Cherry Audio Quadra
“Vintage synthesis to the fourth power”; new emulation of the ARP Quadra, both authentic and at home in modern production
24 November 2021
Cherry Audio introduces their newest and most ambitious synth to date, the Quadra. The Cherry Audio Quadra is an accurate and improved emulation of the legendary ARP Quadra synthesiser, originally released in 1978 – a rare and coveted “unicorn” instrument, reproduced for the first time as a virtual instrument.
The Quadra has been designed to strike a balance between authenticity and functionality, addressing the hardware instrument’s shortcomings while expanding its power and user experience to exceed the original in every conceivable way.
Each of the Quadra’s four sections is independently assignable to any region of the keyboard for endless splitting and layering flexibility. The original Quadra’s challenging patch storage has been replaced with Cherry Audio’s patch browsing system. The overall sound quality has been improved for a richer and fatter tone, and the onboard phaser has been augmented with a stereo chorus/flanger, a syncable echo, and studio-quality reverb – all individually routable.
The Cherry Audio Quadra boasts a fat, monophonic bass section for punchy low end, plus “Strings Bass” for string machine-style orchestral richness. Its classic string synth beautifully reproduces the classic string ensemble instruments of the 1970s, and includes a dedicated two-band EQ. The Poly Synth section is a highly improved version of the original ARP unit, including saw, variable pulse, “spike,” and “hollow” waveforms, expanded range, and a drift button for organic tone. And top it all off with a screaming dual-oscillator lead synth, including ramp, pulse, sine, triangle, and noise waves, LFO- or envelope-controlled pulse-width modulation, two-voice split mode, independent oscillator portamento controls and more.
The Quadra is priced at $39 MAP ($59 MSRP), with a free 30-day demo available.
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