Cyclone Analogic's take on the acid bassline machine arrived in 2017 as a thoughtful reimagining of the TB-303 legend, proving that you don't need the original to get those squelchy, resonant tones that defined acid house. The Mk2 iteration refined the formula with a cleaner panel layout, larger knobs for easier tweaking, and a sequencer that borrows workflow ideas from Cyclone's other grooveboxes while staying true to the classic step-entry approach.
Under the hood sits a single voltage-controlled oscillator with selectable sawtooth or square waveforms, feeding into a 24dB-per-octave resonant lowpass filter that captures the character of the original. The synth section keeps things focused with just four knobs: cutoff frequency, resonance, envelope modulation depth, and decay time, plus a tuning control that can self-calibrate. The real magic happens in the sequencer, which holds 432 user patterns with up to 64 steps each, and includes the classic accent and slide features alongside newer additions like Mute (for palm-mute articulation) and Hammer (for sustain-like effects). You can program in step mode or live mode, adjust gate length and slide time for more expressive basslines, and add shuffle to keep things groovy.
Connectivity is generous for a compact desktop unit. Beyond the main audio output and headphone jack, there's a dedicated filter input so you can process external gear through that squelchy filter, plus CV and gate outputs for controlling modular synths. MIDI In and Out let you sequence it from a DAW or control other instruments, and clock sync keeps everything locked together. The whole thing measures just 310 by 130 millimeters and comes with a gig bag, making it genuinely portable for live work.
The community has embraced it as a legitimate alternative to hunting down vintage TB-303s, with reviewers noting that the sonic character sits remarkably close to the original while offering more flexibility in the sequencer and better build quality. It's not a budget option, but it delivers the acid sound without the hunt, the maintenance headaches, or the five-figure price tag.
