Animal Factory Amplification has spent more than a decade building fuzz pedals and Eurorack modules in Mumbai. Asura is the first time the company has put that fuzz inside a complete instrument, and by its own account it's the first original standalone synthesizer to come out of India.
It took five years. Asura was developed together with Bangalore musician and instrument designer Sanjay Das, better known as Philtersoup, and the design brief is clear from the first patch: six voices of hybrid wavetable synthesis, a real analog fuzz circuit and a granular delay, all in one compact desktop box. There's no filter section in the usual sense. The tone shaping happens in the distortion and the delay, which tells you what this synth wants to be.
What makes it different
- Two wavetable oscillators per voice. Custom DSP oscillators with their own wavetable position, detune, and FM from oscillator A to B. Seven wavetables are built in, and you can load your own through the web editor.
- Melt. One knob that feeds slow random movement into tuning and wavetable position and softens the envelopes. It's the fastest way to take a clean digital patch somewhere organic and slightly unstable.
- The fuzz is analog. A digitally controlled analog circuit with drive, internal gain, a notch-to-low-pass filter, a gate and a bipolar feedback control that can self-oscillate. A blend knob sets how much of it you hear.
- Granular delay. Two heads, forward or reverse, with diffusion, tone, feedback and tape-style wow and flutter. Fidelity drops as the delay time gets longer, which is exactly what you want on a synth like this.
- Four voice modes. Six voices with two oscillators each, three voices with four oscillators, a 12-oscillator unison, or chord mode with inversions you can modulate.
- Colour-coded modulation. Tap a source (two envelopes, two LFOs, key pressure or either CV input) and every knob lights up in that source's colour. Turn a knob to set the amount. No menus.
Built for a rig, not just a desk
The I/O is where Asura shows its Eurorack roots. Gate, V/Oct and clock all go both ways, and two more CV inputs can be assigned to anything. MIDI runs over isolated USB-C and TRS Type A (in, out and thru), and every parameter, fuzz included, responds to MIDI. There's an 8-step polyphonic sequencer with parameter locks, an arpeggiator, 25 onboard presets and a randomizer that you control with key pressure. The headphone output can drive 300 Ω headphones, and power comes from a 12 V DC supply.
Real-World Reactions
"Each modulator is color-coded, so you can easily see what you assign, and you make assignments using the touch buttons and the knobs."
Synth Anatomy
"A genuinely analog fuzz stage from a company that has spent its whole existence refining exactly that circuit, paired with a modulation-heavy digital engine designed by a working electronic musician rather than a synth-company committee."
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Who It's For
Get it if you like sound design with an edge: dark ambient, industrial, techno, noise, or anything where a synth should be able to sound pretty one minute and broken the next. It's also an easy fit for a Eurorack setup that needs a polyphonic voice with proper CV and clock.
Look elsewhere if you want a classic subtractive synth with a big resonant filter, or a keyboard you can really play. The touch keyboard is great for sequencing and triggering, but it's not a keybed.
Quick Specs
- Synthesis: hybrid wavetable, 2 DSP oscillators per voice
- Polyphony: 6 voices (plus 3-voice, 12-oscillator unison and chord modes)
- Effects: analog fuzz circuit, dual-head granular delay
- Modulation: 2 envelopes, 2 LFOs, key pressure, 2 CV inputs
- Sequencing: 8-step polyphonic sequencer with parameter locks, arpeggiator
- Presets: 25 onboard, more via the web editor
- MIDI: isolated USB-C, TRS Type A In/Out/Thru
- CV / Sync: Gate, V/Oct and Clock In/Out, 2 assignable CV inputs
- Outputs: main out, headphone out (drives 300 Ω)
- Power: 12 V DC, 1 A
Pros & Cons
✅ Pros:
- A sound of its own, from glassy wavetables to heavy fuzz
- Fuzz and granular delay built in, no pedals needed
- Full CV, gate and clock I/O for modular setups
- Colour-coded modulation that's quick to learn
⚠️ Cons:
- No conventional filter; tone shaping lives in the fuzz and delay
- Small touch keyboard suits sequencing more than playing
- 25 onboard presets; bigger libraries need the web editor
Where to Buy
Asura is €499 at Soundium. Animal Factory Amplification starts shipping from India at the end of October, so we expect our first units in November 2026. Pre-orders are open now, and the EARLY5 code takes 5% off.
Pre-order Asura · €499 More from Animal Factory Amplification
Final Thoughts
Plenty of compact polysynths do clean and polite very well. Asura goes the other way, with fuzz and a lo-fi delay built into the voice, and it's built by people who clearly care about that sound. It's also a real first for India's instrument scene. We're glad to have it at Soundium.
Still Unsure?
Not sure if Asura fits your setup? Get in touch with the Soundium team and we'll help you figure it out.
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