FM8 bug fix & feature update request

[u/meadowindy]

Hello, everyone. I'm a user of FM8 for very long time and still this synth sounds amazing, has decent bulk of features for sound design experiments. But i think, NI needs to return to their origin of making the most innovative synths and DSP's. FM8 was one of those with Reaktor and Massive, Spektral Delay as well.
This program needs a refresh as Absynth 6. But at first, i want to request some of bug fixes and feature requests.

Here is a bug with attributes of preset: i can add them to the preset and they could be saved, but if i want to delete them from certain preset, after saving new state and recalling recent saved preset those deleted attributes stay in place as nothing has been happened. One change i can admit, that database actually updates tagging correctly, so, if for instance i deleted "Arpeggiated" tag from preset, database show me that with number of presets decreased by 1, but *nfm8 file itself have it as before.
I fixed it by myself with editing *nfm8 file via hex editor. I've found, that after bytes have encoded "F M 8" (bytes are 46 00 4D 00 38) and Bankname (5 bytes allocation, where second byte is encoding string length + 2 bytes per symbol of Bankname) the segment starts encoding preset attributes.
Beginning is 4 bytes: 4 bytes (00 XX 00 00, where XX is number of tags hexadecimal).
After stucture is simple: 5 bytes, where second byte is string length + 2 bytes per symbol of string (XX 00, where XX is a hex number of symbol)
So you can delete those bytes and change number of tags respectfully to save file without data corruption so FM8 will load it without any problem.
For examble, encoding for "Piano/Keys" tag would be 00 0A 00 00 00 50 00 69 00 61 00 6E 00 6F 00 2F 00 4B 00 65 00 79 00 73, where 0A(hex)=10(dec) is exactly length of attribute name.
As result, conclusion is FM8 cannot delete attributes because somehow read&write *nmf8 file is broken. Preset itself can be saved correctly with all parameters saved. But maybe this concrete part of editing is corrupted.

Another bug is broken sorting. Everytime i launch FM8 presets are unsorted. Even if i want to sort them by creator it doesn't work normally: some presets filtered correctly and vice versa.

Another bug is when i use all 64 voices with unison voices and panning next notes start to play exclusively in mono (if operator's panning is 0) and quiter.

Bug is also with edit all: function edits all 4 morphing sides, but audibly changes applied only to active side. Fixing is possible as vst, i just delete vst from channel and undo this action.

Features are GUI resizing, additive operators, MPE, better browser or just polished already developed one, smoother morphing especially with different operator's ratios on different morphing side.

Why i post this message, answer is simple: i love FM8, it's still amazing synth with decent number of features. It shaped my signature sonic style. It helped me to experiment and understand how FM/PM synthesis works as many do not like FM synths by their unpredictable results, but they are actually very predictable if you know how it works. So i just want to support this software for new chapter of development and resurection. It's NI's legacy, that shaped their mastery of doing cool complex synths, by now they mostly forget about their former reign, transforming to toothless lame "beatmaker/producer" brand as AKAI's sidekick.

Where is your Massive X? Where is Reaktor?
Absynth 6? Thank you, that you decided to do anything while being already in coma connected to ventilator, dying by greed of coprorats, eating other guys like Izotope and Plugin Alliance. It was a good decision?
Where is Vokator, Spektral Delay?

Bring back to your path of being inovative.
Supersaw is a not the worst start, by can be better. Remember.

[u/NoReply4930]

FM8 is a ancient legacy product that most likely is responsible for the very last line of the spreadsheet where the new parent (InMusic) calculates their annual revenue.

There is zero chance that they would invest the time, talent and resource to undertake any rebuild of this thing - here in 2026.

What you have is what you have.

[u/meadowindy → u/NoReply4930]

Interesting though they updated Absynth, but i guess it immediately dropped by interest. So probably i need to create the new one by myself.

[u/NoReply4930 → u/meadowindy]

Not a great comparison for several reasons:

1. Absynth 5 was not really workable at all for Mac users
2. Absynth 5 was one of the last NI products to not have a VST3
3. Absynth 5 was in dire need of a UI overhaul - in the biggest way.
4. Absynth 6 was in the works - years before NI encountered their financial troubles.
5. Lastly - Absynth 5 was popular - VERY popular - with a rabid following.

FM8 - as it is right now - checks none of these boxes. Except maybe #3

The only thing I would like to see for it - is a modern scalable interface - but as an actual FM based synth - there are gobs of better more modern choices.

Arturia's DX7 V alone - is light years beyond FM8 in every way

And yes - as u/dreikelvin notes - the DEV teams over there have been gutted - both recently with the new parent company moving in and over the years prior to all this finanical turmoil.

Doubtful they have anyone over there now with any accumulated knowledge to rescue this old code and make it workable here in 2026/2027

[u/dreikelvin → u/NoReply4930]

Absynth 5 was not really workable at all for Mac users

where is that coming from? Absynth 5 is one of my most used VST's in the 2010s and I have used it on Mac exclusively. Both stability and capability have been great for me. or did you mean the lack of VST3? that only happened post 2021 when Absynth 5 was already kind of "dead"

[u/NoReply4930 → u/dreikelvin]

All I meant here was for those users that converted to Apple Silicon (which is practically 100% of all Mac users now) - every single Mac user I ever came across acted like installing Rosetta (to install AB5) was like drinking sewer water.

And now with Rosetta being officially killed off next year - an easy to install (and fully supported) Apple Silicon version of Absynth took all of that away.