Cherry Audio has announced the release of Pro Soloist, the latest in its growing line of emulations of classic synthesizers, along with Synth Stack 4, the 2023 update to their complete collection of 22 virtual instruments.
Pro Soloist
Featuring the precision-crafted and circuit-modeled DSP designs of developer Mark Barton, Pro Soloist goes far beyond reproducing the expressive controls, 30 presets, and the unique architecture of this 1972 classic. Most significantly, Cherry Audio has made it fully programmable and expanded it with full polyphony, splits and layers, an arpeggiator, a mod matrix, integrated studio-quality effects, and more.
Cherry Audio explains:
Early analog synthesizers were a mystery to most working musicians. In 1972, ARP Instruments released the Pro Soloist, one of the first commercially successful preset-based synthesizers. Pro Soloist featured a revolutionary electronic design and feature set, most notably its innovative "touch sensor" keyboard (now commonly known as aftertouch), where pressing a note harder introduces changes to the sound, allowing highly expressive playing. The Pro Soloist was a hit with acts as varied as Tangerine Dream, Gary Numan, Herbie Hancock, Styx, Prince, Parliament, and Vangelis. Perhaps best remembered was Tony Banks, who amplified the Pro Soloist's legendary presets in epic keyboard solos for the legendary band Genesis.
Cherry Audio has received countless requests to reproduce this oft-forgotten gem — one of those came from frequent collaborator Mark Barton (GX-80, Novachord + Solovox, Miniverse, and others). With unparalleled attention to detail, Mark has created an authentic reproduction of the analog signal path along with the 30 original presets, and together we have substantially expanded the Pro Soloist's capabilities. Cherry Audio has added a dual-layer voicing architecture, with 16 polyphonic voices per layer, that enables two different presets simultaneously, with independent panning for rich stereo timbres and complex sounds. Pro Soloist also includes a split keyboard mode and a brilliant "Last Note" option that effectively simulates polyphonic aftertouch using monophonic-aftertouch controllers.
Pro Soloist's distinctive three-panel interface makes clear that this is far more than a preset synth. Cherry Audio has precisely recreated the look and sounds of the original paddle presets in its main Performance mode panel. In Edit mode, they've exposed all of its unique analog synthesis architecture parameters, most notably, the fully-variable, five parallel bandpass filter "Resonator Bank," key to the Pro Soloist's realistic acoustic orchestra timbres. Additionally, they've revealed the LFO and ADSR/AR envelopes and elevated the sound design possibilities with a "Super Wave" oscillator and a robust six-slot modulation matrix. The Arp/FX panel rounds it out with a syncable arpeggiator and a dozen effects for distortion, phaser, flanger/chorus, echo, and reverb.
Pro Soloist also features 450 presets created by a team of sound design veterans, including James Terris, INHALT, Drew Schlesinger, Huston Singletary, and Mark Barton. More captivating sounds are available in the Vintage Vibes Preset Pack (sold separately) by James Dyson. With additional touches such as Cherry Audio's MIDI mapping functions, highly optimized DSP for optimal performance, and a visually immersive interface, Pro Soloist should satisfy both vintage synth aficionados and today's music producers.
Cherry Audio concludes:
A mint condition and serviced Pro Soloist can easily fetch $2,500 or more these days, and its unique architecture makes MIDI retrofits impossible. Cherry Audio is thrilled to introduce this virtual and expanded Pro Soloist at the jaw-dropping price of only $49 (list $69). Pro Soloist is also available as part of Cherry Audio's new and comprehensive Synth Stack 4 collection. This ultimate sonic package includes all 22 of Cherry Audio's virtual instruments to date at an unbelievably affordable price, on sale for a limited time.
Pro Soloist is available in AU, VST, VST3, AAX, and standalone formats for Windows (7 or above, including Windows 11) and macOS (10.13 and above), including native support for Apple Silicon. A free 30-day demo is available. Visit cherryaudio.com for additional product details, system requirements, videos, and an extensive collection of sound demos.
YouTube.com/watch?v=DPnrOQ1w4B4
Synth Stack 4
Synth Stack 4 includes 19 emulations of classic vintage synthesizers, three original synthesizers, one massive modular synthesizer platform, and nearly 8,000 presets. In total, Synth Stack 4 includes nearly $1,000 worth of products and is available for a limited time at the introductory price of $299.
Synth Stack 4 includes:
- Voltage Modular Core + Electro Drums, a powerhouse collection of modular madness including 120 modules and over 600 presets.
- DCO-106, a recreation of the much-loved Juno-106 polysynth of the 80's.
- CA2600, a powerful, self-contained duophonic synthesizer inspired by the groundbreaking ARP 2600 synthesizer.
- Surrealistic MG-1 Plus Synthesizer, an authentic recreation of the fun and funky Moog MG-1 synthesizer sold in Radio Shack stores in 80s.
- Polymode, inspired by the groundbreaking Moog Polymoog synthesizer, one of the world's first polyphonic synthesizers.
- Eight Voice, a meticulous emulation of the immense Oberheim Eight Voice, one of the world's rarest and most desirable vintage instruments.
- PS-20, a realistic, polyphonic, hot-rodded tribute to Korg's renowned MS-20.
- Memorymode, based upon the Memorymoog, one of the very best-sounding polyphonic programmable analog synthesizers of the 80s.
- Mercury-4, a detailed emulation of one of the best-sounding and quirkiest polyphonic synthesizers of the late 1970's, the Roland Jupiter-4.
- Quadra, a reimagining of one of the quirkiest, rarest, and most curiosity-inspiring vintage synthesizers of all time, the 1978 ARP Quadra.
- Dreamsynth, a tribute to the celebrated hybrid analog/digital synthesizers of the mid-to-late 1980s.
- Miniverse, a painstaking virtual emulation of the granddaddy of all portable synthesizers focused on a single principle: absolute authenticity.
- Lowdown recreates the super-fat, room-rattling sounds of the most legendary dual-oscillator bass pedal synth ever made.
- Elka-X, the virtual synthesizer based upon the legendary Synthex, a rare Italian analog synth manufactured by ELKA in the early eighties.
- Sines, an innovative original polyphonic synthesizer that utilizes diverse waveshaping methods to bend pure waveforms into infinitely variable and complex shapes.
- GX-80, Cherry Audio's visionary flagship synthesizer that combines the sound and features of the fabled Yamaha GX-1 "Dream Machine" and its renowned descendant, the CS-80.
- New: Mercury-6, a meticulous recreation of the Jupiter-6 analog synthesizer, just in time for its 40th anniversary.
- New: Novachord + Solovox, a collection emulating two early electronic instruments that were precursors of modern synthesizers.
- New: Octave Cat, a meticulous recreation of The CAT duophonic synthesizer unleashed by Octave Electronics in 1976.
- New: Harmonia, an innovative original from Cherry Audio, designed to easily create rich, evolving polyphonic tones through its intuitive visual interface.
- New: PS-3300, an emulation of the colossal and ultra-rare semi-modular analog polyphonic synthesizer released by KORG in 1977.
- New: Pro Soloist, the latest in Cherry Audio's roster of "what if?" virtual instruments that replicates and goes beyond the treasured, preset-based analog synth originally released by ARP Instruments in 1972.
Synth Stack 4 is now available from cherryaudio.com and authorized resellers worldwide at the introductory price of $299 until December 5th, 2023. Synth Stack 4 will be available at its regular price of $399 after that date. If you already own a previous version of Synth Stack or other individual Cherry Audio instruments you can sign in at cherryaudio.com to see your personalized and discounted price at checkout.
Synth Stack 4 virtual instruments are provided in AU, VST, VST3, AAX, and standalone formats for both macOS and Windows.
Find Pro Soloist Synthesizer and Synth Stack 4 in the KVR Marketplace
