Greetings,
Just a quick tabulation. Please advise if you know of other synths to be
added to this list. However, please note that I've purposely omitted
general-purpose synthesis environments such as Csound, Pd, RtCmix, or
SuperCollider, all of which include FM synthesis implementations. I have
also omitted non-native solutions, e.g. Airwave-enabled VST instruments.
6PM - Free, open-source. 6-op PM. Cool synth, good sounds. Standalone only.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/mv-6pm/
Bazille - Commercial, very unlike the typical DX-oriented FM synths, but
very powerful.
https://www.u-he.com/cms/bazille
Bristol - Free, open-source. 6-op FM. Includes an emulation of the DX7.
Cabbage - Free, open-source. Various FM synths, including 3CarrierFM,
the ChowningCollection, and FM_Clang. Good stuff !
http://cabbageaudio.com/
Dexed - Free, open-source. 6-op FM. Really nice UI, good sound, huge
collection of presets. Btw, I suggest using falkTX's port from his
KXStudio repos.
https://github.com/asb2m10/dexed
Digits - Free, closed-source. A Casio PM emulator, very good sound. Nice
presets, but no GUI for the Linux version.
http://www.extentofthejam.com/
Hexter - Free, open-source. 6-op FM. My favorite. I prefer it over
Dexed, not least because it accepts the sys-ex for my original TX802
patches (Dexed doesn't). Also capable of multi-timbral performance with
the Ghostess host.
http://dssi.sourceforge.net/hexter.html
mda DX10/EPiano - Free, open-source. 4-op FM. Good sound, no GUI, good
presets.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/mda-vst/
OxeFMsynth - Free, open-source. 4-op FM. Good sound, easy to program,
good collection of presets.
http://www.oxesoft.com/
Tracktion FM Synth - Commercial. Adds a GUI to the mda DX10.
https://marketplace.tracktion.com/app/tracktion-micro-synth-pack.html#.VjdQ…
Best,
dp