Cherry Audio - Atomika

Atomika is Cherry Audio's emulation of the Polivoks, the Soviet synth built from 1982 to 1990, for gritty basses, snarling leads and lo-fi aggression in techno, industrial and electronic music.

The filter

The Polivoks is all about its filter. Designer Vladimir Kuzmin built it from programmable op-amps never intended for audio, and the result is distinctive and dirty. Mark Barton (MRB) has modelled it closely and added Starve, Filter Drive and Amp Drive controls, plus high-pass, notch and peak modes alongside the original low-pass and band-pass.

The sound

Rough, raw and full of character. It's at its best pushed hard, where the filter breaks up in ways a polite modern synth never would. The original had two loopable envelopes, which work as extra LFOs, and a duophonic mode. Cherry adds up to 16 voices, velocity and aftertouch, an arpeggiator and effects. You can even switch the panel labels to the original Cyrillic. Over 350 presets.

Features

• Polivoks emulation modelled by Mark Barton (MRB)
• Op-amp filter with Starve, Filter Drive and Amp Drive, plus LP, BP, HP, notch and peak modes
• Two VCOs with oscillator FM and noise
• Loopable envelopes
• Mono, duo and up to 16-voice poly modes with unison
• Arpeggiator
• Phaser, flanger/chorus, delay and reverb effects
• Over 350 presets

System requirements

• Version: 1.0.7
• Mac: macOS 10.13 or later, native on Apple Silicon. AU, VST2, VST3, AAX and standalone (64-bit)
• Windows: Windows 7 or later, including Windows 11. VST2, VST3, AAX and standalone (64-bit)
• Quad-core CPU and 8GB RAM recommended
• Internet connection needed for activation

SOUND7 is an authorised Cherry Audio reseller. Digital delivery: licence activation code sent by email. See How to Activate Your Cherry Audio Plugins.

Demo