Dreadbox Erebus Reissue

I'm overall disappointed in the light of too many regrettable design decisions and limitations of this synth. To name a few:

The filter Cutoff knob is right next to the tuning knob of the 2nd oscillator - it's impossible to hold it comfortably and not to detune the 2nd oscillator by accident. As a result, I always have to hold the knob in some weird, sideways manner.

The tuning knobs are beyond sensitive and tuning the synth is an exercise in fine motor skills and frustration tolerance.

The VCA input isn't really a VCA input, or it does very little. It can't be really made to mimic the behavior of the Filter envelope, which makes the absence of Decay and Sustain more limiting.

USB power, but no USB MIDI. The location of the audio output and MIDI input is inconvenient, and I'm tempted to say: shockingly dumb.

The synth sounds OK in a mix. Not amazing, not awful. You can grab a cheap Behringer synth and probably get a nicer sound out of it. Don't expect a lot of variety in sound - effects do a lot of heavy lifting with this one. It's a one-, or perhaps, two-trick pony. Be mindful of this when watching YT demos of this synth.

So, what's good about this synth?

It has a small footprint on my desk, it's light, USB powered, I enjoy the feel of the knobs, and it looks nice. The echo is a welcome feature. I think it works fine as a sketching tool with tactile controls for a home studio that's limited for space.

The most significant downside to me is that I feel irritated anytime I start to think about its issues. It could have been a good synth, if only it was designed with more common sense.