Craftsynth 2.0

started as a no-solder DIY kit that punched way above its weight, and this updated version brings that same wild energy into a sleek, pocket-sized enclosure ready to go out of the box.

At its core, you've got eight wavetable oscillators drawing from 40 morphable waveshapes across nine banks—think virtual analog, digital, generative forms, even pulls from the Modal 002—split between Wave 1 and Wave 2 with a mixer and detune for thick, swarming textures. Sixteen oscillator modifiers let you twist them with FM, hard sync, ring mod, wavefolding, bitcrushing, and more, all feeding into a 2-pole resonant state-variable filter that morphs seamlessly from lowpass through bandpass to highpass. Three envelopes handle filter, amp, and mod duties, while two audio-rate LFOs and an eight-slot mod matrix (with sources like velocity, mod wheel, and aftertouch via the app) add serious depth; top it off with delay, distortion effects, a sequenced arpeggiator, and scale-quantized eight-key touch keyboard. Controls are endless rotary encoders across three shift layers (white, blue, gray) for direct tweaking, plus full MIDI DIN in/out, USB, clock I/O, and 3.5mm dual-mono/TRS headphone outs—all in a super-compact 150 x 68 x 135mm body that weighs next to nothing.

Players love how it delivers huge, aggressive monosynth sounds for bass, leads, and experimental swarms at just $169, often calling it a steal compared to pricier wavetablers. The front-panel workflow takes some menu-diving to master, but the free Modal app unlocks deeper editing and preset management for 64 slots, making it a go-to for portable jamming or integrating into bigger rigs.