When we launched our Superbooth live report last week, we prefaced it by saying that “Superbooth has grown to become the most significant date in the annual music technology calendar.” That statement remains true, but in retrospect feels like an understatement.
For a few years now, the Berlin synth show has been a focal point for music technology gear announcements, but the 2025 iteration took this to another level. The sheer volume and variety of new music making gear on display in and around the FEZ event space was beyond anything we’ve seen in previous years.
In 2025, Superbooth is more than just a significant date in the annual music technology calendar – it feels like the focal point of the whole industry. Even brands that weren’t at the show itself, such as Roland, got in on the action with conveniently timed synth news. From small DIY projects to major brands releasing flagship instruments, this year’s Superbooth had something fresh around every corner.
If there was anything that was going to sour the vibe at this year's show, it was the looming spectre of tariffs. The implications of Donald Trump’s baffling trade war lent an unspoken air of uncertainty to this year’s Superbooth. More often than not, when we asked brands about price and availability of upcoming products, any information was accompanied by a caveat that uncontrollable factors might change things.
From our perspective, the main problem with this year’s Superbooth was that such a massive volume of exciting new releases makes narrowing things down to a manageable ‘best of’ list incredibly tough. Honestly, we could waffle on here for thousands of words.
As it is, our team on the ground has argued out their favourites and whittled it down to 12 highlights – plus a few honourable mentions. You can hear more of our reasoning along with audio demos of everything mnetioned in the video above. Visit our Superbooth live report for even more from the show.
Synths and keyboards
Frap Tools Magnolia
Italy’s Frap Tools has made a name for itself in the modular world, but Superbooth 2025 sees the company stepping up with its first full polysynth. Based on ideas previously explored in the company’s Bresno oscillator module and Cunsa filter, this 8-voice analogue synth combines ideas from conventional subtractive synthesis with ‘West Coast’ features such as wavefolding, flip sync and audio rate modulation.
Key to the synth’s sound is through-zero FM, applicable between each voice’s two oscillators, but FM can also be applied to the high and low pass filters. Combined, it produces some wonderful metallic tones that can morph into edgy, aggressive territory easily. The company described it to us as like exploring digital sounds in the analogue realm, which seems pretty fitting.
Another important element of Magnolia’s sound is the bi-timbral design, which allows two sounds to be split into dual, keyboard split, morph and unison modes. Assigning these layers appears to be very easy, and in our demos the synth really comes alive when combining elements of bright FM tone with rich, traditional poly patches.
The keyboard has poly aftertouch, along with a user-friendly mod matrix, and assigning expressivity looks like it would open up a lot of interesting sonic potential. It reminds us quite a lot of UDO’s synth designs, which is no bad thing, but already seems to have a distinct sonic palette of its own.
Availability: Towards the end of 2025
Price: TBC, but we’d expect top-end
Moog Messenger
Moog Messenger may be a monosynth with a simple architecture and an accessible knob-per-function interface, but the instrument has a few tricks up its sleeve, specifically wavefolding oscillators inherited from the recently-released Labyrinth and a “next-generation” ladder filter that delivers four modes (4-pole low-pass, 2-pole low-pass, band-pass, and high-pass) thanks to its versatile pole-mixing design.
Filling a hole in Moog’s product catalogue left by the recent discontinuation of the Subsequent 25, Messenger gives music-makers a way to access the classic Moog sound for under $1000, without losing a keyboard and venturing into semi-modular territory.
And it’s clear that with Messenger - as with several recent releases - Moog is attempting to complement the sound that the company is known for with modern enhancements and an exploratory new direction.
In person, Messenger surprised us a little with how compact it is, and we feel this form factor might be divisive. It’s also got some tough competition from other monosynths at this price point. We’ll never complain about getting our hands on a new Moog monosynth though.
Availability: Available to order now
Price: £699/$899
Instruō Seashell
Bridging the knob-twiddling hardware world of modular synthesis with the software landscape via an accompanying plugin, Seashell aims to bring perfect integration with your DAW or software control environment.
The synth itself has a semi-modular architecture fuelled by dual analogue sawtooth-core VCOs sporting sync and cross modulation. There’s a wave folder and lowpass filter (CV controlled) and on the modulation front, there’s an LFO, a flexible envelope generator and a stereo diffusion effect. All of these elements can be manipulated via the accompanying software. It’s also patchable via CV inputs for external signal manipulation.
Connecting to your computer (Mac, Windows or Linux) via USB-C, users can modify any and all of the Seashell's analogue components via the plugin’s fairly contemporary-looking UI, with high resolution digital control (14 bit) over its main areas.
Availability: Available to order now
Price: £649
Drum machines, samplers and grooveboxes
Erica Synth HexDrums
The big news from Erica Synths at Superbooth this year is the release of HexDrums, an analogue drum machine that inherits the DNA of percussion modules from now-defunct Eurorack brand Hexinverter Electronique.
In typical Erica Synths fashion, it’s a beastly-sounding instrument that packs all the percussive firepower one could need into its sleek black-and-yellow shell. It also packs a master compressor, based on Hexinverter’s Mutant Hot Glue module.
We love the chunky sequencer buttons and abundance of hands on control here. In use, HexDrums feels very intuitive and its meaty sound is perfect for raw techno, capable of serving hard-hitting percussion and meaty bass parts side by side.
Availability: Late 2025
Price: TBC
Cre8audio Boom Chick
Boom Chick is a Eurorack-friendly drum machine from Cre8audio and Pittsburgh Modular. Its five drum voices feature the expected kick, snare and hi-hat alongside two multifunctional voices that can be used to craft toms, claps, cymbals and experimental percussive textures through waveshaping and frequency modulation.
The sequencer is surprisingly deep and flexible for such an affordable instrument ($399) and there’s more than enough connectivity here with individual outputs per voice. We’re impressed.
Availability: Mid-May 2025
Price: $399
1010music Bento
Bento is an eight track sampler and sequencer, designed to be the hub of a DAW-free setup. Its neat form factor feels just right to us - small enough to feel light and truly portable, but not fiddly. Its touchscreen is clear and responsive, although it remains to be seen how well it works as an interface for deeper editing.
First impressions are that Bento feels a lot like Polyend’s Tracker, albeit designed for those put off by the more esoteric elements of that machine’s retro-influenced design. With the ability to live play its pads, step sequence and edit on a piano roll via the touchscreen, there’s plenty of ways to sculpt patterns.
Although sample content is very much the focus, with one-shot, looping and multi samples catered for, the inclusion of the granular engine from 1010music’s Lemondrop adds a touch of textural synthesis to the sound palette. We like the overall look and feel of Bento. And the inclusion of plenty of MIDI and audio connectivity.
It’s worth noting that while the instrument is available to purchase now, some notable features are yet to be implemented, including some clip functions and the ability to process external sounds through effects. These are said to be on the roadmap for the very near future.
Availability: Available to order now
Price: £849/$899
MIDI controllers and sequencers
Novation Launch Control XL 3
Launched in 2014 as a dedicated Ableton Live controller that expanded the capabilities of the dinky Launch Control, Novation’s Launch Control XL has since gained a reputation as a reliable and affordable DAW controller, though it hasn’t been updated since the MK2 version gave it a mostly visual refresh back in 2017 - until now.
Novation’s Launch Control XL 3 sees the controller transitioning from a primarily Ableton-focused device into something that’s aimed equally at users of all DAWS - and those who have ditched them altogether. It’s got out-of-the-box integration with Ableton, Logic, Cubase, FL Studio and more, and now thanks to its new MIDI I/O, it’s a viable option for those looking to control a hardware-based set-up.
XL 3’s hardware also received a complete redesign: its new OLED display makes it easy to reference parameter values and assignments while performing, while LEDs under each encoder denote values via their brightness and colour. It’s also got a sleek and minimalist new look. Launch Control XL has historically been a pretty decent controller at a reasonable price point, but it was looking rather outdated in 2025: this is the update it needed.
Availability: Available to order now
Price: $249/£189/€193
Neuzeit Instruments Drop
Arriving out of nowhere this year is something entirely unexpected from Neuzeit Instruments, a manufacturer best known for its experimentally inclined Eurorack modules. Drop is a formidably powerful snapshot-based MIDI and CV controller: 32 LED-equipped knobs, eight faders, eight mutes, and 20 buttons (all duplicated across two layers) give you tons of control, while 4x MIDI ins and outs and 2x CV ins and outs provide ample connectivity.
The concept at the core of Drop is right there in the name: it’s designed to make it easy to create impactful build-ups, transitions and drops. 20 banks of 20 snapshots can be used to program multiple scenes, which can be pre-scheduled. Line up your drop for a chosen number of bars, then go nuts on the effects to create a dramatic build-up, knowing that the next section of your song will automatically drop in at the specified time.
If you’re working on live performances that incorporate multiple instruments and pieces of gear with complex arrangements and transitions, this could be the controller for you.
Availability: Late-summer 2025
Price: €799
Effects processors
Polyend Mess
The latest in Polyend’s relatively new line in stompboxes, Mess is an abbreviation of Multi-Effect Step Sequencer. There are 125 effects under the hood, including reverbs and delays, granular and glitch processors, overdrives and bitcrushers, pitchshifters, loopers and slicers.
You can use all of these without the sequencer if you wish, stacking them in any combination you like, but there’s almost certainly more fun to be had if you start tweaking those parameters over time.
You can set the speed and length of each track to create polyrhythmic or polymetric patterns, while the chance/probability options introduce elements of randomness and ensure that the effects just keep on changing. 200 presets are included, along with 1000 slots for your own concoctions.
The knob-per-function interface should help to ensure that preset building is as fun as playing, with sequences being built across 16 step pads. Connectivity includes MIDI I/O, Stereo TRS audio I/O, an expression pedal input, USB-C and a slot for a Micro SD card.
On the show floor we got to test Mess on a guitar, and loved the way it could turn simple chords into richly modulated soundscapes. We can’t wait to see what it can do on things like synths or drums.
Availability: June 2025
Price: $599
Innovations
Korg Berlin Phase8
Launched as an experimental offshoot of the Japanese synth company, headed up by Volca designer Tatsuya “Tats” Takahashi, Korg Berlin has spent the last few Superbooths demonstrating its acoustic synthesis concepts in various forms of development.
At Superbooth 2025, the team is finally showing a (near) finished product. Phase8 is a desktop synth built around the concept of acoustic synthesis. Its eight independent voices are electromechanical. Sounds are created using tunable metal resonators–- these can be sequenced and tweaked using envelopes, waveshaping and audio modulation.
Sonically, Phase8 certainly falls into experimental territory. Its sound is somewhere between percussive and melodic, and can initially come across as a little flat and one-dimensional. The beauty of the synth reveals itself, however, as you explore how subtle changes to the velocity of each note, the shape of the envelope and depth of modulation can alter both the tone and rhythm of the sound.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Phase8 is the way its resonators can be physically manipulated. Placing a hand or any sort of object on to the resonators can mute the sound or alter the tone in a similar manner to working with a prepared piano.
Availability: Early 2026
Price: TBC, but aiming for below £/€1000
Clank Uranograph
Uranograph is undoubtedly one of the most unique instruments at Superbooth 2025 (and that’s a tough category). Its creator describes it as an instrument that "merges the expressive depth of classical instruments with the limitless possibilities of synthesis.”
In practice, this involves a five voice microtonal synthesizer controlled by dual capacitive keyboards inspired by the expressive articulations of MPE instruments. These keyboards are highly customisable to work with different scales and tunings, and the instrument comes loaded with over 50 keyboard layouts.
The keyboards respond to velocity and aftertouch. There are also articulation plates for creating glissando, staccato and trillo effects.
The synthesis core makes use of additive and phase morphing synthesis, with wavefolding capabilities as well as asymmetrical distortion. There’s also a delay-focused DSP effects engine that can process both internal and external sounds.
This is certainly not an entry level synth – Uranograph looks deep, complex and utterly unique. It sounds pretty fantastic too.
Availability: Available to pre-order
Price: 1st batch €1552, after that €2240
Eternal Research Demon Box
Demon Box works based on the concept of sensing and converting electromagnetic fields. It does this using the 33 ‘hand tuned’ inductors placed on its top panel, which can pick up signals from everyday objects – the company’s Superbooth display had people using phones, power tools, toys and more.
The electromagnetic fields are converted to raw audio, which Demon Box can output via the individual audio outputs. Demon Box can also output signals via MIDI, CV and USB in order to act as a control device for other gear.
Whether used as a way to generate soundscapes from the world around you, or an interesting way to get expressive with other music hardware, Demon Box looks like a fun and innovative device with lots of potential.
Availability: Available to pre-order
Price: $999
Honourable mentions
These are our highlights from the Superbooth show floor, but we’ve barely scratched the surface of what Superbooth 2025 had to offer.
Alongside new gear, there were numerous updated products on display, including some of our favourite bits of kit from recent years. Polyend’s Synth, for example, gained a new dual-sample engine, while Ableton updated its compact Move groovebox with much-requested sample slicing as well as better MIDI capabilities.
Several existing products gained impressive looking new siblings too. Groove Synthesis’ excellent 3rd Wave is one of our favourite synths of recent years, but it’s expensive and probably has more voices than a lot of us need. That’s why its new smaller, relatively affordable sibling the 3rd Wave 8M is a welcome addition.
Bastl has added another addition to its always-fun Kastl 2 range of mini synths. The latest Kastl model, named Wave Bard, is a stereo sample player that looks like it will be great fun for experimental sound mangling.
Superbooth 2025 also saw the release of a huge wealth of Eurorack and modular gear we’ve barely had a chance to touch in this roundup. If we were forced to highlight a single module, it would have to be Make Noise’s new Polimaths – an eight-channel function generator that expands on the design of its widely-love Maths module.
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