Neutral Labs Queen Elmyra synth Kickstarter fully funded, pre-orders live

Queen Elmyra has already cleared its Kickstarter goal, but the more interesting question for vintage synth readers is where this machine lands in the drone lineage. Neutral Labs is selling it as a “not-so-modest drone synthesizer,” yet the spec sheet reads less like a simple noise box and more like a dense semi-modular performance system built for players who know the older touch-and-drone canon and want something even more pliable.

The instrument packs eight voices and up to 24 digital oscillators, with each voice able to behave as its own mono voice or as part of the larger multi-voice structure. Neutral Labs gives it 69 knobs and faders, 96 patch points, and CV control over every parameter, which puts the focus squarely on hands-on patching rather than menu surfing. It can be played through touchpads, MIDI, or gate inputs, and it can lock to clock, follow MIDI, or run freely.

What makes Queen Elmyra stand out from the familiar boutique drone formula is the way it mixes digital generation with physical coloration. Neutral Labs built in analog stereo tube saturation and distortion, along with an analog stereo multimode filter that can be altered in a very literal hardware-builder sense by inserting parts like diodes or capacitors into the front panel. Add stereo digital effects, dual-mono or stereo routing, and the ability for each voice to become a modulation source, and the result looks less like a fixed texture machine than a compositional network where one voice can push another around.

That architecture places Queen Elmyra in conversation with earlier touch-driven drone favorites, especially Neutral Labs’ own Elmyra, the digital/analog hybrid drone synth inspired by the Soma Lyra-8. It also extends the newer Elmyra 2, a 4-voice hybrid platform aimed at microtonal exploration. Queen Elmyra keeps the experimental spirit of those instruments, but its larger voice count, deeper patching, and firmer control surface give it a more formal, stage-ready profile. The question is whether that extra structure creates a genuinely new performance experience or simply dresses familiar Lyra-adjacent chaos in more expensive clothes.

The Kickstarter is running from May 1 to June 10, with a €45,000 goal now surpassed at €50,912, or 113 percent of target. Early-bird units were set at €1,500, the regular Kickstarter price is €1,600, and shipping is planned for October 2026. Neutral Labs says the synth is assembled in Germany, built into a bamboo-and-steel case, and bundled with patch cables and multiples, a detail that underlines how fully this one is aimed at serious patchers rather than casual curiosity buyers.