"Audio.Computer have been busy working on a new instrument that aims to take time-stretching to new heights. We take a look and listen to a very early prototype, which is currently known as the Machine 2."
"A multi-loop time stretcher for textural soundscapes"
"For the first time in history, FreqTube FT1 lets you combine the awe-inspiring tone of real tube saturation with the convenience of digital connectivity in an easy to use, portable solution that will take your productions to the next level.
While analog processors are highly coveted, they often require elaborate setups that complicate your workflow, making it hard to strike while your creative iron is hot. FreqTube solves this problem by giving you full control over its four true-analog vacuum tubes via a simple USB connection. You’ll never again have to choose between convenience and quality.
The FT1 delivers real analog drive and color with all the convenience of a VST. Saturation, heat, drive, harmonics, distortion… whatever you want to call it, the FreqTube FT1 adds true-analog valve tone and color to your digital productions via just a simple USB connection.
Process any sound you like via the FreqTube’s four vacuum tubes and eight multimode hardware filters and – control it all via the, included, proprietary VST interface.
Hook up the FreqTube to your computer and load the control VST into your DAW, and you’ve got instant, recallable, low latency command over a broad palette of analog tones from subtle to savage… all with the ease-of-use you would expect from a digital plugin!
Because FT1 uses two sets of two tubes, you get two gain stages with full attenuation per channel for the ultimate in tone shaping. You can even process two stereo signals simultaneously, or up to four mono signals.
The FreqTube gives you hands-on control via its eight control knobs and bright, responsive color display. Of course, you can also use the included VST to control (and automate) all knob parameters. Once you have a sound you like, store it as a pre-set for instant recall.
FreqTube FT1 is not a pedestrian distortion box. It’s a color box with a broad palette of tonal options suitable for creative musicians, demanding engineers, and world-class producers."
Erica Synths new desktop Resonant Filterbank is set to ship on May 18th. Check with dealers on the right on price and availability.
Details via Erica Synths:
Desktop Resonant Filterbank is a performance and studio production-friendly FX unit - an analog stereo filterbank. It has a set of ten bandpass filters with hands-on control over each bands’ boost or cut and complex control configurations that can turn it into an unconventional multimode filter with an envelope follower and an instrument on its own when played with various resonance settings or even an experimental sound generator for no-input mixer-like setups.
You can use it with synthesizers, drum machines, modular setups and thanks to an analogue GAIN STAGE that boosts incoming signals up to +24dB, with guitars and pretty much any other instrument. This is a tool that can let you discover entirely new sounds from the instruments you thought you knew inside-out.
User snapshots (presets), MIDI control over all parameters and a sleek aluminium case to match our lineup of compact desktop units will make the Resonant Filterbank and integral part of many studio and live performance setups.
PolyFreq pitches availability of Phonon plug-in debut as precision granular laboratory for sonic alchemy
BRISTOL, UK: boutique musical tools-maker PolyFreq is proud to announce availability of Phonon as its debut plug-in — pitched as a precision laboratory for sonic alchemy, built around a high-quality sample granulation engine with root note detection, four keyboard follow modes, and legato giving it real versatility as a playable instrument — as of May 5…
Acting as a musical synthesiser first and foremost, Phonon is designed for very intentional, controllable reconstruction of one source, leaning into synchronous granular or ‘graintable’ synthesis. Sub-sample grain scheduling and separate grain rate and density controls open new vistas of repeatable, controllable timbre and tempo across macro and micro parameter ranges. Reality dictates that where other granular synths default to randomisation or multiple sources, Phonon provides users with complete control over every grain — from classic textural clouds to malleable ‘grainwave’ synthesis. Indeed, it is equal parts laboratory and playground.
“Phonon’s development was inspired by the great creativity of early granular work from composers such as Wishart and Roads, and the deep listening of Oliveros, with a desire to make this wild, creative territory more accessible to electronic music production and sound design, without stripping away what makes it strange and inspirational.” So says PolyFreq founder Nick Mariette by way of an illuminating introduction. It aims for ease of use, with a simple drag-and-drop workflow for modulation, and most features are immediately visible, with minimal menus or hidden options. And a flexible array of audio-rate modulation sources provide huge scope for patches that respond and evolve, including LFOs (Low Frequency Oscillators), envelopes, sample metadata, sequencers, MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) control data, and various noise flavours.
Features additionally worthy of the edited highlights treatment here include Phonon’s granular engine — eight voices of polyphony with up to 256 grains per voice and sub-sample precision that bridges the gap between classic textures and sharp ‘graintable’ synthesis; effects — shape sounds with a character-driven signal chain, from saturating drive to resonant filtering, as well as a utility reverb for glue or depth; presets — easily capture, export, evolve, and share sonic creations with sample embedding and eight-way snapshots; and drag-and-drop workflow in a resizeable interface for easy enjoyment as a standalone instrument or for plug-in-based DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) production.
Phonon’s uses are almost endless — think time stretching; pitch shifting; sample mangling; sound design; classic textural, granular clouds; synchronous, tuned granular tone creation; creating a synth from any sample; rhythmic grain generation, synced to host; beat retiming and timbre distortion; and more besides. Back to Nick Mariette: “Phonon is intended for reshaping beats and designing synth leads as much as for losing time in ethereal granular atmospheres; I hope it will connect people to listening differently, discovering the sounds within sounds.”
Anyone attending SUPERBOOTH26, May 7-9, FEZ-Berlin, Germany is hereby encouraged to swing by Booth H116 there, where PolyFreq will be showcasing Phonon to the musical masses assembled and Nick Mariette himself will be on hand to personally provide a warm welcome with an open invitation to discover those sounds within sounds. Spanning chaotic clouds to precise synthesis, controllable sonic alchemy is there for the taking so why not take this hands-on opportunity to discover and delight in vibrating matter differently with Phonon!
Phonon is available to buy as a standalone or VST3 plug-in for macOS (10.13 or later) and Windows (10 or later) at a 33% launch discount — duly rising thereafter to its full price of $89.00 USD (excluding tax)/€76.00 EUR (including tax)/£68.00 GBP (including tax) — directly from PolyFreq here: https://www.polyfreq.com/products
For more in-depth information, please visit the PolyFreq products webpage here: https://www.polyfreq.com/products
MadeOnEarth - LedRover vs Dfam video upload by Isak Eliyahu
Press release follows:
LEDROVER: ANALOG STEREO DISTORTION
The LedRover is a 100% analog stereo diode-based distortion effect from MOE. It originated from our quest for the ultimate distortion effect for the TB-303, finalized after a year of experiments with various components including diodes,
LEDs, germanium, and custom potentiometers. The inspiration for the circuit came from a famous filter resonance design that we discovered uses diodes in the feedback loop, which creates a round sound with a distortion tone that can be aggressive while remaining musical and preserving the character of the original signal. Based on this, we designed two distortion modes for the LedRover using different diode placements. Following extensive calibration for synthesizers and drum machines, we have ensured the effect is suitable for a wide range of applications—from kicks and snares to cymbals, bass, and leads—offering everything from delicate warmth to extreme distortion.
The integrated Tilt filter was born from our understanding that filtering before overdrive is essential for emphasizing frequencies pleasant to the ear. Unlike standard Tilt filters that typically offer a 6dB/Octave slope, we designed the LedRover with a steeper 15dB/Octave slope for both low and high frequency ranges. This ensures the signal enters the distortion with high saturation, allowing the circuit to mangle the sound even further. We selected the reference point for the filter through trial and error across a variety of gear to emphasize mid-range frequencies rather than just extreme highs, providing a flattering response for the distortion circuit.
Additionally, we added an x10 Boost button to push instruments with weak outputs hard into the Tilt filter. This creates distortion right at the entrance of the filter, which can be controlled delicately with the input knob; as you attenuate the input volume, the action of the filter becomes significantly more pronounced, while higher values create a unique op-amp saturation that works in perfect synergy with the diode overdrive. We build the LedRover to the highest standards of reliability and feel, housed in a custom aluminum box with resilient UV-printing and custom potentiometers.
Feature List:
100% Analog Stereo Diode-Based Colorful Distortion Circuit.
Dual Distortion Modes: Two distinct distortion characters.
Custom 15dB/Octave Tilt Filter.
x10 Boost Switch: Push weak instrument signals and overdrive the Tilt filter op-amps for additional colorful harmonics.
Two-Mode VU Meter: Visual monitoring of the wet and dry signals.
Dedicated Input and Output Controls.
Buffered Bypass.
High Standard Build Quality: Custom aluminum box with resilient UV-printing and custom potentiometers.
Compact Form Factor: W: 12cm (4.7") x D: 10cm (3.9") x H: 5.5cm (2.2").
We are very excited to officially debut the LedRover and our beloved Analog Chorus 60 at Superbooth in Berlin, Booth B048. We will have a demo station equipped with two sets of headphones, but you are also welcome to connect your own.
"Have you ever wondered if a Linndrum could sound... Not like a Linndrum?!
Here's a first jam featuring a fully restored one for a client, along with a Publison Infernal Machine reissue, hand-built by my friend Valentin, aka “Vintage Standards” :)
LINNDRUM - This one came with a fun issue: the snare would trigger the side stick, and the toms would trigger the congas. Apart from various CMOS quirks of that kind, I rebuilt all sliders/faders (volume + pan), the trigger buttons and replaced the pots with custom clones made by my friend Manfred from VintageSynth&Co. I also swapped the audio caps for polypropylene ones and rebuilt the power supply. During the process, the CPU card failed so I had to debug the sequencer - turned out to be a bad address latch and a dead bus gate (no idea what caused that). All in all, a serious overhaul!
INFERNAL MACHINE - A very special device. The IM90 was originally designed by French engineer Philippe Petitdemange between 1983 and 1984, with development continuing until the final DSP update in 1989. Publison devices are infamous for their opacity: components were often stripped of references, making repairs impossible. No schematics were ever published or even formally documented, which made the Infernal Machine both exceptionally rare and subject to extreme prices (I’ve seen one listed around 20k€!!!)
Following Philippe’s assassination in 2019, much of the design knowledge risked being lost. Jonathan Prager was designated as the official Publison legacy/maintenance technician and undertook the task of redrawing schematics based on the original archives he bought to preserve these machines. Meanwhile, Valentin, a French expatriate living in Japan, independently carried out his own reverse-engineering and successfully built a true 1:1 clone. His version (named the Celestial Machine) fits the strictest definition of a clone: an exact replica running the original code, featuring a beautifully recreated remote controller and using NOS components throughout ; except for a new OLED display (co-designed with Bob Grieb of TaunTek).
This special Publison-badged unit was sent to me for testing and demonstration to original Publison co-founder D. Dean - more info soon maybe :)
By the way! If you’re curious, I wrote my master’s thesis on Publison, it was published in French (deal with it lmao) : https://www.ens-louis-lumiere.fr/wp-c..."
"I've been working for months perfecting a new DAW that captures the exact workflow and sound of analog tape. Every aspect of the tape path is emulated using data I captured from my own tape machines. You can play with the tape as its recording to record warbles, draw defects, age the tape as you play it, varispeed record, and essentially any other function that's possible on a reel to reel.
"Big Time revisits the mixed-up circuitry of rackmount echoes from the early 80s, where advanced analog engineering was used to prop up crude digital systems. What would happen if that hybrid circuitry were pushed to its extremes? Big Time is our answer, stuffed with misbiased modulations, saturating loops, and sequenced echoes.
"The Chase Bliss Big Time is here, and today we'll spend some time throwing a bunch of synthesizers at it and seeing how it sounds. We'll also talk about the fundamental concepts, controls, and identity of the newest addition to the Automatone family. Timecode is below- skip around!"
00:00 Intro/Tascam Jam
03:46 Tone and Dynamics
10:00 Delay Line Controls
19:41 CV/Expression Control; Modular
22:10 Big Time Generates Clock!
28:04 Drum Machine Sound Sample
33:55 Easel Outro Jam
"An improvised deep-dive into the harmonic chaos of the Montreal Assembly PURPLL.
While many know the PURPLL as a PLL-based dirt box, it hides a massive drone synth within its circuitry. In this session, I’m utilizing its internal pulse wave oscillator, utilizing the multiply and divide channels to stack overtones and subharmonics into a wall of sound.
The signal is shaped by the onboard filters and modulated via LFO before hitting the Universal Audio UAFX duo for spatial depth.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:12 Performance
Gear Signal Chain:
• Source: Montreal Assembly PURPLL (Drone Mode)
• Reverb: UAFX Golden Reverberator (Vintage Reverb Emulator)
• Delay: UAFX Starlight Echo Station (Vintage Delay Emulator)
• DAW: Recorded live to stereo, mixed/mastered in Pro Tools.
"I love discovering new and inspiring tones. Tones that surprise me - preferably not by layering tons of effects, but achieved much simpler.
Enter the Vongon Rosetones, a polyphonic resonator.
What's happening here: it's hooked up to the Tonverk via MIDI and audio, and MIDI CC's are being changed with the patterns from the Tonverk. In the first part, the percussion from the Tonverk is fed into it as the impulse to excite the resonators, while I play the Replay as a midi keyboard to define the pitches.
In the middle part, the audio from the replay is the input to the Rosetones, which resonates sympatically to the chords. In the third part, it's back to drums exciting the resonators and MIDI control of the pitches. Lots more to be discovered.
And of course, the Rosetones looks beautiful as well."
"rosetones creates a polyphonic synth voice that follows your playing. it listens to
your notes and routes them through sympathetic resonators, creating blooming
harmonic textures and evolving chords
more info @ vongon.com"
"rosetones creates a polyphonic synth voice that follows your playing. it listens to your notes and routes them through sympathetic resonators, creating blooming harmonic textures and evolving chords
at the center of rosetones is a 12-voice chromatic resonator bank that continuously analyzes the input signal and routes detected pitches into tuned delay lines. each pitch class excites a resonator that can sustain, swell, and interact with feedback to create dynamic harmonic movement"
"Use headphones for this one! Animal Factory Dirty Mirror dual parallel fuzz pedal running a Korg Monologue analog synth — no talking, no post-processing, just raw tone. This was recorded in one take to bring out how the Dirty Mirror becomes an instrument in itself.
A love letter to shoegaze, noise, and harsh textures, the Dirty Mirror
pairs a modified Shin-Ei Superfuzz (the "Burn" channel) with a heavily
modded Big Muff Pi (the "Churn" channel), plus a pre-fuzz delay
modulated by an internal LFO and envelope follower. Hand-built in
Mumbai by Animal Factory Amplification and debuted at Superbooth 2025.
Here it's sculpting the Korg Monologue's aggressive analog voice into
fuzzscapes, drones, seasick vibrato, and pitch-shifted square-wave
chaos. Recorded dry — no EQ, no reverb, nothing but the pedal and the
synth. Drums from an MFB Tanzmaus (not processed)
"Use headphones or speakers with good bass! Dual fuzz chaos meets beat-driven synthesis! Watch the Animal Factory Dirty Mirror transform the MFB Tanzmaus drum machine with creative distortion and delay manipulation. This is pure experimentation—no tutorial, just sonic exploration.
Not just a shoegaze and noise rock machine - the Dirty Mirror is the perfect fuzz for musicians exploring wall-of-fuzz sounds, experimental synthesis, drum machine effects processing, and unconventional gear combinations."
"The Dirty Mirror takes these two behemoths of sonic perversion and adds an extra layer of nasty – using the core circuit of our Coma Reactor Eurorack module.
This three footswitch, 15 knob pedal looks complicated – but it’s not:
The BURN Channel (left side) is based on our Chemical Burn circuit, a nastier FY-6 variant.
The CHURN channel (right side) is based on a heavily modded Big Muff Pi.
There is a short delay circuit before the fuzz circuits.
Both the fuzz circuits can switch between the input sound, 100% wet delayed sound or a blend of wet and dry.
The fuzz circuits are then mixed in parallel into a high-headroom output section.
For added sickness, the delay time can be modified by an envelope follower or LFO.
Choose your filthy reflection – from straight dual parallel fuzz textures, to seasick vibrato to long slow quasi-chorus phasey apocalyptica.
The delay can be used on its own for slapback, chorus and vibrato effects.
Yes, it can get very noisy. No, you can’t do anything about it - so weep in pain and pleasure, and submit to the swarms of square waves that joyfully fill your room."
"LIQUID SKY d-vices SMUDGETIZER PRO 2 bit bitcrusher desktop multi FX at this year’s SynthFest France, the Liquid Sky artistcollective from Santana dada Serra, Portugal launches the first chapter of a new experimental desktop multi fx series built in the beloved zen delay format.
all units are handcrafted in Santana dada Serra and designed to connect worlds: cv / gate inputs meet midi clock–syncable modulations - engineered for maximum audio wreckage.
this is not about polite breadnbutter effects: our d-vices are sonic troublemakers for bad ass artists, noiseheads and experimental sound labs.
the series begins with the SMUDGETIZER PRO 2bit bitcrusher — a beautifully destructive stereo machine with integrated lfos, ready to bend, fkk up, break, and reassemble your sound into something floor-shakingly new and evil.
developed by Thilo Goldschmitz, it works with pretty much anything you throw at it: guitars, bass, drums and drum machines, synths, voices, worldreceivers and of course… noise.
a eurorack version is coming too: 40 hp wide. yes, we know that’s a lot of rack space. yes, it’s intentionally big. we love instruments you can actually play. no, we’re not making a smaller version. and yes, we’re friends… but you don’t have to remind us every five minutes that it’s a lot of rack space. <3 :)
the eurorack edition will be available in autumn.
price for the pedal: 299 eur plus vat plus shipping."
"Running a simple bass line through the stunning Parting glitch/ambient machine and exploring the sounds. It's a very touchy feely pedal that's wasted on guitarists and really should be a Eurorack module. Full review coming soon from a synth perspective.
I bought this pedal myself."
"Parting is a box of pleasant surprises. Moments of chance will give bursts of a glitch delay that can smear into a reverb, modulated by tremolo or vibrato, filtered, and, most importantly, dissolved into lofi aliasing or stretched out reverse. All of this may jump around in halves and octaves of itself - it’s up to you and Parting, together. Controls
Dissolve has two functions. Below noon, it reduces sample rate, creating an increasingly degraded version of the signal. Above noon, it reverses the signal, and repeatedly cuts the reverse clock in half as the knob is turned, creating an increasingly long and degraded reverse.
Rate sets the rate of the modulation LFO, which is also the frequency of triggers for moments of chance.
Depth sets the depth of the LFO.
Shape sets the LFO shape: Sine, Square, Reverse Saw, Saw, Random Sine, Random Square, Envelope
Chance allows random bits of signal to enter the delay/reverb buffer during an LFO cycle.
Smear adds diffusion and feedback to the delay lines, turning them into a lush reverb as the knob is turned up.
Glitch creates various clock subdivisions.
Time sets the timing of the delay/reverb, as well as the reverse.
Filter sets the cutoff point of the post-dissolve filter.
Mix sets the blend of dry and wet signal.
Aux switch for tap tempo, half speed, or preset switching.
Soft-touch On/Off footswitch with relay switching for minimal switch noise"
"Passive bandpass filters are an obsession of mine, so it was just a question of time until AudioThing and me would make a plugin of the special subset called octave filters. Octaves is out on now: https://www.audiothing.net/effects/Oc...
My Music: http://hainbach.bandcamp.com"
"Hainbach’s Bandpass Filter
Octaves is our latest collaboration with Berlin-based composer and YouTuber Hainbach. It is a filter plugin designed to take apart the audio spectrum in spreads of octaves, allowing for unique and enchanting spectral sound design effects. Octaves gives you a retro-scientific approach to sound that echoes the timeless productions created in the BBC Radiophonic workshop or the WDR Studio für Elektronische Musik by the Avantgarde masters, and modern places like Willem Twee, Strøm, and Hainbach’s own laboratory.
Octaves is available for macOS, Windows, and Linux (VST2, VST3, AU, AAX, CLAP).
It’s also available on the App Store for iOS and iPadOS (AUv3 and Standalone).
"The "pairing series" is back! In this one we explore the Zakal, a spring reverb / feedback device from Colossus Audio. We start by using the Metal Fetishist as a sound source but quickly flip the tables and use it as a sound processor instead, making Rythms with the feedback tones that come through its input from the Zakal.
The background noise you may hear comes from my microphone, not from the instruments. I will be more careful next time.
"Zakal is a resonant audio feedback instrument. It generates feedback using reverb springs, with the feedback signal shaped by a low-pass filter and a delay in the feedback path or simple feedback. Additionally, Zakal can function as a spring reverb effect, offering versatile sonic possibilities.
Zakal contains amplification and recovery circuits designed to generate audio feedback through its reverb springs.
A switch allows you to engage the LPF and Delay within the feedback path, enabling creative control over the frequencies fed back into the spring reverb, shaping unique resonant textures.
When used as a spring reverb effects unit, the POST EQ provides precise shaping of the wet signal, offering enhanced tonal flexibility.
At the end of the chain, a 3-band EQ provides additional shaping of the output, offering precise control over the final sound. When used as a spring reverb effects unit, the EQ enhances the wet signal for even greater tonal versatility.
ZAKAL does not include a power supply. It operates on a standard 9V DC (negative center, 2.1mm barrel plug) compatible with most guitar pedal power supplies. If you do not own one feel free to reach out, and I’ll help you find a suitable option."
"Join us for an exploration of TRAILS as part of our Pedals & Patches series of videos, exploring pedal FX with modular gear, synthesizers, around the studio and with some other instruments too. Pedals aren't just for guitarists, so lets get creative with them!
Trails offers 7 FX that make your sounds sustain and grow, there's resonators (think Rings) with sympathetic strings, bell like chord generation, live and frozen buffer granular processing, a unique distortion like nothing I've used before, micro loopers, pitch shifting delays, vinyl record emulating delays and more!"
"sonicLAB REVNET is an algorithmic reverb with uncompromising sonic quality."
"WHY ANOTHER REVERB ?
There are already hundreds of reverb plugins on the market. The question is, why do you need another one?
Because sonicLAB offers a unique approach to defining control and modulation across multi-scale elements—from sound processors to MIDI event generators—delivering uncompromising sonic quality.
We are happy to introduce REVNet, a complex algorithmic reverberation and spatial sound design instrument. Rather than simply emulating traditional plates or rooms, REVNet is designed to create unique reverberations. By combining dynamic feedback topologies, stochastic modulation, and pitch-tracked harmonic resonance, REVNet operates as much as a synthesizer as it does a spatial effect.
REVNet is for uncompromising sound design. Crucially, unlike static reverb algorithms, REVNet allows you to manipulate its internal reflection network on the fly."
