Analogue Solutions MAXIMUS, a semi-modular 8-voice analog polysynth, first look video

Analogue Solutions MAXIMUS is a new semi-modular 8-voice polyphonic analog Synthesizer with a fully analog sound design approach.

Analogue Solutions caused a surprise during the days with the Ample. A new analog Synthesizer consists of the best features of past Tom Carpenter synthesizers. The developers have been very busy over the last few months as another synth has been completed alongside the Ample.

Surprisingly and without a big teaser party, A-S presented the MAXIMUS late yesterday—a giant polyphonic analog Synthesizer.

Analogue Solutions MAXIMUS

It’s a tower, yes, a Synthesizer tower. The name Maximus fits the look perfectly here.

Maximus is 100% analog. It has eight voices of polyphony and is reminiscent of the Oberheim 8-voice concept. Mainly because you have eight individual voices packed with features you can edit individually.

And no, there are no presets or patch save/recall functionality. The operation is very vintage. Each voice must be set manually and individually. For an 8-voice polysynth patch, this may take a little longer. You have to be sure whether you want to adjust your patch or not.

MAXIMUS Voice

Each MAXIMUS voice consists of two multi-wave VCOs with a generous selection of cross-mod controls, a sub-oscillator, and a white noise generator. There is also a VCO tune vernier dial. Then, it has a mixer, three 12dB filters, a main out VCA, and a BBD-style retro echo processor.

On the modulation side, you get two full ADSR envelopes and a 16-step/modulation loop sequencer per voice. Plus, it has built-in portamento/glide. That makes eight voices of rich analog polyphony with 16 VCOs, eight sub-oscillators, and eight noises… That’s a pretty massive engine.

There is also a master section consisting of three LFOs (VC, LFO with delay, and classic), an 8-channel stereo mixer, and two real spring reverbs. On top, MAXIMUS has various other utilities: a master control knob, a poly MIDI to CV converter, four key modes, a multiple, and two MIDI sync modes.

Everything is built into two front panels with four voices each and sits perfectly in a metal cabinet with birch ply real wood. Did I already say that the whole thing is semi-modular? Each voice has an extensive set of jacks allowing you to patch on all panels and with which you can take MAXIMUS polysynth in a completely different direction.

AS400 Keyboard

If you still have some money left over from the MAXIMUS, you can also buy a matching keyboard (AS400). It has 61 full-length weighted keys with velocity and aftertouch support with VCA for modulation. Besides this, it also hosts 64 touch pads split into two rows of 32.

First Impression

The Maximus is an epic polysynth. It’s not a synth for the big synth market. Analogue serves a niche within a niche willing to spend as much on analog synths as others do on cars. I think it’s great that Tom Carpenter serves this market with such beautiful, epic synths. As already written, the Maximus is the British version of the Oberheim 8 Voice but in tower format.

The first Analogue Solutions MAXIMUS batch is available now for a special introductory price of £19900 (reg. £22500). The keyboard is available for £1800 (reg. £1900).  The prices exclude shipping, taxes…  If you order now, it will take 2-6 weeks. According to Analogue Solutions, they only make small batches of these big synth.

First Look

Maximus can be seen and played at Synthfest in Sheffield (UK) in October.

More information here: Analogue Solutions

Hardware Synthesizer News