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The 5 best new hardware synths of 2019

It's no exaggeration to mention that we might be living through another golden era of hardware synths. Not goodbye ago, the market was within the doldrums, seemingly about destroyed by the increase of software, but as musicians have craved a return to physical instruments, it's risen again.

2019 has been another Platonic year, with fantastic new synths across the worth spectrum. Behringer may have dominated the headlines with its numerous clones and releases, but we've also seen plenty from the skilled brands.

Speaking of which, the instrument you've voted because the best new synth of 2019 comes from arguably the foremost famous synth manufacturer of all of them...

1. Moog Matriarch

The Matriarch may be a new 4-voice paraphonic semi-modular synthesizer. A patchable powerhouse, it comes with a built-in sequencer, arpeggiator, stereo ladder filters and stereo analogue delay.

Being semi-modular, you’re ready to ready to enjoy the complete feature set straight out of the box, but with the help of 90 modular patch points, you'll push your expression and creativity to the max.

The Matriarch may be a joyous celebration of all things Moog, and a worthy winner of our poll.

2. Korg Minilogue XD

This new beefed-up version of the Minilogue takes a number of the simplest bits from the prevailing pile of ‘logues. There's the digital multi-engine and expanded DSP section from the Prologue, and from the Monologue, a simplified 16-button, 16-step sequencer and microtuning options.

The end result's a nicely different flavour of Minilogue, and its unique personality makes it a hugely welcome addition to the range as an entire. Click Here

3. Novation Summit

Novation's newest flagship keyboard is predicated on two of its Peak synths, with various other juicy improvements thrown certain  good measure.

Once again designed together with Chris Hugget (Chris designed the legendary OSCar), Summit feels a bit like Peak in the maximum amount as it’s a premium product with super-tight rubberised knobs, good quality faders, nice, satisfyingly clicky buttons and a transparent OLED screen with adjustable brightness.

This is a superb synth - if you’re within the marketplace for a 16-voice hybrid poly, this has got to be a frontrunner on your list.

4. Arturia MicroFreak

Featuring a 12-mode digital oscillator, an analogue multimode filter and myriad sequencing options housed during a graffitied chassis, the MicroFreak’s unique stylings immediately grab your attention. It’s a bold look.

With numerous synthesis features packed into such alittle box, it’s hard to not fall crazy with the MicroFreak. The multiple oscillator modes cover a near-endless range of timbres; the filter is smooth and versatile; the Matrix invites exploratory modulation; and therefore the performance and sequencing tools are the icing on the creative cake.

5. Roland Jupiter-Xm

The Jupiter-Xm is essentially a ‘best of’ Roland analogue emulation and PCM sound module with a keyboard, and its power is sort of something.

It can emulate Roland’s analogues authentically; it can vocode; it can cover a good range of sounds; it's great connectivity, battery-power, and speakers; it’s a five-output USB audio interface; it’s built robustly; and it sounds fantastic.

For anyone who’s looking to travel light with a machine that provides you all the sounds you would like, the Jupiter-Xm is simply the thing.