Cardinal vs SynthMaster One

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+.

SynthMaster One is a wavetable software synthesizer for shaping and sequencing sounds. Its desktop version includes 1,250 factory presets, two oscillators, two sub oscillators, two filters, four ADSR envelopes, two LFOs, a 16-step arpeggiator/sequencer and 11 effect types per instance. Users can import wavetable files and extend the library by placing files in the SynthMaster One Waveforms folder. It supports Scala tuning files and drag-and-drop import of MIDI patterns into the arpeggiator. The maker says presets, waveforms, samples, favourites and MIDI programs can sync across machines and platforms. Desktop runs as a VST instrument on Windows and Mac, and as an Audio Unit instrument on Mac; Windows also has a standalone application. On iOS, AudioUnits V3 supports multiple instances in compatible DAWs, and the Files app can import and export presets, waveforms and scales on iOS 11 or later. The iOS version has 16-voice polyphony and 650 presets, compared with 32 voices and 1,250 presets on desktop. The iPhone-only app is free; the universal iOS app costs $9.99, paid once, and the desktop version costs $49, paid once.