IK Multimedia is stepping out of its in-the-box box with the release of the Uno, its affordable and portable analogue monosynth. First shown at Superbooth 2018, this was created with the help of Italian boutique synth maker Soundmachines and Erik Norlander, one of the creators of Alesis’s whopping Andromeda synth and now part of the IK team.
The Uno is said to be capable of creating both classic and modern sounds and to offer plenty to beginners and more experienced synthesizer users. 100 presets are included, each of which comes with its own arpeggio and sequence, and IK promises plenty of scope for hands-on tweaking.
The all-analogue signal path includes two oscillators that can be tuned independently, a noise generator, a resonant multimode filter and a VCA. The oscillators offer saw, triangle and pulse waveforms with continuously variable shape (including PWM of the square wave), while the 2-pole OTA-based resonant analogue filter can be switched between high-, low- and band-pass and comes with overdrive.
On the modulation side, there are seven LFO waveforms to modulate pitch, filter, amp and continuous oscillator wave shapes including PWM.
The Uno comes with a 27-note multitouch keyboard that can be played chromatically or locked to one of 13 selectable scales. It doubles as a step-edit controller for the 100-pattern sequencer. You can also program sequences in real-time, and synth parameters can be modulated on a per-step basis. There’s a built-in arpeggiator, too.
This is a highly portable synth that can be battery-powered, though there's no built-in speaker. An audio input makes it possible to daisy-chain other devices, and there are MIDI In and Out ports. You can also sync to your DAW via USB MIDI.
At $200, the Uno is certainly aggressively-priced, though it remains to be seen if it can find its niche in what is a highly competitive market.
More details can be found on the IK Multimedia website, where you can order the Uno for $200/€200.
