Modal Carbon8
"Carbon 8 employs over 40 complex waveform algorithms, and is geared towards the more aggressive and harsh modern spectrum of sounds. With two discrete oscillators, the Carbon 8 has a similar form factor to earlier Modal Synths, but has a new mixing stage with independent level controls for each oscillator. Digital waveforms are generated in realtime, and can be cross-modulated using the new options of wave-folding, wave-shaping, and phase distortion. While the synth is in development, it already boasts a total of 33 filters to give total control over sound shaping, a 512 note sequencer, arpeggiator and 26 effect algorithms."
I really love the sound of this. It reminds me of a Casio CZ synth and I like the fact it's not trying to sound analog at all but it is having it's own unique voice. I hope they do a desktop version like their other synths. Modal has been sort of on my peripheral. Nothing they've done so far has really sold me but if they start to get into things outside the virtual analog engines they've done then I'm all for it. Would love to see them do a dedicated FM synth. Perhaps even just a linear FM update on this might fit the bill.
The demo isn't fantastic (it's a prototype after all) but I do think there is something there.
https://youtu.be/MrSSA91xzwk?t=247Tasty Chips GR-Mega Granular Workstation
"The GR Mega, a granular synthesizer designed for complex sound design based on samples. The GR Mega boasts many modulation options, a large mod matrix, four LFOs, 18 mod destinations, four envelopes (one freely assignable), and a step sequencer. The instrument also includes dual filters, low-pass and high-pass, seven effects (of which four can be used in parallel), and 128 presets. Peter explained that the grains in the synthesizer are generated from the samples and can be randomized in position and mixed together to create the final output."
I was a fan of the GR-1 but always felt it needed to be expanded on and it looks like that's exactly what the GR-Mega is doing. For some reason I'm getting strong vibes of the Fairlight CMI when listening to demos and with the addition of the 4 part multitimbral step sequencer I could certainly see this being a welcomed addition alongside the ISLA S2400 and Prophet X for my sampling needs (As well as the Sonicware Lo-Fi 12). While I'm not huge on granular stuff and would lkely use lightly modified raw samples, there is some really nice atmospheric strings and textures going on here with some of the sounds. Perfect for background pads.
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