Octave Cat | Cherry Audio

Cherry Audio’s Octave Cat is a virtual synthesizer instrument designed in collaboration with Carmine Bonanno, the original designer of the CAT synthesizer. The 1976 Octave Electronics CAT was an affordable alternative to expensive portable analog synthesizers of the day. Adopt your Octave Cat today! Octave Cat retains all the growl of the original hardware’s fat and savage duophonic sound and replicates the CAT’s uniquely aggressive resonant four-pole 24 dB/oct filter. The Octave Cat feature set expands on the original with enhancements including 16-voice polyphony, sample and hold glide, and interchangeable skins. A secondary panel view reveals dual eight-step classic-style sequencers and studio-quality effects featuring distortion, phaser, flanger/chorus, delay, and reverb. With support for MPE, over 300 expertly designed presets, and extensive MIDI mapping functions, Octave Cat will satisfy both vintage synth aficionados and professional modern music producers. Octave Cat is provided in AU, VST, VST3, AAX, and standalone formats, and a free 30-day demo is available at macOS Requirements: macOS or above. macOS 13 Ventura supported. 64-bit required. Native Apple M1 processor support, including Apple M1 Ultra. 3.4 GHz Quad-Core or M1 CPU with 8GB of RAM recommended. Windows Requirements: Windows 7 or above (including Windows 11), 64-bit required. Quad-core computer with 8GB of RAM recommended. Also available! Retropolis for Octave Cat Preset Pack (sold separately), featuring 100 new presets showcasing the Octave Cat’s impressive duophonic mode, dual-step sequencer, additional clawsome analog leads, brass tones, modern polyphonic sounds, and more. Hear it in action at Octave Cat Features - All aspects of the original CAT precisely modeled in exacting detail - Over 300 presets - Dual Panel Views with an authentic Main view for synthesis controls, and an additional FX/Seq panel with extended features - Monophonic, duophonic, and polyphonic (up to 16 voices) voice modes - Unison for mono and duo modes - Two distinct VCOs with discrete wave, modulation, S H, and sub octave settings; VCO1 with saw, triangle, and pulse with PWM, and VCO2 with square and saw waveforms - Vintage-correct four-pole 24 db/oct filter, based on the original “cascaded OTA” SSM2040 filter with precise replication of The CAT’s unique resonance - Accurate reproduction of the original’s Transient Generators section with two envelope generators: a standard ADSR (attack/decay/sustain/release), and an AR (attack/release) Sample and Hold with VCO1, VCO2, or Noise as source, with Glide that slews the voltage steps for smoother transitions - User-selectable Bend Depth, Octave Shift, and note Glide - Tempo-syncable LFO with onset delay - White noise generator - Classic-style dual-channel, eight-step sequencer, independently assignable to oscillator pitches, filter cutoff frequency and VCA amplitude, with tempo sync, quantization, and keyboard transpose - Studio-quality integrated effects: distortion with tube and fuzz, 2/4/8/12-stage phaser, flanger/chorus, three syncable delay types, and five reverb types - Selectable original “Mark I” or later-style “SRM” skin - Standalone virtual instrument and plug-in versions included - Channel pressure and polyphonic aftertouch as a polyphonic modulation source - Support for MIDI Polyphonic Expression (MPE) -- Pitch, Channel Pressure, and Timbre -- making Octave Cat capable of more organic and expressive performances when using MPE-compatible controllers - Complete MIDI control and DAW automation for all controls, with easy-to-use MIDI learn and mapping - Cherry Audio’s popular Focus zoom-in feature, as well as standard UI zoom and resize via drag - Complete documentation available directly online from the instrument or in downloadable PDF format - User-adjustable oversampling control -------------------------------------------- Free demos, videos, and sound samples from Cherry Audio products are available at Follow Cherry Audio on Social Media: