Knobs that move themselves. The Melbourne Instruments DELIA is a six-voice, bi-timbral hybrid polysynth built around the company's jaw-dropping motorized Rotary Recall knobs: load a patch and every control physically spins to its saved position, with haptic feedback that feels genuinely surreal under your fingers. Under that party trick sits a serious instrument, true analog ladder filters and VCAs fed by four digital oscillators per voice (two modeled VCOs, a high-res wavetable and a Noise/XOR/Aux block), a three-stage overdrive, a 20-by-40 modulation matrix, A/B morphing, dual effects and a 49-note velocity and aftertouch keybed. Firmware 2.0 even bolts on 45 Mutable Instruments Braids macro-oscillator models. One producer, Mike Wallace, cut an entire eight-track album using nothing but a Delia.

FEATURES & PROS:

• Motorized Rotary Recall: the knobs physically move to match every patch, with satisfying haptic feedback.
• Hybrid Voice: four oscillators per voice (2 VA VCOs, wavetable, Noise/XOR/Aux) into true analog ladder filters.
• Serious Filters: analog lowpass plus modeled highpass, bandpass and notch, 12 and 24dB, separate HP/LP resonance, three-stage overdrive.
• Deep Modulation: 20 sources by 40 destinations, 3 LFOs, 3 envelopes, A/B morph, sequencer and arpeggiator.
• Braids On Board: firmware 2.0 adds 45 Mutable Instruments macro-oscillator models.
• Playable: 49-key velocity and aftertouch keybed, dual effects, full MIDI and USB.

GENRE / USE

• Studio and stage polysynth duties: lush pads, biting leads and fat, overdriven analog bass
• Sound design and morphing across analog, wavetable and Braids macro oscillators
• Hands-on, recallable performance thanks to the motorized knobs and aftertouch keybed
• Ambient and cinematic work (one producer made an entire album on the Delia alone)

THE WORD: Sound on Sound called the Delia a streamlined, user-friendly, brilliant-sounding polysynth, praising its phenomenal flexibility and depth, its improved motorized knobs and its excellent design, and noting it trims a good chunk off the Nina's price while feeling efficient and great value. Read the review at Sound on Sound.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Released: 2024
• Type: bi-timbral hybrid (analog/digital) motorized polysynth
• Voices: 6, with a unique 12-note mode via 12 oscillator banks into 6 analog filters
• Keyboard: 49 keys, velocity and channel aftertouch (Fatar)
• Oscillators: 4 per voice (2 VA VCOs, wavetable, Noise/XOR/Aux); firmware 2.0 adds 45 Braids macro models
• Wavetable: up to 256 waveforms x 2048 samples, 127 custom WAV slots
• Filters: true analog ladder lowpass plus modeled highpass; bandpass/notch; 12/24dB; separate HP/LP resonance; 3-stage overdrive
• Modulation: 20 sources x 40 destinations; 3 LFOs; 3 envelopes; A/B morph; sequencer; arpeggiator
• Effects: dual processors (chorus, delay, reverb)
• Connectivity: USB-C, USB device ports, 5-pin DIN MIDI in/out/thru
• Presets: 400+
• Condition: used