Black Corporation Xerxes pre-order just started and is the company’s answer to an Elka Synthex replica including polyphonic aftertouch, MPE, presets & more.
When talking about Black Corporation Synthesizers, the subject of clones quickly comes to the tables. The fact that these are no 1 to clones, you can tell by the design of the synths and also how the Japanese company itself describe his products: no clones but replicants. (more info at my BC story) At NAMM 2019, BC has unveiled its third product after the Deckards Dream and Kijimi Synthesizer, the Xerxes. Today, Black Corporation has announced that Xerxes is available now for pre-order from their official web-store.
Xerxes is heavily inspired by the well-known Elka Synthex Synthesizer from the past but it is not a replica. It’s a completely new development that has many modern and clever new features. The interface was not taken from the vintage Synthex but is also heavily inspired without cloning it. Per example, it includes the lovely white buttons which can be found also on the vintage synth.
Classic Voice Architecture With Modern Features
Xerxes is an 8-voice polyphonic analog Synthesizer that features two discrete logic DCO’s per voice. Yes DCO’s no VCO’s. Each DCO section offers four waveforms (triangle, saw, square, pulse), octave switch, transpose, oscillator PWM, PAM, ring mod, pulse width, and a volume knob.
Further, the signal flows in an analog multimode filter (HP/BP/LP) including cutoff, resonance, envelope and keyboard controls.
On the modulation side, it features two LFO’s and 2 ADSR envelopes. As with the Elka Synthex, the modulation of the Xerxes can be routed with switches to specific parameters. Great new features that distinguish Xerxes from a classic clone are the polyphonic aftertouch or the MPE functions, which allows you to design very lively sounds.
At the end of the signal chain, you can find also an analog BBD stereo chorus. As usual for Black Corporation synthesizers, you can also save presets with Xerxes in 10 preset banks with 128 sounds. New to this instrument is that it is not a rack format Synthesizer like the Deckards Dream but a desktop unit. But you can mount rack ears on it if you want.
Sound Demo From NAMM 2019
Features At A Glance
- 8-voice polyphonic analog synthesizer
- 2 discrete logic DCOs per voice
- analog HP/BP/LP filter
- 2 LFOs
- 2 ADSRs
- polyphonic velocity and aftertouch
- full MPE (midi polyphonic expression) support
- analog BBD stereo chorus
- 4U rack size with detachable rack ears and wood side panels
- 10 preset banks (x128)
Black Corporation Xerxes is available now for pre-order for $2999 USD with free worldwide shipping. You need to make a deposit of $999 and the remaining balance of $2000 is to be paid when the product is ready for shipping.
More information here: Black Corporation
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