A Holiday Gift To You From Cherry Audio! Our Gift To You - Surrealistic MG-1 Plus Free! The Fat and Funky Sound of the Electronics Super Store Legend, now FREE!
Cherry Audio is pleased to announce the release of Surrealistic MG-1 Plus Synthesizer, the latest in our expanding lineup of virtual instruments. Based on the Realistic Concertmate MG-1 synthesizer sold by Radio Shack from 1982 until 1983, the Surrealistic MG-1 Plus is an incredibly accurate recreation that takes the concept of the MG-1 to new heights while retaining the character and soul of the classic original, all for the low, low price of absolutely FREE. Happy Holidays!
Surrealistic MG-1 Plus Features:
Ultra-accurate analog modeling
Dual oscillator monophonic plus polyphonic oscillator bank
Super fat 24db "ladder" filter
Over 130 presets
"Bell tone" ring modulation
Tempo syncable LFO
Expanded octave ranges
Multiple note priority modes including legato and retrigger
All controls MIDI assignable
Full DAW automation of all controls
Surrealistic MG-1 Plus is available in AU, VST, VST3, AAX, and standalone formats.
Cherry Audio Announces Surrealistic MG-1 Plus - FREE!
The year was 1983. We spent the summer delivering newspapers, saving every dime we could, with one goal in mind. Radio Shack was blowing out the Realistic MG-1 Synthesizer for half price - only $249 - and by the end of the summer, the MG-1 would become our very first synthesizer!
Cherry Audio is pleased to announce the release of Surrealistic MG-1 Plus, the latest in our expanding lineup of virtual instruments. Based on the Realistic Concertmate MG-1 synthesizer sold by Radio Shack from 1982 until 1983, the Surrealistic MG-1 Plus is an incredibly accurate recreation that takes the concept of the MG-1 to new heights while retaining the character and soul of the classic original, all for the low, low price of absolutely FREE.
America’s Technology Store
As the 70’s turned into the 80’s, Radio Shack, the world’s largest electronics chain, wanted to break into the lucrative synthesizer market. Working with Tandy and Moog Music engineers, they designed a small, low-priced, portable two-oscillator analog synthesizer that could be sold to retail consumers. To save money, they eliminated common synthesizer features including the pitch bend and mod wheels, and added more consumer-friendly features, like a polyphonic organ section and RCA output jacks. The result was the Realistic Concertmate MG-1, an affordable, quirky, beloved analog synthesizer that ranks as one of the most successful mass-produced analog synthesizers of the 1980s.
Released in 1982, the Realistic MG-1 was sold at Radio Shack stores around the world, advertised as a "Price and Performance Breakthrough!" with ads featuring Elton John in a cowboy hat (!). Despite its low price, the MG-1 featured dual analog oscillators and a fat transistor ladder filter, and offered advanced features, including a ring modulator (called “bell tone”), oscillator sync, automatic repeat note triggering, and a polyphonic organ section. The result was an entry-level synthesizer that sounded great. By 1983, with increasing competition from powerful low-priced Japanese synthesizers, sales stalled and Radio Shack slashed the MG-1 price by 50%. At $249, the Realistic MG-1 became irresistible.
Prized Possession
Like so many vintage analog synthesizers, the Realistic MG-1 has become a beloved classic, and today they routinely sell for more than they did when new. Capable of deep basses, soaring leads, and unique filtered organs, this little synthesizer remains a great source of analog tones. As with all vintage synthesizers, they are often plagued with dirty sliders and knobs, malfunctioning keyboard contacts, and burned-out components.
Playing our MG-1 takes us back to 1983 and the pure joy of recreating synth sounds from the radio, while learning how to program new patches and compose new songs. Let’s face it, 2020 has been a difficult year for everybody, and we could all use a reminder of happier times. That's why we created the Surrealistic MG-1 Plus, a loving tribute to the Realistic MG-1 that preserves the sound and capabilities of the original, while adding desirable new features that address a few of its shortcomings.
The Surrealistic MG-1 Plus adds adjustable note priority, legato/retrigger, and transpose controls. The polyphonic organ section is now transposable and switchable between the original’s square waves and our new sawtooth waves. Plus, the polyphonic section can now be modulated by the tempo-syncable LFO. Finally, we’ve packed in over 130 presets to get you started, including the original “factory presets,” reproduced using the diagrams in the MG-1 Owner’s Manual. It’s the MG-1 you’ve always wanted, and we hope you enjoy it!
Free? Really?... Really!
The Surrealistic MG-1 Plus is our gift to you this holiday season. You’ll just need to create an account at cherryaudio.com to get it, and it’s 100% free, for everyone. It’s available for both Windows and macOS, in AU, VST, VST3, AAX, and standalone formats. Visit cherryaudio.com today to download the Surrealistic MG-1 Plus!
Happy Holidays from all of us at Cherry Audio! We hope you have a great 2021, and we promise we’ll have a lot more surprises coming your way next year.
A realistic MG-1 was the first real synthesizer that I ever saw and touched in my life.
I was just a kid and I was in the local Radio Shack nearby my house and they happened to have one of these synths on display. I spent about 10-15 minutes tinkering with it all by myself and I was amazed the entire time just by the experience and by the sounds I was making when turning the knobs and sliders. It wouldn't be until many years later that I actually bought and owned my first real synth, but my lifelong love of synths probably started right around the time when I happened to step into that Radio Shack store.
Now I get to have one in my DAW, and for free, very cool indeed!
A realistic MG-1 was the first real synthesizer that I ever saw and touched in my life.
I was just a kid and I was in the local Radio Shack nearby my house and they happened to have one of these synths on display. I spent about 10-15 minutes tinkering with it all by myself and I was amazed the entire time just by the experience and by the sounds I was making when turning the knobs and sliders. It wouldn't be until many years later that I actually bought and owned my first real synth, but my lifelong love of synths probably started right around the time when I happened to step into that Radio Shack store.
Now I get to have one in my DAW, and for free, very cool indeed!
Nostalgia is great!
Thanks again!
I have pretty much the exact same story. I have a specific memory of not being able to get it to play a solid pitch (I'm sure the LFO mod was up) and I couldn't get it to shut up. They blew them out for $250 soon thereafter, and I scraped together paper route money (and my folks helped) and got one, which I own to this day. And it's in this video:
I have pretty much the exact same story. I have a specific memory of not being able to get it to play a solid pitch (I'm sure the LFO mod was up) and I couldn't get it to shut up. They blew them out for $250 soon thereafter, and I scraped together paper route money (and my folks helped) and got one, which I own to this day. And it's in this video:
That's very cool that you still own it and have never sold it, even after all of these years.
I wish that I could say the same for some of the early synths that I owned.
That's very cool that you still own it and have never sold it, even after all of these years.
I wish that I could say the same for some of the early synths that I owned.
Let the record show that I've made all manner of bozo decisions selling off synths I paid next to nothing for :P I just never sold the MG-1 (mainly because it wasn't worth that much), but these days I'm very glad I held onto it and the two Casios that preceded it.
Sound really really good which means special and quirky! thanks for this one, makes my trigger finger concerning the doc and the 2600 even more shaking....
It's great to see something away from the beaten path, and very generous to release for free. Thanks, folks at Cherry! Loving these synths of yours, what a great collection already!
Damn this thing is NICE! totally sounds like my old MG-1, has the feel too. Great damn job, I would've paid for this :-) Now, tackle the Jupiter 6 and take my money!
Please contact support @ https://cherryaudio.kayako.com. Not sure if they're in the office today because of the holiday, but they should be in tomorrow. Sorry for the trouble!
Cherry Audio is pleased to announce the release of Surrealistic MG-1 Plus 1.0.12 / Build 60. Surrealistic MG-1 Plus 1.0.12 fixes some compatibility issues with FL Studio and Pro Tools that caused issues for some users, and we've re-engineered Surrealistic MG-1 Plus's DSP to operate at the host's native sample rate, eliminating all resampling for improved performance and sound quality.
The new Surrealistic MG-1 Plus 1.0.12 update will automatically download the next time you run MG-1 Plus (unless you've disabled automatic updating). Or, you can download the update immediately at https://cherryaudio.com/instruments/...-plus/download
I used an MG-1 in my old videos, and I must say that this little plugin quite nails it. VST have come a long way now. Still just a little less life in filter and deep bass perhaps, but overall at least 90% identical I would say.
I made a direct comparison to the old hardware here:
