UVX80 is based on a well known Japanese manufacturer’s first analog polyphonic synth, a digitally-controlled 2+1 oscillator, 8-voice, 61-key instrument launched in 1984 with a gorgeous and futuristic-looking visual stance. Technically comparable to the JX-3P, this synth boasted a more robust architecture with 2 extra voices, a sub-oscillator and real pulse-width modulation. Despite its technical advantages and profound sonic capability it would find a similar fate, never managing great commercial success but attracting a cult following that’s present even today. While not as difficult to edit as the 3P, this synth shared the lack of explicit controls found on the wildly popular but more basic Juno-106 that launched the same year. A truly progressive design for the time, you’d never know it was analog by looking at it, but there’s no mistaking the warm and punchy sound this keyboard produces - it’s a legitimate analog beast, and somewhat of a sleeper gem from the era.