Host Nick Batt – in his latest Sonic Lab review – shares an in-depth review of the new Dreadbox Artemis analog polyphonic synthesizer.
Batt says that there’s a lot to like.
“I immediately gelled with the Artemis, and found myself frequently lost in sound while I should have been getting on with the review,” he says, adding, “The sound is delightful, and if you like the Dreadbox sound, then this could be a natural progression.”
On the cons side, Batts nots that the Artemis’s price of £1077 puts in up against digital synths and mass-produced synths that offer more polyphony or features.
Watch Batt’s Artemis review, and share your thoughts on the synth in the comments!
Sound designer Stefan Heinrichs (Limbic Bits) shared this ‘shut up and play’ style demo of the Dreadbox Artemis synthesizer.
The Artemis is a 6-voice desktop polyphonic analog synthesizer, with 2 VCOs with wave shaping, PWM and FM, High and Low Pass VCFs, 4 Sinevibes effects, polyphonic sequencer and 640 presets on board.
“It features that great vintage tone I love so much on other dreadbox devices, largely thanks to its creamy-sounding filters. Both filters offer resonance, and the low-pass filter can be switched between 12dB and 24dB slopes,” notes Heinrichs. “But it doesn’t stop there. Thanks to TZFM and filter FM, it can sound very modern as well, making it great for all sorts of electronic music.”
“Although it offers quite a lot of modulation options, I still found myself wishing for features like key tracking for LFO rate, negative envelope amounts, noise as a modulation source in the menu, or meta-modulations,” he adds. “After reaching out to dreadbox about these features, they told me they are already working on them for a future update and/or will look into them.”
View the video and share your thoughts on the Dreadbox Artemis in the comments!
The Dreadbox Artemis – a 6-voice analog synthesizer in desktop module format, is now available to pre-order.
The Artemis is a 6-voice desktop polyphonic analog synthesizer, with 2 VCOs with wave shaping, PWM and FM, High and Low Pass VCFs, 4 Sinevibes effects, polyphonic sequencer and 640 presets on board.
The company says “Built upon classic Dreadbox DNA, the Artemis brings a whole new polyphonic dimension to the Dreadbox family of analog synths.”
Features:
2x VCO with waveshape, PWM, FM.
1x Sub wave and Noise generator.
1x 24/12dB super creamy and chartered Low Pass resonant filter with keyboard tracking, drive and oscillator / noise FM.
1x High Pass filter.
2XADSR envelopes, one dedicated to VCA and one for LP filter
Cutoff and VCO FM Amount with smart, user-friendly control
640 presets— 10 banks of 64 each •
2x Poly LFOs with BPM sync, Fade IN, various waves and cross-mod controlling VCO pitch, VCF CUT, VCO WAVE and VCO PW.
Master stereo field spread.
4 Full stereo SINEVIBES effects
Distortion / Bit Crash
Modulation effects (Chorus, Ensemble, etc)
Polyphonic sequencer
Arpeggiator
MPE compatible
Polyphonic Aftertouch.
Mod Wheel, Aftertouch and velocity modulation matrix.
The Artemis is available now to pre-order, with a street price of about $1,399. Details are still to come at the Dreadbox site.
