In the biscuit barrel of modular, ACRONYM is a chocolate Hobnob dunked into a chilli mochaccino. It looks like a regular biscuit but has a thickness, a texture that holds it together and an edginess that crumbles with just the right bite. As you dunk it into your Eurorack beverage, it soaks up harmonics, absorbing timbres that flow and dribble. The aftertaste kicks in with heat from the sync and through‑zero phase modulation. And just when you were expecting a soggy conclusion, the subs lean in for a surprising chewiness. I should have my coffee break here more often.
ACRONYM is an acronym for Analogue CoRe Oscillator New tYpe: Morphing, which feels like Worng are trying a little too hard to find an interesting name for a module that can speak for itself. Everything about this module draws your attention. The strangely scribbled gold text on a dark chocolate front panel is very eye‑catching, as are the fierce red LEDs illuminating mystical symbols. The pulsing inverted triangle is just off‑centre enough to be troubling, and the whole thing feels edgy. All of that vibe pours through to the waveforms, which are definitely angry about something.
At the bottom of the module, you get five outputs. The first two are the sine and triangle outputs, which are perfectly sweet. The following two are the ‑1 and ‑2 sub‑oscillator outputs, which are not entirely square, allowing them to be badly behaved in self‑patched audio‑rate modulation. The last output is the wavemorphing out, which is where the fun begins. The analogue wavemorphing pushes the core through some harmonically rich transformations. Starting from a humble triangle wave, it flexes into a square and smoothly collapses into a sawtooth before folding in on itself for some nicely pure organ‑type tones. The transitions are smooth and get deliciously fluid towards the wavefolding. A bipolar CV input gives you many ways to play into those transitions. The movement is fabulous, from short envelope rasps to long‑flowing LFOs. If you need a bit more beef, you can mix in the sub‑oscillator to broaden the frequency content.
Talking of modulation, the ACRONYM opts for through‑zero phase modulation rather than the more common FM. Through‑zero has been a revelation for people like me who struggle to get anything tuneful out of audio‑rate modulation. A little bit of movement into the PM input gives it a chewy detuned vibe, whereas driving another oscillator into it generates a controllable chaos of FM‑flavoured clangs and tears. Once you hit those ratios and pull the modulator in line with the ACRONYM you can hit upon some wonderful tones. To top it off, patch the same oscillator into the sync input, and you have a tremendously characterful output, dripping with edges and animated movement.
The ACRONYM offers a huge amount of tonal variation that feels much bigger than an analogue oscillator should. It looks fabulous, it’s spacious and easy to work with and drags your attention away from the filter you’re inevitably running it through. The phase modulation and wavemorphing are so enjoyable that I didn’t notice the lack of PWM or miss a dedicated FM input. It’s a strong contender for my new favourite oscillator.
£395
$399