Yellowjacket

Name: Yellowjacket
Price: 49 USD
Author: Cherry Audio

by Cherry Audio · Synth · EDP Wasp-style synth

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Yellowjacket is a tribute to the 1978 EDP Wasp, a small British synth with two oscillators and a 12 dB state-variable filter.

Cherry Audio adds 16-voice polyphony, an arpeggiator with step probability, built-in fuzz, phaser, delay and reverb, and over 270 presets, for $49.

Best for: Keys & Synths, Bass, Sound Design. Genres: Electronic & EDM, Lo-Fi, Rock & Indie.

Keywords: arpeggiator, polyphonic, 70s, drones, lo-fi, modern, preset-driven, basses, hardware emulation, inspired by, leads, monophonic, sound design, surgical, textures, vintage.

What it does

Yellowjacket is Cherry Audio's "value-packed tribute" to the Wasp, the small British synth EDP released in 1978. It keeps the Wasp's buzzy tone and drone and adds polyphony, a multimode filter, effects and a modern arpeggiator.

Voices: mono, unison, cycle and polyphonic modes with 4, 8 or 16 voices, plus glide.
Multi-voice panels: three extra "mini synth" panels set pitch, pan, filter cutoff and envelope per voice, with quick presets such as Hard Panned, Slightly Detuned and Well Worn.
Oscillators: two, with ramp, pulse and square waves, a modulated pulse wave based on the EDP Gnat, oscillator sync and a noise source in the mixer.
Filter: a vintage-correct 2-pole 12 dB state-variable filter modeled on the original's CD4069 logic chip, with low-, band-, high-pass and notch modes.
Envelopes and modulation: a VCA envelope with repeat, a looping control envelope for the filter, and a syncable LFO with sine, ramp, saw, square, noise and random waves; pressure can be routed to six destinations.
Arpeggiator: with Chance (step probability) and Humanise controls, working with the cycle modes and scale settings.
Effects and presets: a speaker emulation with hiss and hum, Octafuzz drive, a 4 to 10-stage phaser, flanger/chorus, three echoes and five reverbs; over 270 presets in twelve categories.

KVR lists version 1.0.5. A demo is available. A 100-preset expansion is sold separately.

Source: Cherry Audio product page

When to use it

Yellowjacket is the pick for a thin, buzzy, slightly unruly sound rather than a big warm one. Compared with Arturia Mini V or u-he Diva it is grittier and lighter, closer to the Wasp's cheap-and-cheerful character. Unlike the original it plays up to 16 voices, and its Multi-voice panels and probability arpeggiator give it more movement than most vintage clones. Compared with Cherry Audio's own ODC 2800 it is simpler, with two oscillators and one 12 dB filter, which makes it quick to program.

Best for: buzzy leads, droning and repeating basses, edgy arps and lo-fi synth textures.
Genres: electronic, lo-fi, indie, synth-punk and contemporary pop production.
Look elsewhere if: you want warm, polished analog tones (Diva or Mini V) or deep modern sound design (Serum 2, Vital).
Tip: turn on envelope looping for repeating bass patterns, and use the Multi-voice panels for small per-note variations.

What producers say

The main magazine review was strongly positive; KVR has no user reviews yet.

MusicRadar (Roland Schmidt, 2025) called it "a classy performer" with an edge that suits contemporary production, praising the oscillators, the multimode filter, effects and polyphony; Cherry Audio quotes it as five stars.
Criticisms: MusicRadar's only real gripe was that the onscreen keyboard copies the original's awkward playability, which you can ignore with a MIDI keyboard.

Where to buy

Tutorials and reviews

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