COLAPSO is a software synthesizer that builds evolving timbres from the measured emission spectra of 22 chemical elements, combining additive, granular, and subtractive synthesis.
Imaginando COLAPSO uses measured atomic emission spectra as the foundation for sound generation.
Its additive synthesis engine derives oscillator partials from 422 measured emission lines associated with 22 chemical elements, with each line contributing frequency, level, and decay characteristics.
The instrument combines this approach with granular processing, nine filter circuits, extensive modulation, and built-in effects. Its Observation control explores the trade-off between time and frequency precision, allowing users to move between short, noise-like sounds and sustained, clearly pitched tones.
Features:
Atomic Additive Synthesis: COLAPSO derives its oscillator timbres from measured emission spectra rather than conventional harmonic waveforms or prerecorded samples. Each selected element supplies a collection of partials based on its spectral lines.
22 Chemical Elements: The instrument includes 22 elements whose measured emission spectra provide distinct starting points for sound design. A Mix control morphs between two elements, transitioning their partials while maintaining the played note.
Three Oscillators Per Voice: Each voice contains three oscillators, with up to 16 partials per oscillator. Their levels and frequencies can be shaped independently through the instrument’s synthesis controls.
Observation Control: The central Observation parameter explores the time-frequency uncertainty relationship. Shorter grains produce more temporally precise, broadband sounds, while longer grains produce more stable pitches. A related Planck control adjusts the degree of frequency smearing.
Evolving Spectra: Individual partials have different decay characteristics derived from measured atomic transition data. Lifetime, Cascade, and other evolution controls shape how the partials fade, stagger, and change over the duration of a note.
Plasma Controls: Temperature alters the balance of spectral partials, Field splits partials into additional frequency components, and Absorption moves the sound toward broadband noise with spectral notches.
Granular Processing: The oscillator output is divided into grains, with grain duration and rate shaping the balance between transient detail and stable pitch. Shorter grains can introduce pitch variation and additional stereo movement.
Nine Filter Circuits: Each voice includes a filter with nine available circuit types, including state-variable, ladder, comb, and formant designs. Filter cutoff, resonance, drive, and keyboard tracking provide additional sound-shaping options.
Drawable Envelopes: Four envelope generators provide editable attack, decay, sustain, and release shapes. Individual stages can be adjusted from 1 millisecond to 8 seconds, allowing users to create conventional envelopes or more complex amplitude and modulation contours.
Drawable LFOs: Four LFOs offer editable modulation shapes, with options including quantization, smoothing, tempo synchronization, key triggering, and one-shot operation. Modulation can be routed to supported parameters by dragging a source onto a destination.
Voice Modes: COLAPSO supports polyphonic, monophonic, and unison operation, with up to eight voices. Glide, legato, and detuning controls provide additional performance options.
Effects: Two insert effects can be arranged in series, with a separate effects send. Available processing includes chorus, phaser, distortion, bitcrushing, filtering, EQ, delay, and reverb. A master-bus compressor provides additional output processing.
MIDI Integration: The instrument supports MIDI learn, host synchronization, MIDI clock, and Ableton Link. Modulation sources include aftertouch, the mod wheel, four envelopes, four LFOs, and four macro controls.
Factory Presets: More than 200 factory presets provide starting points for exploring the instrument’s sound-generation methods. The software also includes a help mode explaining its controls.
Imaginando COLAPSO is available now, for macOS and Windows, as a standalone application and plugin. The regular price is €89, with an introductory price of €69 available through November 1, 2026.
Host Alex Dalliance – in the latest Vulture Culture video – shares a head-to-head comparison between the original Alesis Andromeda A6 hardware synthesizer, and the Isla Electronics ASYX software plugin.
“I put the Alesis Andromeda A6 against Asyx, Isla Electronics’ software recreation of it, with no labels,” he notes. “56% of my chat picked the plugin as the hardware.”
Dalliance shared this about his comparison:
The SEM-derived 2-pole filter. On PWM pad material they’re virtually identical. Push the resonance and the hardware pulls ahead. It goes further and it sounds juicier, closer to that OB-X “Tom Sawyer” territory. Brad has already said he’s working on boosting the plugin’s resonance after watching this.
The ladder filter. Slight differences in parameter scaling, but the software passes more bass and more signal through, and I prefer it. At maximum resonance the hardware gets coarser and more unstable, though I’m not sure anyone is actually running it there.
Ring mod. The ring mod itself is spot on. But the hardware lets you mix the pre-filter ring mod post-filter, and on the software that path is much louder with a different character. That’s the biggest difference in the whole video.
A Memorymoog-inspired vocal patch through the Andromeda’s internal chorus and room reverb. The plugin’s effects aren’t closely matched, but they sound just as good, and between those and the ladder filter I ended up preferring the software version.
Watch the video, and share your thoughts about the software vs hardware comparison in the comments!
Mochika X7 combines two oscillators, a vactrol filter, a voltage-controllable delay, and a 32-step sequencer in desktop and Eurorack configurations.
AtomoSynth has introduced the Mochika X7, a semi-modular analog synthesizer that updates the company’s Mochika series with an expanded sequencer, additional sound-shaping capabilities, and revised connectivity.
Designed and assembled by the Peruvian manufacturer, the instrument combines an analog voltage-controlled oscillator with a digitally controlled oscillator, a vactrol filter, an ADSR envelope, an LFO, and a delay that can be modulated by control voltage.
The X7’s sequencer provides 32 steps, nine playback modes, and nonvolatile storage for up to 100 patterns. An 18-point patchbay exposes synthesis and modulation connections for external routing.
Features:
Oscillator Architecture: The Mochika X7 combines an analog voltage-controlled oscillator with a digitally controlled oscillator. The VCO provides square and sawtooth waveforms with pulse-width modulation, while the DCO offers square, sawtooth, triangle, and sine waveforms.
Wave Shaping: The analog oscillator includes pulse-width modulation and a wave-shaping section. The instrument’s oscillator and modulation connections provide additional options for altering the signal through external control-voltage patching.
Vactrol Filter: The filter provides switchable low-pass and high-pass operation, with continuously adjustable cutoff and resonance. Its vactrol-based design forms a central part of the instrument’s analog signal path.
Modulation: An ADSR envelope generator and an LFO provide modulation for shaping notes and sequences. The LFO’s waveform can be adjusted continuously between pulse and triangle shapes, with a symmetry control for changing pulse width or ramp slope.
CV-Modulatable Delay: The X7 adds an onboard delay effect with a control-voltage input, allowing its behavior to be modified through the patchbay and incorporated into external modulation configurations.
32-Step Sequencer: The sequencer provides 32 steps, expanding on the 16-step sequencer found in the earlier Mochika X5. Step-level controls include pitch, gate time, retriggering, and repetition or skipping behavior.
Nine Playback Modes: Sequencer modes include forward, reverse, ping-pong, random, drunk, step-trigger, worm, scrub, and MIDI control. These modes provide different approaches to generating and manipulating repeating patterns.
Pattern Memory: The instrument stores up to 100 patterns in nonvolatile memory. Sequencer parameters and playback modes can be edited while the sequence is running.
Clock and MIDI Integration: The internal clock can synchronize with an external clock, MIDI clock, and USB MIDI. External MIDI devices can also be used for note input and sequence transposition.
Patchbay: An 18-point patchbay provides nine inputs and nine outputs for routing oscillator, filter, delay, and modulation signals. This allows the instrument to function as part of a larger modular or semi-modular setup.
User Interface: The control panel features a high-contrast OLED display, eight rotary encoders with pushbuttons, and eight step LEDs for editing parameters and interacting with the sequencer.
Hardware Configurations: The Mochika X7 is planned in two formats: a desktop synthesizer with an enclosure and a 48HP Eurorack module. The desktop configuration uses an external 19V power supply, while the Eurorack version draws power from the modular system.
The AtomoSynth Mochika X7 is available to preorder for $399 for the desktop version and $349 for the Eurorack module (standard prices are $449 and $389, respectively.)
