Waldorf Music releases Kyra virtual analogue synthesiser

The virtual analogue synthesiser is capable of creating a wide range of contemporary sounds for live and studio musicians. The German synth company Waldorf Music announced on 7 October that it had finished the creation of Kyra, which it described as “a wall of sound”, and says it’s “one of the most powerful synths ever built”.

“Kyra was created to fill a gap in the synthesiser market for a powerful digital, virtual analogue synthesiser,” Waldorf Music said. “Key to the design was to have no compromises on sound quality, ease of use, studio integration and raw power, all with a price tag that puts ownership within reach of producers working to a real-world budget.”

The instrument features eight independent parts that each carries its own effects chain and is capable of playing 32 notes per part. This effectively makes each part a synthesiser in itself with sound sources (OSC Group 1, OSC Group 2, Sub 1 and Sub 2), filters and modulators.

The effects modules comprise a three-band EQ, formant filter, input limiter, distortion, delay, six-state phaser, chorus flanger, stereo reverb and an output limiter. Each part can be sent to a DAW in 24-bit/96kHz audio through USB 2.0.

Other features include a modulation matrix, a stereo hypersaw, an arpeggiator, three EGs and three stereo LFOs with 64 shapes and MIDI synch. There’s a nine-module FX unit, and Valkyrie offers 128 notes of polyphony.

“Studio producers will find this particularly useful as it means you can use outboard processing and effects, either connected directly or via bus sends on your mixer,” Waldorf Music said.

“With each of Kyra’s four outputs connected to your mixer, you can level, pan, EQ and process each of Kyra’s outputs as you wish. You can choose whether to use Kyra’s onboard effects or to use your favourite outboard as you wish, on a part-by-part basis.”

Kyra is distributed worldwide and is currently priced at €1 949 ($2 140) as a desktop/rackmount model, with a keyboard version to follow later in 2019.

South African music equipment distribution company MicroDot Music is the sole distributor for Waldorf Music in Africa.