Gear of the year 2024: The 10 best synths, samplers and drum machines

2024 has been a great year for new music making gear. As it comes to a close, MusicRadar's Managing Editor Si Truss and Reviews Editor Simon Arblaster count down our top 10 music tech instruments of the past 12 months.

In this video:
00:03 – Preamble
4:11 – Countdown starts
13:40 – Top 5 starts
29:42 – Skip to number 1

[DanChippendaleMusic]

Digitone II is fantastic. I think it's one of the most versatile boxes for different use cases around. If you want a groove box, then it can do it all. If you use it as a synth with 16 tracks like i do, then it shines at that too. The sounds it can make, and a lot simpler but far deeper than the original, are amazing. The three LFOs per voice are the icing on the cake. Love it

[quantumsheep]

I got my first ever MPC this year (The Keys37) and fell in love pretty much straight away :)

[aaronparys]

Interesting Choices but I would have to say the Sonicware Ambient 0 or the Solar 42 would be on my top 10 list

[paulchristey]

NO.1 Digitone 2 :) guess what I got for Christmas (trying to avoid reading the manual)

[pierremarty]

Best gear of 2024 is the criminally underrated dirtywave model 2

[creatorsremose]

Definitely interesting choices and seem to be a little unorthodox, which I like. Other than the Muse, Move and PB12 I don't share any of your choices but still much appreciated!

[compucorder]

The Digitone II is a great synth. That said, I don't desperately feel the need to sell my Digitone and upgrade to a Digitone II. It's been a year of incremental improvements, building on things from before. Some solid stuff, but nothing hugely exciting, if you already have a decently kitted out studio. 2023 was a bit like that too, from memory. I guess the knock on effects of inflation, chip and labour shortages. There was some more interesting stuff in the modular synth world. And in softsynths too, like Dawesome Myth, Madrona Labs Sumu, Zebralette 3. On the retro side, Cherry Audio Atomika is fantastic. Cherry Audio GX-80 & Softube Model 77 are both great too.

[hwoccurrence]

IMO the Murmux V3 sounds way better than both the Polybrute 12 and the Muse, and it has poly aftertouch with a lovely interface..

[furialeon]

Best new compact groovebox, sequencer, synth etc… hands down is the Teenage Engineering OP-XY, it has way more features than the Digitone like the brain, their workflow, arrangement (pattern, scenes, song).
Why was the OP-XY not included in your list? Was it the price?
From a functionality perspective how is Digitone better than the OP-XY?

[Bigger-Circuitry-Bigger-SOUND]

Digitone 2 is the most Synth for the money considering that it can act as effect box for other 2 instruments.
BUT there is a huge missing in this moment THE CHORD MODE and ARPEGGIATOR for the MIDI TRACKS, if #elektron will add this Digitone will be the mist powerfull and immediate sequencer on the market to finish full tracks

[TheNimasan]

torso s4 and vector tempera. in this list the p6 for me!

[ptah]

All of these are unaffordable. Can you do a top ten budget gear for 2024? Limited to £400 for a poly synth and under please

[williamshaneblyth]

And nothing on that list actually grabs me at all. Not saying they are bad they arnt well 1 or 2 are. When it comes to making music im still happy with my little hydrasynth explorer and Fantom 07 keyboard theres no real need for anything else . Bitwig being my daw of choice but thanks for the list was interesting

[thegoldenamerican]

Teenage Engineering OP XY should have made at least made the list …Honorable mention?

[damelos]

Well, I have 4 of the top 10. And I think the list is pretty accurate. I'm not sure the SYNTH should be up there but what the heck. Nice job fellas.

[treetopjones]

Moog Muse: $3500. for a poly synth now, SMH. Completely digital of course, but for that price you could buy TWO Hydrasynth Deluxes and have money left over.

[onathanj]

And the Two-5 is not on spot one because? With its endless sweet spots and fantastic modulation capabilities it surpasses every other synth with ease.
Polybrute 12 on second place? It doesn't matter if it has all these fantastic performance abilities when it sounds AWFULL. Just check out different forums, even people who like it defends its tone by saying that you can make it sound quite good but you need to program It well. But listening to the demos on YT even the pros presets sounds thin and have this bad tone. Which is a shame, because if it had the modulation capabilities of the Two-5 I would buy it instantly.

[davidmclean]

You don't need any of these hardware units to make great music, none of them sound better or different to anything you can do with software, just get one or two great software synths and learn them inside out.

[andreasroth]

The Korg multi/poly doesn't do it for me at all. It doesn't sound analog and it doesn't sound like a good digital synth either.

[TheMorningIWokeUpDead]

i really would love to like the multipoly, but it just feels like a gimmick to me and the modulation makes it sound somewehat wonky and useless... Maybe it's just me.