This analog-modeling synthesizer has a 37-note Fatar keybed, illuminated pitch and modulation wheels, eight assignable touch-sensitive rotary encoders, a 144-character LCD and a large knob for fine control of parameters. Under the hood are an arpeggiator, vocoder and USB audio interface.

UltraNova's single-part synth engine can employ wavetables alongside conventional subtractive synthesis. It has three oscillators with density and detune controls, two ring modulators, a noise source, two filters, six envelopes, three LFOs, five assignable effects slots and more. Onboard effects include distortion, chorus/phaser, delay, reverb and gator, plus compression and EQ. Its top-panel layout helps to make tweaking UltraNova's parameters simple, with dedicated buttons providing quick and easy navigation. A free plug-in editor provides easy access to the synth's controls and patches (300 factory-loaded, 200 user) from within music software.

When a user hits UltraNova's Touch button, the eight encoders become receptive to finger contact. These touches can control modulators and envelopes within the synth engine. With the corresponding Tweak feature, which allows users to group favorite parameters to the rotary controls for on-the-fly patch manipulation, and a large knob for extra-fine tweaking, users have control of the synth at their fingertips.

UltraNova will be available towards the end of Q4 2010. Price: SRP, $849.99; retail: $699.99.

Find out more about UltraNova.