At SynthFest France 2025, Kodamo showcased the Kora Expander, a new sound design study that could revive the old PCM rackmount synths.
The 1980s and 1990s are often associated with rack-mount synthesizers. Roland, Korg, Oberheim, many made them. These were often very powerful synthesizers that took up less space in the studio, but were usually difficult to operate – for example, the Korg Wavestation rack.
After their heyday, rack synths disappeared, and very few followed. At SynthFest France 2025, a French company showcased a new project that could signal a comeback. Kodamo unveiled the Kora Expander, a new rackmount digital Synthesizer.
Kodamo Kora Expander
Anticipation down. According to the developer, Kora Expander is not a serial product but a sound design study. It may or may not become a product in the future. Kodamo declined to elaborate.
The developer did not want to give a presentation. However, there was a small notice board that showed a teaser.
It features 1000+ multisamples of acoustic instruments in PCM format, FM, and Bitmask synthesis. The latter is the novel synthesis in the Mask1 Synthesizer.
So, we can already say that the engine will be digital and a mix of multi-samples, FM, and bitmask synthesis—an exciting combination. Whether it will be a rackmount synth is currently unknown.
As a reminder, Kodamo has shared its Bitmask synthesis in similar sound design studies over the past few years. Once as a pocket synth (Bitmasker) and once as the Touch Synth Infini. I’m still hoping the latter will come to market.
It would be cool to have rackmount synthesizers back on the market. On the other hand, based on recent teasers, it’s also possible that the engine could end up in an entirely different Synthesizer or instrument. Let’s see.
Good, even though the developer didn’t share the details of its upcoming synth, it was possible to record a sound demo of the engine. For me, it a lovely retro vibe.
Kodamo Kora Expander is a sound design study, and a product release is to be announced (TBA).
More information will follow here: Kodamo
I’d love to see 1u or 2u expanders like this make a comeback and while there’s a lot of features I’d like to see them implement, the easiest win would be to implement (optional) multi-channel audio over USB. It would cut out the need for a digital audio interface, which would be very appealing to anyone looking to buy an expander like this to reduce strain on their PC to begin with.
yet a £500 Mac mini could do a hundred channels of PCM, with complex effects, plus audio channels, and then heavy physical modeling synths and granular – all without raising a sweat – and with a better interface.
Bravo! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
This times 1000. I lived through the first time these came around. Some sounded good, but it’s a horrible UI.
Why?!
I welcome our new (old) 19″ rack overlords
As long as 1U is adequate space to host the controls for the engines inside I’ll happily buy this. I love rack synths! <3