An Enchanting and Potent Desktop Polysynth
When synthesists at Sweetwater heard the Dreadbox Nymphes for the first time they were astounded by the massive sound issuing from this compact desktop synth. Boasting an all-analog signal path, Nymphes evokes classic single-VCO-per-voice polyphonic synths from the 1980s, but its modern form factor and a host of powerful features make it a no-brainer for contemporary artists. Nymphes offers seven different play modes, including polyphonic, unison, and duophonic options, and chord memory. Additionally, it has extensive modulation capabilities, with 28 destinations for the assignable LFO, aftertouch, velocity, and mod wheel (from an external keyboard controller), and there are separate envelope generators for the VCA and the VCF/VCO. Grimy basslines, plasma-cutter leads, effervescent pads, and animated arpeggios — the Dreadbox Nymphes can do it all! Throw in a lush, custom-designed digital reverb and you have one seriously enchanting desktop polysynth!
Related Videos: Nymphes 6-voice Desktop Analog Synthesizer
Powerful waveshaping VCO
The Dreadbox Nymphes offers six voices of polyphony, powered by a waveshaping voltage-controlled oscillator. Morph between triangle, sawtooth, and square waves with variable pulse-width modulation, and fortify your low end with the 1-octave-down sub-oscillator. Additionally, Nymphes has a white noise generator on tap for adding texture to patches, designing percussive sounds, and cultivating dramatic wind sounds and noise sweeps. Seven different play modes are available, including polyphonic 6-voice, polyphonic 3-note with two voices per note, duophonic with three voices per note, plus 6-voice and 4-voice unison modes and single-voice mono.
Rich and resonant analog filter
To shape the timbre of your patches, Nymphes is equipped with a lush, 4-pole analog resonant VCF. Filter tracking is highly accurate, allowing you to use the filter as a sine wave VCO. Synthesists at Sweetwater enjoy this feature for creating 808-style pitched kick drums and super-fat electro-toms. Nymphes also includes a 1-pole non-resonant highpass filter for cutting unwanted low-frequencies that can muddy up a mix.
Ultra-flexible LFOs
A true polyphonic synthesizer, Nymphes six-voices each have their own LFO for modulating pitch and cutoff. A second general-purpose LFO is available for assigning to any parameter, with up to 24 target destinations. The LFOs can operate in three different modes — slow, fast, and key track. They include variable delay and fade-out parameters, and they can be set to one-shot mode to simulate an envelope generator. Plus, you can sync the LFO rate to an external MIDI clock from a DAW, sequencer, drum machine, or master clock. If that wasn’t enough, the LFOs operate in both unipolar and bipolar mode, giving you incredible flexibility to fine-tune modulations.
Lush and dreamy digital reverb
Dreadbox outfitted Nymphes with a gloriously lush digital reverb built around the FV-1 reverb chip, a revolutionary design that is a favorite of boutique effects manufacturers. Powered by a custom algorithm, the reverb is long and atmospheric — the perfect finishing touch for Nymphes’ characterful, all-analog sound.
Dreadbox Nymphes 6-voice Desktop Analog Synthesizer Features:
- Powerful desktop polysynth in a compact, portable design
- All-analog signal path with a single waveshaping VCO and 4-pole VCF per voice
- 1-pole non-resonant highpass filter
- Extensive modulation capabilities with assignable LFO, velocity, monophonic aftertouch, and mod wheel
- Long and lush onboard digital reverb
- Onboard storage of up to 49 presets
- Heaphone output; mono unbalanced output; USB-MIDI; and 3.5mm MIDI (DIN5 adapter cable included)
- USB bus-powered
