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!

For a long time the workstations market, if we speak about mid-range instruments, was dominated by two synthesizers: Yamaha MOXF and Roland FA, Korg Krome being cheaper and less powerful solution. Both workstations have similar set of features and capabilities, and the choice between them consisted mainly of the user's taste preferences. Has anything changed with the release of the Yamaha MODX?

Yamaha has announced the launch of a new line of lightweight compact synthesizers, which will consist of three instruments: MODX6 and MODX7 with 61 and 76 pressure-sensitive keys respectively, and 88-key MODX8 with Graded Hammer Standard action.

One of the most famous synths of all time, Roland's first digital synthesizer and mega successful in sales, involved in a variety of popular musical compositions and soundtracks of the late 80's and 90's. It was one of the first to open our eyes to the real power of the digital music and became the object of lust for many generations of musicians, and is still being bought and resold for decent money. It is the most recopied and revived instrument by the Japanese company itself. D-50 is a digital synthesizer with the LA - Linear Arithmetic - engine. On September 9, 2017, to celebrate the 30th birthday of the synth, Roland released another reincarnation, this time with no functional compromise. Meet the best-selling (in the foreseeable future) module from the Boutique series - Roland D-05!

Analog generator waveform is far from being perfect – it’s unstable and suffers from inevitable voltage-brought deformation. Many of the analog filters are unsteady – you might hear some noises, phase shift or self-oscillation. But these very drawbacks make the signal so brisk, lively – well, actually, alive indeed. Digital developments helped to tame analog sound, cut it into samples, increase polyphony, give you a synthesizer equipped with the functions which were simply unobtainable in analog instruments. In 1990s instrument manufacturing companies got highly interested in analog modeling technologies development – they were eager to re-create those smallest details of electric musical instrument circuit behavior.