2018 is the year of hybrid sound synthesis. Half of the synthesizers in the ranking is a delicious blend of analog + digital synthesis in different proportions. Sometimes even digital + digital, which is also interesting. Another half is an attempt to recreate the behavior of cult synthesizers of past years. This is our only chart for 3 years in which there are two MOOG synthesizers at once! This is an interesting and versatile chart, which you should familiarize yourself with and express your opinion, because otherwise you definitely risk missing something important!

On May 11th, a new Moog product was launched - a semi-modular analog synthesizer Grandmother, which also includes an arpeggiator, a sequencer and a spring reverb. Its design and internal organization refers to the classic modular systems from Moog, but now it is not necessary to understand the sound path of the instrument - its semi-modular structure allows you to explore the world of analog synthesis even without the knowledge of patching and, at the same time, reconnect any of the default connections.

Recently, Pittsburgh Modular teased its new 4-channel 32-step Eurorack sequencer, which will be exposed at the Berlin Superbooth exhibition. As you can see, it is looks familiar to the Microvolt 3900 with its blue backlight knobs. In fact, the whole design continues the style of the last synthesizer. Developers showed a small demo of their upcoming device, but full information will be available in May.

A new and unusual semimodular synthesizer will be presented by MOOG Music at Moogfest in Durham, which will begin less than in a month. In its creation, the developers were inspired by the ideas of Schillinger and the ancient synthesizers of Trautonium and Rhythmicon, so expect something very unusual. We have collected all the currently available information about the device, and we are also ready to share photo of the front panel of the new synthesizer.

Superbooth - the exhibition of musical equipment, whose popularity only grows from year to year, will be held from May 3 to May 5, 2018 in Berlin, Germany. This season, some new synths are expected, which can not be missed! In this article we note 2 analogue synthesizer modules - Kijimi from the Japanese company Black Corporation, which recently thundered with its supersynth Deckard's Dream, and System 1 Stereo Synth from the Audiophile Circuits League from Berlin.