PWM Mantis Synthesizer A Spiritual Successor To The EDP Wasp – Synthtopia

PWM has introduced the Mantis synthesizer, a duophonic synthesizer that’s the spiritual successor to the EDP Wasp synthesizer.

The Mantis is a collaboration between the late Chris Hugget (Gnat, Wasp, Oscar) and Paul Whittington of PWM. Here, Whittington tells the story of the synth’s origin:

Features:

• 200 Patches
  • All patches in RAM so can be overwritten
  • Bank A: 100 Factory presets
  • Bank B: 100 User presets (all set to initial patch)
  • Compare function
  • Initialize patch function
• Duophonic with 2 analog signal paths
  • Mathematically generated oscillators designed by Chris Huggett
  • Analogue signal path designed by Chris Huggett
• 2 Oscillators plus sub-oscillator per voice
  • Sine / Triangle / Saw / Pulse plus additional wave types
  • Shape control and shape modulation input
  • Will create pulse width modulation on the pulse waveform with perfect square
    at the center
  • Pitch modulation control
  • Octave selects per oscillator
  • OSC 1 SUB follows oscillator 1 parameters
• Oscillator Drift
  • Creates random pitch variations between oscillators
• Multi-mode state variable VCA filters with overdrive
  • 2 Analogue filters – 1 per signal path
  • Low Pass / Band Pass / High Pass in 12dB and 24dB configurations
  • Additional WBAND (series) and WSTOP (parallel) types
  • Filter Cutoff
  • Filter Cutoff Modulation
  • Filter Resonance
  • Filter Width
  • Filter Width Modulation
  • Filter Keytrack
• LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator)
  • 2 LFOs
  • 4 waveshapes per oscillator
  • Fade In / Fade Out parameter
  • SYNCable
• Rate control
• Envelopes
• 2 Independent envelopes
• ENV 1 normalised to amplitude
  • ADSR
    * + Sustain Fall parameter for shaping during key-down
    * + Repeat which can be used to create looping envelopes
    * Velocity positive and negative control
• Ring modulation
• Mixer
  • First mix: OSC1 and OSC2
  • Second mix: OSCillators and noise
  • Third mix: OSCillators + noise and Ring modulator
• VCA (Voltage Controlled Amplifier)
  • All amplification is done in the analogue domain in multi-stage VCAs
• Modulation Routes
  • Control – 6 choices of modulation parameters
  • Source – 6 choices of effectors from envelopes and LFOs
  • Scale – choices of controls used to scale the effect of the modulation
• Glide
  • Glide amount
  • Auto-glide mode
• Indicator LEDs
  • Two LEDs for Voice
  • LED for Keyboard activity
• Master tune
• Master volume
• Triggering
  • ENV 1 Legato
  • ENV 2 Legato
  • LFO Keytrig
    LFO Keytrig
• CONNECTIONS
  • Master power switch
  • DC 9V input
  • USBC
  • MIDI IN / OUT / THRU
  • Sustain pedal input (switch)
  • Pedal input (continuous)
  • Stereo 1/4” line Outs: L/Mono and R
  • Stereo 1/4” headphone out
• ?Multi-function Joystick control
  • Left / right for pitch bend
  • Performable vibrato
  • Latching hold mode
• Arpeggiator
  • 6 arpeggiator types – Up, Down, Up/Down 1, Up/Down 2, Played & Random
  • Sync rates control from 2nds to 32nds
  • Tap tempo button
  • Swing including positive and negative swing
  • Auto clock sync – Detects MIDI or USB-MIDI clock and synchronises the arpeggiator
    automatically
  • Latch via joystick HOLD
  • 6 Octave range
• Dedicated tempo control
• Duophonic mode control
  • Duo mode
  • Duo mode with simple filter
  • Pan control for duophonic voicing
• Digital Effects
  • Reverb time
  • Reverb level
  • Reverb High Pass Filter
  • Reverb Low Pass Filter
  • Chorus level
  • Chorus type
• Keyboard Control
  • 37 Full-size semi-weighted velocity-sensitive keys
  • Channel aftertouch
  • Octave shift

Pricing:

The PWM Mantis is priced at $1,499 USD, with a street price around $1,349. See the PWM site for more information.