Shipping to USA
only 49 USD
Low price guarantee
Money Back
30 Day Return Policy
You have placed the following items into your shopping cart
Shipping to USA
only 49 USD
Low price guarantee
Money Back
30 Day Return Policy
Polyend & Dreadbox Medusa Black Limited Edition
Dreadbox & Polyend Medusa is a hybrid synthesizer and hardware sequencer in desktop format. It is the result of a cooperation between Polyend and Dreadbox . The synthesizer has three analog oscillators and also three digital wavetable oscillators . Sawtooth, square, triangle and sine waveforms are available. In addition, there is a classic -24 dB filter with three different filter types : 2-pin low-pass, 4-pin low-pass and high-pass filters. Furthermore, five independent LFOs and five independent DADSR envelopes are available in the synthesizer. Sequences and sound presets can be stored in 256 independent memory locations. The hybrid synthesizer can be played in three different game modes : monophonic, triple paraphonic and sixfold paraphonic.
PROS
CONS
SUMMARY
The Medusa is a powerful and often subtle hybrid synth whose killer feature is the ability to store up to 64 complete sets of parameter tweaks in every patch. Also acts as a control surface and sequencer.
CONCLUSION
Unless you’re Perseus, there are multiple ways you can approach the Medusa. It could be a MIDI controller transmitting notes and performance data into a DAW environment, or perhaps a stand-alone pad-based synthesizer that breaks the usual keyboard conventions. Some will find built-in sequencer perfectly suitable for melodies, bass lines and chords, especially given the power of Grid mode, where you can sequence what amounts to a different patch on every step if it takes your fancy.
Even if you forget the sequencer and work exclusively in Grid mode, the Medusa offers a rare degree of choice. You can prepare and trigger up to 64 notes or chords, each with specific synth settings, which can inspire genuinely different performance techniques. If you have recorded only parameters into the pads, the notes can be supplied by an external MIDI source as you introduce modifications dynamically.
By itself the Medusa synth engine is capable of a good range of analogue and digital tones. It’s ready to deliver percussion, sound effects, rip-roaring solos, snappy basses and even pads. It’s aided considerably by various voicing modes, the six notes of paraphony and the Dreadbox filter.
At the price, it might struggle to make a huge impact unless its quirky feature set appeals. Each firmware update has bought the Medusa closer to completion and more are scheduled. It would be nice if Polyend addressed the general matters of visibility and accessibility, the lack of names for patches and wavetables, the under-developed MIDI spec and inability to dump and restore patches in SysEx format. Then again, it might already tick enough boxes for some; it’s certainly a fresh take on the concept of synth, sequencer and controller.
- Paul Nagle, SOS April 2019
Polyend & Dreadbox Medusa
