When Groove Synthesis set out to build the 3rd Wave, they weren't trying to recreate the PPG Wave—they were trying to improve on it, and that distinction matters. This is a wavetable synthesizer that takes the DNA of 1980s digital synthesis and threads it through a modern lens, giving you the warmth of analog filters with the endless sound design possibilities of wavetables.
The heart of the 3rd Wave is its three digital oscillators per voice, each capable of morphing through 92 wavetables—32 of them pulled directly from classic PPG hardware, plus 56 modern 96kHz variants, and 64 slots for your own creations. The built-in Wavemaker lets you sample audio directly into the synth and convert it into wavetables on the fly, turning field recordings, vocal snippets, or found sounds into raw synthesis material. Beyond wavetables, you get seven analog waveforms—sine, sawtooth, triangle, supersaw, pulse, and noise—so the 3rd Wave functions equally well as a traditional East Coast polysynth. The analog signal path runs through a Dave Rossum-designed 2140 low-pass filter with variable saturation and resonance compensation, paired with a second SEM-style state-variable filter that can morph between low-pass, high-pass, notch, and band-pass modes. Stack both filters in series for harmonically dense textures. Four ADSR envelopes, four LFOs with BPM sync, linear FM, and oscillator sync give you the modulation depth you'd expect from a serious sound design tool, all routed through a 16-slot modulation matrix with 27 sources and 114 destinations per part. The dual effects engine covers delays (BBD, tape, and stereo), reverbs (room, hall, superplate), chorus, phaser, flanger, ring modulation, and a Leslie speaker emulation.
The 61-key semi-weighted keybed with polyphonic aftertouch and MPE support sits above 77 knobs and 39 buttons, designed to minimize menu diving during performance. You get four independent parts with 24 voices total, each with its own sequencer (up to 24 patterns and 32 measures), arpeggiator, effects, and dedicated stereo outputs. The sequencer records both notes and parameter automation, letting you build complete arrangements without leaving the hardware.
