The EMS Synthi A, first available in May 1971, and then in March 1972 a version of it with a built-in keyboard and sequencer, the EMS Synthi AKS, is a portable modular analog synthesiser made by EMS of England.
Most notable for its patch pin matrix, its functions and internal design are similar to the VCS 3 synthesiser, also made by EMS. EMS is still run by Robin Wood in Cornwall, and in addition to continuing to build and sell new units, the company repairs and refurbishes EMS equipment.
The Synthi AKS has been used extensively by Brian Eno in his art rock and ambient albums. He particularly made prominent use of its signal-chain editing capability in order to add colour to his own voice as well as Robert Fripp and Phil Manzanera's guitar work. His early band, Roxy Music, supposedly requested that he join them after watching him tinker with the Synthi AKS for only a few minutes.
Jean-Michel Jarre featured the Synthi AKS on his albums Oxygène and Équinoxe.
Pink Floyd used the synthesiser to create the electronic riff of the track "On the Run" and to play the solo of "Any Colour You Like", both from the 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon.
Czesław Niemen in 1975 used Synthi AKS in recording of his album Katharsis.
Klaus Schulze and Pete Namlook refer to Synthi AKS in the name of their collaboration album The Dark Side of the Moog VIII: Careful With the AKS, Peter.
In 2013, a Japanese artist Yoshio Machida made an album "Music from the SYNTHI". This album was made by only Synthi AKS.
As with the VCS3, a Synthi AKS was worth considerably more than its original price by the late 1970s.