Cherry Audio - Pentaphonic

Pentaphonic is Cherry Audio's recreation of the 1981 Gleeman Pentaphonic, a five-voice DCO polysynth with a built-in sequencer, of which fewer than 70 were made. It's for warm, characterful pads, stepped sequences and leftfield poly sounds in electronic, ambient and synthwave production.

The architecture

The original's DCOs produced unusual stair-stepped waveforms, including two complex waves, narrow pulses, ramp, triangle and sine, through an analogue filter, with a fast and slow chorus. Cherry Audio keeps all of that and adds a third oscillator, sync and PWM, a second LFO, 12 and 24dB filter options, velocity, and mono, unison and poly modes up to 16 voices.

The sound

Thick and slightly gritty, with a stepped digital edge to the waveforms that sets it apart from smoother analogue polys. A 16x4 polyphonic step sequencer and a Parameter Animator, which sequences cutoff, resonance, pitch mod and oscillator levels, give it plenty of movement. Three UI themes are based on the original's different cases. Over 375 presets, including the original 50 factory patches.

Features

• Recreation of the 1981 Gleeman Pentaphonic
• Three DCOs per voice with the original stair-stepped waveforms
• Oscillator sync and PWM
• 12dB and 24dB filter options
• Mono, unison and 2 to 16-voice poly modes
• 16x4 polyphonic step sequencer and Parameter Animator
• Arpeggiator and aftertouch control
• Original fast/slow chorus plus 22 effects
• Three UI themes
• Over 375 presets, including the original 50 factory patches

System requirements

• Version: 1.0.6
• 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