At SynthFest France 2025, Frédéric of Heritage Synthesizers showcased the Heritage Modular v2, a hardware multi-timbral polyphonic modular Synthesizer.
Two years ago, I met Frédéric Riblé at SynthFest France 2023 with his first prototype of the Heritage Modular Synthesizer. At this time, it was a digital modular polyphonic Synthesizer with the ability to save everything, including patch connections.
Over the past two years, the developer has continued working diligently on his project. He had a booth at SynthFest France 2025, showcasing the Heritage Modular 2 with his company Heritage Synthesizers.
Heritage Modular v2
The first instrument from the one-man Boutique company Heritage Synthesizers has grown. Not only has Frédéric fine-tuned the entire concept and made it smoother to operate, but he has also supercharged the engine with more power.
This starts with a boost in the voice counter. Unlike the v1, the Heritage Modular v2 is a 4-part multi-timbral polyphonic Synthesizer with up to 32 voices. You can now program four layers, each with eight voices. The core is still based on Pure Data.
V2 also comes with a higher-quality wood case and aluminum front panels for the Eurorack-format modules. Talking about the modules. The second almost-ready version (prototype) features a reworked layout with 18 different modules.
You can find a classic analog-style VCO, a 2D wavetable oscillator, and a noise with a built-in filter on the sound generator side. These can be mixed in a 5-channel mixer with a dedicated external input. Two multimode filters (ladder and other types), a delay, and a multi-FX processor allow for deeper shapings.
Modulation is possible with its four multi-wave LFOs and envelope generators, plus a new Formula module that creates more advanced signals, using mathematical functions. Additionally, there is a MIDI interface that supports MPE.
Alongside the higher voice counter and reworked modules, it also includes a big screen that follows the knobs and shows the parameter activities.
Frédéric of Heritage Synthesizers plan to finish the development of the Heritage Modular v2 in the coming months. Once done, it plan to produce a first mini batch of five units on demand. He estimates a price between 6000 and 7000€.
A very high price, but one must not ignore the fact that each module has its own DSP and uses a custom-made architecture. This cost a lot of money to produce. In any case, a very exciting project and thanks Frédéric for making it reality. The synth market needs such unique concepts, even they are not made for the mass market.
Article from May 4, 2023
Polyphony in modular is a challenging topic. Either you have a lot of money on your bank account and build an entire setup from individual modules. Or you can go the clever but less modular way by using modules that are specially designed for it.
The developer Frédéric Ribles from Heritage Synthesizers showed at SynthFest France 2023 that polyphony can also be done differently in hardware form.
Heritage Modular
It looks like an official product, but it isn’t. Don’t be fooled. Frédéric has developed the Heritage Modular project in his spare time. This wonderful synth has the look and feel of a Eurorack synth. The modules also have the Eurorack dimensions.
According to the developer, it has been designed to mimic the typical look and feel of an early 1970s modular Synthesizer, but with full polyphony and MIDI capabilities. The core is based on the modular environment Pure Data that has been optimized for the hardware connection. The developer almost exclusively used blocks from the Pure Data Library.
It features 32 VCOs (4 per voice), including classic and wavetable oscillators, 32 LFOs (4 per voice), 24 filters (3 per voice), 32 VCAs, 32 ADSRs, 16 effects, noise generator, stereo in/out, and MIDI.
The technical of this Synthesizer is particularly exciting. In the hardware synth, there is a computer, i.e. DSP, which carries the Pure Data patch. There is no audio generation in the modules. They are basically controllers for the engine that forward the knob changes to the core.
Frédéric has achieved to make the system recognize when patch cables are plugged in or not. This gives you the workflow of a Eurorack Synthesizer without actually being one. But all in 8-voice polyphony and full MIDI support.
First Impression
A fabulous project that Frédéric has created. One of my highlights from Synth Fest France 2023. For me, it’s very reminiscent of the Korg MS-20 MIDI Controller that worked the same way. You could plug in patch cables and the MS-20 software recognized this. Same here but deeper it uses different modules instead of a little patch bay.
The poly modular synth project of Frédéric of Heritage Synthesizers is not a product nor open-source. But you can check out the entire project on its website.
More information here: HS
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