5 of the Best Synth Collaborations
Amazing collabs from Erica Synths, Oberheim, Dreadbox and more!
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Magic happens when two synthesizer companies work together. These are the best synth collaborations on the market today.
The Best Synth Collaborations
Collaborations in the synthesizer world don’t happen all the time. It’s not like singers or snack foods and Taco Bell; synthesizer development is a long and laborious process, and manufacturers are busy enough with their own products. That’s why when collaborations happen, it’s often magic, with the end result becoming the best of both outfits.
Today, let’s celebrate the alchemical combinations when two synthesizer developers come together and collaborate. These are the best synth collaborations on the market today.
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The Best Synth Collaborations: Erica Synths and 112dB Steampipe
Erica Synths is no stranger to team-ups, with collabs with Richie Hawtin on the Bull Frog and Bull Frog XL educational synths as well as the Zen Delay, a hardware echo machine done with Ninja Tune. Another common collaborator is plugin company 112dB, whose digital know-how has found its way into a number of products, including the recent Steampipe.
Steampipe is very digital. It’s a physical modeling synth, after all. The eight-voice Steampipe gives you tons of DSP power in a tabletop hardware form factor, with a sound engine that excels at wind and string sounds. Of course, you’re not limited to acoustic instrument sounds found in the real world. You can also take it into weird, unexplored realms, and that’s where Steampipe really excels – to my ears at least, making it one of the best synth collaborations out there.
The Best Synth Collaborations: cre8audio and Pittsburgh Modular East Beast and West Pest
Another fruitful ongoing collaboration is the one between cre8audio and Pittsburgh Modular. It’s resulted in the Boom Chick drum machine and – the reason we’re here today – the East Beast and West Pest.
Affordable tabletop semi-modular analog synthesizers both, the East Beast and West Pest differ in their stated approach to synthesis. If you hadn’t already guessed, the East Best is Moog-style subtractive synthesis while the West Pest is West Coast Buchla complexity. Both feature analog circuitry designed in tandem with Pittsburgh Modular, which also makes amazing gear.
I can’t think of a better deal for either an East Coast or West Coast synth. In fact, you may as well get them both and double your fun.
The Best Synth Collaborations: Oberheim and Sequential TEO-5
If you’re talking about the best synth collaborations, you have to mention Oberheim and Sequential. The two first came together in 2016 for the OB-6, which combined Tom’s beefy oscillators and 2-pole filter with Dave Smith’s Prophet-6-style layout. Interestingly, it happened when neither Tom nor Dave had the rights to their original company names. This collaboration continued with the OB-X8 in 2022. And that brings us to the TEO-5.
Launched in 2024, the TEO-5 again puts Oberheim bits alongside Sequential bobs, this time in the Take 5 housing. The result is an affordable Obie, a five-voice analog poly with boisterous VCOs and a mouth-watering SEM filter. And, just this week, Oberheim announced the desktop module version of the TEO-5 as well, which is great news for those with more money than studio real estate.
The Best Synth Collaborations: Tiptop Audio and Buchla Eurorack 200 Series
Buchla may have been one of the original architects of the synthesizer, having pioneered the West Coast sound in the 1960s while Moog was developing his subtractive style on the opposite side of America. Most people have never had a chance to play with a Buchla, though, as they’re very, very expensive. Tiptop Audio is changing all of that with its mission of turning classic 200 series Buchla modules into more affordable Eurorack versions.
So far, 12 modules have been released, with another two announced. For the West Coast fan or just the Buchla curious, this is a fantastic way to explore a different facet of analog synthesis.
The Best Synth Collaborations: Dreadbox and Sinevibes Artemis
What happens when you bring together the analog power of Dreadbox with the digital DSP of plugin developer Sinevibes? The aural equivalent of “you got your chocolate in my peanut butter.” You might not expect it, but these are two great sounds that sound great together.
The Dreadbox/Sinevibes union began with the monophonic Typhon but reaches the fullest extent of its beauty with the six-voice Artemis. A gorgeous synth all around, it was the hit of the recent Superbooth25, and it’s not hard to see why with its two oscillators, 12dB or 24dB lowpass filter, and Sinevibes-powered stereo effects. Maybe the ultimate expression of the best synth collaboration.
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