Superbooth 2023: PWM’s Mantis is a Wasp-style synth with an OSCar-inspired filter

Superbooth 23: We’re guessing that, for PWM, the launch of its new Mantis ‘hybrid-analogue’ synth is somewhat bittersweet. On the one hand, it’s a product that the company is proud to have created, but the sad news is that Chris Huggett - the legendary synth designer who collaborated on the project - died before he could see it come to market.

PWM’s Paul Whittington calls Mantis a “unique-sounding synth” and a “beautiful collaboration”, confirming that it’s being released with the blessing of Huggett’s family. “We are thrilled to bring you our new synth that we are sure will be loved as much as he was!” he says.

Mantis is duophonic and features mathematically generated oscillators and an analogue signal path, both of which are based on Huggett’s designs. In fact, Mantis is said to offer a contemporary architecture based on Hugget’s classic Wasp synth, plus a filter that takes its lead from his OSCar instrument. There are two oscillators plus a sub-oscillator per voice, with the oscillator drift feature creating random pitch variations between the oscillators.

Each signal path has its own multimode analogue filter, and there are also two LFOs and two independent envelopes. You have a choice of six ‘control’ modulation parameters, and six ‘source’ effectors.

Other features include a digital effects section with reverb and chorus, an arpeggiator and a full-size 37-note keyboard with velocity-sensitive keys.

Mantis is scheduled to ship in the summer priced at $1,499/£1,349/€1,599. Find out more on the PWM website.