Cherry Audio's next synth is (probably) a Polivoks on steroids

[machinesworking]

I've been harsh on them for their piss poor Memorymoog emulation, but this thing is closer than I would ever imagine them getting from what I can tell of the demos of Polivoks on youtube

I demoed the first half-a-dozen patches, making sure to turn the AMP Drive up to maximum, and...

... oh, my goodness! I nearly wet myself. It sounds so, so gnarly! I'd lost interest in Cherry Audios stuff but this is definitely worth having. One interesting thing is that you can just use it in demo mode, that little burst of noise every now and then doesn't sound out of place at all. But I did buy a license anyway. It will sit very nicely with Schwa Olga and Proclethya in my collection.

I am loving the sounds in that video of the hardware recreation, too. If I can get some of those sounds outta this, I'll be well pleased.

I've spent more time with the demo but my opinion has not changed. I find the core sound unpleasant and grating.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

I couldn't agree more.
I haven't made it past the init patch, the filter on this thing is perfect.
I'm impressed, it's the first Cherry audio synth outside a Humble Bundle I'm going to buy, outright. I've wanted a decent Polivoks emulation from someone and I'm pleasantly surprised Cherry knocked it out of the park.

OK 20 minutes later. The presets are OK but this thing it huge if you make your own patches.

[frag]

It's nothing special, sounds similar to many other CA synths.
GX-80, Sines, Dreamsynth, perhaps Quadra, have some unique character, but GX & Sines use too many resources for what they do...

[stoopicus]

I couldn't agree more.
I haven't made it past the init patch, the filter on this thing is perfect.

I love the additions they have made to the filter too, especially the Filter Drive.

Cherry's killing it this year. This and PS-20 are topping my favorites list for this year, and it's less than $80 for both.

Seriously looking forward to the Cherry haters trying to slander this thing because it's outstanding.

[kraster]

Wow.

That's remarkably close to the real thing.

They didn't wuss out on making it sound like you owe it money and it's here to collect.

Well done, CA.

[kraster]

EDIT:Ok I've spent more time with the demo but my opinion has not changed. I find the core sound unpleasant and grating.

That's what a Polivox sounds like but I'd characterise it as aggressive and in your face.

It's a fantastic synth if you want something to cut through a dense mix.

[kraster]

It's nothing special, sounds similar to many other CA synths.
GX-80, Sines, Dreamsynth, perhaps Quadra, have some unique character, but GX & Sines use too many resources for what they do...

I think this sounds substantially different from their other synths. I have a bunch of them.

I agree that GS80 has a lovely character but I couldn't really get beyond the UI on Sines or Dreamsynth to make a particular call on them. The GS 80 is just about manageable but still very cluttered and dense.

I like the Novachord and Elka X but some of their others sound a bit anemic.

This on the other hand really surprised me. As I said above I have a real polivoks and I was wondering if CA would be brave enough to go for the brutal sound that the polivoks excels at.

It turns out they were. It's a remarkably good emulation. Still not as wonky as the original but I guess if they went full polivoks people would be complaining that it was broken!

[BONES]

Get an earful of this! It's just a monophonic (unison) patch, no effects or post-processing. It is the raw sound of this beast of a thing. PLAY IT AS LOUD AS YOU CAN!

[slaambo]

Tarkovsky shadowlands, a post-apocalyptic synth.

[HOTF]

Get an earful of this! It's just a monophonic (unison) patch, no effects or post-processing. It is the raw sound of this beast of a thing. PLAY IT AS LOUD AS YOU CAN!

didnt care about this thing until i heard this. mmm I might give it a go.

[seafire]

Can you save presets with the demo version?

[machinesworking]

I couldn't agree more.
I haven't made it past the init patch, the filter on this thing is perfect.

I love the additions they have made to the filter too, especially the Filter Drive.

Cherry's killing it this year. This and PS-20 are topping my favorites list for this year, and it's less than $80 for both.

Seriously looking forward to the Cherry haters trying to slander this thing because it's outstanding.

Lol I'm usually a Cherry hater, I'm still a bit upset at how bad the Memorymoog emulation is, but this thing is amazing, I did exactly what Bones posted within the first ten minutes of playing around with it, a unison patch with filter madness, and was sold. Life is complex and getting into camps about products unless you personally know the developers is just weird to me.

[machinesworking]

Can you save presets with the demo version?

Yes, I did about 5 already, and haven't bought it yet, waiting until I have the time to play with it again.

[seafire]

Thanks

[stoopicus]

Life is complex and getting into camps about products unless you personally know the developers is just weird to me.

Yep. Most companies have good and bad products.

I can understand brand affinity; if you have a few good experiences with a company you're probably likely to expect them to deliver the goods. But reflexive brand hatred is just weird, it's not like they shot your dog.

[machinesworking]

Life is complex and getting into camps about products unless you personally know the developers is just weird to me.

Yep. Most companies have good and bad products.

I can understand brand affinity; if you have a few good experiences with a company you're probably likely to expect them to deliver the goods. But reflexive brand hatred is just weird, it's not like they shot your dog.

I admit to being overtly pissed about the IMO poor Memorymoog emulation, it felt personal because I've been waiting for someone to do this right, in the hopes of selling my Memorymoog. I'm no purist and that thing goes for almost the price of a car.

I've also been waiting for someone to do a decent Polivoks emulation and IMO this time they nailed it, it might not be a 100% emu but the overall grime is there!