Synthesis and Synthesizers
Published on 10/09/2026
The world of synthesizers continues to evolve with increasingly innovative instruments capable of inspiring new approaches to music production, sound design, and live performance. Here’s a selection of the most interesting synthesizers, Eurorack modules, and experimental instruments of the moment, including the latest releases and instruments now available in the Milk Audio Store catalog.
Plexiphon is the stereo spatial texturizer for Eurorack developed by Make Noise in collaboration with Tom Erbe of Soundhack. Its modeless architecture allows you to seamlessly transition between reverbs, multi-tap delays, and hybrid textures without changing modes or algorithms: the Plexus control modulates the number of feedback paths and their degree of interconnection, while Size defines their temporal relationship, acting either as delay time or as room size. Couple and Skew offer particularly refined control over the stereo image; Diffuse and Color shape the effect’s timbre over time; and the built-in envelope follower allows you to create self-modulating patches with the rest of your modular system.
PLUS 3 is a fully passive desktop pedal that brings expressive control to your desk, connecting to the sustain and expression jacks of synthesizers, MIDI controllers, effects pedals, and semi-modular instruments. The 50mm fader enables swells, real-time automation, and true macro control on all devices that support expression jack mapping, while the sustain side features a momentary button and a drone mode that sustains notes while keeping your hands free. The aluminum body and interchangeable sustain switch—based on the standard for mechanical keyboard switches—complete a device that requires no power and introduces no latency. Available in the new Midnight Blue color.
The Lifeforms SV2 Keyboard is a semi-modular analog synthesizer featuring a 37-key keyboard and monophonic, paraphonic, and two-voice polyphonic modes. The architecture combines two Thru-Zero Triangle-Core oscillators with linear FM, phase modulation, and Hard Sync; a dual signal path with two multimode filters featuring Character and Drive controls; two VCAs; two ADSR envelopes; two voltage-controlled LFOs; Sample & Hold, and an analog spring reverb with Tilt EQ. Thanks to its normalized signal path, it’s ready to play right out of the box even without patch cables, while the 84 Eurorack-compatible sockets and 24 TE of available space in the chassis make it the ideal starting point for an ever-expanding system.
MESA is the stereo reverb born from the collaboration between 4ms and Valley Audio, built around Dattorro’s legendary plate reverb algorithm—the same engine powering the Plateau module for VCV Rack—now brought to hardware with 96kHz processing and internal 64-bit double-precision processing. In addition to the characteristic spatiality of a plate reverb, the four modulation LFOs, pre-delay of up to 500 ms, dual filters on the input and reverb, and the Size, Diffusion, and Decay controls open the door to subtle chorusing, plucked strings, tuned echoes, and ever-evolving textures. The Freeze function freezes the reverberations indefinitely, while Tuned Size tunes the all-pass filters and allows you to play the reverb with 1V/octave sources.
The Leveling EQ Amplifier, or LEQA, combines the three tools needed to refine the end of the signal chain into a single Eurorack module. The optical compressor, inspired by the LA-2A’s design, offers 3:1 and 10:1 ratios, a real-time VU meter, and dry/wet control for parallel compression. The four-band equalizer, featuring low- and high-shelf filters, a mid-range bell filter, and a high-pass filter, operates on preselected frequencies chosen for their musical performance in the vein of the Neve 1073 and can be placed either before or after the compressor. Rounding out the module is a stereo-width processor capable of narrowing the soundstage, expanding it into super stereo, or spatially spreading a mono source through a reimagined Haas effect, with control available both manually and via CV.
The ADDAC120 is Addac System’s modular string ecosystem: a four-string instrument, with strings installed exactly as on a guitar and featuring customizable tuning, playable and controllable via CV, trigger, or MIDI within a Eurorack system. At its core is the Headstock & Bridge module, complemented by a quadraphonic pickup with hand-wound coils and independent pickup for each string, robotic picks with Pluck and Harmonic modes, an automated mute inspired by the Fender Jaguar and Bass VI, the Rotary Exciter with a 7,000 RPM brushless motor for magnetic excitation of the strings, and the motorized Ebow Slider for infinite sustain and ambient textures. The system is available in multiple configurations, ranging from the Base Kit to the Humbucker and Quadraphonic versions, all the way up to the Monster Quadraphonic System with a complete 197HP case.
These are just a few of the instruments that are capturing the attention of the international electronic synthesis community. Keep following us to stay up to date on the latest news about desktop synthesizers, drum machines, Eurorack modules, experimental instruments, MIDI and CV controllers, and technologies for professional music production.
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