Twisted Electrons has introduced the TherapKid ‘chiptune supersynth’.
TherapKid has 2 voices, each voice consisting of 4 oscillators. In duophonic mode, you can play 2 notes at once, in mono mode you can detune them. You can also detune each of the oscillators to form chords or drones.
While the wavetables are 8-bit, they are processed by a 96MHz 32BIT processor and put out of a 16BIT DAC, with oversampling and filtering. The combination of retro sound, generated by modern hardware, allows for plenty of summing headroom, a rich sounding filter, and complex modulations.
Features:
- Set the volume of the 8 waveforms independently*
- Tune each of the 8 waveforms independently (chords, drones)*
- Sine wave for pure tones and deep sub bass*
- Muti-mode arpeggiator
- Ring modulator
- Duophonic or monophonic modes
- Hybrid 6581/8580 inspired multimode filter (Low pass, High pass, Band Pass, Notch)
- Dual therapSid style LFO with up to 48 connections that can be made a a push of a button.
- 50 Preset memory with wild random preset generator
- USB-MIDI
- Hardware MIDI via included 3.5mm >Din5 cable
- USB Powered (can be battery powered with a USB battery brick)
* Can’t be done on a real SID
Pricing and Availability
The TherapKid is expected to be available in May 2019, priced at 255 euro, plus vat & shipping.
Sorry for my ignorance, but can someone confirm what makes it “chiptune”? Is it that the signal is 8bit?
This is some kind of flexible dual-SID emulation with enhancements. That’s enough for being called Chiptune. A Korg MS-20 Emulation running on a Gameboy ist Chiptune too. A quite flexible word to use. I once heard a Chiptune-Soundbank on an EMU-Proteus, which you can’t differ from an 8-Bit Nintendo. “Real” nerds probably won’t call this “Chiptune”, but who really cares? I preferably use a real Commodore for things like that, but like this one too! 😉
Thanks, in case your comment was directed at me:
Do the Yamaha OP chips count as chiptune? They’re very different from the SID.
My own understanding of chiptune (possibly totally wrong) is that a big part of it is the sound of heavily-quantized sequencing with limited polyphony, rather than just the tones themselves.
Yes, i was answering to you. 😉
Usually Chiptune is a monophonic oscillator with 1-3 or more waveforms, which do a cpu controlled multitracking to simulate polyphony. Yamaha broke that barrier first with their FM-technology, but strictly speaking that chiptune religion ends with a SID, Nintendo 8-bit or similar technology without FM or PCM-Channels. As i said, the people stretched that term endlessly.
Its actually both imho, if rock band would play chiptune score it wouldnt sounds like chiptune anymore, but if you’d sequence several SID based synths with modern daw without all the restrictions it wouldn’t remind of chiptunes either.
Thanks both, I appreciate it. I’ve seen chiptune used to refer to various things and didn’t know if it was just me being stupid or if it had a definite definition.
I will never buy a synth from someone who disables comments on their Youtube channel. It is such a childish thing to do and makes me feel like you have something to fear/hide.
Agree, and that name, sounds like you need therapy after buying one.
I’m unsure why this makes people so upset. Watch the video, if you like how it sounds and are okay with the price, buy it. If you don’t like the sound/price, don’t buy it. They don’t seem to be deceiving anyone and aren’t saying it is a true SID based synth, just an inspiration.
I most likely won’t be buying one, but it does look like a lot of fun.