The Twisted Electrons company presented two of their new portable synthesizers in Berlin: the µAcid8 and the hapiNES. Both of them are only available for pre-order and the first batch will be shipped around August. Also the devices are performed in a similar form factor. µAcid8 is an 8-bit bass synthesizer, which borrowed the table-wave engine and the main sequencer elements from the quite successful acid8. Besides, it has a couple of interesting features, such as Stutter effect, Vinyl spin-down effect, transpose automation and a filter with wobbler.

hapiNES is a chiptune synthesizer, in the creation of which the creators were inspired by the RP2A07 chip, which you can find in the Nintendo gaming console. The device has 4 channels, 16 arpeggiator operation modes and enough memory space for storing 16 patterns. Both of the synthesizers can be powered either by two AAA batteries or by microUSB cable and can be connected with other instruments, including Pocket Operators, for synchronization and audio transmission.

Synset FM was presented by the Fingersonic company as the first instrument in the oncoming Synset line. This is a FM-synthesizer with six operators, an effects section, a sequencer and three separate channels for percussion sounds creation. The creators point out that they did their best to make its interface as intuitive as I can be with the help of the FaderOS and five encoders, in addition to which there are two knobs for controlling effects. As to the effects section, Synset FM has chorus, delay, distortion and even a low-frequency resonance filter. The expected time of the release of this device is the Summer of 2018.

The Greek company Dreadbox, in addition to its new Medusa synth, which we will surely talk about soon, brought the third version of the Erebus synth to the exhibition. In comparison to the previous versions, the instrument has undergone several important changes. So, now it has the third oscillator with seven waveforms including FM and the routing matrix has also been broadened. What’s more, they’ve added a truly unique triple ring modulator to it. In addition, the amplifier section has a four-phase envelope instead of a two-phase, the main envelope generator has a loop function. Also there is now an analog clock generator and a white noise generator in the instrument. In general, the sound of the device as well as the basic schematic have remained the same. The price and the date of launching haven’t been named yet.

Tasty Chip Electronics presented its granular synthesizer GR-1, production of which became possible due to the launch of the Kickstarter project. The device lets you to create interesting textural sound using just a couple of knobs. It has 16-voice polyphony and for each voice there are 128 granules. You can plug your MIDI (USB, DYN) keyboard to it, however, the device can be used even without it: on the front panel of the GR-1 there are knob and sliders, using which you can create chords and four-note drones. The synth has a pretty powerful 32-bit DAC, two CV inputs and a Gate output onboard. Also the GR-1 synth is pretty well suitable for live performances. It has four banks of 8 presets each where you can store all the settings including even the backlight brightness. The synthesizer is already available for pre-order; the deliveries will start in September this year. The price for this piece is $850.