NEXUS ALTERNATIVE · VST3 / AU
A Nexus alternative for beats that don't sound like every other beat.
Nexus 5 (from $179, $249 list) is the classic hip-hop preset machine: 5,454 presets in the starter edition and hundreds of expansions. The catch: everyone has the same presets. MUTANT. starts with 300+ of its own and four-layer stacks, rebuilds your own one-shots as synths, and its Rubik's cube can mutate any stack into a chain nobody else has.
Hear it.
Straight from the MUTANT. library, nothing added. Tap a sound.
More sounds, the stacks and the cube on the MUTANT. page.
Nexus vs MUTANT.
| NEXUS | MUTANT. | |
|---|---|---|
| Presets | 5,454 (starter) | 300+ (2,950+ more in the store) |
| Expansion packs | 200+ | 14 |
| Layering | ✓ | ✓ 4-layer stacks |
| Make a preset nobody else has | Edit by hand | ✓ twist the cube |
| Drag in your own one-shot, play it as a synth | – | ✓ up to 4 at once |
| Rubik's cube FX (43 quintillion chains) | – | ✓ |
| Price | From $179 ($249 list) | $39 pre-order · $69 after Dec 15 |
Nexus is a trademark of reFX. SCRAMBLE isn't made by or affiliated with reFX. Nexus facts and prices from refx.com, Nov 2026. MUTANT. facts are for the Dec 15 release.
Built for the beat, not the stock preset.
808s + bass
Thunder 808s, heavy bass, Reese and dirty growls with drive, punch, glide and duck on the whole stack.
Arps + phrases
Played arps and melodic phrases that loop in time, ready to flip.
Your one-shots
Drag in an 808 or a bell from your own kit and play it as a synth.
Cube FX
43 quintillion FX chains, so the same preset never has to sound the same twice.
When Nexus is the better pick
- You want thousands of presets across every genre and an expansion for everything.
- You need Pro Tools (AAX) or VST2.
- You want trance, EDM and orchestral ROM sounds as well as hip-hop.
We'd rather you buy the right synth. If that's Nexus, go for it.
No two stacks the same.
43,252,003,274,489,856,000
Built on a real Rubik's cube, MUTANT.'s FX engine has 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 positions, and each one is a different FX chain. To get through just 1% of them you'd have to make 10,000 presets a day for 118 billion years. That's over 8 times the age of the universe.
MUTANT. is out December 15. Pre-order it for $39.
$69 after launch. Own the SCRAMBLE. Bundle? Yours is $29. One-time payment, key and download emailed on launch day.
Questions
Does MUTANT. have as many presets as Nexus?
No. Nexus has thousands. MUTANT. has 300+ built in and 2,950+ more in its in-plugin store. The difference is what you do with them: stack four, rebuild your own one-shots, mutate with the cube.
Is it good for trap and drill?
Yes. 808s, heavy bass, plucks, bells, arps and phrases are the core of the library, and genre packs (rage, plugg, jersey, drill and more) are on the way.
Can I use my own Nexus sounds in it?
You can drag in audio one-shots you bounced from anywhere, and MUTANT. rebuilds them as synth layers.
When does MUTANT. come out?
Tuesday, December 15. Pre-order now for $39 (it goes to $69 at launch) and you get your key and download by email that day. Bundle owners pay $29.
What does it run on?
VST3 and AU on Mac, VST3 on Windows, in any DAW that loads them: FL Studio, Ableton Live, Logic Pro, Studio One, Reaper and the rest. It plays from MIDI like any synth.