Studio Electronics Boomstar MK2

Back in the day, synth heads chased that pure analog grit from '80s classics like the Midimoog, and this desktop module channels it straight to your rig with hand-matched transistors and a diode-laced feedback loop for explosive harmonics.

Compact at 8.7 by 7 inches with a sloped steel chassis flanked by handcrafted wooden bookends in bocote or similar exotics, it packs two analog VCOs mixing saws, triangles, and squares—complete with sub-osc, OSC sync, ring mod, and white noise—into a versatile signal path. Five legendary filter flavors (like SEM, 904, or 8106 depending on variant) get modulated by dual full ADSR envelopes, one hardwired to filter, the other to VCA, plus a flexible LFO with nine waveforms including random and slew. Over 30 metal-shafted pots and 18 three-way toggles make routing a breeze: think XMod from OSC2 to pulse width or freq, LFO MIDI sync, envelope looping, drone/master modes, and CV/Gate ins for old-school patching alongside MIDI I/O and 1/4-inch mono out.

Players dig its revoiced clarity and tactile upgrades over the original—precise knurling aids sweeps, and the visual zoning keeps patches intuitive—though some note its monophonic focus demands creative sequencing for chords.