Even in 2026, some synthesizers still come out of a four-person workshop rather than a giant catalogue. The SinTH2, built by Poland’s Tomasz Rożka under the Tom Horn name, is one of those rare beasts: a hand-wired digital polysynth with five oscillators and 60 voices that openly channels the sample-synthesis golden age of the 1990s. Unveiled in mid-July, it doesn’t chase a single classic — it carries the idea forward.
Five oscillators, two worlds in one voice
At its core the SinTH2 runs a three-block oscillator layout totalling five sources. Blocks 1 and 2 each carry two independent stereo sources; block 3 offers a single one, aimed at basses and reinforcement layers, alongside a noise generator. The twist is that every oscillator can play either a classic synthesis waveform or a sample drawn from 3 GB of internal content. You don’t pick between a synth and a rompler — you stack both inside the same voice.
Polyphony reaches a generous 60 voices, comfortable enough to stack layers without note-stealing. The 18 dB multimode filter (low-pass, band-pass, high-pass) stays deliberately simple, letting modulation do the heavy lifting: four multi-wave LFOs per voice, one global pitch LFO and three ADSR envelopes.
A front panel that refuses menu-diving
This is where the SinTH2 really stands apart. Where most digital instruments bury their parameters behind two buttons and a screen, Tom Horn went the other way: almost everything sits under your fingers. The keyboard is a Fatar unit with joystick and, per the builder, polyphonic aftertouch. The rest of the surface makes the intent clear — this is a playing instrument, not a computer in disguise.
| Feature | SinTH2 |
|---|---|
| Oscillators | 5 (3 blocks) + noise, synthesis and samples |
| Polyphony | 60 voices |
| Sample memory | 3 GB of internal waveforms |
| Controls | 120 knobs, 9 encoders, 36 buttons |
| Display | 4 OLED screens |
| Modulation | 4 LFOs/voice, 1 global LFO, 3 ADSR |
| Sequencer | 16-step polyphonic, motion recording |
| Memory | 1,920 preset slots |
A 16-step polyphonic sequencer with motion recording, onboard effects (drive, ensemble, phaser, delay, reverb, EQ) and a stereo input for processing external sources round out an already dense package. The 1,920 preset slots confirm this is built to live on stage and in the studio for years.
Sample synthesis, unashamedly
In his intro video, the designer names the Roland JD-800 as his compass. That matters: the JD-800 stood for a clear idea — a digital synth where every parameter had its own slider, where the sample was raw material to sculpt rather than a frozen sound. The SinTH2 picks up that thread without copying it, adding the horsepower and memory the era lacked. It’s instrument-making in the literal sense: each unit is assembled to order, with colour and mechanical options discussed case by case.
The first wave of digital synths carried a bad reputation: cold, hard to program, trapped in their menus. An instrument like the SinTH2 flips that completely. Digital was never the problem — the ergonomics were. Putting 120 knobs in front of a five-oscillator engine gives back to the hands what three decades of screens had quietly taken away.
Price, availability and who it’s for
Pricing is still TBA: the SinTH2 is ordered directly from the workshop, with each configuration — folded panel, flat panel or the desktop version in the pipeline — spec’d out with the buyer. First public demos are set for Piła in late July, then other cities, with dates floated in Germany and Switzerland. In other words, this is no mass-market box: it’s a workshop piece for anyone after a sonic character and a hands-on layout no major brand offers today.
That boutique logic echoes other recent releases, from monosynths like the Analogue Solutions Filtopia to the Analog Sweden SWEN2. Full official details are on Tom Horn’s product page.
