Imagine a synth that captures the wild spirit of chaotic self-modulation but wraps it in a smarter, more playable package—Bastl took the original Softpop's unpredictable charm and evolved it into something you can actually sequence basslines or glitchy melodies with.
This analog monophonic beast centers on a digital oscillator offering multiple waveforms, waveshaping, PWM, and automatic tuning with octave fine-tune, plus pitch modulation depth—all controlled via intuitive sliders for pitch, mod, and more. A standout state-variable filter delivers lowpass, bandpass, and highpass modes at 12dB/octave, with cutoff, resonance, envelope mod, and the unique Pop slider that morphs tones from soft fizz to pixelated distortion using oscillator pulse to modulate cutoff. It feeds into a flexible attack-decay envelope (cycling capable) and VCA with drone mode, all pre-patched for instant play but expandable via a 37-point Eurorack-compatible patchbay. Hands-on controls include paired vertical sliders for osc pitch/mod/env rate/shape, horizontal ones for fine-tune/res/Pop, plus switches and buttons for the 8-step sequencer (with 8 patterns, chaining, programmable gates/slides, quantizer with 8 scales, and tricks like probability or CV tracking). Extras like sample & hold, envelope follower on the audio input (with gain/saturation for processing), headphone out, and a glowing light orb add psychedelic flair to its compact 6.8 x 4.4 x 1.6" desktop form, powered by 5V USB.
Users love its vast tonal range from acid grooves to generative noise, intuitive sequencing, and patchbay fun, calling it a huge step up from the original with addictive character—though some note a steep curve for button combos and wish for Eurorack mounting without adapters.
