UDO Super 6 synthesizer is available at last!

02 Sep 2020 by Robin Vincent | Approximate reading time: 2 Minutes

UDO Super 6 · Source: UDO

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The Super 6 is probably the most eagerly awaited synthesizer of recent times and they have kept us dangling so long. Finally the 12-voice polyphonic binaural analogue-hybrid synthesizer is here!

Super 6

This is a synthesizer that has shown such promise and impressed people whenever it’s appeared at shows since Superbooth 2019. There’s something about it that taps into our nostalgia for polyphonic analogues while being thoroughly modern and impressively different. It somehow feels like an evolution of something like the Oberheim UB-Xa and has a flavour of Sequential hybrid synths while being very much its own thing with its own form and destiny.

The Super 6 is a 12-voice polyphonic binaural analogue-hybrid synthesizer with super-wave technology. What does that all mean? Well, it has a true stereo audio path and uses the 12 voices to form 6 “super” voices that can be used to create amazing stereo images with lots of movement and spatial positioning. Or you can turn that off for regular 12-voice synthesizing. The 2 oscillators in each voice are built on FPGA technology generating signals by Direct Digital Synthesis (DDS). These can be regular traditional waveforms or the first oscillator can also load 16 other waveforms from an internal bank or from your own collection.

UDO Super 6

Analogue

From the oscillators we then move into the analogue voice architecture with the analogue 4-pole 24dB per octave voltage-controlled lowpass filter. There’s also a high-pass filter which you can use, ignore or tie to the low-pass for a bit of band-pass action. ADSR envelopes are available for modulating the filter and analogue VCA. Env1 also has a Hold stage and a loop mode. Both envelopes and LFOs can be assigned to any parameter on the front panel in the modulation matrix.

A sequencer/arpeggiator with multiple modes and up to 64 steps keeps things moving.

At the end of the chain are two 24-bit effects with a sequencer linked stereo Delay and a dual-mode stereo Chorus. There’s also an audio input that can use the filter or be used to trigger envelopes and LFOs.

There’s no screen, it’s all on the front panel controls but you can store up to 128 patches. The keyboard responds to aftertouch and the Super 6 is MPE compatible is you use an MPE controller or MPE enabled DAW.

How does it sound?

There’s been a lot of talk, a lot of people discussing it at shows and telling us that it’s awesome. But if you’re going to shell out £2,195 for a brand new synthesizer then you’re going to need to know how it sounds. So let Jamiroquai keyboardist Matt Johnson take you through it:

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Stock should be available within a week and I imagine preordering is essential if you want to make sure you get your hands on one. The Super 6 is available in blue and black for £2,195.