"In this special episode recorded on location at Superbooth 2026 in Berlin, Tom and Luke discuss some of the new gear they checked out at the show, including the Buchla Ziggy, Make Noise Plexiphon, Xaoc Devices Budapeszt, Body Synths Laboratory, and Befaco/Mylar Melodies Random8, to name just a tiny handful. Apologies to anyone we left out - there’s simply too much to cover in a single episode!
Get in touch with questions, feedback and suggestions via signalflow@signalsounds.com
"This is the third recording with the SammichFM. It is a streamlined, compact version of the MIDIbox FM synthesizer DIY kit. Designed around the OPL3 chip YMF262 (4-Operators with 4 different waves), which was a famous sound chip from the 8 bit computer era (e.g. Sound Blaster 16 soundcard), it can play 4-sounds with 6-voice polyphony each.
I used for the recording the following FX pedals:
Red Panda Raster 2, Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe, GFI System Specular Reverb 2.
The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PC via USB for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. On some tracks Compressor and EQ where added in Cubase 13. The final song was then mastered using iZotope Ozone.
Well, I decided to go back to the basics, but at the same time make something useful for the synth community and do a kind of competition (I like competitions;-). What's my best synth for ambient music :-)"
"Recorded at Superbooth Berlin 2026, this video takes a closer look at the Supercritical Redshift 6, one of the most original analog synth designs on the show floor. The Redshift 6 is a six-voice desktop synthesizer built around Supercritical’s Demon Core technology, with each voice using a digitally controlled analog oscillator architecture that can generate up to 16 simultaneous analog oscillators per voice.
What makes this instrument stand out is Supercritical’s MDCO concept, or Multiperiod Digitally Controlled Oscillator, which goes beyond the usual idea of a classic DCO by allowing multiple analog waves with pitch and phase control from a single analog oscillator core. In practice, that gives the Redshift 6 a huge sonic range, from vintage-style poly textures and wide supersaw stacks to flanging, phase-based movement, and dense unison sounds across a fully analog dry signal path.
In this Superbooth 2026 video, we explore the synth’s sound, interface, and performance potential, while talking through the features that make it one of the most forward-thinking hybrid-controlled analog instruments available today. With six voices, an analog 4-pole multimode filter, and a design that can evolve through firmware-based engine expansion, the Redshift 6 is aimed at producers and sound designers who want a modern polysynth with a distinctive technical identity.
If you are into advanced synthesis, bold analog tone, and new approaches to oscillator design, this is one of the most interesting synthesizers to watch from Superbooth Berlin 2026."
"The C25 is our new performance synthesizer. Building on the expertise from the C15, it combines outstanding playability, an intuitive user interface and advanced signal processing.
The sound engine responds to every playing nuance with high expressiveness and has access to the huge preset library of the C15.
With the touring musician in mind, the C25 comes in a compact, lightweight and robust housing. Most of the components are manufactured in Europe with a passionate focus on durability and sustainability.
The C25 is designed to serve as a platform for future developments and will also support synthesis or effect engines from third-party developers. Therefore it remains adaptable and up-to-date in the long term.
Features
Expression
The high-quality Fatar TP/8S keybed is combined with continuous sensors developed by Nonlinear Labs. The keys become polyphonic modulation sources, offering control by the vertical position of the key, its velocity or the aftertouch pressure.
"**OUT JUNE 15TH - MORE INFO HERE & DEALERS: https://www.befaco.org/random8 ** 🙌 HELLO M8! Please meet the module I've been making with Befaco! 🟠RANDOM8 is a random voltage generator designed bring a whole modular to life, in the smallest possible space. You get 8 independent random voltage generators, with dedicated per-channel looping buttons and attenuators, in just 8HP(!) It's what I've wished I could have in my live modular for a long time - a stupid amount of per-step modulation in a small space, yet you can control the looping instantly.
RANDOM8 is previewing at the Superbooth 2026 show in Berlin May 7-9 2026, and in dealer hands for sale on June 15th. Visit Befaco's tent at Z180 to give it a squiggle!
There is a limited batch to start with and more will follow. Thank you, M8s."
"Flow 3 is a filter that sounds bigger than it looks. Behind the compact 6 HP front panel lies a novel variation on the classic state-variable filter topology, offering simultaneous lowpass, bandpass and highpass outputs.
But the ace up Flow 3’s sleeve is its auto-dynamic nature: it is a filter that can modulate itself. This is achieved by a combined decay generator/envelope follower circuit which controls the filter frequency over an adjustable range."
0:00 intro
3:00 filter sweeps
5:32 quadrature sine VCO
6:20 spectrum splitter
8:15 auto filter
10:52 sine LFO
12:01 pinged percussion
14:00 decay envelope
14:40 envelope follower
16:05 outro
Flow 3 is a filter that sounds bigger than it looks. Behind the compact 6 HP front panel lies a novel variation on the classic state variable filter topology, offering simultaneous lowpass, bandpass and highpass outputs. Core integrator saturation provides for a sound that’s clean, yet distinctive.
The resonance response is exceptionally smooth—and it can easily reach self-oscillation. In this mode, temperature-compensation and exact calibration make Flow 3 a reliable quadrature sine/cosine oscillator with tight pitch tracking.
But the ace up Flow 3’s sleeve is its auto-dynamic nature: it is a filter that can modulate itself. This is achieved by a combined decay generator/envelope follower circuit which controls the filter frequency over an adjustable range. Either fire decay envelopes from external triggers, or flip it to auto mode to follow along with the incoming signal’s amplitude envelope (or both, simultaneously).
PolyFreq pitches availability of Phonon plug-in debut as precision granular laboratory for sonic alchemy
BRISTOL, UK: boutique musical tools-maker PolyFreq is proud to announce availability of Phonon as its debut plug-in — pitched as a precision laboratory for sonic alchemy, built around a high-quality sample granulation engine with root note detection, four keyboard follow modes, and legato giving it real versatility as a playable instrument — as of May 5…
Acting as a musical synthesiser first and foremost, Phonon is designed for very intentional, controllable reconstruction of one source, leaning into synchronous granular or ‘graintable’ synthesis. Sub-sample grain scheduling and separate grain rate and density controls open new vistas of repeatable, controllable timbre and tempo across macro and micro parameter ranges. Reality dictates that where other granular synths default to randomisation or multiple sources, Phonon provides users with complete control over every grain — from classic textural clouds to malleable ‘grainwave’ synthesis. Indeed, it is equal parts laboratory and playground.
“Phonon’s development was inspired by the great creativity of early granular work from composers such as Wishart and Roads, and the deep listening of Oliveros, with a desire to make this wild, creative territory more accessible to electronic music production and sound design, without stripping away what makes it strange and inspirational.” So says PolyFreq founder Nick Mariette by way of an illuminating introduction. It aims for ease of use, with a simple drag-and-drop workflow for modulation, and most features are immediately visible, with minimal menus or hidden options. And a flexible array of audio-rate modulation sources provide huge scope for patches that respond and evolve, including LFOs (Low Frequency Oscillators), envelopes, sample metadata, sequencers, MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) control data, and various noise flavours.
Features additionally worthy of the edited highlights treatment here include Phonon’s granular engine — eight voices of polyphony with up to 256 grains per voice and sub-sample precision that bridges the gap between classic textures and sharp ‘graintable’ synthesis; effects — shape sounds with a character-driven signal chain, from saturating drive to resonant filtering, as well as a utility reverb for glue or depth; presets — easily capture, export, evolve, and share sonic creations with sample embedding and eight-way snapshots; and drag-and-drop workflow in a resizeable interface for easy enjoyment as a standalone instrument or for plug-in-based DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) production.
Phonon’s uses are almost endless — think time stretching; pitch shifting; sample mangling; sound design; classic textural, granular clouds; synchronous, tuned granular tone creation; creating a synth from any sample; rhythmic grain generation, synced to host; beat retiming and timbre distortion; and more besides. Back to Nick Mariette: “Phonon is intended for reshaping beats and designing synth leads as much as for losing time in ethereal granular atmospheres; I hope it will connect people to listening differently, discovering the sounds within sounds.”
Anyone attending SUPERBOOTH26, May 7-9, FEZ-Berlin, Germany is hereby encouraged to swing by Booth H116 there, where PolyFreq will be showcasing Phonon to the musical masses assembled and Nick Mariette himself will be on hand to personally provide a warm welcome with an open invitation to discover those sounds within sounds. Spanning chaotic clouds to precise synthesis, controllable sonic alchemy is there for the taking so why not take this hands-on opportunity to discover and delight in vibrating matter differently with Phonon!
Phonon is available to buy as a standalone or VST3 plug-in for macOS (10.13 or later) and Windows (10 or later) at a 33% launch discount — duly rising thereafter to its full price of $89.00 USD (excluding tax)/€76.00 EUR (including tax)/£68.00 GBP (including tax) — directly from PolyFreq here: https://www.polyfreq.com/products
For more in-depth information, please visit the PolyFreq products webpage here: https://www.polyfreq.com/products
"Announcing the Leveling EQ Amplifier: stereo widening, Neve 1073 style EQ, and LA-2A style optical compression in 14hp. $345 available June 30th from your favorite synth retailer."
The Leveling EQ Amplifier is an end-of-chain audio processor designed to polish individual elements of a patch, stereo bus, or full master bus.
Inspired by the simple interfaces and pleasing sounds of two cornerstones of mixing, the LA-2A optical compressor and the 1073 EQ, the LEQA combines a compressor, an equalizer, and a modern Stereo Width Processor in one 14HP package.
Rather than being fully parametric, pre-defined curves and frequency selections make the art of mixing intuitive. Very little effort is needed for great sounding mixes.
The compressor mimics optical compression, which is a beautifully simple concept that yields incredibly musical results.
The EQ section is built to help accentuate and excite your mix, clear up muddled sounds, and increase the overall headroom.
The Stereo Width Processor adjusts the stereo image, letting you dial back a wide image into a cohesive sound, or push a normal stereo signal into "super stereo" territory. When used with mono sources, it can widen mono sources into stereo using a combination of psychoacoustic techniques.
The Leveling EQ Amplifier excels in live performances, studio work, subtle utility tasks, extreme sonic sculpting, audio "glue" to hold a patch together, and as an effect in its own right.
"And finally it arrived!
A masterpiece of a special poly synth (dual module) :-)
I seriously cannot stop play the UDO synths they are just so fun and special.
These sounds are custom made and no external FX being used, not even compression just to give you a more honest point of view of this machine.
Since this is a crazy machine when it comes to signal path flexibility then patches will jump in volume from patch to patch :-)
This synth will easily push out some of my other synths with all it's right of being an engineering-art literally.
Thank you UDO team for making ground breaking machines and above all keeping your production in UK and the outstanding high quality!"
"Our good friend The Unperson returns to the Signal Sounds channel to put the Sequential Fourm through its paces.
Fourm offers the classic sound and quality of Sequential at an unprecedented price point. Drawing on some of the best synths of all time, this compact analogue powerhouse boasts some fantastic features like poly aftertouch and a flexible arpeggiator/sequencer.
"Horror inspired soundscape generator from ResonanceCircuits.
Available at:
www.resonancecircuits.com"
"The Entropy Generator: An instrument of psychological dread..
Each of the 8 selectable soundscapes serve as a gateway to a different pocket of the abyss, ominous sub-harmonics, skin crawling malevolence, aetheric whispers and rhythmic metallic shrieks curdle together into beautifully sinister atmospherics.
8 selectable soundscapes
Sounds can be momentary triggered by touching the contact plates with the crocodile clip, loop sounds by connecting to the contact plate.
CONTROLS: On/off power switch Indicator led - illuminates when a sound is triggered Reflection - echo rate control Regeneration - feedback depth control body contact - use in conjunction with the feedback control to inject varying amounts of feedback into the mix quickly. Intensity - input mix control - varies the amount of signal sent from the sound generator section into the delay circuit. Magnitude - output level control 1/4" jack output
Requires a 9v DC input (negative centre polarity) power supply, 500-800mA. Not supplied.
Oak stained and waxed wood plinth base with a black and gold control panel.
YouTube is doing its annoying voiceover auto-dubbing on my end. You can enable CC on the bottom of the player and you can mute the sound if you want. You can find the full playlist of SynthFest France 2026 Presentations here.
"Discover the latest evolutions of Heritage Modular, the polyphonic modular synthesizer with presets, with "Delicate Shadows": keyboard, Erae 2, and live coding reveal its multitimbral richness.
As with any creative endeavor, in the beginning, there is nothing… Then comes the encounter of an idea or two, or three, with the machine, THE machine, THE synthesizer that fills your sonic space with its rich sounds.
The moonlit night reveals 'delicate shadows,' like the harmonics of the Heritage Modular's sounds. From this, the track 'Delicate Shadows' was born, to expand the dimensions of the synthesizer itself, to fill the space of a room, if only for a few minutes.
It is the combination of three areas of expertise that allowed this music to come into being: the composition of a gentle, almost melancholic melody; the mastery of the code that makes the speaker diaphragms vibrate; and the electronic design that carries the electrical signal through the circuits, allowing it to vibrate freely.
Website: https://www.heritagesynthesizers.fr/
Copyright Association SynthFest France - All rights reserved."
