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The second 32 factory patches from the warm and characterful Korg PolySix Simple but powerful control set including Tilt EQ, Filter and Amplifier so you can craft your own sounds Velocity-to-volume and Velocity-to-cutoff retrofitted so you can enjoy expressive, responsive patches Classic sounds for 20p per patch!

Vintage chip music tone synthesiser A grungy little chiptune synthesiser based on the onboard sound chip of the Sinclair Spectrum Perfect for chip-based musical styles, or for blipping up your electronic tracks!

This PatchVault collection is a custom set of patches, programmed here in the lab by Mongo on our lovely Korg PolySix. There are 34 patches in total, many of which have been specifically designed not just to sound good on their own, but to offer excellent starting-points for your own tweaks and modifications as well. For example, unlike the two Factory Sets, most of Mongo’s custom sounds start with an instant attack which we’ve then tailored as necessary using the PatchVault interface’s envelope sliders – leaving you with more control than, say, a fixed slow attack which can never be speeded up.

48 classic DX5 internal memory presets All 48 factory patches from the DX5’s internal memory (less the piano patches… get them in DX Keys Deluxe) – plus the necessary Program combinations free of charge! Four velocity layers, AET Morph, tons of multisamples: 1.6Gb of FM goodness Custom-created twin patches designed from the ground up to work in layered, detuned pairs for a rich, warm sound Signature DX5 convertors bring surprisingly ‘analogue’ weight to digital technology

Early digital goodness from the Ensoniq ESQ1 The full 40 factory presets from Ensoniq’s wonderful early-digital synth Aggressive pianos, shimmering stereo synths, thick chewy basses, airy pads Simple but powerful control set including Tilt EQ, Filter and Amplifier so you can craft your own sounds Velocity-to-volume and Velocity-to-cutoff retrofitted for even more expressive options Classic sounds for 20c per patch!

20 digital tones from the Casio HT6000 pro synth All 20 factory presets from Casio’s big-league HT6000 Digital hybrid sound: digital waveforms plus analogue filters Simple but powerful control set including Tilt EQ, Filter and Amplifier so you can craft your own sounds Velocity-to-volume and Velocity-to-cutoff retrofitted for even more expressive options Classic sounds for 20c per patch!

The Ensoniq SQ-80 is one of our favourite digisynths (at least from the more affordable end of the spectrum… we’re not saying no to a PPG Wave any time soon). In many ways straddling the analogue / digital divide, the SQ80 and its forerunner the ESQ-1 make a virtue of combining digital waveforms, short digital samples, and analogue resonant filters, into a very warm and rich-sounding package that nevertheless has that unmistakeable early-digital sheen to its sound. Grafting little attack samples on to grainy digital sustain waves and then running the whole lot through the filter leads to instant gratification time and time again – it’s a lovely synth to program (love that big vacuum-fluorescent display!), has a ton of really useful modulation routings, and its velocity capability and full stereo output make it a responsive and rewarding synth to play, too. We have a real soft spot for this machine.

The marvel of PatchVault brings you more classic synth patches for 20c a pop! Hurrah for the Korg PolySix: an affordable, portable analogue polysynth with nice simple controls and a surprising amount of sonic potential. On the surface it’s a one-oscillator machine, but there’s a very useful sub oscillator for beefing up your patches, plus excellent Bucket-Brigade style effects for thickening the sound (the standout here is the Ensemble effect, which is wonderfully sweet and sweeping)… plus the awesome Unison, which stacks all six voices for massive leads and basses.

As you’ll know if you’ve taken a glance at our PatchVault DX5 sounds or our DX Keys Deluxe EPs, the Yamaha DX5 is one of those instruments that’s a good deal more than the sum of its parts. Nominally, of course, it’s two DX7s in one big box – which would make it on a par with Yamaha’s later DX7IID, for example. In practice, though, the DX5 and the 7IID sound distinctly different: the 7IID is cleaner, crisper and shinier, while the 5 is thicker, richer and somehow “more brown”. This is the result, largely, of the hand-picked 12-bit DACs used in the 5, which bring what we feel is a welcome dose of warmth to the FM synthesis on board.

We’re big fans of Ensoniq: the ESQ-1 and SQ-80 combine a lovely early-digital tone with a simplicity of programming that leaves most other 80s digisynths in the shade. Add in that big vacuum-fluorescent display and a ton of context-sensitive soft buttons, and you’ve got something that’s fun to play, fun to program and sounds fantastic.

A warm, mellow analogue drum machine Super-mellow analogue drum machine Thick, warm sounds with individual kit piece control

Regal Rhythm is a very simple drum box with a typical vintage analogue sound. The six on-board preset rhythms cover the kind of staples you'd expect from more of a home-orientated (rather than studio grade) piece of kit, and there's a slightly fuzzy, soft-edged tone to the whole thing that can work very nicely for chillout, downtempo tracks. It also comes in a neat royal red colour scheme that should cheer up anyone's morning – and check out that real wood veneer ????

All-analogue bass from the super-cool Hohner Bass 3 A closet classic – the wonderful little Hohner Bass III Three combinable preset sounds

Something that was weirdly great about the 80s was the emergence of “things that are also other things”. For example: pencil erasers that also smell of candy. Or toy cars that are also toy robots. Or school calculators that are also tiny synthesisers.

When it comes to drum machines, Roland have been in on the action right from the start. With the TR-808, they helped define EDM and hip-hop, while the 909 swiftly became a staple of the techno / house movement. But by 1986, old analogue beatboxes were making way (sometimes by being slung in skips) for the crispy 'realism' of digitally sampled drums. Everyone and their drummer cousin wanted a set of Simmons pads and a brain, and of course Roland were only too happy to provide. Cue the TR-505, a smaller and more plasticky drum machine than its big brothers, but sporting 12-bit sampled sounds that brought a whole new mood to the mix at an attainable price-point – and immediately found itself a niche with the emergent acid scene.