Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Redshift 6 finished?
Yes. Since the release of firmware 1.7, all Redshift 6 front panel features and functions are available and ready to use.
Redshift 6 is a complete and stable instrument with a broad and powerful set of features in place. Many artists are using Redshift 6 in studios and live setups today.
With the instrument now complete, active refinement and expansion of the Redshift 6 features continues. We’re excited to extend its capabilities through ongoing firmware updates. Check our plans on the Timeline.
If you’d like to hear from current users, our Discord community is a great place to discuss the current state of Redshift 6 and real-world usage experiences.
Firmware update gets stuck in step 1/4 or 2/4
On Windows, you should quit all applications using MIDI before running the firmware updater.
On Windows, the USB driver is automatically installed the first time you connect the Redshift 6 to your computer. Sometimes the installation doesn’t finish as it should (it’s out of our control since we didn’t write the driver) and you need to reboot your computer before running the updater. You should only need to do it once though.
On Mac, there’s a known OS bug where the MIDI USB device sometimes isn’t recognized after it’s updated (which happens in step 1/4) and the updater gets stuck. Disconnecting and reconnecting the USB cable should help, but if it doesn’t, try rebooting your computer before trying again. We’re looking into a better workaround.
Synth output has a lot of noise
Under some circumstances, Redshift 6 can be noisier than some other modern analog synths. This is because of various requirements on the signal path: it must pass anything between 1 to 16 oscillators through the filter and the VCA, with relatively low distortion when drive is low and the Character is one of the cleaner ones (Liquid is by far the cleanest). Further, Character and the multiple filter modes require headroom in places on the signal path, and as always in analog audio, there is a compromise between distortion and noise. This is emphasized when playing sounds with the filter almost closed and drive is very low, especially if the cutoff is below the oscillator fundamental, so that the filter is, in addition to its filtering action, effectively reducing gain going into the VCA.
There are some things you can do to mitigate this:
- Increasing drive: the default value for Drive (which you can reset to by holding Shift and tapping the Drive knob) is what we consider “neutral” and the gain structure of the signal path has been designed with this setting in mind. Lowering Drive makes the gain compensation increase output volume which will also increase noise level, which is especially noticeable with certain Characters. Consider increasing Drive level slightly or changing the Character if there is too much noise for your liking.
- Increasing filter cutoff: when the filter cutoff is below the oscillator fundamental, opening it a little more can have only a small effect on the tone of the sound, but a large effect on the amplitude and hence the signal-to-noise-ratio.
Can the Redshift 6 do cross-modulation (AM/FM/ring mod) or hard sync?
Our voice architecture doesn’t allow these in the analog realm, but we have some ideas for how to do cross-modulation or sync against a “virtual” oscillator (digital oscillator that you will never hear on its own) so these capabilities might be available in a future DCO engine.
Adjusting Pitch / modulation amount / some other parameter feels too coarse and it’s difficult to do small adjustments
Hold Shift while turning a knob for fine adjust; with the Pitch parameter for example this allows sub-cent accuracy. Alternatively you can double-tap Shift to latch fine tune mode. Press Shift again or Esc to get out of fine tune mode.
In a future update, we are planning to offer more precise control of modulation ranges but a workaround you can use right now is setting Off as the via source (it’s the default for a modulation row) in the mod matrix and increase via amount to lower the range and increase accuracy for the modulation.
I’m getting notes that don’t stop playing (stuck notes)
You might have a MIDI controller or DAW that in some situations sends a MIDI note on message without ever sending a MIDI note off message; if this is the case, you can hold Shift and press MIDI to kill all playing notes.
It’s also possible you have a non-zero Drone on the Amp page, which makes the voice play even if there are no incoming notes.
What’s the size of the Redshift 6 with and without jacks and feet?
Including jacks, knobs and feet it’s 378mm x 269mm x 68mm or 14.88″ x 10.59″ x 2.68″ (width x depth x height).
Without jacks and feet but including knobs it’s 378mm x 257mm x 59mm or 14.88″ x 10.11″ x 2.32″ (width x depth x height).
Can I mount the Redshift 6 on a VESA stand?
Yes, the synth has VESA screw holes in the back with 75x75mm spacing. You should use M4 x 10mm screws for mounting; please don’t use longer screws to avoid damaging the internals.
How many user presets can I store? Can I delete factory presets to make room for more?
Factory presets are stored with the firmware and don’t use user preset storage. There’s no specific maximum number of user presets that can be stored as presets vary in size, but it’s at least thousands.
Which waveforms is the Redshift 6 capable of?
DCO oscillators can naturally produce saw and pulse waves (with pulse width control) so that’s what we offer right now. As opposed to some other DCO synths, we can’t do triangle and sine waves because the architecture that allows 16 oscillators per voice also prevents us from having a waveshaper needed to produce those waveforms.
That being said, since we have full control of the volume, pitch and phase of each oscillator within a voice, we can approximate more complex waveforms by in essence overlaying simpler waveforms carefully to produce triangle-like waves and more. These might appear in a future firmware update. We even have plans for wavetable-like DCO engines, although these wouldn’t have the full power of “true” wavetable synths since our oscillators are analog.
What are the FX routing options on the Redshift 6?
FX are always on the main outputs. To disable effects for some parts only, you can route them to Aux 1/2. If you want to have different effects for each part, you can use the 6 individual outputs on the Redshift 6 and use external FX.
Does the filter track pitch accurately?
Currently it doesn’t. We have plans to improve filter calibration in a future firmware update.
How do I load a preset for a single part? I’m trying to load a preset but it overrides all parts
Redshift 6 presets always contain all six parts even if you’re only using one of them. To load a preset for a single part, you can turn the soft knob labeled PART on the Preset page to select which part to load from the selected preset. That part will be loaded to the selected part as indicated below the PART label. For example “2 -> 3” means part 2 from the selected preset will be loaded into active part 3.
As a shortcut, you can hold one of the part buttons and tap the PRESET button to load a single part.
Does the Redshift 6 accept MIDI Program Change messages?
There’s preliminary semi-hidden support right now: Program Change messages 0-127 load the first 128 user presets. Since user presets are ordered alphabetically, you can save presets with names such as “000 Neat Preset”, “001 My Lead” etc. to select their order.
More thorough support with a better user interface is coming in firmware update 2.0 scheduled for November 2026 at time of writing.