2025 saw a lot of amazing tech hit the shelves. Here are our picks for the best gear of the year.
If there was a theme for 2025, it was probably the economy. From inflation to tariffs, we all felt the pinch in some way. That didn’t stop manufacturers from releasing some pretty amazing hardware, though. And while the trend of more affordable gear does continue (see Sequential’s and Moog’s entries on this list for examples), there were just as many aspirational instruments that had us pondering how much we really needed both kidneys.
Here are our choices for the best gear of the year, including synths, samplers, grooveboxes, effects, DJ equipment, and even a cheeky soft synth.
Think we got it wrong? Let us know what you’d include in the comments.
Telepathic Instruments Orchid
When Kevin Parker of indie rock heroes Tame Impala announced he was releasing a synthesizer, suddenly everyone became a synth nerd. Given Parker’s popularity, it’s not a surprise that Orchid from new outfit Telepathic Instruments was a hit. What no one expected, though, was just how good it would be.
Although it is also a synthesizer, Orchid is primarily a chord machine. And while that format has been rinsed to death on Kickstarter over the last few years, Orchid does it right, with a single octave keyboard for one-finger chords, buttons to change chord type, and two voicing dials for inversions. It’s got drum beats, speakers, and Kevin Parker’s own presets. It also sounds really good, with a virtual analog synth engine that sparkles with life.
The only problem? They keep selling out. Get on the waitlist and start your 2026 off right.
Find out more here.
Roland TR-1000
Did hell somehow freeze over and we all missed it? Because Roland made a new analog drum machine. After decades of punters clogging up the comments section with demands for a new 808 or 909, the company that doesn’t chase ghosts finally turned into Pac-Man and unleashed the TR-1000, a killer drum machine with real analog voices in the style of its two most famous TRs.
It’s more than just an emulation, though, with virtual analog, FM and sampled drum sounds, plus an SP-404-style sampler built in, uniting both techno and boom bap worlds under one very slick metal chassis. Yes, it’s expensive, but it’s also very, very good. It’s the drum machine that we’ve all wanted for years, finally delivered.
So, the Jupiter-8 next?
Check it out at Roland’s website.
Groove Synthesis 3rd Wave 8M
Ever since Massive made wavetables cool, developers have been finding newer and crazier ways to manipulate them. Groove Synthesis has gone in another direction, though. Launched by former Sequential employees, the California-based company looked back to the synth that started off the whole wavetable brouhaha in the first place, the PPG Wave, and recreated it—quirks and all—as the 3rd W