When they're not busy adding to their extensive Voltage Modular virtual synth environment, Cherry Audio pass the time by recreating classic synths in VST form. They've already tackled the Memorymoog, Polymoog and Roland's Jupiter-4, and now they've taken on the venerable ARP Quadra. Cherry Audio's Quadra is apparently the first time anyone has attempted to recreate ARP's ambitious, multifaceted instrument in software, and Cherry are describing their version as a “super-accurate” emulation.
Billed by ARP in 1978 as "four separate synthesizers in one microprocessor-controlled system", the Quadra combined a string synthesizer, a bass synth, a poly and a monosynth in one, and Cherry's Quadra is based on the same principle. “Each of the Quadra’s four sections is independently assignable to any region of the keyboard for endless splitting and layering flexibility”, Cherry Audio tell us, adding that “the original Quadra’s challenging patch storage has been replaced with Cherry Audio’s extensive, unlimited patch browsing system.”
Other enhancements to the original include an expanded effects section. So, where the original had but a single phaser, the Cherry Audio Quadra boasts a phaser, a flanger/chorus effect, a tempo-sync'able echo, and a “studio-quality” reverb — all in glorious stereo.
As with other Cherry Audio software, the Quadra is priced to sell, at just $39. Check out the video below to hear the software version in action, and click here to read synth guru Gordon Reid's epic two-part feature on what made the original instrument so special.
