In what surely must be one of the shortest teaser campaigns we've ever seen, Modal Electronics fully disclosed all the juicy details about its upcoming Modal CRAFTsynth just six hours after showing the first close-up on its Facebook page on Friday. The monophonic DSP-based synthesizer comes as a self-assembly kit, and the UK-based boutique maker reckons that sonic wizards should be ready to rock in less than 10 minutes.
The five barebones boards of the CRAFTsynth are just slotted together, without the need for specialist tools or knowledge of electronics. The upper front panel is home to eight potentiometers for synth sound shaping and editing, while a five key playable touch panel snaps in below. A headphone jack and line output can be found on a board to the rear.
The USB or AA-sized battery powered digital synth boasts two oscillators per voice, four low filter oscillation wave forms, and a special mode that splits each oscillator into four. There's a low pass filter, VCA amplitude and pitch/frequency adjustment, and delay and distortion effects, too.
Up to 16 patch presets can be stored on the CRAFTsynth itself, and Class Compliant MIDI over USB caters for connection to music production software running on a computer or tablet. A soon to be released CRAFTapp will offer more control and flexibility.
At the time of writing, videos showing the device in action have not yet been released, but you can hear what it sounds like in the capable hands of musician and composer Ty Unwin.
The CRAFTsynth is set to ship from the middle of next month for £79.99, making the Modal offering a more expensive option than the Pocket Operators from Teenage Engineering. It will be available in Europe exclusively from Gear4Music, US pricing and availability are still to be announced.
Source: Modal Electronics
