Did anybody noticed this?
A new incarnation of the legendary synth with the real deal chips?
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there were some short demos in the SB26 clips
but since there is also an 8 voice filter card announced for the Waldorf M
i’m biased 
went from “preorders in January and shipping in spring” to “still no sign of a preorder as of June” sadly, which for me was lucky because I gassed super hard for this right at announcement and have now had enough opportunity to get over it and spent my GAS money on the new elmyra instead.
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It was on display at Superbooth. I poked at it. Filter sounded authentic, for sure.
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I really hope that they come out with a polyphonic aftertouch Fatar keyboard version as the original had a keyboard. Anyways if it drops next year that will help me reach my no gear this year challenge. However I am tempted with new stuff like the affordable Sonicware deconstruct minimal portable battery synth to use on couch jams as I wait for my broken ankle to heal up.
On GS the developer Vladi posted some status updates over the year so far. He barely made it to have a partially functional prototype for SB. A release before 2027 seems unlikely to me. Still, super excited. Hope they manage to stick to approx. 2k price range. Knowing Elta products I doubt we’ll see a keyboard version.
What the developer actually said :
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Yeah, but there’s a reason you see so many with the keyboards chopped off…
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You can already see the prototype and designs and it is a desktop unit only. Polivoks is great but this seems like a fairly boring product from Elta.
The Solar42 does have a keyboard though (well, sort of) so I’m not sure I understand this comment.
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Well, true, but the Solar is a quite special one in that case with a special keyboard, that is very much part of the sound design and access. Previous Polivoks-ish releases from Elta were desktop only.
Anyway, just my guess.
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…and he does say quite clearly this is an optimistic scenario. Even if the “first batch of 100” does happen within few months, I wonder what chances are to get one of these then.
Well… fingers crossed! Vladi is a very dedicated and talented dev for sure!
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It is not 8x the Polivoks fatness i guess?
It would be too much like 8 minimoogs.
But in the few snippets it sounds suprisingly thin, what was you live impression?
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“ The interface features high-quality, 360° endless encoders for all parameters and a dedicated master volume potentiometer.”
Interesting it has endless encoders instead of potis. Would not have expected this from a WYSIWYG synth.
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I’m the wrong one to ask. I have no direct experience with the original, and even my listening to recordings was years ago. I was there to poke at a Solar 42. I spent all of five minutes with the P-8. The oscillators did not leave any impression. Sorry I can’t be of more help!
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I was also surprised, but maybe video audio, my own expectations or just this prototype is a bit… off still? Would be great if someone managed to get a detailed impression at SB
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why?
agree so far the Solar 42 looks far more compelling than the Polivoks demos.
It’s the shittest keyboard ever commited to a synthesizer. Famously awful, like pointless having one awful. Super short throw, spongy whilst also being quite brittle, that sort of thing.
I couldn’t give a shit, but a lot of people like to cut the keys off, add the midi or CV mod then control it from another, less shitty keyboard.
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that makes sense well Elta Music has the golden opportunity to fix that with decent Fatar aftertouch keybed. I love the one on my Oberheim and Virus.
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From the Elta product page :
MIDI: Classic 5-pin DIN I/O/T plus high-speed USB MIDI I/O for seamless integration with modern setups.
So it’s made to interface with your preferred kbd controller.
It doesn’t say anything there about detail on the MIDI, as far as velocity, aftertouch, MPE, or any of that.