K150

Back in 1986, this rackmount pioneer brought real-time additive synthesis to the masses with a massive bank of 240 digital oscillators—letting you sculpt harmonics from the ground up like few others could.

It's a 4-space rack unit with 16-voice polyphony, a single LFO for pitch vibrato, digital filters, and 256-stage envelopes for precise amplitude control. Controls live on a 24-button front panel under a 16-character LED display, handling everything from master tuning and transposition to layering up to three keyboard regions with seven layers each for splits, stacks, and velocity switches. MIDI In/Out/Thru via 5-pin DIN, polyphonic aftertouch, sustain pedal input, and stereo audio out round it out, with 186 onboard patches expandable to 255. The included Fourier Synthesis upgrade lets you edit velocity curves, envelopes, and tuning for custom instrument models, all modifiable via pitch bend, EQ, chorusing (by voice stacking), and full MIDI control.

Though it flew under the radar commercially, enthusiasts and researchers cherished its depth for thick, evolving timbres—perfect for those chasing unique, programmable sounds in a pre-sampler world.