The Mäander-M is a German-made hybrid synthesizer that treats a 12-band analog filterbank as its primary sound-shaping tool rather than an afterthought, which fundamentally changes how you approach sound design compared to traditional synths.
At its core sits a four-voice polyphonic wavetable oscillator with FM capabilities, paired with two envelopes and two LFOs for modulation depth. The real character comes from that 12-channel analog filterbank, where the first eleven channels are 24dB bandpass filters tuned to specific frequencies from 80Hz up through the high end, with the twelfth channel acting as a highpass filter above 5kHz. Each band gets its own fader for independent level control, and you can morph between eight different filter types including lowpass, bandpass, highpass, and notch configurations. The wavetable engine lets you dial through 64 waves smoothly with the Colour control, or jump to PWM, sawtooth, and other digital oscillator modes. You get 15 analog sliders and 25 potentiometers across the front panel, plus expression pedal input for real-time cutoff control and stereo footswitch connectivity for patch switching during performance.
The integrated sequencer is where the Mäander-M shines for live work. It handles polyphonic note sequencing for the oscillator alongside 14 separate trigger tracks for each filter band plus audio input and noise, with patterns up to four bars long and tempo control from 30 to 200 BPM. MIDI integration lets you trigger those 14 tracks independently on separate channels, making it equally at home as a standalone performance instrument or integrated into a larger setup. The audio input accepts both line and instrument-level signals, and the whole thing runs on modest power in either Eurorack or desktop format, with a built-in power supply handling the voltage distribution.
