Superbooth 2026: new synthesizers, gear, and every announcement worth knowing

Superbooth 2026 opens in Berlin on May 7 at FEZ, the lakeside cultural complex in the city’s east that has hosted the show for most of its decade-long run. This year marks the event’s tenth anniversary as an independent platform for synthesizer manufacturers, electronic instrument makers, and anyone working at the intersection of technology and sound. The show runs through May 9. Announcements have come in large numbers, ranging from a single-button randomiser at €125 to a flagship instrument priced at €12,000. Here is everything confirmed so far.

What is Superbooth?

Superbooth is the most significant dedicated synthesizer trade show in the world. It was founded by Andreas Schneider, whose Berlin shop SchneidersLaden has been a focal point for experimental electronic instrument culture for decades. The event grew out of a smaller gathering that Schneider organised for manufacturers and customers, and was structured from the beginning to give small and independent developers affordable exhibition space alongside the larger companies. That principle has remained consistent through ten editions.

Unlike NAMM or Musikmesse, where large manufacturers dominate the floor and small developers are relegated to shared booths, Superbooth was designed around the independent maker. The result is an event where a two-person synthesizer startup from the Netherlands can exhibit next to Korg or Native Instruments with comparable visibility. It is the primary venue where small manufacturers launch new instruments to an informed global audience.

The 2025 edition set records: 8,800 visitors and 301 exhibitors from 31 countries. The pro audio sector expanded significantly, with 38 software and studio technology companies attending alongside the hardware core. Tickets for 2026 are €41 for a single day or €100 for all three days.

New synthesizers at Superbooth 2026

Buchla Ziggy — €1,025

The Buchla Ziggy is the most significant announcement of this year’s show for producers interested in Buchla’s sonic character but unwilling to commit to the cost of a full Buchla 200 system. It is a desktop monophonic analog synthesizer with a complex oscillator and a lowpass gate — the two circuit elements most closely associated with the Buchla 200 Series — in a self-contained tabletop unit. The price is £915/€1,025, with shipping expected in late summer 2026.

Buchla instruments have historically occupied a price tier that puts them out of reach for most producers. A single 200 Series module costs more than most complete synthesizers, and building a playable patch typically requires several. The Ziggy does not replicate the modular experience — it is a fixed-architecture desktop instrument — but it makes the Buchla complex oscillator available as a standalone synthesizer at a price that is competitive with mid-range alternatives from other manufacturers. For producers who want the Buchla timbre without the modular infrastructure, it is a meaningful option.

SOMA Enigma

SOMA Laboratory’s Enigma is controlled by metallic objects placed on its surface — tools, rings, keys, or anything else that conducts. Sensors beneath the surface respond to the type of object, its position, and its mass, generating sound from that contact. It has no keyboard, no knobs, and no faders in the conventional sense. Pricing has not been confirmed.

SOMA is also showing the Flux at the event, a separate instrument that takes a related approach to touchless control. The company’s previous instruments — the Lyra-8 and the Pulsar-23 — established a reputation for instruments that require a different relationship between performer and machine than conventional synthesis workflow. The Enigma continues in that direction. Both instruments are currently at the concept and prototype stage at the show; commercial availability timelines have not been given.

Elta Music Polivoks-8

The Polivoks-8 is a polyphonic analog synthesizer built around the sonic character of the Formanta Polivoks — the Soviet-era instrument produced in the USSR through the 1980s that has become one of the most sought-after vintage synthesizers in current production music and film scoring circles. The Polivoks had a distinctive, aggressive filter character unlike any Western synthesizer of the same period, and it has appeared on countless records since the 1990s.

Elta Music, a Ukrainian electronics manufacturer with a background in reimagining Soviet-era synthesis concepts, has taken the Polivoks circuit architecture into a polyphonic format. A polyphonic Polivoks has been a hypothetical that producers have discussed for years — the original was monophonic — and the Polivoks-8 is the first credible realisation of that concept. Pricing and full specifications have not yet been confirmed.

Cyma Forma RND — €125

The Cyma Forma RND has one button. Pressing it generates a complete musical idea: up to four simultaneous instruments, each drawing from one of eight synthesis engines — subtractive, FM, acid, noise, speech, Karplus-Strong, supersaw, and additive — each running its own euclidean sequence. Every parameter resets to a new random state on each press. The total possible outputs, according to Cyma Forma, is 4,294,967,296.

The concept inverts standard synthesis workflow entirely. There is no preset browser, no recall, and no editing — only the button and whatever arrives. The instrument was developed in collaboration with Bambounou, the French artist and Infiné label producer known for unconventional sound design. At €125 plus VAT with a late June 2026 shipping date, it is the most affordable instrument announced at the show and arguably its most conceptually distinctive.

Tasty Chips GR-2

Tasty Chips’ GR-MEGA has been the benchmark hardware granular sampler since its release — a capable and expensive instrument with no close hardware competitors at a similar price. The GR-2, announced at Superbooth, addresses the price barrier directly. Tasty Chips describes it as having “largely the same abilities” as the GR-MEGA at approximately $1,000 less. Full pricing has not been announced.

If that specification holds, it opens hardware granular sampling to producers who have been priced out of the GR-MEGA. Granular processing — manipulating the micro-level grain structure of sampled audio — is a technique associated with artists from Brian Eno to Actress, and hardware granular units produce results that are difficult to replicate convincingly in software. A significant price reduction from the category leader is consequential.

GRP Synthesizer A10 — €12,000

GRP, the Italian manufacturer known for large-format analog instruments, announced the A10 as its flagship synthesizer. Priced at €12,000, it targets the aspirational end of the professional analog market. GRP’s instruments are known for their build quality and their commitment to fully analog signal paths — the A10 follows that philosophy at a scale that makes it a centrepiece instrument rather than a versatile production tool. It is not aimed at producers building their first hardware setup.

Modal Electronics Element One — €649 / $599

Modal Electronics has built its reputation on dense, programmable virtual-analog synthesis, from the Modal 002 to the Cobalt8. The Element One is a 37-key synthesizer running the same Cobalt engine, with 64 oscillators spread across up to eight per voice, but designed around a simplified front panel. Sound editing moves to a companion app rather than the hardware controls. At €649/$599, it is the lowest entry point Modal has offered for a keyboard synthesizer.

The trade-off is deliberate. Modal’s Cobalt8 rewards deep, menu-driven programming. The Element One targets producers who want the oscillator character without navigating that depth. Whether the app-based workflow satisfies users as they push past factory presets remains to be seen once the instrument is in wider circulation.

This Is Not Rocket Science BigFish

This Is Not Rocket Science, the French developer known for its Eurorack modules, presented BigFish at Superbooth: a digital modular synthesizer that comes with a dedicated Bink keyboard, positioned as a spiritual successor to the discontinued Nord Modular G2. Clavia discontinued the G2 in 2009, and it remains the reference for software-patched modular synthesis in a hardware form factor. A full release is planned for spring 2027; what the show is presenting is a prototype.

The Nord Modular comparison will carry weight for producers who have been waiting for something comparable in concept. How closely BigFish matches the G2’s depth and workflow will not be clear until the production version ships.

Drum Machines

Polyend Drums

Polyend’s Drums combines four analog voices built around SSI chips with digital sample engines and layering in a single drum machine. An 8-track sequencer handles polyrhythmic programming, and real-time morphing between analog and digital voices is a core feature. It ships in black and silver finishes, priced at $2,699.

For producers weighing analog character against digital flexibility in a hardware drum machine, Drums is the most considered hybrid approach at the show this year. Full specifications are covered in our dedicated article.

Modular and Eurorack

Expert Sleepers NTX-8CV and Forever

Expert Sleepers announced two new Eurorack modules at the show. The NTX-8CV combines MIDI input with eight CV outputs, providing a straightforward bridge between hardware keyboard controllers, sequencers, and a modular system. The Forever module is derived from the Freeze algorithm in Expert Sleepers’ disting NT — it captures incoming audio and sustains it indefinitely, useful for texture generation and drone work within a modular context. Both are aimed at the performance end of the modular market rather than the sound design or composition side.

WMD Cosmic Debris

WMD co-developed the Cosmic Debris with Infrasonic Audio: a Eurorack module with 16 interactive delay lines that can be configured across multiple reverb modes. The combination of shifting delay architectures with reverb processing gives it a character distinct from standard Eurorack reverb or delay modules. Pricing and shipping date have not been confirmed at the show.

KOMA Elektronik Haloplane

KOMA Elektronik’s Haloplane is an electromagnetic field instrument that captures and processes the fields generated by nearby electronic devices. It incorporates a micro-loop sampler and a wavetable synthesizer alongside the field detection, connects to an app for extended control, and is paired with the Passpartout Duo for performance integration. KOMA has a history of instruments that operate on unusual control principles. No pricing has been confirmed.

Grooveboxes and Controllers

dadamachines TBD-16 — €499

The TBD-16 is a compact groovebox and step sequencer from dadamachines, the Berlin-based company known for building open-source hardware platforms. It packs a full 16-step sequencer and open DSP platform into a pocket-sized unit, with custom firmware possible for producers who want to extend the factory functionality. Preorders are open at €499. The open-source architecture is a differentiator at this price: most grooveboxes at this size and cost are closed systems.

SHIK S32

The SHIK S32 is an upcoming MIDI controller with 32 macro knobs, each of which is mapped as a macro control with built-in MIDI effects rather than a standard single-parameter assignment. A companion MIDI-to-CV Eurorack module is planned for producers who want to route the controller into a modular system. No pricing has been confirmed.

1010music Blackbox 2

The original Blackbox has been a compact staple in DAWless setups since 2019. The Blackbox 2 is a significant upgrade: a larger high-resolution touchscreen, loop launching, scene playback, expressive pads, DJ-style effects, and built-in battery power for portable use. Enhanced sequencing and battery operation make it a more complete standalone production unit than its predecessor. No pricing has been announced.

Effects and Processing

Zaehl PM12

The PM12 is an analogue performance mixer from Zaehl, designed specifically for live electronic music rather than studio use. Its channel layout prioritises performance workflow — quick visual access to levels and routing under stage conditions. No pricing has been announced, but the instrument is positioned in the high-end performance hardware market alongside mixers from companies like Allen & Heath and Rane. For live electronic performers who find standard DJ mixers inadequate and studio consoles impractical, it addresses a real gap.

MadeOnEarth LedRover

The LedRover is a 100% analog diode distortion pedal built for electronic music gear rather than guitar. Diode distortion has a distinctive character — harmonically rich, responsive to input level — that suits drum machine transients and synthesizer leads differently from the clipping circuits in most guitar overdrive pedals. The LedRover is one of the few dedicated analog distortion units designed explicitly around synthesizers and drum machines rather than guitar signal levels and impedances.

Roland Project LYDIA — Phase 2

Roland’s Future Design Lab has advanced Project LYDIA to Phase 2 at Superbooth. LYDIA is a neural-sampling AI stompbox designed for real-time tone transfer: the unit analyses the tonal character of any sound source and applies it to an instrument signal without offline processing delays. Phase 2 adds integrated I/O, an LCD display, preset storage, MIDI connectivity, and Raspberry Pi 5 hardware at its core. A public demo is running at the show.

Roland is not the first to pursue AI-based tone transfer in hardware, but they are the largest manufacturer to bring this concept to a public prototype stage. Whether LYDIA reaches commercial production, and at what price, remains unconfirmed.

Software and Plugins

Elastic OSC — €39

Elastic OSC brings the Mutable Instruments Plaits oscillator engine to Mac and PC as a standalone application and VST/AU plugin. Plaits is one of the most widely used modules in Eurorack’s history — a digital oscillator with 24 synthesis models that covers additive, FM, physical modelling, and noise-based approaches in a single module. The plugin version includes 24 oscillator models, dual XY pads, four LFOs, and MPE support. At €39, it makes one of the most versatile digital oscillator architectures available to producers without a Eurorack setup. It is available now for Mac and PC.

u-he Zebra 3 — Public Beta

u-he released the Zebra 3 public beta immediately before Superbooth. Zebra 2 has been a studio staple for over a decade, used across film scoring, electronic music production, and sound design. Zebra 3 rebuilds the engine from the ground up: spline-based oscillators replace the original waveforms, new filter designs are included, physical modelling is added, and ring modulation has been extended. The beta is available for existing users to test ahead of the full release.

u-he has not announced a final release date or pricing for the full version. For producers who have worked with Zebra 2, the beta is worth downloading now.

Limited Editions

Telepathic Instruments is showing Clear Orchid: Arctic at the show — a transparent limited-edition version of the Orchid chord machine, developed with Kevin Parker of Tame Impala. 3,000 units are available from May 11. The instrument is functionally identical to the standard Orchid, with the change limited to the case. Pricing for the Arctic edition has not been confirmed.

Live Performances

The live programme for the anniversary edition includes Monolake, Polygonia, and a joint performance from Lady Starlight and Rødhåd under their WSNWG project. Monolake — the project of Robert Henke, whose work in Berlin’s electronic music community stretches back over 25 years and who was one of the original developers of Ableton Live — is a fitting presence at an event marking ten years of independent synthesizer culture in the city where much of that culture was shaped.

Tickets and Information

Superbooth 2026 runs from May 7 to 9 at FEZ Berlin. Single-day tickets are €41; a three-day pass is €100. The full exhibitor list, programme, and ticket purchase are available at superbooth.de.