Cherry Audio Elka-X is an authentic emulation of the rare Italian ELKA Synthex Synthesizer, an analog polyphonic Synthesizer from 1981.
Italy is a country with a great culture. We associate it with beautiful, historic cities, lovely food dishes (pasta, pizza…), many hours of sunshine, beaches, the sea, etc. Many synthesizers and drum machines were also created in Italy, which have cult status today.
One of the most legendary is the Elka Synthex designed and developed by Mario Maggi. It was a true analog polysynth flagship with a very unique defining sound. Now the Synthex returns but in software. The developers at Cherry Audio have modeled this legend and put the engine in the Elka-X plugin.
Cherry Audio Elka-X
Elka-X is an authentic emulation of the legendary rare polyphonic analog Italian Synthesizer ELKA Synthex. The developers have strongly focused on keeping the most important sound elements of the original to get the best-known sounds (JMJ Laserharp…)
Like the original, it has two powerful analog-style oscillators, each with transpose and waveform button controls, plus PW and volume with knobs. Of course, you can also work with cross modulation like on the Elka Synthex hardware.
Then, you get a recreation of the original Curtis-chip-based multi-mode filter, including 24dB lowpass, 12dB high pass, and 12dB & 6dB bandpass. But that’s not all, the CA developers also added more filter modes to achieve a wider range of sounds.
Modulation side, you get two ADSR envelopes and two LFOs. Both modulators benefit from new expanded feature sets and additional velocity control. The original had a built-in 4-track sequencer. The developers have also taken this over and brought it into the modern age.
More Modern Features Effects
Besides new mono and unison modes, Elka-X also has more polyphony. As a reminder, the original has 16 voices (2×8). Yes, the devs also added multi-timbral support. You can easily create patches where the sounds are layered or slit across the keyboard.
To refine your sounds, the Elka-X also comes with different effect processors. Cherry Audio has added an authentic emulation of the unique-sounding chorus processor, but that’s not all. You can also find a flexible echo and a multi-mode reverb.
Furthermore, you can work with a handy chord memory function, a new arpeggiator, and flexible MIDI mappings perfect for integrating the synth in your DAW workflow. And for everyone who would like to discover the sound straight out of the box, Cherry Audio ships the plugin with over 600 quality patches.
At first sight, a beautiful emulation of one of the most beautiful Italian synthesizers ever designed. And since there aren’t that many emulations of the Synthex, this release is all the more interesting.
Cherry Audio Elka-X is available now for an introductory price of $39 USD instead of $59 USD. It runs as a 64-bit VST, VST3, AU, and AAX plugin on macOS (Intel + Apple Silicon) and Windows. It includes a standalone version as well. If you buy from PB, you get three NUGEN Audio plugins in August for FREE, and you support the website.
More information here: Cherry Audio
Available at my partner
I have sold my Synthex some 25 years ago. It was really nice synthesizer with very nice pad sounds but too big for my small home studio. The Elka X is nice alternative and sounds are perfect. For the starting price it worth to buy. Thank You Cherry audio team. I can return to my youth.