Back in 2015, this synth dropped as Akai's bold swing at affordable analog polyphony, packing four fully independent voices into a compact keyboard that echoed the spirit of classics like the Korg Mono/Poly but with modern sequencing muscle.
Each voice rocks a single analog oscillator switching between sawtooth and square waveforms, feeding into a 12dB low-pass filter with cutoff, resonance via envelope amount, and a dedicated envelope for shaping decay— all tweaked via dedicated channel strips with volume and tune knobs. Fire it up in four mono synth mode for individual 1/4" outs and MIDI channels, stack them as a unison beast, or go full 4-voice poly; a pro-grade 25-keybed with velocity and aftertouch handles expressive play, backed by octave buttons, pitch wheel, and LED display. Those 32-step sequencers per voice (with A/B patterns, fills, swing, ties, and round-robin in mono) make it a sequencing powerhouse, plus overdrive effects, auto-tune, gate I/O, USB/5-pin MIDI, stereo main out, and headphones—all in a 16.8" x 13.7" x 3.1" metal chassis weighing just 8.6 lbs.
Owners dig its thick bass tones and creative sequencing for backgrounds or 303-style acid lines, especially in unison with voice detuning, and it's a steal used around $300. Poly mode shines with running sequences but feels limited for leads, and the pitch wheel only bends a whole tone—still, its hands-on analog grit keeps it a cult favorite for beatmakers chasing raw, tweakable tones.
