Music

Waldorf releases "one of the most powerful music synthesizers ever built"

Waldorf releases "one of the most powerful music synthesizers ever built"
The Kyra VA synth is a multi-timbral monster made up of eight independent parts
The Kyra VA synth is a multi-timbral monster made up of eight independent parts
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The Kyra VA synth combines 32 oversampled hardware sound generators with 96 kHz sound processing for a total of 128 voices
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The Kyra VA synth combines 32 oversampled hardware sound generators with 96 kHz sound processing for a total of 128 voices
The Kyra VA synth is a multi-timbral monster made up of eight independent parts
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The Kyra VA synth is a multi-timbral monster made up of eight independent parts
Outputs shape up as eight balanced stereo outputs, 5-pin MIDI in/out/thru and USB 2.0 for MIDI and audio
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Outputs shape up as eight balanced stereo outputs, 5-pin MIDI in/out/thru and USB 2.0 for MIDI and audio
The Kyra VA synth has an arpeggiator available for live performance
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The Kyra VA synth has an arpeggiator available for live performance
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After showing off a pre-production prototype at NAMM earlier this year, Germany's Waldorf Music has announced the availability of the Kyra virtual analog (VA) synthesizer.

Waldorf insists that the accompanying documentation which makes the headline claim is not hype. The VA synth features 32 oversampled hardware sound generators combined with 96 kHz floating point sound processing that's reported to offer players a total of 128 voices. It's made up of eight independent parts, each comprising up to 32 notes plus filters, modulators, multi-FX and so on to essentially form a full synth – kind of like having eight synths in one place.

Each voice can be made up of wave, pulse, saw, noise and sub oscillators and each part can rock nine simultaneous effects. You can send each part to a music production suite at 24-bit/96 kHz resolution, and can tap into an arsenal of built-in patches numbering in their thousands.

The Kyra VA synth combines 32 oversampled hardware sound generators with 96 kHz sound processing for a total of 128 voices
The Kyra VA synth combines 32 oversampled hardware sound generators with 96 kHz sound processing for a total of 128 voices

The synthesizer offers a special mode that uses an algorithm to thicken the sound, while offering control over intensity and spread. And yet another mode taps into 12 real oscillator sources.

There's an arpeggiator available on each of the eight parts for live performance, with 128 preset patterns. The Kyra comes housed in a sturdy metal case with wood sides, and an OLED display front and center helps players keep track of what's going on. Connectivity shapes up as eight balanced stereo outputs, 5-pin MIDI in/out/thru and USB 2.0 for MIDI and audio.

The Kyra VA Synthesizer is available now for a suggested price of €1,843 (about US$2,020). The video below has more.

Waldorf Kyra Sounddemo

Source: Waldorf Music

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1 comment
1 comment
McDesign
Wow - and I love the word "arpeggiator" - a new superhero with distinctive intro music.