Rob Papen never lets his catalogue sit still. The Dutch designer brings back QUAD, his phase distortion and wave shaping virtual instrument, in a version 2 that keeps the original idea and beefs up nearly everything else. At 49 euros, QUAD 2 targets producers after unusual tones without wanting to spend a salary on them.
Phase distortion and wave shaping, driven by XY pads
At the heart of QUAD 2 are its two oscillators, each with phase distortion and wave shaping tools controlled by two XY pads. Add a sub-oscillator plus additive and spectral waves. It is a distinct approach: instead of starting from a raw wave you carve away with a filter — the logic of subtractive synthesis — you shape the waveform itself, bending and folding it. The result sometimes nears what additive synthesis allows, but with a more hands-on feel.
43 filters and an expanded modulation matrix
Version 2’s big leap is filtering. QUAD 2 now offers 43 filter types, up from a handful originally, including the celebrated “Legend Cream” filter drawn from Albino-3. On top sits an expanded modulation matrix that links just about any source to any parameter — including the oscillators’ XY fields, which opens up moving textures impossible to set by hand. This has gone from a synth with one good idea to a genuine sound-design playground. The additive and spectral waves also feed the raw material before you even reach the filters: you can start from rich textures rather than a plain sawtooth, then evolve them over time with the envelopes and LFOs.
Effects, arpeggiator and ribbon
For processing, QUAD 2 carries 48 effect types across three sections: stereo tape delay, reverb, modulation (chorus, talkbox and more), distortion, EQ and an FX filter. The arpeggiator gains ratcheting and a “Free” row that drives the oscillators’ XY fields, and a ribbon controller makes an appearance. These are additions aimed at electronic music producers, where QUAD mostly sought to exist as a sonic curiosity.
16 voices, 1,200 presets and a floor price
QUAD 2 is 16-voice polyphonic and ships with over 1,200 presets, with the original QUAD patches still available through the bank manager. It sells for 49 euros / 49 dollars, with the upgrade from QUAD or QUAD-RE priced at 25 — and free for purchases made after 1 July 2026. It comes as AAX, AU, VST and VST3 on Mac (ARM compatible) and as VST, VST3 and AAX on PC; it is also included in the eXplorer-11 bundle. Fans of character soft synths can line it up against the Cherry Audio Pentaphonic or the Spitfire Audio Phoenix. The official page is at Rob Papen.
My take
QUAD 2 does what a good sequel should: it keeps the original idea — shaping the wave with XY pads — and beefs up everything around it. Going from a handful of filters to 43 is a change of instrument, not a change of version. At 49 euros, with over 1,200 presets and a free update for recent buyers, the features-to-price ratio is hard to fault. Phase distortion is still a slightly niche form of synthesis, less intuitive than a classic subtractive, but that is precisely what makes it a source of tones you won’t hear everywhere else.
