Cherry Audio - Polymode

Polymode is Cherry Audio's emulation of the Moog Polymoog, one of the first fully polyphonic synths, for animated strings, choirs and evolving pads, and the cold, glassy tones of late-70s and early-80s electronic pop.

The architecture

The Polymoog wasn't a conventional poly. It used a paraphonic, divide-down design with fixed "mode" filters and a bank of resonators, which gave it a sound unlike anything else, and Polymode recreates that unusual structure closely. Cherry Audio has expanded it with 32-voice polyphony, simultaneous saw and pulse waves on both oscillator ranks, an extended resonator section with its own LFO and notch mode, a classic 24dB ladder filter, two extra LFOs and wide-ranging modulation routing.

The sound

Think of the Vox Humana preset Gary Numan made famous and you're in the right place. Strings and choirs have a lovely shimmering, slightly unreal quality, and the resonators bring pads to life with very small tweaks. Ensemble, phaser, echo and reverb effects are built in, along with a Solina-style tri-chorus. It's a specialist rather than an all-rounder, but for pads and strings it has a character no other Cherry synth quite matches.

Features

• Recreation of the Polymoog's paraphonic architecture
• 32-voice polyphony
• Modelled mode filters and expanded resonators section
• Classic 24dB ladder-style filter
• Saw and pulse waves available on both oscillator ranks
• Extensive modulation routing
• Two additional LFOs with tempo sync
• Ensemble, phaser, echo and reverb effects
• Solina-style tri-chorus mode
• Over 150 presets
• Full MIDI control and DAW automation

System requirements

• Version: 1.4.0
• 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