Cherry Audio Mercury-6

Cherry Audio's latest softsynth arrives from the orbit of Mercury, with vintage stimulus from one of the biggest gas giants of them all

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Barely a month passes without the resurrection of another classic synthesiser in plugin form, but as we know very well, some provide more accurate sonic interpretations than others. Although, surprisingly enough, there are still some vintage classics which remain relatively untouched.

The 6-voice classic

The Roland Jupiter-6 is one such synth, reconstructed here in the guise of the Mercury-6. As with all of Cherry Audio’s classic recreations, the attention to detail and styling is exemplary, with an inviting interface which is incredibly exacting, but with a few added extras, bringing the ol’ Jupe into the computer age.

One benefit of modern technology is that this Mercury is capable of 16-note polyphony. You can set your voice count from 2 to 16, with the ability to compile and detune voices in Unison mode, which makes for the most colossal sound, as 32 oscillators pile on top of each other. It’s a far cry from the limited six voices and 12 oscillators of the original.

We wanted to put the Mercury-6 through its paces, so we lined the new pretender up alongside an original Jupiter-6 from the late ’80s, and ran some tests.

Exacting standards