3rd Wave Desktop

Its digital oscillators draw directly from the PPG Wave legacy, packing in 32 original 8-bit wavetables alongside 48 high-res 96kHz ones for morphing timbres that evolve smoothly from vintage bite to modern sheen.

This hybrid powerhouse delivers 24 voices of polyphony across four multitimbral parts, with three wavetable oscillators per voice—each supporting FM, sync, virtual analog waves like supersaw or noise, and even multisample playback from 3.3MB of sample RAM. A Dave Rossum-designed 2140 analog lowpass filter pairs with a versatile SEM-style state-variable filter (lowpass, highpass, bandpass, notch) that you can run in series for thick, saturated tones. Hands-on controls include a clear display, dedicated knobs for osc tuning, wave position, filter cutoff, envelopes, and mod wheel, plus pitch wheel and aftertouch for expressive play; the compact desktop chassis measures 521 x 213 x 79mm and weighs 4.63kg, with eight 1/4" stereo outs for independent part mixing, audio in, MIDI/USB, and pedal jacks. Deep modulation shines via a 16-slot matrix with 27 sources to 114 destinations, four LFOs and envelopes per part, arpeggiator, sequencer, and two effects from a stellar lineup like BBD chorus, tape delay, or super plate reverb—plus the onboard Wavemaker editor turns audio samples into custom 64-wave tables at 16-bit/96kHz.

Players love its lush, organic sound that nails classic wavetable aggression while feeling expansive and immediate, though some note the reduced front-panel knobs compared to the keyboard version demand menu diving for tweaks. MPE support and 500 presets make it a studio centerpiece that invites endless experimentation.