ANA 2 vs Cardinal
ANA 2
sonicacademy.com
Cardinal
cardinal.kx.studioSide by side
| Figure | ANA 2 | Cardinal |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 2 |
| Spec score · Software Synthesizers | 8.3 (#8) | 9.0 (#2) |
| Intended users | The maker describes ANA 2.5 as suitable for beginners, professional producers, sound designers, live performers, and music educators. | The maker says Cardinal was created to provide Rack as a conventional open-source audio plugin and notes that Rack Pro may suit users seeking official support and its larger module collection. |
| Maker | Sonic Academy Limited’s privacy policy lists its postal address as 5 Downshire Park, Bangor, BT203TP; the maker pages reviewed do not state a founding year. | DISTRHO is an open-source cross-platform audio-plugin project led and primarily coded by Filipe Coelho (falkTX), under the KXStudio umbrella. |
| Plugin formats | Supported 64-bit formats are VST, VST3, AU, and AAX on Mac, and VST, VST3, and AAX on Windows. | Official builds provide AudioUnit, CLAP, LV2, VST2 and VST3 formats. |
| Product | ANA 2.5 is a software synthesizer plugin for creating sounds in a DAW. | Cardinal is a free, open-source virtual modular synthesizer based on VCV Rack and packaged as a self-contained plugin and standalone app. |
| Support | Sonic Academy provides a support knowledge base with ANA installation, license key, uninstall, and crash troubleshooting articles. | The maker asks users to report bugs on GitHub and lists the #cardinal IRC room on Libera.Chat for community discussion. |
Plans
In their own words
Cardinal
Cardinal is a free, open-source modular synthesizer based on VCV Rack, available as a standalone app and as a plugin. It bundles 1,382 modules from 84 authors or brands, but does not load external modules or connect to the official Rack library or store; modules cannot be added to an existing build. Cardinal runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, and the web. Its plugin formats are AudioUnit, CLAP, LV2, VST2, and VST3, with Main, Synth, and FX variants that all support MIDI input and output. Main provides eight audio inputs and outputs and ten CV inputs and outputs, but is unavailable in AU and VST2 and is not yet available in CLAP. Mini has a smaller hand-picked module selection, two audio ports, and five CV ports, and is available only as LV2 or standalone. OSC remote control works in standalone use, not in the plugin. The project describes Cardinal as stable, while noting CLAP support is still in progress and VST3 hosting inside Carla or Ildaeil is experimental. It is licensed under GPLv3+.