2025 has been a year of flux for me, especially the last few months with moving apartments and still setting up a new dedicated studio/office space. Lots of new gear not hooked up yet so jury’s still out… but here are a few notables.
Hits-
Adam D3V with Presonus Eris Sub8 subwoofer: seriously great sound, very compact and easy to place. I’ve had bigger Adams plus Focals, IKs and JBLs but this is my favorite nearfield setup so far.
Analog Keys: Used many A4’s over the years but something about having the keys and joystick of the AK makes programming much more enjoyable, and allows it to be a true studio centerpiece. My favorite overall synth.
Roland TR-8S: Got one when they first came out and was rather underwhelmed with it. The subsequent firmware updates have really transformed it into a percussion monster however, especially the FM and CR-78 additions. All the TR-1000 attention has made them really cheap these days, hard to think of any true drum machine under $1K that can touch it.
Roland JX-3P: I’m very into the 106 and Alpha Juno sound, but the 3P is something different. Even with having DCOs it seems much more alive and “electric” in its timbre, closer to a Jupiter than a Juno. UI is a bit tedious without the programmer but there’s not a ton of parameters anyway and the panel’s sleek look is so charmingly 1980’s. Found a mint one locally and it’s lovely to have around.
Alesis Quadraverb GT: If you’re in the market for a reverb with real character that is practically a synthesizer in it’s own right, just get one. The GT has the better “2” algorithms of the Plus in addition to the drive stage, which sucks for it’s intended purpose but lets you put EQ curves or “exciters” anywhere in the signal chain, adding more color to an already super-colorful reverb.
DeltaLab Effectron ADM 1024: One of the coolest delay units of the 80’s, also deep flanger and doubling fx. Nice chucky knobs for realtime tweaking. I have it on a send/return loop from the Quadraverb which in combination gives you a ton of fx options.
Misses-
Digitakt II and Digitone II: Was very excited for these to be released, and honestly didn’t really enjoy using them. Too many features and button combos that made me long for the relative straightforwardness of the originals.
Akai MPC One+: Sounded great, excellent fx, nice pads. But too much wanting to be a DAW-in-a-box, when all I really wanted it to be was a modern MPC2000 (or a TR-8S…)
Modular: I’m out of the rabbithole and module-free for the first time in 5+ years. Feels good.
TBD-
Presonus Studiolive 16R, Ableton Push 2, AceTone Rhythm Ace FR-1, PWM Malevolent, Korg OpSix module, Behringer Dual-Phase, U-He Diva