by default, LYNX offers to run a plugin in the sandbox after its editor crashed, and Draw with the GPU (Direct2D) switches itself off after a graphics-driver crash. If LYNX freezes, a hang report is saved next to the crash reports.
• MP3s sounded bad: LYNX now decodes MP3 with minimp3 (bit-exact against ffmpeg; the old decoder damaged frames in more than half of our test files) and starts them with FL Studio's timing, so .flp projects line up again. New channels no longer land on an insert that is an effect return (they could end up on a reverb/delay bus).
• Singing through FL projects: the audio input of FL's mixer inserts is now imported, so the insert you record into (with its Auto-Tune chain) plays your microphone as soon as the project opens, as in FL Studio. LYNX also warns when the Master plays the same input as an insert (you would hear your dry voice twice).
• Exports no longer start with half-loaded plugins (reported with VSTs over yabridge on Linux). Each export creates fresh plugin instances, and bridged plugins or samplers that load in the background applied their settings only after the first moments of the file had been rendered. Before rendering, LYNX now lets third-party plugins process about a second of silence until they have settled (new Export option "Plugin warm-up", on by default), and the delay-compensation trim uses the latency they report afterwards.

Sound quality

We measured LYNX's whole signal path (details in docs/analise/REA_rodada160.md) and fixed what the numbers showed:

• Time-stretch (samples that follow the tempo, FL Studio "Stretch" channels, Newtone, the audio editor) uses a new engine based on Signalsmith Stretch: drum hits now stay in time (they could drift 20–200 ms before) and recorded takes imported from FL Studio are no longer rebuilt from pieces. Channel settings has a new choice: General, Drums / transients or Vocal / mono.
• No more distortion on loud mixes: LYNX used to bend every peak above −0.9 dBFS on the Master (0.3 % distortion on a mix peaking at −0.3 dBFS). Audio is now untouched up to 0 dBFS, as in FL Studio, and 32-bit float WAV exports keep peaks above 0 dBFS.
• 16/24-bit exports: a third of the samples of loud passages were written one step too low; now every sample is written exactly.
• Browser and audio editor previews use the same high-quality interpolation as the sampler (a 44.1 kHz file on a 48 kHz interface lost treble before), and exports always use the render-quality interpolation.
• Audio-thread safety: denormal protection everywhere, no memory allocation while playing (all 133 built-in instruments and effects were checked).
• If Windows Audio (shared mode) drops out, the CPU meter now suggests your interface's own ASIO driver.

Hardware outputs

• Each mixer insert (and the Master) can be routed to any output of your audio interface, including a single mono channel (left, right or a mono sum); the insert shows a badge such as "→3-4". Imported from .flp.

Crash reports (opt-in)

• After a crash or freeze, LYNX asks at the next start whether to send a report to help fix it — you can see exactly what will be sent first, send it, skip it, or open a prefilled GitHub bug report instead. Help › Report a problem… sends one by hand. Settings › General › Crash reports: Ask (default) / Always send / Never. Reports carry no audio, projects, file names, user or computer name, and the server keeps no IP address (privacy).

New: LYNX Soundfont

• A native SoundFont player (.sf2 and .sf3, issue #6), modelled on FL Studio's Fruity Soundfont Player: envelope, pitch LFO, cutoff and mod-wheel overrides, reverb / chorus (built in, or sent to a mixer insert), resampling quality, program mode and FL's options; everything automatable.
• Preset search across all your SoundFonts (FL's Soundfonts folder, Documents, Downloads, the Browser's folders and your own): type "piano", "808", "pad"…, click to hear, double-click to load, or drag a preset onto the Channel Rack. .sf2 files also open from the Browser, by drag and drop and from Quick add.
• .flp projects with Fruity Soundfont Player now import it with its font, preset, settings and automation.

Faster

• No more UI stalls with the Mixer maximized in big projects (279 stalls → 0 in FL Studio's "Thief" demo).
• Playlist scrolling is 3–4× smoother in big projects.
• Missing files › Apply took 25 s and could crash LYNX; it now takes under a second.
• Autosave no longer freezes the window while it writes.
• In our tests LYNX opened all 10 test projects faster than FL Studio did.
• LYNX_TRACE_UI=1 writes slow frames and audio load to ui.log, for bug reports about slowness.

More of FL Studio

• Piano roll:
  • 16 note colors, imported from .flp: Alt+C colors the selection, Shift+C selects by color, and a color swatch in the toolbar sets the color of new notes. Inside the piano roll, Alt+C now colors notes instead of cloning the pattern.
  • Note groups: Shift+G groups, Alt+G ungroups (imported from .flp).
  • Select menu: invert (Shift+I), odd, even, random, muted, overlapping and stacked notes.
  • A chord readout for the keys you play or the selected notes, a top-down chord stamp, and renameable keys with a General MIDI drum map.
• Playlist:
  • draw notes directly on instrument tracks;
  • Detect tempo for audio clips (fit the clip to the project, or set the project tempo);
  • per-clip pan;
  • Select overlapping, stacked and muted clips.
• Plugin picker: a searchable window with Instruments / Effects tabs, favorites, categories and vendors replaces the huge plugin submenu.
• Patcher: a minimap, and a Surface tab with knobs, sliders, buttons and XY pads you can cable to the map.
• Wrapper settings now take effect: release velocity, bend range, Mod X as aftertouch, All notes off on stop, plugin reset, loop position (also read from .flp).
• Tools › Audio logger records everything the Master plays to a WAV file.
• FL Studio effects: Emphasizer, Frequency Shifter and Low Lifter are rebuilt and now match FL Studio sample for sample (37 FL effects are exact now, 6 still approximate).

Closer stand-ins for third-party plugins

• docs/PARITY.md has no ❌ (missing) rows left: 36 before 0.1.15, 0 now.
• Facet EQ (Pro-Q-style): spectral dynamics per band (Density, Tilt) and EQ match against a captured reference.
• Prism (Pro-MB-style): free band layout with gaps, 6 … 48 dB/oct slopes, measured slow attacks and narrow bands.
• Ridge Strip: a measured 4K voicing (SSL 4K E-style EQ, compressor, gate) that reads saved 4K E states.
• LYNX Tune: steadier on long notes in noise, Group Octaves off, MIDI reference tone; fewer rough bursts on strong vowels (it no longer jumps to a harmonic), and Low latency is now about 6 ms instead of 16 ms for singing live.
• Compressor (Renaissance-style ranges and curve), Glow (CLA-2A-style ANALOG, Limit, auto make-up), Ember (Saturn 2-style crossover slopes, linear phase, LFO/envelope modulation), Auto-pan (PanMan-style trigger sources), Foil Plate (a one-knob Plate view), Echoform (Dual / Ping-pong voicings), Hush (Detector menu), de-esser and CLA-76-style stand-ins re-measured.

Known limits

• EQ match can't use a live side-chain as its reference yet.
• Fruity Emphasis is still approximate.

LYNX 0.1.15-alpha

LYNX 0.1.15 alpha: much faster editing in big projects, more of FL Studio's channel and mixer features, and closer stand-ins for popular third-party plugins. Windows, macOS and Linux. Website: lynx-share.com.

Important

Still an alpha. Bug reports are very welcome in Issues. The macOS build is not notarized yet: right-click › Open the first time.

Downloads

System	File
Windows 10/11 x64	LYNX-0.1.15-alpha-setup-x64.exe (installer) or LYNX-0.1.15-alpha-windows-x64.zip
macOS 11+ (Intel and Apple silicon)	LYNX-0.1.15-alpha-macos-universal.dmg
Linux x86_64 (glibc 2.35+, e.g. Ubuntu 22.04 or newer)	LYNX-0.1.15-alpha-x86_64.AppImage or LYNX-0.1.15-alpha-linux-x86_64.tar.gz

Checksums in SHA256SUMS.txt. The AppImage can now update itself with AppImageUpdate (a .zsync file is published next to it).

Faster

• Editing big projects no longer freezes LYNX. In projects with a lot of audio (for example FL Studio's "Thief" demo), every edit took about 3.5 s: muting a channel, moving a knob, connecting a Patcher cable. It now takes a few milliseconds. Every audio file was decoded again, and tempo-stretched audio was rebuilt, on each edit; both are fixed.

More of FL Studio

• Channel window › Misc tab:
  • Time gate / shift / full portamento, echo delay with ping-pong and Fat mode, velocity and key tracking, root-note keyboard and Add to key.
  • A full arpeggiator: timing, sticky, repeat by octave, slide, chords from your FL Studio installation, and Repeat 0 for whole chords.
  • It is imported from .flp, and live notes go through it too.
• Parameter menu in FL Studio's sections:
  • Init song with this position and Delete initial value (initialized controls, also imported from .flp);
  • Edit events in piano roll;
  • Override global link (global MIDI links that work in every project);
  • Copy and paste value.
• Automation recording: a control you move while recording overrides its playing automation right away.
• Mixer: separators, groups and Dock to left/middle/right, imported from .flp; the left and right docks stay fixed while the middle scrolls.
• Playlist: Audio and Instrument track modes, and Consolidate track, which follows tempo changes.
• Plugin windows: a Wrapper settings page with FL Studio's Settings / Processing / Troubleshooting tabs, a MIDI output port and manual latency compensation.
• Import MIDI file window: choose tracks, MIDI channels and controllers; zero-velocity notes; Blend when importing into the piano roll.
• Browser: an Initialized controls section for the current project.

Closer stand-ins for third-party plugins

• SSL Native Vocalstrip 2 has a measured stand-in: Ridge Strip's new Vocal strip voice (compander, EQ, de-esser and de-ploser). It reads saved Vocalstrip states, and on real vocals it matches within −60 dB.
• Slate, SSL, LiquidSonics, sonible and Harrison plugins now open as the closest LYNX effect when they are missing.
• Prism (Pro-MB-style):
  • a rebuilt Dynamic phase that matches when bands are working (older projects keep their sound, with a Classic dynamic switch);
  • Linear and Minimum phase, 2×/4× oversampling, mid/side band panning;
  • an Expert panel with stereo link, per-band side-chain filters and per-crossover slopes.
• Echoform:
  • an EchoBoy-style rhythm editor: draggable taps; Even, Free and Grid modes; Shape; 12 LYNX patterns;
  • Style edit: in-loop EQ, wobble shapes, diffusion;
  • 31 measured echo voicings with LYNX names, a saturation menu, and PrimalTap-style Multiply.
• Facet: linear-phase resolution with matching latencies.
• Lattice: UberMod-style DelaySync, translated from saved states.
• Ember: L/R or M/S, drive pan and pan per band.
• LYNX Tune: a Waves Tune Real-Time-style note keyboard (Bypass / Remove per note, range presets, latch).
• Ridge: ANALOG noise floor and compressor auto make-up.
• Hush: a detector-level bar and a gain-reduction peak hold.
• Up to 128 parameters per effect slot (older projects open unchanged). Linear-phase Facets have slightly more latency, which delay compensation covers.

Known limits

• Notes can't be drawn directly on Playlist instrument tracks yet.
• Prism has no 6 dB/oct slopes or free bands with gaps yet.

LYNX 0.1.14-alpha

LYNX 0.1.14 alpha: a real Patcher, FL Studio's engines in any project, more of FL Studio's workflow, and closer stand-ins for popular third-party plugins. Thanks again to everyone testing and opening issues! Windows, macOS and Linux. Website: lynx-share.com.

Important

Still an alpha. Bug reports are very welcome in Issues. The macOS build is not notarized yet: right-click › Open the first time.

Downloads

System	File
Windows 10/11 x64	LYNX-0.1.14-alpha-setup-x64.exe (installer) or LYNX-0.1.14-alpha-windows-x64.zip
macOS 11+ (Intel and Apple silicon)	LYNX-0.1.14-alpha-macos-universal.dmg
Linux x86_64 (glibc 2.35+, e.g. Ubuntu 22.04 or newer)	LYNX-0.1.14-alpha-x86_64.AppImage or LYNX-0.1.14-alpha-linux-x86_64.tar.gz

Checksums in SHA256SUMS.txt.

Patcher (#3)

• A user-editable Patcher for the mixer (Add › Patcher) and the Channel Rack (+ › Patcher). Put effects, instruments and VST3/CLAP plugins in it and connect audio, notes and control values between them and the "From LYNX" / "To LYNX" nodes.
• A generator Patcher can send extra outputs to other mixer inserts and its notes to a MIDI port.
• Patchers in .flp projects now open as the same graph (cable gains, side-chain, control links, delay compensation) instead of being flattened. FL Studio's own Patcher test projects match within 0.04 dB.
• MIDI between nodes is not there yet.

FL Studio's engines in any project (#5)

• 13 effects are now in the mixer's Add menu (Newtone, Newtime, Gross Beat, Vocodex, Maximus, EQUO, Distructor, Love Philter and more). 26 instruments are under Channel Rack › + › FL engines (Sytrus, Harmor, GMS, Ogun, Toxic Biohazard, PoiZone, Sakura, Kepler, FL Keys, Slayer and more).
• They also appear in the quick-add palette, the Patcher, and a new Browser › Plugin database.
• A new instance starts from the Default preset of your own FL Studio installation, so most of them need FL Studio installed (they show "(requires FL Studio)" otherwise). Partly reproduced engines are marked "(beta)".
• Newtone and Newtime have their own editors. In Newtone, load a sample and drag its notes; in Newtime, stretch audio with warp markers. You can preview the result and save it as WAV.
• FL Keys presets that point to a missing piano wavetable play again, in imported projects too.

More of FL Studio's workflow

• Menu bar in FL Studio's order, with new Add and Tools menus; File › Export per format (Wave, MP3, OGG, FLAC, MIDI) and Last exported format(s) (Ctrl+R), several formats from one render.
• Automation recording: while recording, knob moves go into automation clips (Song mode) or pattern events, with an Automation record filter and quantize option.
• Last tweaked: Tools › Last tweaked parameters, and Add › Automation for last tweaked parameter.
• File › Import › MIDI file… with FL-style options (new project or add, one channel per track or per MIDI channel, realign, mixer tracks).
• Recording: Quantize section and recording markers in the record menu; max polyphony per channel (Channel window › Misc), imported from .flp.
• Channel window with Plugin / Envelope / Misc tabs (cut groups, portamento, arpeggiator, polyphony).
• Menus:
  • Piano roll Tools menu with FL's groups and shortcuts.
  • Playlist: Merge clips, clip colors, a Chop submenu.
  • Mixer track menu: save and load track states, routing tools, insert multiple.
  • Browser right-click menus in FL's order.
• Other: Browser details box (date, size, FL version, path); Master audio input selector; per-plugin Smart disable and Use maximum buffer size from host.

Closer stand-ins for third-party plugins

• Auto-Tune: LYNX Tune was re-measured against Auto-Tune Pro (retune, humanize, flex-tune, throat, natural vibrato, Classic). Projects saved with recent Auto-Tune versions opened some scales as Chromatic instead of Minor; that is fixed.
• Voice Shift: a new voice effect (pitch, formant, robot) that can follow MIDI notes.
• Echoform:
  • EchoBoy-style Rhythm mode with draggable taps;
  • ValhallaDelay-style Era modes and measured ducking;
  • an H-Delay-style LoFi switch.
• Other effects:
  • Decapitator-style Ember voicings;
  • Pro-C-style side-chain triggers in Crest;
  • editable graphs in Gemini Doubler;
  • Quell's reduction meter;
  • Prism's six bands;
  • Apex's loudness meter;
  • a description line in every LYNX editor.
• Of the 149 items missing in docs/PARITY.md, 36 are left.

Fixes

• First start: the welcome wizard no longer overlaps itself (audio device list over the FL Studio section). It now appears over the main window, and the main window fits small screens.
• Imported .flp projects: Patchers that went silent are fixed, and effect names in old capitalization ("Fruity delay 2") are no longer dropped.

Known limits

• Patcher: no MIDI between nodes yet; publishing new Patcher parameters from LYNX's editor is not possible yet.
• Some FL engines are not offered yet (DrumSynth Live, Wasp, Fruity Dance, Autogun, DirectWave).

LYNX 0.1.13-alpha

LYNX 0.1.13 alpha: community fixes and features (issues #3 and #4), a Waves crash fix on Windows, and an AppImage that runs on older Linux distributions. Thanks to everyone who reported bugs and asked for features! Windows, macOS and Linux. Website: lynx-share.com.

Important

Still an alpha. Bug reports are very welcome in Issues. The macOS build is not notarized yet: right-click › Open the first time.

Downloads

System	File
Windows 10/11 x64	LYNX-0.1.13-alpha-setup-x64.exe (installer) or LYNX-0.1.13-alpha-windows-x64.zip
macOS 11+ (Intel and Apple silicon)	LYNX-0.1.13-alpha-macos-universal.dmg
Linux x86_64 (glibc 2.35+, e.g. Ubuntu 22.04 or newer)	LYNX-0.1.13-alpha-x86_64.AppImage or LYNX-0.1.13-alpha-linux-x86_64.tar.gz

Checksums in SHA256SUMS.txt. The AppImage no longer has "linux" in its name.

Fixes

• Windows: Waves plugin windows crashed LYNX when LYNX.exe was in a folder with accents or other non-ASCII characters (for example a Desktop called "Área de Trabalho"). LYNX now restarts itself from the folder's short ASCII path, and Waves editors open normally.
• Linux: the AppImage needed glibc 2.38. It is now built on Ubuntu 22.04 (glibc 2.35) with the C++ runtime linked in, so it runs on Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12, Mint 21 and newer. It also carries AppStream metadata and starts without a network.
• Windows going behind the main window (#4): the Audio Editor, the plugin picker and the quick-add palette stay above LYNX and keep the keyboard focus. Plugin windows keep their focus, so their drop-down menus open again.
• MIDI controllers (#4): enabled MIDI inputs open at startup and reconnect when a device comes back. Refresh in Settings reconnects too. A new MIDI light in the toolbar blinks on incoming MIDI; click it to reconnect.
• Pattern length (#4): with an empty Playlist, a 2-bar pattern loops after 2 bars instead of 1. Pattern clips follow their pattern when it grows.
• Song mode loop (#4): the transport loops back to the start at the end of the song, as in FL Studio, and plugins see the looped position.

New

• MIDI CC automation of plugins (#3): every plugin's parameter menu has Automate MIDI controller: CC 0–127 with their names, channel aftertouch and pitch bend. You can automate them with clips, edit them as events or link them to a MIDI controller. This helps plugins like VSL Synchron Pianos that respond to CC64/CC1/CC11 but expose few parameters. Long parameter lists are now paged, so every parameter can be reached.
• Formula Controller (#3): a mixer effect with knobs a/b/c and a formula. It uses FL Studio's operators and functions and imports from .flp.
• Envelope Controller (#3): can now be created and edited (Channel Rack › + › Envelope Controller). It has 8 envelopes with key ranges.
• MIDI Out (#3): a Channel Rack generator that sends notes, CC, bank and program live to the plugins on its MIDI port. Each plugin has a MIDI input port, imported from FL Studio projects.
• Issue #4 requests: View › Audio editor and View › Tempo tapper. Also: a volume knob for Browser previews, a piano-roll view button in the Channel Rack, a metronome volume control (right-click the metronome) and a Gain knob for sample channels.
• Recordings like FL Studio: a saved project records into <project folder>/Audio/Recorded with FL-style names. When you leave a project, LYNX asks whether to delete the recordings it does not use, and File › Delete unused recordings and save... does it on request. The question can be turned off in Settings.
• Plugin processing options: Allow threaded processing per plugin and per mixer insert. Use fixed size buffers now uses 2 ms blocks as in FL Studio, and Process maximum size buffers is a separate option. These options are imported from .flp projects. Older LYNX projects that had fixed size buffers on now use 2 ms blocks.
• Export: a new HQ for all plugins option. The export window also shows the length, total time and disk space, and has a Show the file(s) when complete option.
• Browser search uses an index saved between sessions, so it is faster in big folders.

Known limits

• Patcher with audio/MIDI I/O (#3) is not done yet.
• Plugins running in the separate (sandboxed) process still keep their windows above other apps.

LYNX 0.1.12 alpha

LYNX 0.1.12 alpha: fix for Soundgoodizer in imported FL Studio projects. Thanks to the tester who reported it! Windows, macOS and Linux. Website: lynx-share.com.

Important

Still an alpha. Bug reports are very welcome in Issues. The macOS build is not notarized yet: right-click › Open the first time.

Downloads

System	File
Windows 10/11 x64	LYNX-0.1.12-alpha-setup-x64.exe (installer) or LYNX-0.1.12-alpha-windows-x64.zip
macOS 11+ (Intel and Apple silicon)	LYNX-0.1.12-alpha-macos-universal.dmg
Linux x86_64	LYNX-0.1.12-alpha-linux-x86_64.AppImage or .tar.gz

Checksums in SHA256SUMS.txt.

Soundgoodizer in imported .flp projects

LYNX plays Soundgoodizer exactly when it can read FL Studio's own Soundgoodizer presets; on a computer without FL Studio it uses a close approximation. That approximation used to look broken:

• the mixer slot showed "Patcher" instead of Soundgoodizer, and double-clicking it did nothing;
• the import report listed Soundgoodizer as "left out", although it was still playing.

Now the slot is named Soundgoodizer, double-clicking it opens the Soundgoodizer page (Preset A–D and Amount), and the import report has a separate section, "Effects kept but approximated or partly reproduced", so only effects that were really removed appear under "left out".

LYNX 0.1.11 alpha

LYNX 0.1.11 alpha: plugin fixes for Linux, reported in #2. Thanks to the testers who reported it! Windows, macOS and Linux. Website: lynx-share.com.

Important

Still an alpha. Bug reports are very welcome in Issues. The macOS build is not notarized yet: right-click › Open the first time.

Downloads

System	File
Windows 10/11 x64	LYNX-0.1.11-alpha-setup-x64.exe (installer) or LYNX-0.1.11-alpha-windows-x64.zip
macOS 11+ (Intel and Apple silicon)	LYNX-0.1.11-alpha-macos-universal.dmg
Linux x86_64	LYNX-0.1.11-alpha-linux-x86_64.AppImage or .tar.gz

Checksums in SHA256SUMS.txt.

Linux plugins

• VST2 on Linux: .so plugins in ~/.vst, /usr/lib/vst, /usr/local/lib/vst (and lib64) are now scanned and hosted, including yabridge bridges (~/.vst/yabridge). Before, LYNX hosted VST2 only on Windows.
• Fedora, openSUSE and other lib64 distributions: /usr/lib64/{vst3,clap,lv2,vst} and /usr/local/lib64/... are now part of the standard plugin folders.
• LV2: plugins in any scan folder are found and load in later sessions, not only those in JUCE's two default folders. The scan no longer fills the terminal with lilv_world_load_bundle(): error lines (it was reading VST2 files as LV2 bundles).
• Plugin manager: when the list is empty it says so and explains that LYNX's own instruments and effects are not listed there: they are always in the Channel Rack's + button, a mixer insert slot and the Quick-add palette (F8).
• The scan menus name the formats each system really scans (Linux: VST, VST3, CLAP, LV2).

After updating, open Options › Plugin manager and press Find new plugins (or Rescan all).

LYNX 0.1.10 alpha

LYNX 0.1.10 alpha: every built-in plugin got a bold new look (four styles — Glow, Neon, Hardware, Vivid — one per plugin), every LYNX engine gained undo / redo, A/B compare and presets, the "inspired by" engines gained the controls their classics have, and the stand-ins for missing vocal plugins now sound much closer to the real ones (several measured as practically identical). Windows, macOS and Linux. Website: lynx-share.com.

Important

Still an alpha. Bug reports are very welcome in Issues. The macOS build is not notarized yet: right-click › Open the first time.

Downloads

System	File
Windows 10/11 x64	LYNX-0.1.10-alpha-setup-x64.exe (installer) or LYNX-0.1.10-alpha-windows-x64.zip
macOS 11+ (Intel and Apple silicon)	LYNX-0.1.10-alpha-macos-universal.dmg
Linux x86_64	LYNX-0.1.10-alpha-linux-x86_64.AppImage or .tar.gz

Checksums in SHA256SUMS.txt.

A new look for every plugin

• Four styles in a shared design kit: Glow (precision tools), Neon (modulation, space, synths), Hardware (vintage / analog roles) and Vivid (creative and pitch). Each plugin has its own style by default; Settings › General › Plugin style can force one everywhere, and each editor can pick its own (title-bar right-click or the ▸ menu).
• Lit value rings, bigger characterful knobs, glowing displays and meters, an open animation, and a Reduced effects option for weak graphics cards. Idle editors stay near 0 % CPU.

Closer to the classics (feature-by-feature audit, docs/PARITY.md)

• Every LYNX engine: undo / redo of its own edits, A/B with copy, a preset menu with LYNX factory presets plus your own, "keep Mix on preset load", a help line, resizable display editors.
• Facet EQ: per-band on/off and L / R / M / S placement, auto gain, polarity and output pan, analyser range / speed / tilt / freeze.
• Apex Limiter: Attack, transient / release linking, 8 styles, DC filter, unity gain, audition limiting, dither with noise shaping.
• Crest Compressor: Dry, auto threshold, stereo-link modes. Sentry Gate: L/R or M/S, side-chain gain / mix, ducking. Hush De-esser: Single Vocal / Allround, two-handle band, lookahead, stereo link, external side chain. Ember: per-band tone, feedback and dynamics. Prism: per-band lookahead, analyser freeze.
• LYNX Tune: Flex-Tune, Natural Vibrato, Hold, Auto Key, per-note bypass / remove, created vibrato, more scales — and an editor laid out like Auto-Tune's Auto mode.
• Glow Leveler, Ridge Strip, Compressor, Quell, Gemini, Echoform and the reverbs: the meters, switches and defaults of the originals (Compressor gets its own metered panel).

Vocal projects with plugins you don't have (measured black-box on the official trials)

Original	LYNX stand-in	On real vocal takes
SSL E-Channel	Ridge Strip E console	tone within 0.05 dB (480 random settings: median 0.01 dB)
Waves DeEsser	Hush classic split	practically identical in the chain
Fresh Air	Aether Dynamic	within 0.02 dB at the most used setting
H-Delay	Echoform	level within 0.1 dB; bit-exact with Analog off
Doubler	Gemini Doubler	one side sample-exact, the detuned side matches in tone
CLA-2A	Glow opto classic	tone within ~0.4 dB
CLA-76	Crest	much closer (new dedicated translation)
Renaissance Compressor	Compressor vintage	closer (1.5–4 dB), still being refined
Auto-Tune Pro / EFX+	LYNX Tune	retune / humanize / Flex-Tune timing within a few ms; key, scale, notes, detune, transpose, mix read from the project
Pro-Q 4, S1 Imager, VintageVerb, PanMan	Facet EQ, Stereo Shaper, Epoch Verb, Auto-pan	settings carried over

• Old projects keep their previous sound: the new voicings only apply to stand-in slots.

Docs

• Clean-room spec dossiers for 20 classic plugins in docs/specs (manuals, papers, patents, schematics), round notes docs/analise/REA_rodada120–129.

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FL Studio and the names of its plugins are trademarks of Image-Line; Waves, SSL, Antares, FabFilter, Slate Digital, Valhalla DSP, Soundtoys and other product names belong to their owners. LYNX is not affiliated with them and contains none of their code.