Old Ben 'The Div' DivKid asked us about our favourite products from this year, so we picked one each!
Kyle's choice: Der Mann mit der Maschine Droid
"Droid is by far the best programmable module system I’ve come across. When the Superbooth video came out, everyone was going crazy about the motorised faders, and don’t get me wrong, they are super cool but I think the flexibility of the system was overlooked. It can perform virtually any CV function you can think of and it can talk MIDI so it will integrate with Ableton Live or any hardware controller you want to use. The programming interface is really clean and the Discord community is always there to help you out with your patch ideas."
Luke's choice: Malstrom Mandrake
"A kick module might feel like a boring choice but Malstrom Mandrake is anything but! All manner of Kick and Bass synth sounds are covered so nicely and it has all the features I reach for in the box when I am designing a bass/kick or 808 sound. With the immediacy of hardware and a great flavour sound-wise it's my top pick."
Robert's choice: Landscape Noon
"This instrument speaks to me on a deep level. An instrument that can grow with you and will reward you for spending time with it. I like the fact that it depends on which signals you feed into it, how it reacts to different gate and CV levels and then how you develop the session. It strikes me that it will reward time and exploration, two things that are very important this ageing synthesist."
Aleks's choice: Schlappi Engineering Three Body
"It's got a huge timbral range. You’ve got extremely controllable phase relationships between the oscillators if you're interested in oscillographics, or for spatialisation, like funky stereo tricks."
Jason's choice: Oberheim OB-X8
"The OB-8X is a near-perfect blend of engineering, artistry and a deep understanding of what musicians need in an instrument. It brings together ideas and personal connections from over four decades and creates an instrument that will still be played and talked about in another four decades."