Native Instruments Launches Super*Saw with A. G. Cook
A. G. Cook and Native Instruments turn the classic supersaw into a $99 synth.
Clarity Commitment
Tell me more
Contains affiliate links (marked *)
Estimated read time: X minutes
Native Instruments has released Super*Saw (pronounced "SuperStarSaw"), a $99 synthesizer co-created with PC Music founder and producer A. G. Cook. The plugin is built around one idea: stacking sawtooth waves into dense, detuned chords, a technique that powered 1990s trance and has since become a staple of hyperpop, EDM leads, and pop production.
A synth built around one sound, pushed to its limits
Cook, whose production credits include Charli XCX, Caroline Polachek, Oklou, and Jonsi, has spent much of his career building layered supersaw stacks by hand: duplicating tracks, detuning each one slightly, then automating the result across a session. Super*Saw packages that entire workflow into a single instrument. "It was a real pain to get all the automation right and meticulously line everything up," Cook told Native Instruments. "It never felt like I was playing the synths or interacting with them in a musical way."
Two Swarms, one Morpher
The engine is built around a dual 8-voice sawtooth oscillator system, split into two colour-coded layers Native Instruments calls Swarms: pink and green. Each Swarm can carry up to 16 additional detuned saw voices, and the two can be blended, copied across, or randomised independently. A 4-corner Morpher gives real-time X/Y control over chord shape, detune spread, and modulation depth, so a patch can move continuously between a tight, in-tune stack and a fully detuned wall of sound without manual automation. A star-shaped motion control can be mapped to pan, amplitude, or pitch for movement while playing.
Voice offset and glide controls shape stereo width and note transitions, and built-in chorus, delay, and reverb take a patch from a dry stack of saws to a wide, evolving sound without leaving the plugin. Quantize, chord, and scale tools keep the more extreme settings musically usable rather than purely chaotic.
Why a single-purpose synth
Super*Saw doesn't try to be a general-purpose synthesizer. By limiting the engine entirely to sawtooth waves, Native Instruments and Cook are betting that constraint makes the instrument faster to use for its intended job than pulling up a full wavetable synth and dialling in unison, detune, and stereo spread by hand. The plugin ships as a standalone VST3/AU/AAX instrument, 162 MB, and does not require Kontakt or another player.
What is Super*Saw?
Super*Saw is a standalone synthesizer plugin from Native Instruments, co-created with producer A. G. Cook, built entirely around stacking and shaping detuned sawtooth waves.
How much does Super*Saw cost?
Super*Saw is $99 as a one-time purchase, available directly from Native Instruments or through authorised resellers such as Plugin Boutique.
What plugin formats does it support?
Super*Saw runs as a standalone application and as a VST3, AU, or AAX plugin on Windows 10/11 and macOS 14 through 26, on Intel or Apple Silicon.
Do I need Kontakt to use Super*Saw?
No. Super*Saw is a standalone synth engine, not a Kontakt instrument, so no separate sample player is required.
Is there a free trial?
Native Instruments has not published a free trial or demo version of Super*Saw at launch.
How is this different from just using a wavetable synth like Serum for supersaws?
General-purpose synths can build supersaw sounds through unison and detune settings, but doing so with the same depth of control Super*Saw offers typically means manually layering oscillators and automating detune over time. Super*Saw folds that workflow into dedicated Swarm and Morpher controls built for exactly that job.
What are the system requirements?
Windows 10 or 11 (latest Service Pack) or macOS 14, 15, or 26, an Intel Core i5-class CPU or Apple Silicon, and 4 GB of RAM (6 GB recommended). An internet connection is required for installation and activation; the plugin can run offline afterwards.
Our View
Super*Saw is a well-scoped tool for a specific sound rather than a category-shifting release. Native Instruments and A. G. Cook aren't trying to replace a general-purpose synth here, they're packaging one production technique, stacked detuned saws, into a fast, playable instrument. For producers who lean on that sound regularly, that focus is the whole appeal; for everyone else it's a plugin they'll open occasionally.
Xfer Records' Serum 2 ($249, xferrecords.com), and countless other analog synth plugins, can build comparable supersaw stacks through its unison and detune controls, and does far more besides, including multiple oscillator types, granular and spectral synthesis, and a full modulation matrix. Super*Saw is less than half the price and considerably faster to get a usable supersaw patch out of, but it can only ever be a saw synth. Producers who already own Serum, Vital, or a similarly deep wavetable synth are already covering this ground, just with more manual setup.
We have not yet tested Super*Saw directly. A hands-on pass would need to check CPU load with both 8-voice Swarms and the built-in effects running simultaneously in a full session, and whether the Morpher holds up for arrangement-level automation as well as it does for live performance.
Pricing
Super*Saw
Single edition, standalone purchase. Product page. Prices verified July 2026.
Native Instruments direct: $99.00
Plugin Boutique*: $99.00 (same price, no discount seen at launch)
Education Pricing
No education discount is listed for Super*Saw specifically. Native Instruments' standard 50% student and teacher pricing covers 360 Plus and 360 Pro subscriptions only, not individual plugin purchases. See the musicmanta student discounts guide for context.
Free Trial
No free trial or demo version is listed on the Native Instruments product or pricing pages at launch.
Demos
Videos
Introducing Super*Saw
