What it is and what it was built for
A 1986 polyphonic sampling synthesizer built for sound designers who wanted to shape raw audio like oscillators, then filter and modulate it with analog-style controls.
How it works, in terms a player would use
You record samples by navigating a menu to set sampling rate, divisions, and key number. Looping uses automatic, crossfade, or bidirectional options. Synthesis follows subtractive analog logic: two oscillators feed VCFs with switchable 12dB or 24dB slopes, keyboard tracking, and an ADBSSR envelope.
What it does better than anything else
It integrates sampling, additive synthesis, and hand-drawn waveform creation in one analog-signal-path instrument—something no other 1986 synth offered.
What it does badly
Recording is menu-driven and slow. Sample duration is capped at 16 seconds—even at the lowest 16kHz rate—and shrinks to 5.5 seconds at 48kHz. There is no resampling, time-stretching, or non-destructive editing.
What people made with it
The sources do not state what people made with it.
Who should use it, and who should not
Use it if you work with lo-fi texture, want tactile VCF slope switching and ADBSSR envelopes on sampled material, and accept menu-based workflow. Avoid it if you rely on quick capture, long samples, or non-linear editing.
Is it worth your time
Yes—if you want hands-on sample manipulation fused with analog-style filtering and envelope control in a single keyboard. No—if you need instant sampling, deep real-time editing, or modern polyphony and memory.
