PWM has introduced the Mantis synthesizer, a duophonic synthesizer that’s the spiritual successor to the EDW 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
- ADSR
- 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.