Korg Volca Bass Delivers Analog Synth Power For $150

korg-volca-bass

At Musikmesse 2013, Korg today announced the Volca Bass – one of a trio of new Volca analog synthesizers with built-in sequencers.

Following in the footsteps of the Korg Monotron, Monotribe, and the MS-20 Mini synth, these true-analog instruments offer on-the-go sounds and grooves along with MIDI functionality. The series is comprised of three models: the Volca Keys lead synthesizer; the Volca Bass synthesizer; and the Volca Beats rhythm machine.

The Volca Bass is an analog bassline groove box that?s capable of generating a wide range of bass lines. Korg says that the Volca Bass analog sound engine has an ‘unmistakable presence, with subtle nuances that cannot be reproduced by a digital simulation, making it ideally-suited for acid house and many other styles of electronic music’. Continue reading

The Oberheim OB-XA Synthesizer

Here’s a look, via perfectcircuitaudio, at the vintage Oberheim OB-XA – a polyphonic analog synthesizer from the early 80′s.

The Oberheim OB-XA was available with 4, 6 and 8 voice polyphony, has 12 & 24db/octave low-pass filters and a massive analog sound.

If you’ve used the Oberheim OB-XA, let us know what you think of it!

The Oberheim Four Voice Synthesizer

This demo video, via perfectcircuitaudio, takes a look at the Oberheim FVS-1 Four Voice – a vintage analog synthesizer from the mid-seventies. 

The Oberheim Four Voice features four of Oberheims SEM modules. These are basically independent synthesizers that can be programmed separately. This makes it more powerful than many four voice synths – but that power comes with the overhead of some extra knob-tweaking.

If you’ve used the Oberheim Four Voice, let us know what you think of it!

The Therevox ET-4 (Ondes Martenot Style Analog Synthesizer)

Here’s a quick demo of the Therevox ET-4 analog ribbon synthesizer.

Inspired by the Ondes Martenot’s au ruban controller, the ET-4 is controlled by moving a finger along a reference keyboard shaped to provide tactile feedback. Dual pressure sensitive intensity keys control the amplitude of the ET-4′s two independent analog oscillators.

Continue reading

Stylophone S2 A Fully Spec’d ‘Super-Fat’ Analogue Synth

stylophone-s2-british-synth

The iconic Stylophone pocket keyboard, played by everyone from David Bowie to Kraftwerk to Orbital to Gotye, is getting the ‘pro’ treatment.

Dubreq Ltd is introducing the Stylophone S2 - a ‘fully spec?d’ analogue synthesizer, designed and built in the UK.

While the original Stylophone is a fun instrument, the Stylophone S2 offers much more sophisticated features, including dual analog oscillators, a state-variable filter, a flexible LFO and even control voltage inputs.

Here are the details:

Continue reading