After 20+ years in professional audio: live sound engineering, studio technical direction (Deep Forest, Pierre Jacquot), head of digital marketing at Playback.fr. A first-hand witness to the analog-to-digital shift, I track the whole audio landscape and break it down here — no fluff.
The first fully in-house instrument from Dutch builder Vannes Devices, the Obsidian is a desktop semi-modular analog synth that blends East and West Coast synthesis in one box — an ambitious bet backed by an architecture with real character, still in its final tuning phase.
reFX, the studio behind Nexus, unveils Rippler: a software synth pairing modal physical modeling with subtractive synthesis across two independent layers. Twelve resonator models, an energy-coupling architecture and a $99 intro price. Here is what it actually brings to the table.
Behringer ships the FLOW 4V, a 10-track 32-bit float field recorder with MIDAS preamps, StageConnect, SMPTE timecode and a USB interface mode — all for around $299.
KRK refreshes its V line with the V-Series Five: three active monitors (V4S5, V6S5, V8S5) that gain DSP room control, an AES3 digital input, a big power bump and wireless control from your phone.
Germany’s Vermona has opened pre-orders for the drumDING, a hybrid drum machine that flips the usual formula: one endlessly tweakable analog percussion voice you shape by hand, then freeze into a sample to replay across six tracks.
Dusk Audio has just packed six vintage synths into one free, open-source plugin. A good moment to sort the best free software synthesizers of 2026: faithful emulations of a specific machine, modern do-it-all instruments and featherweight classics. Every one playable without spending a cent, with the caveats that matter.
Rhodes Music expands its software line with Clav Pro, an emulation of the 1977 Hohner Clavinet D6 ‘Transition’. Deep multi-sampling, amp and mic simulations and an in-house FX suite bring the clav’s funk bite into your DAW for a $89.95 introductory price.
Solid State Logic unveils the Odyssey, a new very large-format analogue console. The pitch: the sound and feel of a flagship SSL studio desk, paired with instant total recall of every setting — analogue dynamics included. The long-standing gap between pure analogue and digital convenience just closed.
Dusk Audio bundles six classic synthesis engines — from a DCO poly to an acid bass box — into a single free, open-source, cross-platform plugin. Sunset Circuits targets both the curious and producers who want a full vintage palette without spending a dime.
Nearly two decades after the hardware, Dangerous Music finally ships its own software BAX EQ, built with Acustica Audio and signed off by original designer Chris Muth. A broad-stroke mastering EQ made to shape a mix without ever tiring it out.