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SYNTH WEEK 2026: How often have you thought about what you’d buy if you had unlimited funds? With a beast of a synth parked within it, could your studio finally be complete? It’s certainly true that hardware synths offer a kudos and hands-on attraction that software just doesn’t match.
The immediacy of diving in and twiddling new sounds into reality with your own hands is why so many of us synth-heads got the synth bug in the first place. So what if you had a serious amount of disposable cash (or won the lottery?)
What synth of Ferrari or Lamborghini-style proportions would you be tempted by?
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We’re here to help, with the ultimate wish list of high-value synths, each of which has near-infinite sonic potential.
Forget super-yachts – we want super-synths!
1. Schmidt Eightvoice
Average Cost: £20,000 ($25k/€20k)
Since the first prototype was delivered to film composer Hans Zimmer back in 2013, the Schmidt Eightvoice has been made in small, limited-run batches ever since. We estimate that there are approximately 150 or so units in the wild, with each batch consisting of 20-25 units.
Designed by Stefan Schmidt to be the ultimate analogue synth, the Schmidt is a no-compromise synthesist’s dream.
Despite offering only eight voices, each voice provides 4 oscillators (that’s a whopping 48 oscillators) in a traditional discrete design, backed up with digital control for patch memory.
It can even operate as an 8-part multi-timbral synth, with a single voice to a part. The synth is 95% one-knob-per-function, contained within some beautiful carpentry, complete with a quality keybed.
It’s laden with multiple filters, LFOs, modulation paths and coloured LEDs, which can also be placed under MIDI control, changing colour in time with your track if you want.
With all this power, the Schmidt Eightvoice is a complex beast (we should know, we have one at MR Towers… not bragging) and it never ceases to impress and bemuse us at every turn. It’s complicated and deep, but about as exceptional as it can get within the realm of polyphonic analogue subtractive synthesis.
2. Analogue Solutions Colossus
Average Cost: £23,000 ($30k/€29k)
As the name would imply, Colossus from Analogue Solutions is an extraordinarily large synthesizer, in fact it might be better described as a ‘powerful analogue workstation’.
Analogue Solutions makes no apology for drawing inspiration from the groundbreaking EMS Synthi 100, although it has attempted several enhancements and improvements, not least reducing its size slightly, so that it fits through a standard doorway, something the Synthi 100 had an issue with.
Colossus maintains the Synthi’s vintage look, with 2 accompanying matrix panels; one for CV control and one for Audio.
At over a metre and a half wide and L-shaped, it’s a mighty package of analogue circuitry, influenced by the current AS product line, The Classic edition offers a whopping 12 VCOs, along with a host of filters and VCAs, and an on-board sequencing capability.
This is just as well, because there is no MIDI included, although much like early analogue equipment, there are plenty of contemporary interfacing options, should you want to drive Colossus from your DAW.
You can prescribe your size and styling, and spend more money if you so wish. Or you can scale it down slightly, so that it fits in your box-room studio at home.
3. Korg PS-3300
Average Cost: £11,400 ($13k/€17k)
Korg is one of the companies that kickstarted the analogue reboot scene and recently resurrected one of the rarest synths ever produced.
The original PS-3300 was produced in the late 1970s, but in incredibly small numbers. There were rumoured to be less than 50 ever made! But now the original design returns, brought to life by its original creator, Fumio Mieda, and being produced in small pre-ordered batches. Available to order right now.
Apart from the stunning craftsmanship and woodworking, the instrument contains three separate synthesizer voice modules (PSU-3301), complete with a unique and complex tuning architecture, as well as the ability to save patches.
It also offers a unique party trick for an analogue synth, by offering 49 voice polyphony, which is effectively one voice for every note on the supplied keyboard.
It’s a truly unique and rare instrument, as well as an extraordinary piece of studio furniture!
4. Grp A10
Average Cost: (Preorder) €10k + VAT
Italian synth guru Grp Synthesizer, could be considered an unsung hero of contemporary analogue synth design. Its designs have been popular with notable electronic artists for many years, with a roster which includes Tangerine Dream and Jean-Michel Jarre.
Having produced the more affordable A4 and larger A8 unit for many years, the company’s latest design is about to go in to production, and is currently available to pre-order. If you’ve got a spare ten grand that is…
The A10 boasts 4-VCOs and a sub-oscillator, which can be assigned to a single voice or bi-timbrally.
Primary operation is as a monophonic semi-modular machine, but with significant wave folding and modulation possibilities. The Grp designs also turn heads, adopting a classic look that accompanies an even more absorbing sound.
5. Moog One
Average Cost: £5k -10k ($6k-10k/€5k-10k)
The extraordinary interest created by the Moog One, both prior and at the point of release, was of a scale that we haven’t seen for quite awhile.
For a company such as Moog to release another polyphonic machine, particularly given its previous difficulties with polyphonic designs, made us all curious about how it might approach a new poly in a modern age.
The answer was a 3-VCO per voice polyphonic machine, available in either 8 or 16 voice architectures. Resplendent with beautiful casework, classic filtering, and all the elements that you would expect within a contemporary unit.
While production of the Moog One has now ceased, there are still models available for purchase from new from some suppliers, and of course there is the thriving secondhand market.
Earlier models did exhibit teething issues, so be sure to try any unit before purchase, to ensure that you secure a working future classic.
6. Analogue Solutions Maximus
Average Cost: (4-voice) £9900 ($12.5k/€12k) (8-voice) £22,500 ($28k/€26k)
With a second entry in our top 10, Analogue Solutions draws inspiration from another classic; the Oberheim 4/8 voice. Tom Carpenter (the architect behind AS) has embraced the Oberheim SEM concept and taken things a lot further.
Maximus can be used monophonically or polyphonically, but with the architecture of an individual synth unit-per-voice, there is capacity to use Maximus in a host of different standalone environments. This is enhanced further by the fact that each voice is equipped with its own sequencer and bucket brigade delay!
For completists, Maximus can be equipped with its own keyboard which provides a degree of central command, but there is no doubt that the main event is the enormous control panel which towers over a metre high!
7. SE Code Luxe
Average Cost: $8795 (£8k/€8.5k)
Studio Electronics is another one of those companies that is very popular among musicians and producers who know SE’s work.
It has had a love affair with classic kit since the 80s, particularly designs reminiscent of Moog. You can see its influence on the Roland Boutique SE-02; a major collaboration between the two companies.
The company’s flagship 8-voice synth is the Code Luxe – a rackmount analogue synth, available with either two or four filters. The two filter version offers Minimoog and Oberheim filters, with the four filter option adding Roland and Yamaha CS-80 filters, although further customisation options are also available.
The knowledge and experience within SE as a company is vast, with an exactness to their detailing that provides the sound of the originals, with enormous capacity to go further through additional circuitry, such as overdrive.
Imagine owning a polyphonic synthesizer that is capable of emulating so many classics? That’s got to be a bargain, hasn’t it?
8. Serge Paperface 50 Edition
Average Cost: €7640 ($9k/£6k) (made to order)
Among synthesists and modular aficionados, there are a handful of companies that harbour a reputation for quality and uniqueness. One such company is Serge, and with its anniversary edition of the Paperface 50 System, you get all the benefits of a vintage system, with the reliability of contemporary design and build.
The versatility of the individual components set Serge apart from many of its competitors, with versatile oscillators that provide wave shaping, through to exceptionally extensive modulation possibilities, alongside more usual components such as filters.
9. Buchla Easel
Average Cost: €5598.00 ($6.5k/£5k)
Representing the West Coast approach to synthesis, the Buchla Easel is another reincarnation of a system first produced 50 years ago.
Available in either retro or modern formats, the rebooted Easel now incorporates USB and MIDI, making it a far more syncable prospect for contemporary production.
Equipped with numerous modulation sources, the Easel has West Coast capacity to generate interestingly rich sounds, with an abundance of movement built in at source.
10. Nonlinear Labs C15
Average Cost: €4800 (£4k/$5k)
Berlin-based Nonlinear Labs is the company behind the enigmatically titled C15.
Originally designed as a musician’s performance instrument, the C15 now incorporates MIDI, making it a viable instrument for modern use, although it maintains its thoroughbred design as a performance unit.
Beneath the beautifully designed wooden cabinet, the C15 relies upon a deceptively basic digital synthesis engine, which is capable of producing some exceptionally interesting tones.
With only 2 Sine wave oscillators, it employs phase modulation synthesis (much like Yamaha FM synthesis) to produce a versatile palette of sounds, with up to 24 voice polyphony.
Equipped with a Fatar TP/8S keyboard action, you’ll be wondering how two oscillators can create so many sonic possibilities.
Honorary Mentions
Given that we aren’t all going to be lucky enough to win the lottery, we have to give some honorary mentions to some of the other companies that are producing exceptional instruments, but in a price bracket that might be more obtainable to many of us.
Eurorack
Eurorack hit the peak of its popularity a few years ago, but it still remains highly desirable and above all, affordable and collectible. There are plenty of terrific modules out there, from companies such as Doepfer, Verbos, Make Noise and Erica Synths, through to British stalwarts like AJH Synth and ALM Busy Circuits. Given that you don’t have to buy everything at once, you can end up with a large and exceptional sounding system in the space of a year or two.
Sequential
Despite the unfortunate passing of Dave Smith, his company Sequential continues to go from strength the strength, whether you want to buy a newly rebooted Prophet 5/10 or prefer the idea of something hybrid, such as the Pro-3.
Alternatively, Sequential partnered with Oberheim to revitalise some of its classic designs, particularly the amazing sound of the OB-X8
…and many others!
Don’t forget other companies producing really great synthesizers, such as Waldorf, Groove Synthesis, and even the bigger-boys, Roland, Yamaha and Korg.
There is more affordable synthetic hardware out there of course, but consider any major purchase in the synth domain as a true investment – not just in financial terms, but as an instrument to learn inside out, and back to front.
Just think how far you can go with a really big hardware synthesizer if you learn every aspect of its capabilities? You’ll be so immersed in its inner workings, it might even take your mind off the loan repayments!
