The PWM Mantis is a synthesizer with a rich history: PWM head Paul Whittington co-created the instrument with the late Chris Huggett, the influential British synth designer and engineer behind the EDP Wasp, OSC OSCar and Novation Bass Station.
Prior to Huggett's passing in 2020, he and Whittington collaborated on the Mantis, which became Huggett's final synth project. The instrument is billed as a spiritual successor to both the Wasp and OSCar, two cult classic monosynths with their own distinct sonic characters.
Following its acquisition of the OSC brand last year, PWM has unveiled a V2 firmware update for Mantis that firmly positions the synth as the "next generation" of the OSCar.
The update brings nine of the OSCar's original preset waveforms to the Mantis, an arsenal that includes 'Organ', 'Harpsichord', 'Double Pulse', 'Strong Lead' and High-Density' waveforms alongside the standard triangle, saw and pulse waves. (Check out the SonicState video below to hear PWM's Ben Supper explain the surprising origin story behind the jagged 'High-Density' waveform.)
The v2 update also expands Mantis' polyphony, giving the synth four polyphonic voices, each with two oscillators, a sub oscillator and detune oscillator, adding up to a total of 16 available oscillators. Previously Mantis was a duophonic synth.
On the hardware front, Mantis is a hybrid instrument with digital oscillators running through dual multi-mode, state-variable analogue filters that can be routed in both series and parallel, an architecture once again inspired by the OSCar. We've copied a full list of specs below.
In our review of PWM Mantis, we described it as a "decent-sounding and flexible" instrument that "embraces aspects of past and present to deliver a synthesizer that is both easy to use and fun to play, whilst maintaining a decent degree of programming depth and flexibility."
PWM is running a special offer in recognition of the update, and for a limited time any new purchase of Mantis will net the buyer a copy of GForce's impOSCar 3 plugin. (If you're in the UK and interested in picking up a Mantis, the synth is currently available for £769 over at Andertons, almost 50% off the original RRP.)
Find out more and download the update on PWM's website.
PWM Mantis specs
- 37 Full-size velocity-sensitive keys
- Up to 200 sounds (100 factory presets and 100 user presets)
- 2 Oscillators with 5 waveforms / wavetable and 1 sub-oscillator
- 2 Envelopes with Sustain Fall and Envelope Repeat
- Multimode VCA Filter Low Pass, Band Pass, High Pass (12 dB and 24 dB)
- Multifunction joystick
- 2 LFOs with sine, sawtooth, square and triangle waveforms
- 1 OSC Drift
- Arpeggiator within 6 octaves
- Auto glide mode
- Ring modulator
- Auto Clock Sync
- Digital effects (reverb, delay)
- MIDI In/Out/Thru
- Sustain and controller pedal connection
- USB-C to Host
- Stereo line output: 6.3 mm jack (L/Mono and R)
- Stereo headphone output
- Dimensions: 620x320x110mm
- Weight: 5.3kg
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.