New PWM Malevolent Keyboard Offers Analog Sound, Modular Patching & Affordable Pricing

At Superbooth 2021, PWM is introducing the Malevolent synthesizer, a keyboard monosynth that features a pure analog signal path, Eurorack-compatible patchability and a relatively affordable €579.99 price tag.

The Malevolent is a portable, minikey synthesizer that features two analog oscillators, LFO, 2 EGs, VCF + VCA. The keyboard offers a latching arpeggiator, along with pitch, velocity & gate control voltage outputs.

The signal path is normalized internally, so you can just turn the keyboard on and play. But Malevolent also offers 38 3.5mm patch points, so you can create custom patches and then play them via the keyboard.

Features:

  • Pure Analogue signal path designed by Future Sound Systems
  • 19 Outputs and 19 Inputs for 3.5mm mono jack cable patching
  • Normalized signal path for immediate sound Malevolence
  • Additional rear panel line out
  • Additional headphone out
  • 2 Voltage Controlled Oscillators
    • Saw / Triangle / Pulse outputs plus Mix for each oscillator
    • 1V/Oct pitch control input
    • Shape control / pulse width modulation input
    • 2x Frequency Modulation inputs
    • Coarse / Fine tune control
    • Shape mod amount control
    • FM1 and 2 mod amount controls
    • Shape control
    • Selectable waveforms for the mix output
    • Individual osc level control
  • LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator)
    • Triangle / Square wave outputs
    • Rate control
  • 2x Envelopes
    • Individual ADSR controls for each envelope
    • Individual gate inputs
    • Individual envelope outputs
  • Multi-mode 2 pole VCF (Voltage Controlled Filter)
    • Low pass / Band pass / High Pass individual inputs
    • 2x Frequency Modulation inputs with amount controls
    • Filter cutoff
  • Filter resonance
  • Mixer
    • Noise w/level control
    • Aux input w/level control
  • VCA (Voltage Controlled Amplifier) with overdrive control
  • Compatible with Eurorack standard 1V/Oct gear
  • Monophonic and patchable allowing individual pitch control of each VCO and gate control of each envelope
  • USB bus-powered
  • MIDI In / Out
  • Headphone out
  • Line out
  • Analogue clock in & out
    • USB-MIDI to 1V/Oct CV & gate conversion
    • All pitch and gate control is fully analogue
    • Analogue clock In / Out
  • Multi-function Joystick control
    • Left / right for pitch bend
    • Performable portamento
    • Performable vibrato
  • Latching hold mode
  • Arpeggiator
    • 6 arpeggiator types
    • Up, Down, Up/Down 1, Up/Down 2, Played & Random
    • Auto clock sync
    • Detects analogue / MIDI or USB-MIDI clock and synchronises the arpeggiator automatically
    • Selectable sync rates when clock detected
    • Rate / sync control
    • Latch
    • 6 Octave range
    • Analogue / MIDI / USB-MIDI Clock output when arpeggiator is running
  • Keyboard Control
    • 32 Velocity-sensitive mini-keys
    • Octave shift +/- 4 octaves
    • Pitch output
    • Velocity output
    • Gate output
    • Local Off mode for DAW use

Pricing and Availability

The PWM Malevolent is still in pre-production, but is expected to be available within a few months, with the following pricing:

  •  £499.99 inc. VAT
  • €579.99 inc. VAT

No US pricing has been announced, but the €579.99 (inc VAT) price would translate into about $550 USD. See the PWM site for more info.

16 thoughts on “New PWM Malevolent Keyboard Offers Analog Sound, Modular Patching & Affordable Pricing

    1. Good luck with that

      It’s clearly obvious at this stage that the majority of users don’t give a fuck for full size keys

      They would rather have the extra space – space is far more expensive than synths

      Probably because most synth heads are noodlers (like myself) and not trained keys/piano players

      I presume synth makers do the market research before they make the synths

      Small synths (and in effect mini keys) are cheaper to make and probably shift more units than big synths

  1. It is amusing to see how products have developed from discrete Eurorack modules to full patchable instruments with keyboards. At this rate, they should be going polyphonic next year and perhaps we’ll get patch memories in 2023. We’ll be back to 1984 in no time!

  2. Looks nice but €580 is way above the “affordable” range for a decent mono synth these days

    You could have a Deepmind 6 for far less – might not be patchable but doesn’t really need it

  3. Minikeys again. What a pitty. I don’t understand. If you want to play keys use normal size, if you don’t use a module instead.

Leave a Reply to eoin Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *