Dave Smith Instruments Releases Poly Evolver

May 12, 2004 12:00 PM

           
 

Dave Smith Instruments has released the Poly Evolver, a 4- voice synthesizer based on the Evolver that features analog oscillators, filters, and VCAs. According to the manufacturer, each voice is essentially a complete Evolver, with four oscillators per voice (two analog and two digital), a stereo signal path, and separate analog lowpass filters for each channel. In addition, each voice has its own independent effects (including feedback, delay, and distortion) and an independent 16x4 step sequencer.

Besides the main mix output, each voice has dedicated stereo output jacks. There is a stereo audio input that can be routed to any or all of the voices, enabling parallel audio processing of external stereo or mono signals. The output of one voice can be routed to the input of another for "double-processing" effects.

The Poly Evolver offers Program and Combo modes. In Program mode, all four voices play the same sound. In Combo mode, voices can be allocated however desired. For example, you can stack the four voices for a unison sound, split the keyboard in any configuration, or play one or all sequences at the same time. Each voice can also respond to a different MIDI channel.

Multiple Poly Evolvers can be daisy-chained to get more polyphony, and audio chaining capabilities are built in. The Poly Chain mode handles voice assignment overflow for easy expansion to 8, 12, or 16 voices.

The Poly Evolver includes a stand-alone computer-based editor (Mac/PC). Specifications and sound samples can be found at DaveSmithInstruments.com. The EM review of the Evolver can be found here. http://emusician.com/ar/emusic_dave_smith_evolver/index.htm