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Make Noise Strega review: A wonderfully weird, one-of-a-kind synth
A wonderfully weird, one-of-a-kind synth for drones, noise and lo-fi effects.
ZOIA 2.0 update unlocks more power for complex modular effects
Empress Effect's do-it-all guitar pedal is now even more powerful and versatile.
Alessandro Cortini on designing a new instrument, the Strega
The Nine Inch Nails collaborator uses it throughout his new album 'Scuro Chiaro'
The Mod Dwarf promises an entire guitar store's worth of effects in a single pedal
The Mod platform has a lot of potential and a lot of rough edges.
SkulptSynth SE is a $199 portable virtual analog synth with MPE support
The SkulptSynth SE builds on the success of the original by cutting the price to $199 and improving the build quality.
Positive Grid Spark Pearl review: A high-tech guitar amp that's easy on the eyes
The Positive Grid Spark is one of, if not the most high-tech practice amp out there and packs a lot of versatility for $299.
Moog's Sound Studio bundles are modular synth starter kits
You get two synths, a mixer, cables, a patch book and adorable carboard cutouts.
Fender's hybrid Acoustasonic guitar is more than an experiment
The hybrid acoustic-electric guitar line from Fender grows to become more than an experiment.
Poly Effects Beebo review: A versatile and complex touchscreen guitar pedal
Poly Effects Beebo is one of the most versatile guitar pedals on the market. It’s basically a modular synth in a pedal format with an easy-to-use touchscreen.
Arturia's flagship PolyBrute synth is shipping now
Arturia’s $2,899 PolyBrute isn’t for the faint of heart. But it’s definitely gotten the synth nerd world all worked up. Now the first batch are shipping world wide and will be in the hands of eager users soon enough.
Circuit Rhythm is Novation's stab at a lofi hip hop machine
Novation just released the Circuit Tracks, but it also quietly announced the Circuit Rhythm, an almost identical looking groovebox built around sampling.
Novation Circuit Tracks is a worthy successor to a beloved groovebox
The Circuit Tracks is a budget-friendly tool for getting into electronic music production and improves on the original Circuit in almost every way.
This portable, rechargeable synth focuses on the pretty side of modular
Pluto is the latest instrument to try and shrink modular synthesis down to something portable and battery powered.
Liven XFM is a $199 groovebox for '80s fetishists
Liven XFM features three "fusion" FM engines that allow you to blend and morph sounds to create entirely new ones.
Strega is a compact modular synth for crafting dreamscapes or hellscapes
Strega (Italian for witch), is a complex drone machine built in collaboration with Alessandro Cortini of Nine Inch Nails fame. It can sound like a hazy memory or a night terror.
Poly Effects fully merges Digit and Beebo into one super pedal
The Poly Effects Digit and Beebo are two of the more interesting guitar pedals to come out in the last few years. They were built on the exact same platform and their firmware are completely interchangeable. Now the company is taking the next logical step, and combining them into a single firmware and single pedal under the Beebo name.
Polyend Tracker review: A powerful but confounding groovebox
The Polyend Tracker is an exceptionally built and almost intimidatingly powerful groovebox. It can record samples, edit them, turn them into playable synths, and control external gear. It will carry you all the way from germ of an idea to polished track. The workflow isn’t for everyone, but it’s impossible to deny the value packed into this $599 instrument.
The miniKORG 700FS is an overdue reissue of its first landmark synth
Korg is finally giving its first synth the miniKORG 700 the recognition it deserves with a 100-percent analog reissue: the miniKORG FS. The company even brought back the original designer, Fumio Mieda to oversee the development.
Korg reinvents a cult favorite with the Modwave wavetable synthesizer
In 1985 Korg released the DW-8000, an analog-digital hybrid synth that combined at the time cutting edge digital oscillators with analog filters. The Modwave is an all digital take on the DW, updated to fit in with the company’s modern lineup, including the Wavestate and Opsix, which focus heavily on knob-per-function controls and live performance.
Korg's ARP 2600 M is a 'mini' version of an iconic synth
The ARP 2600 M is about half the size of the original and one-third the weight. But it still packs all the classic sound design modules.