Twisted Electrons TWISTfm: Now Ready to Order
4,2 / 5,0 | 
[16 January 2025] Twisted Electrons TWISTfm is an 8-voice polyphonic FM synthesizer based on YMF262 Sound Blaster Chips. With an analog filter, dual layers, and plenty of real-time control, Twist FM delivers lush, polyphonic FM sounds. Now available to order!
The manufacturer unveiled the first prototype of the new TWISTfm at Superbooth 24 (see below). Several months later, the synth is now finally ready and you can order yours* for $1022 / £1015 / €1189. Twisted Electrons expects to ship the synth by the end of January.
Twisted Electrons TWISTfm: Polyphonic FM Synth With Sound Blaster Chips
[17 May 2024] Twisted Electrons is showcasing a prototype of the upcoming TWISTfm synthesizer at Superbooth 24. Once again, the chiptune experts have reached deep into the vintage computing bag of tricks and dug out a couple of YMF262/OPL3 FM chips from the Sound Blaster era.
While these chips are also in the manufacturer’s Blast Beats FM groovebox (read our review here), they’re configured differently in the TWISTfm. Blast Beats offers six drum tracks and four monophonic or duophonic synth instruments, whereas the new TWISTfm uses two chips to create 8-voice polyphonic FM sounds.
The synth offers two layers that can be stacked. One layer consists of four operators and five algorithms, while the other uses two operators and two algorithms. Unfortunately, however, it is not possible to combine the layers into one 6-op FM engine. Like Blast Beats, TWISTfm offers numerous sliders for hands-on control over all FM parameters.
Both layers go through an analog filter with a dedicated ADSR envelope. This adds a nice touch of analog warmth to the sound, which is great for lush pads and chords. For modulation, TWISTfm has triple LFOs and an additional envelope that you can assign to various parameters.
For even more real-time control, there’s a ribbon controller that can also be used to play notes. Moreover, the synth has a 128-step sequencer, an arpeggiator, and a chord mode.
More about Twisted Electrons
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2 responses to “Twisted Electrons TWISTfm: Now Ready to Order”
Couldn’t install a better screen for a $1000?
That price is cute when the OPLStudio costs less than 1/3 the price, does the same thing, but has an awesome little OS on a screen, mini sequencer, etc etc like a tiny SB16 sound workstation. Was not impressed with their MegaFM and am selling it.