KVR Audio

twal · Post by **twal** » Tue Feb 10, 2026 12:09 am

Heh, looks like a F-Up. So it appears to be the SH-MAX. Right on! I felt like those who thought it would be an SH would be right. I am happy for this. I like D16 Group's Lush- it is fantastic and now something similar I hope..

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Tue Feb 10, 2026 2:28 am

twal wrote: Tue Feb 10, 2026 12:09 am Heh, looks like a F-Up. So it appears to be the SH-MAX. Right on! I felt like those who thought it would be an SH would be right. I am happy for this. I like D16 Group's Lush- it is fantastic and now something similar I hope..

The problem with Lush (which I have) is that the CPU hit is off the charts. Well, at least it was on my old machine. I haven't tried it on my new machine yet.

Cuauhtli · Post by **Cuauhtli** » Tue Feb 10, 2026 3:15 am

Lush plays fine on my machine (10th gen i5), but I don't make 8-layer patches. I love the vowel filter on it which is what I use it for most of the time.

Seafire Mk2 · Post by **Seafire Mk2** » Tue Feb 10, 2026 6:03 am

vmood · Post by **vmood** » Tue Feb 10, 2026 10:58 am

SH-3a was my first synth, bought a banged up unit with missing keys for $5 in 1988.
It was how I learned analog synthesis from scratch, I've wanted a VST for a long time just for notalgic reasons, will check this out.

Lbdunequest · Post by **Lbdunequest** » Tue Feb 10, 2026 11:02 am

that gui...

TheMaestro · Post by **TheMaestro** » Tue Feb 10, 2026 11:17 am

Seems like they've found a quite standardized way of copying these similar sounding synths, adding effects, and put crisp shiny GUI's on them.

0degree · Post by **0degree** » Tue Feb 10, 2026 11:22 am

TheMaestro wrote: Tue Feb 10, 2026 11:17 am Seems like they've found a quite standardized way of copying these similar sounding synths, adding effects, and put crisp shiny GUI's on them.

Yeah, I wonder if they did some proper modelling of the harware this time because usually their emulations are a bit meh

Echoes in the Attic · Tue Feb 10, 2026 11:55 am

0degree wrote: Tue Feb 10, 2026 11:22 am
TheMaestro wrote: Tue Feb 10, 2026 11:17 am Seems like they've found a quite standardized way of copying these similar sounding synths, adding effects, and put crisp shiny GUI's on them.
Yeah, I wonder if they did some proper modelling of the harware this time because usually their emulations are a bit meh

True for many of them but actually their recent Roland (Jupiters 4/6/8) have been pretty good!

I’m into this for sure.

D-Fusion · Post by **D-Fusion** » Tue Feb 10, 2026 12:12 pm

Echoes in the Attic wrote: Tue Feb 10, 2026 11:55 am
0degree wrote: Tue Feb 10, 2026 11:22 am
TheMaestro wrote: Tue Feb 10, 2026 11:17 am Seems like they've found a quite standardized way of copying these similar sounding synths, adding effects, and put crisp shiny GUI's on them.
Yeah, I wonder if they did some proper modelling of the harware this time because usually their emulations are a bit meh
True for many of them but actually their recent Roland (Jupiters 4/6/8) have been pretty good!

I’m into this for sure.

I agree

I also don't hear any similarities between the Mercury 6, Miniverse, Cat, Synth Expander module and the Yellowjacket.

Echoes in the Attic · Tue Feb 10, 2026 12:14 pm

Yeah I think their SEM sounds great too. I was not a fan of the dc-106 at all, nor the ms-20 or arp.

D-Fusion · Post by **D-Fusion** » Tue Feb 10, 2026 12:20 pm

Echoes in the Attic wrote: Tue Feb 10, 2026 12:14 pm Yeah I think their SEM sounds great too. I was not a fan of the dc-106 at all, not the ms-20 or arp.

Same here.
The DCO 106 sounds so wrong compared to the Original that i never bothered to install it again.

DCrown · Post by **DCrown** » Tue Feb 10, 2026 12:32 pm

TheMaestro wrote: Tue Feb 10, 2026 11:17 am Seems like they've found a quite standardized way of copying these similar sounding synths, adding effects, and put crisp shiny GUI's on them.

I'd say that's rather what Acoustic Audio seems to do, every new release seems to be a new release of a gui.
I don't care whether Cherry's synths are close to the harware, cuz I never had the hardware, I might know the sounds from some songs, so I think it is even better not to make 100% emus and offer new and different things/sounds.

twal · Post by **twal** » Tue Feb 10, 2026 4:24 pm

I don't understand the "slop stuff together" development that people believe is the way Cherry goes about making their synths. As if the die hard synth lovers they are don't put in massive effort to create their products. If you have heard them speak in interviews (Barton and Goldstein), clearly their number one passion is synthesizers.

As far as them being close to the originals, whether they are or not, their main objective is to get their synths to sound as much alike as the originals (or doing so adding flare in the area of the machines they personally have that may sound different than others, obviously). They get better over time too. Mercury-8 is on par or surpasses many of the emulations on the market today. In fact, I think it is the most enjoyable one. Not only sound but adding the additions is paramount to my preference because I don't want the limited original version in today's world (sounds cliche but I worded it like that anyhow); and probably why I don't gravitate towards Softube, although I really like their products.

I am sure even people WITH the hardware don't obsess over how accurate the emulations are (or do to the same effect). Look at companies' website tutorials, they are filled with industry pros who applaud their respective synth renditions...

I think some people on here like to mimic sentiment and implement surface level perception to come to conclusions. EDIT: Cherry wasn't pleased with the leak, but not overly upset either.

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Tue Feb 10, 2026 5:03 pm

twal wrote: Tue Feb 10, 2026 4:24 pm I don't understand the "slop stuff together" development that people believe is the way Cherry goes about making their synths. As if the die hard synth lovers they are don't put in massive effort to create their products. If you have heard them speak in interviews (Barton and Goldstein), clearly their number one passion is synthesizers.

As far as them being close to the originals, whether they are or not, their main objective is to get their synths to sound as much alike as the originals (or doing so adding flare in the area of the machines they personally have that may sound different than others, obviously). They get better over time too. Mercury-8 is on par or surpasses many of the emulations on the market today. In fact, I think it is the most enjoyable one. Not only sound but adding the additions is paramount to my preference because I don't want the limited original version in today's world (sounds cliche but I worded it like that anyhow); and probably why I don't gravitate towards Softube, although I really like their products.

I am sure even people WITH the hardware don't obsess over how accurate the emulations are (or do to the same effect). Look at companies' website tutorials, they are filled with industry pros who applaud their respective synth renditions...

I think some people on here like to mimic sentiment and implement surface level perception to come to conclusions. EDIT: Cherry wasn't pleased with the leak, but not overly upset either.

FWIW, I love their synths. I have almost all of them including the modular.

New Cherry Audio synth- SH-MAX!