Polyend Medusa gets a limited edition, minimal makeover
A major firmware upgrade to v3 brings new modulation possibilities
Superbooth 2020: Polyend’s collaboration with Dreadbox birthed Medusa, which you can now update to v3.0, along with a Limited Edition Black model that will be available from 1 May.
Medusa is an analogue/digital hybrid synth and sequencer, built with Polish-based Polyend’s sequencing expertise, and Greek synth god Dreadbox’s demonstrable knowledge of noise. Initially launched in 2018, Medusa now gets a 2020 refresh. The official release of a new Limited Edition Black Medusa will take place on the 1 May 2020, which makes cosmetic changes to the knobs, text and overall style of the graphics. The front panel is matt black anodized aluminium, with a much less busy approach to the controls thanks to an intentional minimalistic layout.
However, the biggest news to come from Polyend is the availability of Medusa v3.0, with a firmware update available from its site now. The new version brings the following features:
- New random wave for LFOs
- MIDI Local Off as a MIDI config option. Medusa MPE pads can play another instrument, and play the internal synth engine with an external controller simultaneously.
- Both LFOs and envelopes can send out their native values as CC, which can be set up from the MIDI config menu
- Each synth parameter is now displayed with the assigned CC number.
Polyend told us: “With all the LFOs and ENVs being sent out as MIDI CC communicates and the Grid controller working in the MIDI Local off, Medusa becomes a much more potent modulation source/external sequencer/MPE controller. Especially bundled with our Poly2 for Eurorack systems”
We caught up with Polyend at last year’s Superbooth to see what was in store from Medusa 2.0:
Medusa Limited Edition Black will be available for 699€/$799 as of 1 May 2020.
Medusa v3.0 is available to download now from polyend.com
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