Granular synthesis has long lived in plugins and modular racks, but a small, self-contained box that responds to polyphonic expression is still rare. The Endorphin.es Evil Pet is one of the more unusual answers: a bright pink, pedal-sized 8-voice granular synthesizer and multi-effects processor that accepts MPE from a compatible controller.

What is inside the box

The core of the Evil Pet is a polyphonic granular engine with eight voices. Each voice exposes the parameters granular fans expect: position, size, pitch, grain count, spread, cloud, detune and shape. Audio can come from several places, which is where the instrument gets playful. You can plug in sources through two 6.3 mm mono jacks, use the built-in microphone, load samples from a microSD card, or even sample from the live FM radio tuner. With 512 MB of RAM, the buffer holds up to ten minutes of audio.

Sound shaping continues after the grain engine with a multimode resonant filter, an ADSR envelope and three multi-wave LFOs, plus an envelope follower. The effects section adds a saturator with distortion, sample rate reduction, bit crushing, flanger and chorus, followed by a reverb offering plate, reverse and room modes with shimmer.

Physical control comes from tactile mechanical keys, a 2.42-inch monochrome OLED, knobs and a shift key. Connectivity includes stereo outputs, an expression pedal input, MIDI in, out and thru, and a 9 to 18 V DC power input.

Why MPE matters here

Granular engines are natural candidates for per-note expression. Grain position, size and pitch spread are all parameters that benefit from continuous, independent gestures. When each finger on an MPE controller can push a different note's grain cloud in a different direction, a static texture becomes something you play rather than something you trigger.

The Evil Pet's MPE support means that pitch bend, pressure and slide gestures from each finger can be routed to individual voices across its eight-voice polyphony. Eight voices is a sensible match for a typical performance on a keyboard-style or grid controller, where most players use between two and six fingers at once.

If you are new to how this works, our primer on MPE covers the basics of per-note channels and the three core dimensions.

Who it is for

At $479 / 479 €, the Evil Pet sits in the territory of serious hardware rather than impulse buys. It is available through retailers including Thomann. That price puts it alongside other compact expressive hardware, so the question is whether you want the sound it makes and the workflow it enables.

Three kinds of players stand to benefit most:

Practical tips for an expressive setup

Check your pitch bend range. MPE controllers and receiving devices need to agree on the per-note bend range, typically 48 semitones for the Osmose-style default or 24 on many other devices. A mismatch is the most common reason an expressive instrument sounds wrong. We have a guide to fixing pitch bend range mismatches if you run into it.

Start with gentle mappings. Granular parameters can change character dramatically with small moves. Assign pressure to grain size or spread first, and keep slide for position, so you can learn how each gesture feels before layering more.

Use the live inputs creatively. Sampling a short phrase and playing it through eight independent grain voices is a quick way to find sounds that a conventional sample player would not give you.

The bigger picture

The Evil Pet is a reminder that MPE is no longer limited to flagship keyboards and big plugins. Smaller makers are building expression support into compact, characterful instruments, and that widens what a controller can talk to. For players already invested in an MPE keyboard or grid, each new receiver like this adds another reason to leave the computer closed.

You can find full specifications and purchase options on the official Evil Pet page.