Cherry Audio has released Pentaphonic, a virtual synthesizer for Mac & Windows that is based on the rare Gleeman Pentaphonic, an early-1980s hybrid instrument.

The original Pentaphonic combined five-voice polyphony, three digitally controlled oscillators per voice, analog filtering and a built-in sequencer.

Cherry Audio has preserved that basic architecture, while adding capabilities that weren’t available on the original hardware, including expanded polyphony, oscillator sync, pulse-width modulation, additional modulation sources, expressive keyboard control, a modern sequencer and an extensive effects section.

Features:

• Three oscillators per voice retain the original’s distinctive set of eight waveforms, including the Complex 1 and Complex 2 waves.
• Polyphony expands from the original five voices to 2–16 voices, with unison and mono modes also available.
• Cherry Audio adds pulse-width modulation, a noise generator and oscillator sync.
• Two expanded modulation/LFO sections provide additional control over oscillator, filter and amplifier parameters.
• Both modulation sections can use the eight oscillator waveform shapes rather than being limited to the original triangle-wave LFO.
• The filter retains the original 4-pole, 24 dB-per-octave low-pass design while adding a 2-pole, 12 dB-per-octave mode and keyboard tracking.
• Velocity can control filter and amplifier response.
• Channel and polyphonic aftertouch provide expressive control, with 14 parameters available for keyboard-pressure modulation.
• A dedicated modulation stick and assignable pitch-bend range expand the performance controls.
• The dynamic arpeggiator includes Arp, Leap, Order and Random modes, along with swing, chance and feel controls.
• A syncable and transposable 16×4 polyphonic step sequencer adds humanization and DAW synchronization.
• The Parameter Animator provides another 16-step modulation source for cutoff, resonance, oscillator pitch modulation and oscillator gain.
• The original chorus is joined by a global effects system offering 22 effects, with up to five effects arranged in a chain.
• Three interface themes recreate different stages of the Pentaphonic’s visual history, including black and transparent designs with adjustable opacity.
• The instrument includes more than 375 presets across 14 categories, including the original 50 factory patches.
• Pentaphonic supports complete MIDI control and DAW automation, along with MIDI Learn.
• The instrument is available as a standalone application and as AU, VST, VST3 and AAX plug-ins.

Pricing & Availability:

Cherry Audio Pentaphonic is available now for $59.