Most MPE news revolves around hardware: a new keyboard, a firmware update, a pressure-sensitive surface. This week brings something different. On October 23, Manifest Audio released Sonification Tools v3, a bundle that turns real-world data into synthesis, sequences and effects, and its synth is MPE-enabled.
What is in the bundle
According to the KVR Audio announcement, v3 is a set of three plugins plus two companion tools:
- Data Synth: a 16-voice synthesizer with four data slots. Its four oscillators can read data either as a single waveform cycle or as an additive partial bank. The same data can also drive four LFO-style modulators or a built-in polyphonic sequencer.
- Data FX: four data-driven effect slots, each offering seven effect types, including convolution, granulator, multi-tap delay, resonator bank, spectral filter, spectral morph and wavefolding distortion.
- Data Path: a host-synced MIDI sequencer shaping pitch, velocity, length, probability and rhythm. It offers Euclidean and count-based patterns, up to eight polyphonic voices, and can output OSC and MIDI CC.
- Data Map: an Ableton Live Extension. It requires the latest Live 12 Suite beta (12.4.15 or later).
- Data Tap Pro: an iPhone app, available on the App Store, that sends motion, touch, camera and GPS data to the plugins over OSC.
Where MPE fits in
Manifest lists Data Synth as MPE-enabled, and says Data Path supports Scala microtuning over MPE. That is a meaningful detail. Microtuning and per-note expression are a natural pair, since an MPE controller can bend each note independently while a Scala scale defines where those notes should land.
The idea of data as a modulation source also sits comfortably next to MPE. MPE gives you per-note pressure, slide and pitch from your fingers. A data source can add a slower, independent layer: tides, weather patterns or phone motion shaping the timbre while your hands handle the phrasing. The two kinds of control do not compete; they occupy different time scales.
Data sources and generative tools
The built-in data library covers weather, ocean, space, biodiversity, economics and sustainability. The plugins can also convert spreadsheets, images, text, audio, video and hand-drawn shapes, and there are 47 generative math algorithms. Data Tap Pro, listed at $6.99, turns the iPhone into a sensor controller. A free Data Tap version also exists.
The bundle includes extras for Ableton users: Max for Live VST wrappers, Push 3 standalone devices, and a Modulator that uses plugin OSC output to control any Live parameter.
Price, formats and requirements
The Sonification Tools v3 Bundle costs $169 at its introductory price until November 8, 2026, with upgrade pricing for v2 owners. Individual plugins are listed on KVR at $99 for Data Synth, $69 for Data FX and $49 for Data Path. Data Path, Data Synth and Data FX have free demo modes, so you can try the MPE behavior with your own controller before buying.
Plugins ship as AU, VST3 and CLAP for macOS 11+, Windows 10+ and 64-bit x86 Linux (glibc 2.35+). Data Tap needs iOS 15+. You can find everything on the Manifest Audio site.
What to check before you buy
If you play an MPE controller, spend your demo time on three things. First, confirm that the controller's pressure, slide and pitch bend reach the parameters you expect, and check your pitch bend range settings. Second, load a Scala file in Data Path and test how it behaves when you glide between notes. Third, listen to how data-driven modulation interacts with your own per-note gestures, since both may target filter or amplitude at once.
The bigger picture
Sonification Tools v3 is not an "MPE product" in the narrow sense, and Manifest does not market it that way. It is a generative toolkit that treats MPE as one input among many. That is arguably where the format is heading: no longer a niche selling point, but a standard capability that creative tools quietly support so expressive players can join in.
Sources: KVR Audio, Manifest Audio.