Polyend today introduced Synth, a $500 multi-engine, multi-timbral polyphonic synthesizer and sequencer.
The Polyend Synth features 8 distinct synth engines, and lets you use three different synth engines at once, so you can combine Granular, Physical Modeling, FM, Wavetable, Virtual Analog, or Phase Distortion. Other features include sequencers, arpeggiators, a ‘smart grid’ with polyphonic aftertouch, customizable macro knobs, three effects and more.
Here’s their unusual promo video::
Here’s the ‘shut up and play’ style demo:
Features:
- Play three synths at once.
- 8 distinct synth engines – Polyend Synth combines various synthesizing methods, such as Granular, Physical Modeling, FM, Wavetable, Virtual Analog, or Phase Distortion.
- Sequencers and Arpeggiators – Independently assign a sequencer or arpeggiator to each synth and control swing, groove, octave range, gate length, and more. Transposable sequences automatically adapt to the chosen scale.
- Smart Grid – allows for single-button chords and note followers that “will always be in tune”.
- Polyphonic Aftertouch – responds to your finger’s pressure independently on each pad. Every synth has up to five values that can be controlled with pressure.
- Combo Knobs – Combo knobs are customizable macros that can control one, two, or all three synths simultaneously.
- Three brand new effect engines – These customizable effects (delay, reverb, modulator) can be independently routed for each synth or effect engine.
- Scenes – Scenes combine synth engines, their parameters, patches, effects sends, macros, arps, sequences, and all other settings into a quickly accessible file.
- Full Control – The 3×3 knob matrix and dedicated parameter buttons provide all the controls needed to create advanced patches without menu diving.
- Responsive Visual Interface – Gain a deeper understanding of how parameters change. Every knob turn updates the interface with graphs, whether you change the LFO shape, filter, envelope, or oscillator.
- Expandable and Customizable – With SD and USB-accessible storage, sharing and customizing patches, effects, and Scenes is simple. Expand the engines by loading your Wavetables or Grain files.
Pricing and Availability:
The Polyend Synth is available now for $499 USD, €499.
I’m a jerk for saying this but after I watched the promo, I said a bad word after I saying, “what the”. Like, why do people (marketing) make these kinds of videos to promote products? 0 value. Am I wrong?
Elektron has done similar for soon 15 years….
I find it cool…
its actually totally unique
reminds me of the teenage engineering ads
all synth ads are usually the same; beauty shots of the product, features flashed on the screen
atleast this is creative
wish it was longer
my wife is probably getting me one today
Well that’s kind of an awkward comparison because teenage engineering is running almost entirely on their marketing like their marketing is really good their designs are aesthetically incredible but the machines themselves, their functionality and what not, do not justify their cost
Yes You are! At least they make an effort to create something original, with mood and atmosphere, instead of yet another BS video about making beats on the subway train, on the park bench, at a coffe shop or whatever, and then, always at the end, the protagonist pulls the device out of his backpack and plugs it right into the club mixer, where he presents his new banger to a enthusiastic audience.
Im with you. Sure I appreciate the “artistic expression” but I very much rather see the actual product beign used in innovative ways along different setups, even in a Polyend ecosystem that is cohesive like the toxic green Aira sure… But beign in this dude bad dream… it could be any synth with that direction. Give me Batt nerding over pwm any day over this.
Very cool!
yea…that video was dumb as hell. But just the sounds are good. Cool synth as per usual for Polyend!
The video is fine, leave the deep-dive review to the Youtubers, this is their job and what they live for…
what’s the polyphony count? Can’t seem to find it anywhere in the “tech specs” they listed on their colorful website. I’d think that’d be the first thing you’d want to know about the polyphonic synth
8 voice or less depending on the algorithm(s) you are currently using
8 voices or less depending on the algorithm(s) you are currently using
I think, it’s 8, which is a bit weak for a digital synth. But then again, they just built musical toys, which don’t work well with other gear. Just look at the Play, which they even say, it’s only meant to be noodled around with (that’s why in the forum they declined features, asked and voted for by the community, arguing, that these basic features are not the Play’s focus). The Tracker…. I don’t know… seems like a crude joke to me. It’s a GameBoy with a GUI, which had been replaced by modern DAWs and now it’s back to Excel-Sheets to program music. Super inspiring, yes… Back to topic:
I also don’t get, which problem “play three synths at the same time” is supposed to solve, or why a basic thing like a sequencer, is apparently coming with the 1.1 update (if you know, Polyend’s history with feature promises and update release dates, prepare for a cold winter). But hey… colorful pads… not bad per se and I use a Launchpad, Maschine as well, but they are mature products. None of Polyend’s are.
The limited polyphony is the dealbreaker here, but it probably had to be done at that price point. I’d rather pay $100 more and get 12 voices. In a multi-timbral instrument of this sort, that would have been sweet. Still seems like a great product, though.
Hope this means there will be a PERC stand alone in the future!
Only 8 voice polyphony and no sample playback. Pass, I’ll keep my Novation Circuit Tracks.
I feel like the moment anyone buys one, Polyend will stop supporting it and release Synth2. I don’t trust them on a customer service level at all.
After the Play fiasco, they publicly stated that they would never improve an existing product in this fashion again. They are a relatively young company that makes mistakes due to inexperience, but they are in no way mischievous. I am not saying you should “trust” them, which you should not do in the first place since they are a company and not a friend. But the risk of investing in a cool 500-euro synth is manageable if you enjoy the sound.
1st i like this the lot! It is a unique and truly 2024 zeitgeist approach!
So will there be a “synth +” soon – with 16 voices audio over usb and all (?)
Polyend has done the + thing twice so they might do it again.
If you can simply buy the + and upgrade the hardware yourself that would be perfecty fine (like in the old days with voice cards / expansion cards.)
If you have to send it in or have to buy a new unit thats a bummer.
Polyend is still actively updating their “legacy” gear with new features, fixes and improvements. That makes 5 years of OG Tracker updates, OG Play is still getting updates as well.
Oh, the WTFM engine sounds good! But what the fuck, man – I think I will wait purchasing until next upgrade with the new NSFW and MILF engines, some very juicy filters there ?