For its latest retro tribute, Cherry Audio is taken inspiration from a quirky cult classic. Meet the Mercury-4 polysynth!
Roland’s Jupiter-8 is rightly regarded as a high watermark in the art of polysynthesis. The Jupiter-4 doesn’t get the same plaudits but is a monster in its own right. Soft synth legends Cherry Audio have faithfully recreated this rare analog instrument in its new Mercury-4 virtual synth.
In true Cherry Audio style, this is a reboot with a difference. Modelled on the specific instrument owned by Greg Hawkes of new wave legends The Cars, it cops the soul of this genre-defying machine and includes updates to make it suitable for DAW-based productions.
The Jupiter-4 is a true vintage instrument, arriving on the scene in the late ’70s. As such, its usefulness in a modern production context is limited (four voices of polyphony and capped patch storage, size, and rarity). The Mercury-4, however, takes on the character of the original while lifting its foot off the brakes: an epic 16 voices of polyphony, infinite patch storage (with 400-plus presets to get you started), velocity sensitivity, and MPE support if you have an appropriate controller.
And the kicker? Notice the slim, olive green strip above the keyboard? Yep, Cherry Audio has squeezed in an exacting emulation of the immortal Roland Space Echo, so you can add extra spring reverb and gorgeous tape delays to your patches.
The Mercury-4 is out now for $39 USD. Head over to Cherry Audio for all the details.
