S-1

Controls how fast the wobble/modulation happens — slow for gentle sweeps, fast for vibrato or growl.

tip: Hold [SHIFT] while turning to set LFO Mode (Normal or Fast). Fast mode pushes the wobble to extreme, almost audio-rate speeds for gnarly textures.

Chooses the 'personality' of the wobble — smooth rise/fall (triangle), sudden jumps (square), random steps (RND), or fine buzzing (NOISE).

tip: Hold [SHIFT] and turn this to toggle LFO Sync on/off (firmware v1.02), locking the wobble to your tempo.

Sets the overall octave/pitch range of the synth, from very deep to very high.

tip: Hold [SHIFT] and turn it to fine-tune pitch within ±1 octave — handy for detuning against another synth or tuning to a track.

How much the wobble affects pitch — a little gives vibrato, a lot gives sirens, trills or random note jumps.

tip: Hold [SHIFT] and turn this to control OSC CHOP Overtone amount without diving into the menu.

How much of the hollow, buzzy square tone is in the mix — great for reedy, woody or thick sounds.

tip: Hold [SHIFT] and turn it to set OSC pulse width, or if OSC DRAW is on, OSC DRAW Multiply (which raises pitch/adds harmonics).

How much of the bright, brassy saw tone is in the mix — the classic sound for leads and basses.

tip: Hold [SHIFT] and turn it to toggle the OSC DRAW switch (OFF/STEP/SLOPE) for building custom waveshapes.

Adds deep low-end weight underneath your sound — turn it up for beefy basses.

tip: Set the sub's octave/shape by holding [SHIFT] and pressing the [SUB OCT] pad (-2 octave asymmetrical, -2 octave, or -1 octave). Hold [SHIFT]+turn for OSC CHOP Comb.

Adds hiss for percussion, wind and texture. If the Riser feature is switched on, this same knob becomes your build-up/drop control.

tip: With Riser Mode on: turn from minimum toward midpoint (r.100) to build tension, then past midpoint to maximum (d.0) for the drop. Hold [SHIFT] while turning to reposition silently.

The main 'brightness' knob — turn down for dark and muffled, up for bright and open.

tip: This is the most expressive knob on the synth. Record a slow motion of it opening up over a bar for classic filter-sweep drama.

Adds a whistling, squelchy emphasis at the cutoff — the secret to that 'acid' synth sound.

tip: Crank RESO and slowly sweep FREQ for the classic squelchy acid-line effect; max it out and the filter sings on its own.

How much the wobble opens and closes the filter — creates rhythmic 'wah' pulsing and shimmer.

tip: Sync the LFO to tempo and use a square wave here for a rhythmic gated-filter effect.

Makes each note sweep the filter automatically — turn up for a bright 'pluck' that darkens as the note sustains.

tip: Hold [SHIFT] and turn this to set Filter Keyboard Follow, which keeps tone consistent as you play up and down the keyboard.

How quickly a note fades in. Zero is instant/punchy; higher values give a slow swell.

tip: With all four ENV knobs at zero you get a very short click — useful as a percussion transient.

How quickly a note settles down after its initial hit. Short = plucky/staccato; long = drawn out.

tip: When Sustain is maxed, the Decay knob has no audible effect — lower Sustain first to hear Decay work.

How loud the note stays while you're holding it down. Low for plucks/stabs, high for held pads.

tip: For percussive/plucky sounds, set Sustain to zero and use Decay to control the tail length.

How long the note rings out after you release it. Short = abrupt stop; long = gentle fade.

tip: Add a little release so notes don't cut off harshly, especially with reverb.

Adds echo repeats. Turn up for more obvious echoes; hold [SHIFT] and turn to space the echoes further apart or closer together.

tip: Configure it deeper by holding [SHIFT] and pressing pad [13] (DELAY): sync echoes to tempo, add feedback, and shape tone with low/high cut.

Adds a sense of room or space around the sound. More reverb = bigger, more distant feel.

tip: Hold [SHIFT] and press pad [14] (REVERB) to choose reverb type — Ambience, Room, Hall1/2, Plate, Spring, or Modulate — and pre-delay/density.

The universal 'change the number on the screen' knob — tempo, settings, pattern number, everything.

tip: Hold [SHIFT] while turning to fine-tune tempo in steps of 0.1 BPM, or to make bigger jumps when editing parameter values.

Your play/stop button for the sequencer.

tip: When [REC] is armed, recording begins the moment you press Play.

Arms recording so your pad presses and knob turns get captured into the sequence.

tip: Combine with the [STEP] button state to choose between real-time recording, per-step editing, and chord editing — the manual's input types A–E.

The 'unlock hidden features' button — hold it and press something else to reach the deeper settings printed in small text.

tip: Hold [SHIFT] and turn any main knob to see (and often edit) a hidden second parameter — see the Knob assignments list for what each reveals.

Latches held notes on so you can twist knobs with both hands. Shift+Hold snaps the sound to exactly where every knob is pointing right now.

tip: Use [SHIFT]+[HOLD] (manual mode) when building a sound from scratch so the knobs reflect the real sound instead of the stored pattern's values.

Hold it and physically tilt the unit to warp the sound (pitch, filter, pan, etc.). It also flips between note/velocity/gate/sub-step when editing a step.

tip: In the menu set 'd.Lat' (D-Motion Latch) to On to make it toggle instead of momentary, so you don't have to keep the button pressed while tilting.

Lit = the pads and dial choose which pattern plays. Hold Shift with it to loop just a few chosen steps in real time.

tip: Hold [PATTERN] and press pads [1]–[4] to pick a bank, then release and press [1]–[16] for the pattern number.

Lit = the keys turn into a 16-step grid for programming beats/notes; unlit = the keys play notes. Shift with it transposes the whole thing.

tip: Hold [STEP] and turn [TEMPO/VALUE] to set Master Probability for the whole pattern — a quick way to add randomness.

Your keyboard, your step buttons, and your menu shortcuts all in one row of pads — what they do depends on the current mode.

tip: Hold [SHIFT] and a pad to reach labeled functions: pad [15]=MENU, [16]=WRITE (save), [11]=CLEAR NOTE, [12]=CLEAR MOTION, [5]=OSC DRAW, [6]=OSC CHOP, [8]/[9]/[10]=arpeggiator on/type/rate.

The little number/letter screen that tells you what you're changing. If you see a dot, you have unsaved changes.

tip: Because it's only four characters, parameters use short codes (e.g. 'CLr.n', 'rEc', 'donE') — keep the menu list handy until you learn them.

The master volume for what you hear through headphones or speakers.

tip: Always turn this down before plugging or unplugging cables to avoid pops. It does not affect the USB audio level (set that separately with USB Direct Out).

The on/off switch.

tip: Holding certain pads/buttons while flipping this on triggers special startup modes: [HOLD]=factory reset, [PLAY]=USB backup drive, pad [1] (EXIT)=battery-only mode for mobile use.

A little light telling you the battery state — orange while filling up, green when full, red when it's getting low.

tip: Charge the battery once every three months even if unused to keep the lithium-ion cell healthy. The unit auto-powers down within 30 minutes when the battery is critically low.

Lets other gear (drum machines, other AIRA units) keep the S-1 in time with them.

tip: Use a MONO mini cable here — stereo mini cables will not work. Do not plug audio into it.

Lets the S-1 act as the master clock so other gear follows its timing.

tip: Again, mono mini cables only. Never connect an audio device to SYNC OUT — it can cause a malfunction.

Plug in another instrument or a phone to blend its audio with the S-1, so you can chain units or jam along.

tip: Use a STEREO mini cable. Chain multiple AIRA Compacts by feeding one unit's MIX OUT into the next unit's MIX IN.

Your main output — plug in headphones here, or run a cable to speakers/a mixer.

tip: Use a stereo mini cable. This carries both the S-1's sound and anything fed into MIX IN.

One cable to a computer or phone handles both audio and MIDI, and also charges the S-1.

tip: Use a real data cable, not a charge-only cable, and never a fast-charge adaptor above 5V — over-voltage can damage the unit. Connect directly, not through a USB hub.

Lets a keyboard, sequencer or DAW play and control the S-1.

tip: Requires the correct TRS MIDI adaptor cables (e.g. BMIDI-5-35). Set MIDI channel and sync source in the menu (default synth channel is 3).

Lets the S-1 play or clock other synths and drum machines.

tip: Enable MIDI Thru in the menu ('thru') if you want incoming MIDI passed straight back out to daisy-chain devices.