Meng Qi Wingie MkII at a glance

Wingie MkII from Chinese electronics manufacturer MengQi is a stereo resonator with built-in microphones and audio input. The handy device is more a complex filter circuit that reacts to its environment or incoming audio signals than an ordinary synthesizer. The built-in stereo microphone captures everything and feeds it into the complex resonator circuitry, which forms a very multi-resonant and organic sound from speech, singing, whistling and all other acoustic phenomena. This also works optionally with the Line input. If you feed one of the two audio outputs back into the input, the result is an even more intense, generic sound that is audibly enriched with overlapping feedback. With its 24 mini keys, Wingie MkII is playable or adjustable in a range of two octaves. USB C is used to power the device; it can also be used to power it with a powerbank, so it can be played anywhere. In addition, new firmwares can be implemented via this port. Version 2 now offers a MIDI input (via 3.5mm jack), an aluminum case and a much improved user interface.