BoundPlugins is currently offering the Ascension hybrid synthesizer by CubicAudio for just £1, down from the regular price of £49.99.
To claim the discount, use the coupon code HINTONANDFAIRCHILD at checkout. There’s no precise end date for this deal.
But first, here’s a quick heads-up: I couldn’t get the deal to work in Chrome—my cart kept showing up empty. Switching to Firefox fixed the issue, so if you’re running into the same problem in Chrome, try another browser.
Ascension is a beginner-friendly hybrid synth that blends subtractive and wavetable synthesis, with a strong emphasis on ready-to-use sounds.
It’s clearly built with performers and producers in mind, rather than hardcore synth programmers. While it includes a solid synthesis engine, its real strength lies in the vast preset and MIDI content bundled with it.
For just one pound, you’re getting a staggering amount of content: over 1500 presets, more than 1300 waveforms, and upwards of 1700 royalty-free MIDI files. In a way, just the waveforms and MIDI content alone would justify the price, let alone getting a full-blown synth for £1.
Ascension comes with four FM-capable oscillators, a drag-and-drop multi-FX unit, a fully featured arpeggiator, and a MIDI loop player that supports direct drag-and-drop into your DAW.
The modulation matrix and custom waveform editor add some welcome flexibility if you want to go deeper into sound design, but again, the real draw here is the breadth of usable, modern sounds for genres like EDM, pop, and other electronic styles.
That said, there are a couple of caveats.
The 6GB library is pretty large (although this is understandable for a rompler-style synth), and it can be a bit CPU-hungry at times. I noticed some performance slowdowns when loading multiple instances, but nothing that made it unusable.
I also don’t like the control layout. Most of the synth engine parameters are placed in a single row, which is a bit counterintuitive if you need to quickly jump from the filter cutoff to, say, the ADSR release or LFO rate. Better control grouping would definitely help here.
Despite those minor downsides, this deal is a no-brainer if you need a content-packed synth. Think of it as a more affordable alternative to something like reFX Nexus—maybe not as deep or polished, but absolutely packed with sounds.
It’s updated regularly, and CubicAudio still seems to release new preset packs for it.
Ascension is compatible with 64-bit VST3 hosts on Windows and VST3/AU hosts on macOS. It requires at least 6GB of hard drive space and 8GB of RAM.
If you need an affordable source of of modern synth sounds, don’t miss this one. Just make sure to use Firefox (or a non-Chrome browser) when checking out.
Get the deal: Ascension (£1 with coupon code HINTONANDFAIRCHILD)
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Last Updated on May 8, 2025 by Tomislav Zlatic.
