Cherry Audio Quadra Synthesizer

The Cherry Audio Quadra is a super-accurate and immensely improved emulation of the ARP Quadra synthesizer, originally released in 1978 - a rare and coveted “unicorn” instrument in the synthesizer world, reproduced for the first time as a virtual instrument. Quadra introduces improvements throughout every section, bringing out the full potential of the original ARP design. Each instrument section can now be layered anywhere across the keyboard, and we've increased transposition ranges for most sections. The paraphonic Poly Synthesizer section has been beefed up with an additional octave, optional oscillator drift, velocity control, new modulation capabilities (including pulse-width modulation), and additional waveforms. The Lead Synthesizer section has been enhanced with a more powerful arpeggiator, additional waveforms, adjustable note priority, and numerous other small improvements. We've turned the Quadra's rudimentary LFO into a full-featured, multi-waveform, tempo-syncable LFO. We've added a deeply flexible bender section that allows pitch bend wheel data to independently bend pitches and modulate filter cutoff for each instrument section.

We modeled the ARP Quadra's 14-stage phaser, and added additional effects - chorus/flanger, echo, and reverb - that can also be turned on and off independently for each instrument section. Imagine strings bathed in reverb, a poly synth slowly phasing and flanging, and a lead synth with a slapback delay, all layered together to create a beautiful swirling pad. The sound design possibilities are endless! Finally, we assembled a team of six sound designers to create a wealth of presets for this instrument. Led by our lead sound designer James Terris, we enlisted the help of Katharine Fountain, Huston Singletary, Julie Kathryn, Dave Polich, and Brendan Dreaper, resulting in well over 400 stunning Quadra presets. Each sound designer brings their own style and character to the process, and the results are awe-inspiring.