Sonicware ELZ_1 core, Dirtywave Announces a Performance Mixer, More: Synth Journal
The best of the rest of this week’s synth news
Want a new Sonicware ELZ_1 core? Better hurry, because they’re limited to 50 units only…
Sonicware ELZ_1 core and More: Synth Journal
Sonicware ELZ_1 core
Japanese company Sonicware has released a steady stream of fun gadgets since its debut, ELZ_1, appeared in 2018. Now we’ve got the latest member of the ELZ_1 family, this one called ELZ_1 core.
ELZ_1 core appears to be a refresh of the ELZ_1 play, with the new machine taking on a sound module-style format. Ditching the onboard keyboard, you instead get 25 full-color LED buttons, five rotary encoders, and a 2.4-inch color LCD display to see everything.
Inside, you get 18 oscillator types including wavetable (with PPG wavetables and Serum import), up to three oscillators per sound, nine filter and EQ types, four envelope types, 12 arpeggiator modes, three performance macros and up to 20 voices of polyphony depending on oscillator type.
Here’s the catch, though. Because of the rising cost of components and ongoing supply instability, Sonicware has made the decision to limit ELZ_1 core to 50 units available on a made-to-order basis. It costs $499 / £449 / €539 directly from the company.
You can find ELZ_1 play at Thomann*.
Dirtywave MX Performance Mixer
Everybody’s jumping into the performance mixer game. Teenage Engineering has the EP-136 K.O. Sidekick, there’s the Union Audio AREA.6 and Intellijel Jellymix as well. Now Dirtywave has just announced it’s working on its own.
Called MX, the new all-black mixer from the maker of the M8 hardware tracker offers two DJ mixer-style faders, a crossfader, 10 buttons, two encoders and six assignable potentiometers. It may look like a two-channel affair, but MX is actually an eight-channel mixer, with three audio inputs plus USB to bring in more channels. You can then assign two of those eight to the controls. Controls can send MIDI CC and there are also punch-in effects.
Price and release are TBD but it sounds like early 2027 is what they’re shooting for.
Teenage Engineering EP-136 K.O. Sidekick is available from Thomann*. Union Audio AREA.6 is available from Sweetwater*. Intellijel Jellymix can be found at both Thomann* and Sweetwater*.
Amiteque FM-01
I love me some 4-op FM synthesis. It’s so gritty, perfect for bass, pads and sounds that cut through a mix. The company Amiteque also seems to like it, as it just announced FM-01, a 4-operator module with a real Yamaha YM2164 inside.
If the name and chip spec remind you of the Yamaha FB-01, that’s the point. This new module will offer eight voices of polyphony as well as eight channels of multitimbrality. It will also feature 240 factory presets plus 96 user slots. However, like the original FB-01, it only has a small 16×1 LCD screen plus a few buttons to do your programming. Hopefully there will be a companion MIDI editor.
Price and availability to be announced.
ALM/Busy Circuits ALM051 With Mixer
Here’s an extremely useful module for your Eurorack rig. ALM/Busy Circuits has just dropped ALM051, AKA With Mixer, a companion module to the company’s Stem Ripper. In case you don’t know, Stem Ripper allows you to record up to eight channels of audio onto a microSD card. With With Mixer (not a typo), you get a full-featured eight-channel stereo mixer to balance those stems.
With Mixer provides per-channel level and gain control, stereo panning, dual stereo aux sends, mute and solo controls, and a graphical interface for visual monitoring of all eight input channels, the stereo mix output and control over all mix parameters. You can, of course, also control mix parameters via CV or an external MIDI controller. The Stem Ripper With Mixer pair occupies 14HP total.
With Mixer costs £299 direct from ALM/Busy Circuits, although it was sold out at the time of writing.
Stekker Amigo Sampler Hardware Version
One of my favorite software samplers is PotenzaDSP’s Amigo Sampler. Inspired by the Commodore Amiga and its influence on old-school jungle, Amigo Sampler does 8-bit sampling with Akai-style timestretching.
I was doomscrolling Instagram the other day and I came across a video from Stekker, the jungle producer who co-developed Amigo alongside ilchef. Stekker is currently at work on a hardware version of Amigo Sampler, which is very cool indeed. He’s currently up to prototype v2, with no price or release date mentioned it, but it’s looking very cool.
Check it: the new sampler includes timestretching, Alesis-style reverb and Mackie-style distortion, a powder-coated aluminum panel, a single audio in for sampling, stereo pair out along with an additional eight mono outs, full-size MIDI DIN ports, and a full-size SD card slot. It will also be a groovebox, so presumably there will be a sequencer inside too. Hopefully that sequencer will be a tracker, as Stekker is fully invested in the tracker lifestyle.
Price and availability to come, but this is looking very sick, especially for jungle and breakcore producers.
More Information
- More about synthesizers
- Buy synthesizers at Thomann*
*Note: This article contains advertising links that help us pay for this site. Don’t worry: the price for you will always be the same! If you buy something through these links, we will receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!
This might also interest you
