Cherry Audio has quickly made a name for itself in the world of virtual instruments, carving out a niche as a company that delivers high-quality, feature-packed synths at a price point that makes them accessible to a wide range of producers. Unlike some competitors who focus on deeply authentic recreations of classic synths with expansive - and expensive - software emulations of classic synths, Cherry Audio leans into a slightly different ethos: they combine a reverence for vintage tones with a forward-thinking approach to usability and affordability. This balance makes their instruments equally appealing to analog hardware enthusiasts, budget-conscious producers, and those just dipping their toes into sound design. Enter Atomika, Cherry Audio’s homage to the legendary Soviet-era Polivoks synthesizer, a synth infamous for its raw, unpredictable sound and unorthodox design. While the Polivoks is beloved for its unique character, it’s also remembered for its quirks. Cherry Audio takes on the challenge of faithfully emulating this Cold War-era relic while updating it for modern workflows. This review dives deep into Atomika to explore whether it succeeds in capturing the chaotic, almost industrial spirit of the Polivoks while adding contemporary tools to make it more versatile and user-friendly. Let’s find out how Cherry Audio balances nostalgia and innovation with this bold emulation.

Cherry Audio's Atomika: The Soviet Synth Reimagined for Modern Producers

1. Design and Interface

2. Sound Engine: What’s Under the Hood?

3. Features and Functionality

4. Practical Use Cases

5. Atomika vs. the Competition: How Does It Compare?

6. Final Verdict: Is Atomika Right for You?

Disclosure: This blog contains affiliate links, which means Internet Tattoo may receive a commission if you purchase through these links at no additional cost to you. This post isn’t sponsored by Cherry Audio. I was provided a copy of Atomika for review purposes.

Design and Interface

Cherry Audio has done an impressive job of capturing the retro charm of the original Polivoks with Atomika’s design. The interface oozes vintage Soviet vibes, complete with bold block lettering, a muted color scheme, and even the option to display panel labels in Cyrillic script. This small but thoughtful touch gives Atomika an air of authenticity, allowing users to immerse themselves in the Polivoks experience—or toggle back to English if the Cyrillic feels a little too niche. The visual aesthetic strikes a nice balance between retro nostalgia and modern usability, making it visually appealing without feeling dated.

On the usability front, Atomika excels with an intuitive layout that keeps everything clean and accessible. Navigating Atomika is made simple with its dual-panel design. As you might expect, the 'Main' panel houses all the essential synthesis controls, from oscillators and filters to modulators, giving you quick access to the core sound-shaping tools.

The 'Arp/FX' panel is where the fun expands, offering a powerful arpeggiator and a suite of effects to polish or transform your sound. Switching between these panels is seamless, making it easy to stay focused on sound design without feeling overwhelmed. With its combination of vintage aesthetics, smart layout, and user-friendly features, Atomika strikes a perfect balance between form and function.

Sound Engine: What’s Under the Hood?

Atomika’s sound engine is where Cherry Audio’s attention to detail truly shines, and its 12dB/octave filter is the star of the show. This filter, a defining element of the Polivoks’ sound, has been faithfully recreated to capture its raw, gritty resonance and unpredictable behavior, qualities that made the original hardware so iconic. Cherry Audio has expanded on the Polivoks’ original filter design by introducing additional modes such as highpass, notch, and peak responses, significantly broadening its tonal palette. Unique controls like Starve, Filter Drive, and Amp Drive take things even further, allowing for a range of effects from subtle analog warmth to chaotic, unruly distortion. These updates breathe new life into the Polivoks’ legendary filter while retaining its untamed, characterful charm.

For those who love this filter but want to use it beyond Atomika’s synth engine, Cherry Audio has also released it as a standalone effect plugin, Filtomika. This plugin brings the same wild filter capabilities to any audio source—whether it’s drums, guitars, vocals, or other synthesizers—and offers all the expanded features found in Atomika. Conveniently, once you purchase Atomika, you have the option to crossgrade and get the Filtomika plugin at a discounted price, making it a versatile addition for both synth enthusiasts and producers looking to push the boundaries of sound design.

Atomika also impresses with its oscillator section, delivering two voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) per voice. Each oscillator offers a variety of waveforms—triangle, sawtooth, square, wide pulse, and narrow pulse—allowing for a broad palette of sound design options. The oscillators’ tonal character feels raw and immediate, lending itself perfectly to creating aggressive leads, snarling basses, or even eerie, detuned pads. The fine-tuning controls allow for subtle harmonic adjustments or chaotic, Polivoks-style instability, capturing the unpredictable spirit of the original hardware.

For those who prefer to start with pre-designed sounds or need quick inspiration, Atomika includes a library of over 350 presets. These presets highlight the synth’s versatility, ranging from vintage analog tones to more experimental, modern sounds. Whether you're working on a driving techno track, an atmospheric soundscape, or something entirely left-field, Atomika’s presets provide a solid foundation to build on—or tweak to your heart’s content. With its combination of gritty, analog-inspired oscillators, a beautifully chaotic filter, and a well-curated preset library, Atomika brings the Polivoks’ unique sonic identity into a powerful and flexible modern package.

Features and Functionality

Atomika doesn’t just stop at emulating the Polivoks; it pushes the boundaries of what’s possible with modern synths by introducing expanded voicing options, deep modulation capabilities, and integrated effects that add flexibility and polish to its raw analog sound.

Let’s start with voicing options. While the original Polivoks was limited to a quirky duophonic mode, Atomika takes a massive leap forward by offering up to 16-note polyphony. This makes it possible to craft lush pads, dense chords, or layered textures that were simply unattainable with the hardware. For an even bigger, more dramatic sound, Atomika includes a Unison Mode, which allows users to stack multiple voices, creating thick, detuned leads or massive basses. This feature really showcases Cherry Audio’s ability to honor the original while embracing modern production needs.

In terms of modulation capabilities, Atomika goes all-in. Its syncable LFO is a standout, offering a variety of waveforms like ramp, sawtooth, triangle, square, noise, and random (sample & hold). This provides a wealth of options for adding movement and unpredictability to your patches. Additionally, Atomika features loopable ADSR envelopes for both the filter and amplifier, which can create complex modulation patterns that breathe life into your sound design. Whether you’re dialing in subtle modulation or crafting intricate rhythmic effects, the LFO and envelopes give you the tools to explore almost limitless possibilities.

The built-in arpeggiator is another highlight, giving users an easy way to add instant motion and melodic interest to their patches. With modes like up, down, up/down, and random, plus MIDI tempo sync functionality, the arpeggiator feels modern and flexible, while still maintaining the Polivoks’ playful unpredictability.

To top it all off, Atomika includes a suite of studio-quality effects that bring an extra layer of polish and depth to your sounds. The lineup includes a phaser, flanger/chorus, and echo, with multiple modes like digital, tape, and ping-pong. The reverb is equally impressive, delivering everything from subtle ambience to cavernous, cinematic spaces. Each effect also features dedicated modulation options, so you can take your sound design to new heights by incorporating dynamic, evolving effects into your patches.

Practical Use Cases

Atomika is more than just a nostalgic tribute to the Polivoks—it’s a versatile instrument with real-world usability that fits comfortably into a variety of genres, sound design applications, and studio workflows. Whether you’re producing throwback analog tones or pushing sonic boundaries, Atomika proves itself a valuable tool in any producer’s arsenal.

When it comes to genre suitability, Atomika’s raw, unapologetically gritty sound makes it a natural fit for synthwave, industrial, and techno. Its warm, analog-inspired oscillators and aggressive filter are perfect for the punchy basslines and sharp leads often found in these styles. For producers working in ambient music, Atomika’s ability to create evolving textures and detuned pads shines. Its unpredictability also lends itself well to experimental genres, where its character-rich tones and modulation capabilities can be leveraged for truly unique sounds. If you’re chasing a retro aesthetic or aiming for darker, edgier sonic landscapes, Atomika thrives in delivering the goods.

On the sound design front, Atomika is a powerhouse for crafting thick basslines, cutting leads, lush pads, and even experimental textures. The combination of its oscillators, loopable envelopes, and LFO options gives you all the tools you need to design everything from fat, growling basses to ethereal soundscapes. The filter modes, especially with the addition of the Starve, Filter Drive, and Amp Drive controls, bring a new level of aggression and character that makes bass and lead tones stand out in any mix. For those who enjoy pushing boundaries, Atomika’s modulation options and effects allow you to create textures that feel alive, chaotic, and entirely unique.

Integrating Atomika into your studio workflow is refreshingly seamless. Cherry Audio has optimized Atomika for use in all major DAWs, ensuring compatibility and smooth performance across platforms. Its intuitive interface and resizable design make it a pleasure to work with, whether you’re fine-tuning a patch on a laptop screen or using a multi-monitor setup. The preset browser is also well-organized, making it quick to find inspiration or start crafting your own sounds. Thanks to its lightweight CPU usage, Atomika fits easily into complex projects without bogging down your system, making it a perfect synth for both creative experimentation and efficient production workflows.

Atomika vs. the Competition: How Does It Compare?

When it comes to virtual analog synthesizers, Atomika holds its own in a competitive field by combining authentic character with modern flexibility. Compared to offerings like U-He’s Repro-1 or GForce’s Oddity3, Atomika leans further into the raw, chaotic, and industrial territory of vintage Soviet design. While Repro-1 captures the analog growl of the Sequential Circuits Pro-One and Oddity3 delivers bold, jagged tones inspired by the ARP Odyssey, Atomika’s charm lies in its unapologetically gritty and unpredictable personality, perfect for producers who want something less polished and more unruly.

For those exploring other alternatives, XILS-lab’s PolyKB III offers edgy and raw textures with deep modulation options, while Arturia’s Korg MS-20 V recreates the screaming filters and aggressive tones of its hardware namesake, providing a similarly chaotic vibe. The TAL-BassLine-101, meanwhile, excels at punchy basslines and leads with an analog depth that complements Atomika’s edgier sound. Each of these synths offers a unique perspective on analog grit, but Atomika’s Soviet-inspired flavor and modern enhancements give it a distinct edge in this category.

Atomika carves out its own identity with features like the Cyrillic-labeled interface, expanded filter modes, and the inclusion of the Starve control, which aren’t found elsewhere. Its focus on recreating the Polivoks' unruly charm while adding modern usability ensures that it fills a unique niche, even within Cherry Audio’s own growing catalog.

Ultimately, Atomika is a standout choice for those looking for something unconventional, especially if you’re drawn to its retro aesthetics, unique filter design, and brutal sound palette. Whether as a complement to smoother, more traditional analog emulations or as the centrepiece for more experimental productions, Atomika offers something genuinely distinct in the world of virtual analog synthesizers.

Final Verdict: Is Atomika Right for You?

Atomika is an exceptional choice for producers who crave bold, gritty tones and a touch of chaos in their sound design. If you’re drawn to the raw, unpredictable character of vintage synthesizers like the Polivoks but want the convenience of a modern, user-friendly interface, Atomika delivers on all fronts. Its unique filter options, deep modulation capabilities, and studio-quality effects make it a powerful tool for crafting everything from industrial basslines to evolving soundscapes. It’s particularly well-suited for genres like synthwave, techno, ambient, and industrial, or for anyone looking to inject a bit of wild, Soviet-inspired unpredictability into their tracks. Plus, its affordable price point and Cherry Audio’s reputation for accessible, well-designed plugins make it an easy investment for both seasoned producers and newcomers.

That said, Atomika may not be for everyone. If you prefer clean, polished tones or hyper-precise sound design, Atomika’s gritty, chaotic nature might feel a bit too unrefined. Similarly, producers working in genres that lean toward a more flexible sound may find more suitable options in plugins like Analog Lab Pro or Cherry Audio’s own Memorymode. But for those who want a synth with character, personality, and the ability to stand out in a mix, Atomika offers a compelling, creative experience that’s hard to beat. Whether you’re chasing the spirit of the Polivoks or just looking for something unapologetically unique, Atomika is definitely worth exploring.

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Disclosure: This blog contains affiliate links, which means Internet Tattoo may receive a commission if you purchase through these links at no additional cost to you. This post isn’t sponsored by Cherry Audio. I was provided a copy of Atomika for review purposes.