Autodafe VES is a free vintage emulator studio plugin based on the MAME framework with various emulated instruments for your DAW.
In recent months, a crazy amount of new companies have entered the plugin market. AI tools like Claude and others have made this possible, and most of these new companies use them. Often, even without knowing what’s in the code, it’s very easy to recognize.
One of those, and one that discloses it, is Autodafe, which has built a vintage emulation studio (VES) using AI.
Autodafe VES (Vintage Emulation Studio)
VES is a new free and open-source audio plugin that brings a vintage emulation studio to your DAW. It features a curated selection of vintage synthesizers, samples, drum machines, and sound modules.
The instruments in Autodafe VES are based on and emulated by the open-source (GPL2) MAME framework version 0.289.
Reminder: it’s a software project primarily designed to recreate vintage arcade video games, home consoles, and more. It is now also used for instruments.
Rather than recreating the original instrument through a conventional software model, VES embeds selected MAME machines directly inside a plugin and a standalone host.
The MAME environment handles the emulation, while VES provides the surrounding audio, MIDI, graphical output and host integration required to use the machines as software instruments.
Autodafe does not hide the fact that it used AI tools, including ChatGPT and Codex, to achieve the more advanced coding tasks.
Included Instruments
The current releases include the following instruments:
- Akai CD3000i, CD3000XL, MPC60, MPC3000, S2000, S3000, and S3000XL
- **Casio** AP-10, CT-8000, CT-FK1, CZ-101, CZ-1, CZ-230S, and RZ-1
- **Ensoniq** : ESQ-1, VFX, VFX-SD, and SD-1 32 Voice
- **Roger Linn** : LinnDrum
- **Oberheim** : DMX
- **Roland** : TR-707 and TR-727
- **Sequential** : Prophet-5, and Six-Trak
- **Yamaha** : DD-9, DX100, FB-01, TG100, TX81Z, MU-50, MU-2000, PSR series (11, 60, 70, 75, 76, 110, 150, 180), and PSS series (11, 12, 21, and 31)
For most instruments, you need the original ROM files that Autodafe doesn’t include in the VES plugin. As is typical with emulators, this puts you in a gray area.
For the sampler plugins: they also work with emulated floppy disks, CD-ROMs, and hard-drive images, where the underlying MAME driver supports them
Machine availability, accuracy, and completeness also depend on the current state of the corresponding MAME drivers. Some machines may have incomplete features, imperfect emulation, or limitations that are outside the scope of VES, says Antonio.
First Impression
At first glance, it’s an intriguing project with many emulated instruments from the past. However, the sounds I’ve heard so far haven’t blown me away. Either the project still needs a lot of work, or these are MAME’s current limitations. We’ll see. The next prompt isn’t far away.
Autodafe VES is available now as a free download. It runs as a standalone and VST3 and AU plugin for macOS (native Apple Silicon + Intel), Linux, and Windows. The code is open-source
More information here: Autodafe