by Lasse Eilers | 5,0 / 5,0 | Approximate reading time: 2 Minutes
MFB SYNTH 8

MFB SYNTH 8  ·  Source: Amazona.de

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On the last day of Superbooth 2019, MFB surprised everyone when they unpacked the prototype of the SYNTH 8 polyphonic analog synthesizer. It’s a polyphonic version of the SYNTH II, but with improved circuits and some new ideas. With three VCOs per voice, we can expect some thick and lush analog sounds!

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MFB saved the best for last and waited until the final day of the show to unveil this beauty of a desktop synth module. The reason being that the prototype just wasn’t quite ready before, so it’s truly a work in progress. But it looks like the SYNTH 8 is going to be an exciting new entry in the market for analog polysynths. It certainly has some very promising features.

3 VCOs per voice

The MFB SYNTH 8 has three analog VCOs per voice, which can produce saw, pulse, and triangle waveforms. There’s also ring modulation and noise. All three VCOs can be frequency modulated, and oscillators 2 and 3 can sync to OSC 1. For a thick vintage sound, the VCOs use analog circuitry and components that resemble circuit designs of the 1970s. But there’s also a selectable DCO mode to control the oscillators’ tuning digitally, in case you run into tuning problems or are going after that 80s DCO sound.

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The SYNTH 8 has two analog filters with different designs and characteristics. There’s a 24 dB low pass, and a 12 dB multi-mode filter, with the latter featuring an OTA design. The filters can be wired in series or parallel, and there’s a knob for blending their outputs. For modulation, the SYNTH 8 has two LFOs and three envelopes. Envelopes 1 and 2 are loopable ADSRs, while envelope 3 is a simple AD. All of the modulators are digital. This also applies to the SYNTH 8’s effects section.

The synth also has a step sequencer / arpeggiator, which seems to be comparable to the Dominion 1. Unfortunately, the sequencer is monophonic. On a poly synth like the SYNTH 8, it would have been really great to see a polyphonic sequencer along the lines of the newer Sequential synths like the REV2, or the Korg minilogue.

For storing patches and sequences, the MFB SYNTH 8 has 100 memory locations.

Price and availability

MFB says that the SYNTH 8 should be available in the fall of 2019. The company is expecting a price of just under 1000 Euros. Not bad at all!

More information

MFB SYNTH 8

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