Rhodes Chroma

The deal

$39 at JRR Shop (down from $69). No coupon needed.

What it is

The Rhodes Chroma was a short-lived but remarkable polyphonic analog synthesizer from 1982 - only around 3,000 units were ever built, making hardware examples genuinely hard to find and expensive. Cherry Audio''s emulation captures the Chroma''s distinctive architecture: 16 voices, each with two oscillators, a filter, VCA, dual envelope generators, and an LFO, all running in fully independent signal paths that support oscillator sync, filter FM, and ring modulation. The original hardware was notoriously difficult to program; Cherry Audio solved this with a redesigned interface plus pop-up menus, while keeping full SysEx patch compatibility for users coming from the hardware.

Who it''s for

Producers who work in synthwave, cinematic music, or any genre that calls for rich, layered 80s poly sounds will find a lot to explore here. The Chroma has a unique warmth that sits differently from the Juno or OB-X sound - less immediately recognizable, more versatile for building pads and leads that don''t sound like everyone else''s.

Key features

• 16-voice polyphony with 16 fully independent signal paths
• Includes the Chroma Expander module, effectively giving you two synths in layer or split mode
• Ships with 250 original factory patches plus 450 new presets
• Seven built-in studio effects: distortion, phaser, chorus/flange, delay, reverb, plus global EQ and limiter