Cherry Audio Yellowjacket is an authentic emulation of the EDP Wasp hybrid Synthesizer from 1978 for macOS and Windows.
Last March, I reported on the comeback of the NUSofting daHornet bis plugin, an emulation of the EDP Wasp Synthesizer. Until now, this was the only EDP Wasp emulation I knew available for macOS and Windows. That’s changed today.
Cherry Audio has just dropped its own Wasp emulation called Yellowjacket packed with extra goodies.
Cherry Audio Yellowjacket
Yellowjacket is an authentic emulation of the EDP Wasp Synthesizer. As a reminder, the Wasp was developed by the late legendary developer Chris Huggett and Adrian Wagner in 1978. It was also an innovative and affordable instrument, featuring a hybrid engine and a low price of just £200.
Cherry Audio hasn’t limited its take on the EDP Wasp to the original monophonic feature set and boosted the Yellowjacket with 16-voice polyphony alongside mono, unison, and cycles modes.
Like the original Wasp, it comes with two modeled oscillators with sawtooth, pulse, or square waveforms. According to the developers, they have enhanced the modulated pulse-wave based on the latter EDP Gnat Synthesizer.
Then, you have a mixer with a built-in noise generator and an oscillator control section, allowing you to create all kinds of sync and FM sounds with its built-in multi-wave LFO. From here, it goes into the characterful, multi-mode filter with low-pass, band-pass, notch, and high-pass options.
In my initial brief tests, the vibe of the original came across. The filters scream beautifully at higher resonance (Q) settings. On the modulation side, you get two modeled envelopes. One is an ADS envelope with velocity and the repeat frequency knob for the sustain level.
The second envelope is an AD envelope with velocity and a unique delay function with repeat frequency knob. An LFO is also onboard that can be found in the oscillator mod section.
Pressure Control
The original EDP Wasp featured a membrane keyboard, which provided a different playing experience than traditional keybeds on synths. Cherry Audio has also incorporated this into Yellowjacket and expanded on it.
Yellowjacket features a touch interface with adjustable root note, scale, and transposition options. A highlight is the ability to use keyboard pressure with the interface. You can route it to various fixed or mappable parameters, including volume, pitch, filter, mod wheel, and more.
Okay, with a traditional MIDI keyboard, that touch keybed vibe doesn’t come across. But with a ROLI or similar expressive control, you should get the vibe. And to be honest, this touch pad is crying out for an iPad version of the Yellowjacket Synthesizer.
Another neat feature is the multi-voice modes in the Cherry Audio Yellowjacket. They provide per-note variation with “chained” mini-synth panels. They are located above the touch interface, and each of them features its settings for dynamic tonal options.
Arpeggiator & Effect
Of course, there is also a second GUI page. This hides the built-in arpeggiator and the multi-FX processor. The arpeggiator offers advanced functionality, including probability and humanize controls, giving you results ranging from classic to unpredictable random patterns.
Combine it with the cycle voice mode, and you can create transposable and even unpredictable four-note step sequences with the touch of a single key.
Furthermore, you have a multi-FX processor that hosts classic CA effects algorithms, including chorus, delay, phaser, reverb, and the all-new Octafuzz distortion effect. If you need a nostalgic feel, there’s also a vintage-style onboard speaker emulation with controls for hiss and hum.
Cherry Audio Yellowjacket also features modern playing and connectivity options, including polyphonic aftertouch support, diatonic scales, transpose functions, and full DAW integration with MIDI support. To get it started, it ships with more than 270 presets from professional sound designers.
First Impression
Cherry Audio sent me a license in advance. However, I haven’t been able to do a thorough review or sound demo because I don’t have the time at the moment. SynthFest videos need to be edited, other articles and reviews are waiting, and of course, Superbooth preparations have started.
But I spent an hour with the plugin, and I like the sound it produces. Even though I don’t have Wasp, it reminds me of the British classic and its wild sound. I did have a WTF moment, though, when I opened the GUI for the first time.
It’s pretty colorful, but it’s a bit of a strain on my eyes. I’m sure that if the borders were black instead of yellow or orange, that would help a lot; otherwise, another lovely CA release.
Cherry Audio Yellowjacket is available now for $49 and the additional Hive Mind preset pack with 100 extra presets for $9,99. You can also buy the plugin as part of their “Build Your Own Bundle” promotion.
It runs as a standalone software and VST, VST3, AU, and AAX plugin on macOS (native Apple Silicon + Intel) and Windows. A free 30-day demo is ready for download. Buy it at Plugin Boutique, and you’ll not only support Synth Anatomy but also get the MOK Miniraze synth plugin for free throughout April. Thanks for your support.
More information here: Cherry Audio
Available at my partner
yellow is much less impressive on a TV screen.
If we chose instruments by the way the look, we’d all be guitar players.
I had a wtf moment too haha. Second try with it was a lot better. Cool to have a nice 16 voice WASP though.