British company Modal is one of the great synth success stories of the past decade. Launched in Bristol in 2013, it quickly established itself as a maker of high-quality, innovative instruments that stood out from the increasingly large crowd.
Modal made its first mark with the 002 (2014), a 12-voice hybrid synth that had ‘instant classic’ written all over it. It followed this up with the 008 (2015), an all-analogue keyboard fit for 21st century workflows, and both this and the 002 laid the technological foundations for Modal’s next chapter.
More well-received releases followed - both Craft (2016) and Skulpt (2018) were warmly received - and, following a restructure in 2023, we’re pleased to be able to report that the company is back working on new products and presenting itself as an innovative force in the marketplace.
The 2025 line-up focuses on three distinct product lines: Carbon, Argon and Cobalt. Here’s what they’re all about.
Argon
Released in 2019, initially in the ‘8’ format, Argon is a traditional wavetable synth that excels at evocative textures, glassy pads and classic timeless metallic effects, and is known for its rich and lush sound. Offering eight voices of polyphony, it takes the DNA of the 002 with its classic wavetable lineage but offers a completely new engine that’s capable of even more complex synthesis.
Cobalt
Not only can Cobalt do all the things that you’d hope a virtual analogue would do - it delivers vintage-style basses, strings and leads in a highly intuitive package - but it also builds on this by giving you an extended feature set that takes you into more experimental sound design territories. Again, the ‘8’ model came first - this time in 2020 - followed by the other members of the family.
Carbon
The newest member of the Modal family - the ‘8’ model landed in 2024 and the 8x was launched earlier this year, at Superbooth - Carbon is also the most experimental of the company’s three instruments. It's a digital synthesizer that fuses advanced waveform algorithms with wavetables to deliver a unique sonic palette and is the synthesizer of choice for sound designers who are looking for limitless sound-sculpting tools.
Form and function
Once you’ve decided which Modal synth is for you - assuming you can settle on just one of them - it’s time to pick a form factor. Each model is available in 37- and 61-note versions - so you can choose between portability and a greater level of playability - that have the suffixes 8 and 8X respectively. 8M, meanwhile, is the module offering, giving you all the hands-on controls (of which each synth has plenty) but no keys.
Then there’s the Modal App, which is common to all three synth families. This enables you to get even more out of your instrument, offering access to patch editing, preset management, product-specific resources and firmware updates.
Available on PC, Mac, iOS and Android, the app simplifies the process of MIDI and DAW integration and enables you to manage multiple Modal synths from a single interface and copy/sync patches between devices. There are interactive guides and tutorial videos baked right in, along with quick tips that will teach you new synthesis techniques and help to improve your workflow.
The Modal App also enables you to get more out of your synth, offering deeper sound design tools and simplifying the process of building patches (these can be shared with other users via the active community on the Modal website). There’s advanced modulation matrix editing, real-time visual feedback on oscillators, envelopes, and filters, and easy programming of the step sequencer or arpeggiator.
Choose your Modal
In keeping with Modal’s cutting-edge thinking, it’s also worth pointing out that all three synths support the MPE standard. Assuming you have a compatible controller (the built-in keyboards aren’t MPE-capable) you can take advantage of all the extra levels of control that this offers.
But even if you don’t use MPE, these are hugely expressive synths, with the continuously variable oscillators and filters enabling you to morph, blend and twist your sounds into any kind of shapes you wish. And, of course, there are modulation features and effects - reverbs, delays and more.
So, whether Modal has been on your radar for a while or you’re discovering the brand for the first time, we strongly advise you to see what the 2025 line-up has to offer. Check it out on the Modal Electronics website.
Ready to bring Modal’s latest synths into your studio? Buy from your local UK retailer below: