5 of the Best Hardware Synths of Summer
Amazing hardware synthesizers from Groove Synthesis, Behringer, Korg, and more!
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The season may be almost over, but that doesn’t mean the fun has to stop with these five synths of summer.
The Best Hardware Synths of Summer
What a time to be alive, eh? The world may be going to hell in a late-stage capitalistic post-apocalyptic hand basket, but if hardware synthesizers are your thing, you’ve never had it better. Even summer, which is usually not a big time of the year for banner releases, is seeing plenty of releases to get pulses racing and long-suffering partners worried.
Here are five of my picks for the best hardware synths released during the summer in the last few years. From desktop analogue polys to digital upgrades with a few surprises thrown into the mix, these summer releases have kept chins wagging and mouths drooling.
All of the products here are available at Thomann*.
Best Hardware Synths of Summer: Groove Synthesis 3rd Wave 8M
One of my favorite synthesizers of the last 10 years has to be the Groove Synthesis 3rd Wave. A wavetable synth at heart, near-constant upgrades have seen it gain sampling and other features, rounding it out into a seriously powerful machine. And that sound. Phwoar! All of that synthy goodness does come at a price, though. Literally, I mean, with a price tag out of the reach of many workaday musicians. Until now.
The just-released 3rd Wave 8M is Groove Synthesis’s affordable version of its synthesizer, with a desktop format, reduced knob count, and eight voices. However, it’s just as powerful as its family members in terms of synthesis, with sampling, virtual analog, FM, and, of course, those gorgeous wavetables in both PPG Wave-style classic and modern modes. You also get an analog filter, three oscillators, and bi-timbrality – so really no excuses here.
As if summer wasn’t hot enough.
Best Hardware Synths of Summer: Melbourne Instruments Delia
One of the standouts of summer 2024 was Melbourne Instruments’ Delia. I’m sure you’ve heard of Delia, or if not this girl, then Melbourne Instruments’ other one, Nina. Both ingeniously make use of drone motors to give their knobs instant recall. So cool.
Delia is more than just a twiddler’s dream, though. A six-voice hybrid polyphonic synth with four digital oscillators per voice (including virtual analog, wavetable, and more), an analog lowpass Ladder filter with 12 and 24db/Oct slopes per voice, stereo VCA, lots of modulation and two stereo effects processors, it’s a formidable instrument – and that’s before you consider the Morph function, which lets you sweep between two different parameters.
Melbourne Instruments is a company to keep on your radar, and Delia just may be its crowning glory… so far!
Best Hardware Synths of Summer: Behringer Pro-800
Of all the synthesizers I’ve known and stupidly sold, my Sequential Instruments Prophet-600 is particularly missed. (My excuse was it was the ‘90s, a decade of generally bad decisions all around.) I’ve had my eye on a few Prophet-600 auctions over the years, but I’ve never been able to justify the expense. Kudos to Behringer then for sticking the whole thing in a desktop format, adding two extra voices, and bringing the price right down, making the Pro-800 one of the best hardware synths of summer 2023.
In our review, we said it was “a synth for just about any electronic genre” with a sound that was “huge and dominating.” Who’s the one and only dominator? The biggest drawback of the original was the sluggish envelopes, but Behringer has addressed that in a firmware upgrade. If, like me, you miss your original 600 or just want some of that ‘80s analogue mojo in your studio, it’s hard to beat the Pro-800.
If the Pro-800 is not enough ‘80s Sequential fun for you, Behringer also released the Pro-VS Mini, a tiny take on the Prophet VS, this summer.
Best Hardware Synths of Summer: Sequential Trigon-6 Desktop
Dave Smith’s final synthesizer for Sequential, 2022’s Trigon-6, received a desktop version in summer 2023. It’s a gorgeous synth but also a bittersweet release, as it marks an end to the Dave era of American synthesizers, one that began in the 1970s with the Prophet-5.
Dave’s take on the classic all-American analogue, the Trigon-6 (both keyboard and desktop versions, the latter of which replicates the original sans keys) features three oscillators and a creamy Ladder filter (with a switchable 2/4-pole design) in the best Moog tradition. It also has bipolar envelopes, a step sequencer, an arpeggiator, effects, and, of course, that lovely Sequential sound. The latest upgrade adds MPE support as well.
It’s hard not to get a little teary-eyed when thinking about Dave’s legacy and his contributions to the world of synthesizers. By all accounts, he was a great guy, too. Cheers, Dave, and thank you for all you did for us.
Best Hardware Synths of Summer: Korg Wavestate MKII
Analog gets all the love, but if you weren’t paying attention, you might not realize that this is also a golden age for digital synthesis. Korg surprised us this season with the Wavestate MKII, one of the best hardware synths of summer 2023.
Taking the synthesis engine of the first Wavestate (which was in turn inspired by the Dave Smith-designed Wavestation of 1990), MKII features a new Wave Sequencing 2.0 sound engine. It also has more… of just about everything. Korg upped polyphony from 64 to 96 voices and added 1,042 wave sequences, 799 programs, and 261 performances. There are also additional modulation possibilities.
The Wavestate MKII is joined by the extended SE and SE Platinum versions, which also have (ahem) extended price tags.
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One response to “5 of the Best Hardware Synths of Summer”
It’s indeed an exciting time for hardware synthesizer enthusiasts! The summer of 2023 seems to have brought a wave of impressive releases, offering a range of options for musicians and sound designers to explore. The continuous innovation and expansion in the world of hardware synthesizers provide artists with powerful tools to shape their sonic landscapes.