7 Synths We Can’t Wait For
Color us impatient for new releases from Behringer, ASM, Sequential and more!
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Hold our horses? Not on your life! Here are the seven synths we can’t wait for – some already announced and some that we can just feel in our bones.
Synths We Can’t Wait For
Writing for Gearnews.com can be a lot of fun, but it does have its downsides. Being exposed to new gear all day, every day, has left me with a permanent case of GAS (that’s Gear Acquisition Syndrome to those of you who aren’t medical professionals). Despite the fact that I’m surrounded by synthesizers, I often find myself fantasizing longingly about the keyboards yet to come. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.
Today, let’s dream into action by writing down the seven synths we can’t wait for. These are instruments that companies have already announced but have yet to release, as well as ones that I just have a feeling about.
What are the synths that you can’t wait for? Let us know in the comments.
Synths We Can’t Wait For: New ASM Synth
Ashun Sound Machines appeared out of nowhere (well, China actually) in 2019 with the Hydrasynth, an astonishingly lush-sounding digital keyboard that combines wavetables, FM and other synthesis types into a beautiful whole. It’s no surprise that the Hydrasynth should be so good, really, seeing as ASM’s CEO is Glen Darcey (formerly of Arturia), with Daniel Troberg (of Elektron) as the VP of sales and marketing.
ASM continued releasing Hydrasynth variants, including the Hydrasynth Desktop, Deluxe and Exporer, and renaming the original release to the Hydrasynth Keyboard. All solid stuff with different price points and amounts of keys. For the last few years, however, the company hasn’t put out anything really new, choosing instead to re-release the Hydrasynth in limited-edition colors.
While the beginning of this year saw a rumor make the rounds about a Leviasynth, it turned out to just be a trademark filing for the name with no plans to put it into production. I admit that I cried a little.
The Hydrasynth is an amazing piece of kit, but it’s beyond time for us to have something new from the ASM team. A new synth (water monster-named or not), maybe a drum machine, even some Eurorack modules would be cool. Just give us something. That hole in my soul isn’t going to fill itself.
Synths We Can’t Wait For: Behringer BX1
Oh, Behringer. Honestly, I probably could’ve filled up this entire list of synths we’re waiting for with Behringer ones, given that the company has made so many tantalizing announcements over the past few years. To wit: the Pro-16, JT-16 and DS-80. But I’m going to have to go with the BX1 for sheer can’t-stand-the-pressure anticipation.
Revealed at NAMM earlier this year, the BX1 is Uli’s take on the legendary Yamaha DX1, the ultimate expression of the company’s FM era. From the dual synth sections to the (probably) MPE implementation, this is the DX1 reborn… and augmented, as the new version also sports an analog filter section, effects and 12-bit/16-bit DAC selection switch. Nice.
The DX1 was undoubtedly the hit of NAMM 2025, so I’m sure I’m not alone in jonesing for it. We don’t know when it will come out or how much it will cost yet, though. You just keep me hanging on…
Synths We Can’t Wait For: New Sequential Synth
Sequential founder and all-around nice guy Dave Smith sadly passed in 2022. The final Sequential synthesizer to benefit from his genius was the Trigon-6, an analog poly with a Moog-style ladder filter. Since then, Sequential has been concentrating on Oberheim releases, most recently the TEO-5.
Although I’m a huge fan of both the TEO-5 and its predecessor, the world-beating OB-X8, it feels like it’s just about time for a new Sequential instrument. It’s sad to think about the loss of Dave, for sure, but the company has many talented engineers working for it who learned from the master himself. I can’t wait to see what they do and how they bring Sequential into a new era.
Synths We Can’t Wait For: New Groove Synthesis Synth
Speaking of engineers who worked with Dave Smith, California’s Groove Synthesis was started by a certain Bob Coover, who had a hand in the digital parts of everything from the Prophet-6 to the Trigon-6. His masterpiece is surely the Groove Synthesis 3rd Wave, though, a digital powerhouse that just keeps getting better and better thanks to its many firmware updates.
It may feel ungrateful to complain about a lack of new output from Groove Synthesis, given the company just announced the 3rd Wave 8M, a more affordable desktop version of the modern classic, at Superbooth25. But while I have no complaints about the 8M itself, I would love to see something brand-spanking new from Bob and his team. Maybe a classy new take on 90s-style VA or even a digital drum machine made in collaboration with fellow San Francisco Bay Area resident Roger Linn?
Synths We Can’t Wait For: Mellotron Micro Module
One of the surprises of NAMM 2025 was the unannounced appearance of the Mellotron Micro Module. Leaked by the company on its Instagram account, it showed a module-sized Mellotron that appeared to be a Micro with no keys. My source said that it was scheduled to go into production the following month and would cost around $500.
So far, there has yet to be an announcement about the Micro Module, a price, or release date. This is unfortunate, as $500 is a fantastic price and would make the Mellotron sound available to many more musicians. Come on, Mellotron, the world’s prog musicians are standing by.
Synths We Can’t Wait For: Toraiz ChordCat
I first wrote about the Toraiz ChordCat groovebox last fall. The device, which the AlphaTheta subsidiary sold in limited release in Japan only, looked like a lot of fun, with the ability to generate chords as well as sequence sounds and drums. It next showed up at NAMM, with the company saying it was hoping to release the ChordCat in the US for $250 “later this year.” Well, it’s later!
I knew I should have bought one when it first went on sale in Japan.
Synths We Can’t Wait For: Stylophone Gen X-2
The last of the synths we can’t wait for is the Gen X-2 from Dubreq Stylophone. Stylophone has been on a roll lately with its non-stop onslaught of unusual and fun instruments like the Theremin and Stylosette. So where’s the Gen X-2?
Announced at NAMM this year, the new stylus-sporting mini synth is a sequel to the original Gen X-1, an analog synthesizer in Stylophone’s clothing. The new version adds an octave selection switch and three-mode slider to the original, which sports a lowpass filter, AD envelope, LFO and analog delay. Dubreq also promises that you will be able to connect it to a “keyboard, sequencer or modular.”
At the time, Stylophone said it was hoping to start production on the unit in “three or four months.” That’s now! It’s definitely one of the synths we can’t wait for.
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4 responses to “7 Synths We Can’t Wait For”
Here’s my list:
1. Still waiting for a Jupiter 8 (or 6) from anyone. And yes, throw in 80’s reverb & tape delay.
2. A modern version of the Kronos.
3. A performance keyboard stand that lets me stack the boards real close.
Also, in view of Yamaha’s 50th anniversary, I would like to see a new budget workstation from them. For example, a MODX-M synth…
Oi, Uli, tractor man here! I forgot, put two hooks on the front of the Behringer VCS, then make an optional keyboard we can attach to it. Maybe we could attach two VCSs to the same keyboard, and daisy chain the power to one from the other with one mains cable. And maybe that keyboard could make the whole thing into a VCS4? Do we have to tell you everything, Uli? Call yourself a buisnessman? You’ll never make a penny at this rate….
One of these days someone’s going to come out with a CS80 clone that doesn’t stint on the poly-AT action and the same size tactile strip. Quite honestly, the action on the original CS80 was half the attraction. It was a beautiful beast to PLAY…
Throw in actual levers rather than sliders, you got the greatest tactile experience you could ever ask for…. The speed that you could get safely and rapidly moving the levers is something no slider can approach. A flick was all it took!
So many youngsters don’t realize how much the action and controls shaped how you played the originals. It isn’t enough to imitate the SOUND…