Superbooth 2026 Was Pure Gear Overload - Noise Harmony Report
- Noise Harmony
- 19 hours ago
- 18 min read
This was our first time at Superbooth 2026 as Noise Harmony, and it really did feel like walking into a small city built for people who treat oscillators, filters, drum machines and strange performance controllers as a completely normal way to spend three days. Superbooth 2026 took place in FEZ-Berlin from May 7 to May 9, and this year the show celebrated its 10th anniversary. So, before we even get into the gear, there was already a bigger feeling around the event. It was not only about new products. It also felt like a good moment to ask where electronic instruments are actually going.
Superbooth 2026
And the answer was not one simple direction. If anything, Superbooth 2026 showed that several futures are happening at the same time. Some companies are pushing deeper digital synthesis, some are returning to analog character, some are building more expressive controllers, some are making drum machines more performative, some are turning effects into instruments, and some are bringing software and hardware much closer together.
This is not a complete report, because Superbooth is simply too big for that. And, to be fair, we are not hardcore modular specialists. We like modular, we respect it, and we enjoy seeing what smaller Eurorack developers are doing, but our world is more about playable synths, standalone instruments, expressive controllers, drum machines and gear that can realistically fit into a studio or live setup.
So if something is missing here, it does not mean it was unimportant. It simply means this is the show as we experienced it. This is our personal map of Superbooth 2026, built around the instruments that stopped us, the ideas that stayed with us, and the moments that best captured where electronic music gear might be heading next.
If you don’t like reading, make sure to watch our video!
ASM Leviasynth
Our first proper stop was the ASM booth, where we finally got to try the Leviasynth in person.
ASM introduced Leviasynth earlier in the year around NAMM, but Superbooth gave us a much better chance to actually experience it. We could hear it properly, look at the interface, and understand what kind of instrument ASM has built here. We also had a really interesting conversation with one of the ASM creators, who walked us through the synth and showed us how you actually use it in practice.
And the short version is this: Leviasynth is not just an “upgraded Hydrasynth.” It feels like ASM is taking the performance-focused, digital-synthesis mindset of the Hydrasynth and pushing it into a much larger hybrid architecture. It also comes both as a keyboard version and as a desktop version, so it can work either as a full performance instrument or as the sound design brain of a more compact studio setup.
At the core, Leviasynth is a 16-voice hybrid synthesizer with eight oscillators per voice. But the number itself is not the whole story, because the more interesting part is how those oscillators are organized. Instead of following the classic oscillator one, oscillator two, filter and amp structure, Leviasynth uses 144 preset oscillator algorithms, and those algorithms define how the oscillators interact with each other.
On top of that, you get more than 300 waveforms, algorithm morphing, a digital filter stage, an analog four-pole low-pass filter, deep modulation, sequencing, arpeggiation, MPE support and polyphonic aftertouch.
So, for the user, the idea is quite clear. Leviasynth is not really about quick bread-and-butter virtual analog sounds. It is more about animated digital tones, evolving pads, cinematic textures, hybrid leads, strange sequences and sounds that react under your fingers thanks to ASM's Polytouch approach.
And because of that, it set the tone for one of the strongest themes of the show: deep digital sound design becoming more playable, more tactile and more performance-oriented.
Polyend Drums, Mess and Endless
After ASM, we moved to Polyend, and this booth had a very different energy.
For us at Noise Harmony, this stop also felt a little special, because Polyend is a Polish company, just like us. And honestly, seeing a Polish brand showing this kind of ambitious hardware at Superbooth made us feel proud. Polyend is also interesting because they are not locked into one type of product. The y move between grooveboxes, trackers, effects, drum machines and performance tools, and at Superbooth 2026 the main focus was clearly Drums.
Polyend Drums is their new flagship drum machine. It combines analog voices, digital instruments and samples in one box, with eight tracks and a performance-focused sequencer. The final production version is designed to include four analog voices based around SSI analog circuitry, with VCOs, noise, filtering and VCAs, plus digital and sample-based voices. On the sequencing side, you also get tools like probability, micro-timing, parameter locks, individual track lengths, LFOs and performance effects.
One of the most interesting performance ideas is X0Y, actually pronounced X-zero-Y. It lets you morph between drum kit variations in real time, and that matters because this kind of control can make a drum machine feel less like a pattern playback box and more like an instrument you actually perform.
So Drums clearly speak to people who want analog drum tone, but do not want to give up modern sequencing, samples, digital engines and live performance control. And with machines like the Roland TR-1000 also in the air, drum machines clearly had a serious year.
Polyend also had Mess and Endless, and although both products entered the Polyend story before this year's Superbooth, they still helped explain where the company's ecosystem is going. Mess first appeared at Superbooth 2025, while Endless arrived around NAMM 2026, so at this show they were less like surprise announcements and more like additional pieces of the bigger Polyend direction.
Mess is a multi-effect step sequencer with four independent effect tracks, and that is the key idea. This is not just a normal stereo multi-effect pedal. You can sequence effects, stack them, give them different rhythmic behavior and use the box almost like an effects instrument. For synths, drones, drum loops and simple patterns, that can completely change the movement of a sound.
Endless goes in another direction, because it is a customizable effects pedal based around Polyend Playground, with AI-style prompt interaction. In simple terms, you can describe the type of effect you want, type it as a prompt and generate or assemble something playable. Of course, this is not magic, and it will not replace taste or sound design experience, but the concept is interesting: an effect pedal that can become something different over time.
So the Polyend booth summed up another major direction of the show: analog and digital in the same box, sequencing everywhere, performance controls on more devices, and effects becoming creative instruments rather than processors at the end of a chain.
Korg mystery synth and NTS-4 Mixer
From there, we reached Korg, and this was one of the more discussed moments of the show.
At the booth, Korg had a mysterious synth prototype wrapped in plastic. The cover revealed just enough to make people stop and wonder, but not enough to understand the full panel, the controls or the architecture.
From what you could see through the cover, it looked like a five-octave synthesizer with a lot of LEDs and visual feedback across the front panel. You could also make out numerous knobs and a screen on the right side. So this did not look like a tiny desktop box or a small utility device. It looked like a proper full-size synth, which is exactly why people got interested so quickly.
Korg did not officially explain what it was, so we should be careful here. Anything beyond that is speculation. But, of course, people immediately started guessing. Some thought it might be a Prologue successor, maybe a Prologue 2, maybe something connected to the Minilogue and Prologue family, or maybe a completely new synth line. The name “Epilogue” appeared in fan discussion, but there is no official confirmation of that name.
What we can say is that Korg clearly wanted people to notice it. A covered prototype at Superbooth is not an accident. It creates attention, and in this case it worked.
At the same time, Korg also had something much more concrete at the show: the NTS-4 Mixer.
This one is easier to talk about because it was an actual product presentation. The NTS-4 is a compact performance mixer in the Nu:Tekt line, designed for small synth setups, portable rigs and DAWless performance. But Korg did not make just a simple little mixer. They added performance-oriented controls and effects, which fits the current trend of mixers becoming part of the creative instrument rather than just utility boxes.
Korg also brought phase8, which many people had seen during its NAMM 2026 presentation. Even without the surprise factor, phase8 remains one of the strangest and most original instruments in Korg's recent catalogue. It is an acoustic synthesizer based on eight electromechanical voices driving steel resonators, so instead of only generating sound electronically, phase8 physically excites resonators. That gives it a very different character from a normal synth.
So Korg gave us three very different angles at once: a mystery prototype that fueled speculation, a practical performance mixer for compact hardware setups, and phase8, a strange acoustic-electronic instrument that still feels unlike almost anything else in the Korg catalogue.
Waldorf Iridium Mk2
Next, we checked Waldorf and the Iridium Mk2.
The original Iridium built its reputation as a very deep digital sound design instrument, because Waldorf brought a lot of the Quantum-style engine into a desktop format: wavetables, granular synthesis, resonator-based sounds, sampling, deep modulation and a very modern interface.
Waldorf announced Iridium Mk2 in March 2026, but at Superbooth the story became more practical for existing users, because the company talked more clearly about the upgrade path for Iridium Mk1 owners, including a hardware upgrade option priced at 598 euros in the EU.
The Mk2 is basically about more resources, more memory, four-part multitimbral operation and new creative features. Two of those features stood out. The first is Seeds, a new synthesis method. The second is per-note parameter locks, developed in collaboration with Aphex Twin. That means individual notes can carry their own parameter variations, so one patch can behave differently note by note instead of changing only globally.
And that says a lot about what Iridium is. Nobody is pretending this is a simple preset keyboard. Iridium Mk2 sits closer to a sound design workstation or a laboratory for people who want to build complex, evolving and sometimes very unusual digital instruments.
It is not the kind of synth that tries to charm you in 30 seconds. It is the kind of instrument you could probably spend a year with and still keep discovering new corners. So while Leviasynth presented deep synthesis as a playable instrument, Iridium Mk2 presented it as a deep digital environment.
Novation Launch Control XL 3
After that, Novation was more of a workflow stop for us.
Launch Control XL 3 joined Novation's lineup before this year's show, after being shown around Superbooth 2025, but it still belonged here because it represents something very important: control.
You get eight faders, 24 endless encoders, assignable buttons, transport controls, an OLED display and proper MIDI connectivity. So no, it was not the flashiest thing at the show, but it is exactly the kind of box that can make a hybrid Ableton, hardware and synth setup feel playable.
And that small workflow stop made one point clearly: in modern hardware setups, control is becoming just as important as sound generation.
Oberheim and Sequential
Then we moved to the Oberheim and Sequential area, which felt like the classic analog polyphonic corner of the show.
There was the Sequential Fourm, Oberheim TEO-5, Sequential Take 5, OB-6 and the broader family of modern Sequential and Oberheim instruments. And after all the digital depth, hybrid engines and prototype mystery, this section brought the show back to something more immediate: tone, feel and musical character.
And for our keyboard player, this was basically a dream moment. Being surrounded by Sequential and Oberheim synths at the same time is not exactly a normal everyday situation, especially when these instruments are connected with so much history, so much classic tone and so many records we all know.
Fourm deserves to go first here because it is one of the newer Sequential instruments worth checking out. It is a four-voice analog polyphonic synth inspired by the Prophet-5 and Pro-One lineage, and it feels like Sequential trying to give you a concentrated version of that classic voice architecture without turning it into a huge flagship instrument. So it sits somewhere between classic Sequential tone, compact format and a focused performance instrument.
TEO-5 came into the conversation back at Superbooth 2024, but it still belonged in this section because it brings Oberheim character into a more compact and relatively approachable format: five analog voices, modern control, patch memory and effects.
Take 5 plays the role of the practical modern Sequential polysynth: compact, direct and very easy to understand if you know the basic architecture of a subtractive synth.
And then there is OB-6: not new, but still full of identity. Sometimes an instrument does not need to be the newest thing in the room. It just needs to sound like itself.
So this whole section made a simple point. Superbooth is not only about radical concepts or futuristic workflows. Sometimes the main argument is much simpler: tone, feel and musical immediacy still matter.
Ableton Move, Push and Live 12.4
Ableton was another important stop, especially because Live 12.4 had been released on May 5, just two days before Superbooth opened.
The headline feature is Link Audio. Ableton Link already made it possible to sync devices over a network, and Link Audio takes that idea further by adding real-time audio streaming between compatible Link peers on the same network.
The direction is important here. Live and Push can send and receive audio via Link Audio, while Move and Note can send audio, but cannot receive it. In practice, that means Move and Note can feed audio into a bigger Live or Push setup, while Live and Push can work more fully in both directions.
And that feels like a very modern Ableton idea. The focus is no longer only one computer running one DAW session. Instead, the whole ecosystem starts to feel more connected, with different devices working together more fluidly.
Live 12.4 also updates Erosion, Delay and Chorus-Ensemble. It improves stem separation, adds Learn View, and brings updates to Push, Move and Note. Move is especially interesting in this context, because it becomes more useful as a small standalone idea machine that can connect back into the bigger Ableton ecosystem.
So Ableton's role at the show was not about one new box. The bigger idea was connection: Live, Push, Move, Note, Link Audio, audio tracks and creative workflow moving closer together.
Yamaha Montage
Next was Yamaha, and the focus was Montage.
This year, Yamaha's booth had a nice milestone angle, because they were celebrating 10 years of Montage. And the timing was perfect, because Superbooth itself was also celebrating its 10th anniversary. So, in a way, it felt like a shared birthday for both the show and the Montage platform.
Montage is not a boutique synth and it is not trying to be the strangest instrument at Superbooth. It is a flagship performance platform, which means its value is in how much ground it can cover reliably.
The current Montage M platform combines multiple synthesis engines, performance control, scenes, motion sequencing, the Super Knob and a very large sound library. It also added the AN-X virtual analog engine, which makes the platform more interesting from a synth-design perspective, not only as a stage workstation.
So Yamaha was not the loudest booth in terms of hype, but it delivered a useful reminder: professional instruments do not need shock value to matter. Sometimes power means range, reliability and a workflow that is ready for stage and studio work.
u-he Zebra 3
Then we had to talk about u-he Zebra 3.
This one is software, but it belongs in this video because Zebra 2 became a legendary synth for sound designers, film composers and electronic producers. Zebra 3 had also been one of those long-awaited updates that people were talking about for years, so its release naturally became part of the wider Superbooth atmosphere.
Zebra 3 arrived only a few weeks before the show, with its release on April 20, 2026, so it was not a show-floor launch. But because it landed so close to the event, it naturally became one of the big software topics around Superbooth.
And this is a major redesign, not just a cosmetic update. The new oscillator system is based around spline waveform creation, which means you can draw, shape and morph waveforms in a more visual way. It also combines ideas from analog modeling, wavetable, additive synthesis, FM-style synthesis, physical modeling, new filters and modern modulation.
At the same time, Zebra 3 keeps the modular-minded philosophy of the original, while making deep sound design easier to navigate.
You can use it for normal synth sounds, of course, but that is not really why people are excited. Zebra has always been a sound designer's instrument: evolving pads, cinematic textures, hybrid acoustic-electronic sounds, rhythmic movement and very detailed modulation.
And its presence in a Superbooth video says something about the current synth world. The line between hardware and software is not as strict as it used to be. A serious synth is a serious synth, whether it sits on a table or runs inside a DAW.
Expressive E Osmose CE
Another important stop was Expressive E and the Osmose Controller Edition.
Osmose CE appeared shortly before Superbooth, at the end of April 2026, but expressive control has become such a big topic that it felt completely relevant to the show. And honestly, this is one of those products you should pay attention to, because it touches a question that probably every keyboard player has asked at some point: can a keyboard player become, in some way, a guitarist, a wind player, a violinist, or even someone inside an orchestra?
Of course, a keyboard will never literally become all of those instruments. But Osmose shows that you can get much closer to that kind of organic movement than a normal keyboard usually allows. The original Osmose already proved this, because it looks like a keyboard, but it does not behave like a normal keyboard. The keys respond to pressure, movement, bending gestures and release in ways that make electronic sounds feel much more physical.
The Osmose CE takes that playing concept and turns it into a dedicated MIDI controller. You get the expressive keybed, but without the internal synth engine of the original Osmose, because Expressive E designed this version to control software instruments and external gear.
The controller comes in 49-key and 61-key versions, with an aluminium body, USB-C, MIDI connections, pedal inputs and software integration.
But the real idea is not just MPE support. Expressive E is trying to make MPE feel like an instrument, and that is where the magic is. Once pitch, timbre, vibrato and pressure can change per note, even a simple patch starts to breathe. The amount of organic movement you can get from this keyboard is genuinely impressive.
And this is one of those products where the demo is more important than the spec sheet. You really need to see or play it to understand why it feels different.
Arturia AstroLab, PolyBrute 12 and KeyStep
At Arturia, the strongest impression came from the ecosystem.
AstroLab entered the market before Superbooth 2024, but it still shows Arturia's bridge between software instruments and hardware performance. The idea is simple: take a large part of the Arturia software sound world and put it into a stage-friendly keyboard format.
Then there is PolyBrute 12, the more serious expressive analog flagship in the current lineup, with 12 voices and the FullTouch keyboard. Here, morphing, movement, performance and deep hands-on control are the whole point.
And then there is KeyStep. KeyStep might be the least glamorous product in this section, but at Superbooth it is almost impossible to ignore. You see it everywhere. Not only at Arturia's booth, but also at many other booths where developers use it to demonstrate their synths, modules and desktop instruments.
In a funny way, KeyStep may have been the most visible Arturia product at Superbooth, even when you were not standing at Arturia's booth. And that says a lot. KeyStep became one of those quiet standard tools because it connects MIDI, CV, sequencing and compact setups in a simple way. In that sense, Arturia had a presence not only at its own booth, but across the whole show.
Nord Electro 7
Then we checked out the Nord Electro 7.
Nord is a different kind of company in this context. Their instruments are not usually the weirdest things at Superbooth, because Nord focuses on stage reliability, fast workflow and sounds that working musicians actually use every night.
We also had a really interesting presentation from Christopher, who showed us very clearly how easy it is to use the latest Nord in practice. And that matters with an instrument like this, because Nord's whole appeal is built around getting to the right sound quickly, without fighting the interface.
Electro 7 continues that idea, but the biggest change is the synth section. Nord moved beyond a simple sample-based layer and added virtual analog and FM capabilities, which makes the Electro line more flexible than before.
You also get the expected Nord strengths: organ, piano, electric piano, samples, effects, a clean interface and performance controls.
But of course, the most important part was the sound presentation. And honestly, the piano and organ sounds really won us over. They had that immediate, playable quality that explains why Nord instruments are so common on stages. You do not need a long explanation when the piano feels right under the fingers and the organ instantly sits in that classic live keyboard space.
There is also a funny detail around this model. When Nord first revealed Electro 7 before NAMM 2026, some players criticized the lack of pitch and modulation controls, especially because the new synth section was much more serious. Nord reacted unusually quickly and announced a design revision right before NAMM, adding a pitch stick and modulation wheel on the 73 and HP models.
You do not see that kind of quick public reaction every day from a keyboard company.
So Electro 7 was not the most experimental instrument at Superbooth, but for live players, it matters. It is a practical stage keyboard with a more capable synth section than before, and after Christopher's presentation it was easy to understand why many working musicians will care.
Things we missed
Of course, a few things slipped through our camera schedule. We did not properly cover them at the show, but they still belong in this video.
Buchla Ziggy was one of the genuinely fresh Superbooth 2026 announcements. Buchla usually means expensive West Coast synthesis systems, so a compact desktop Buchla-style instrument around the one-thousand-euro mark immediately changes the conversation. Ziggy brings a complex oscillator, wavefolding and a low-pass gate into a more approachable desktop format.
Soma also brought exactly the kind of strange interaction you expect from Soma. Flux uses touchless control, partly inspired by the idea of a Theremin, but pushed into a more modern expressive synth direction. Enigma goes even further into object-based interaction: you place metallic objects on its surface, and the physical contact becomes part of the instrument. Very strange, very specific and very Superbooth.
Modal Element One was another fresh Superbooth 2026 story, sitting somewhere between boutique and mainstream. With a 37-key layout, eight virtual analog voices, aftertouch, a joystick and a simplified interface, it feels like Modal trying to make synthesis approachable without making it too limited.
GRP A10 speaks to anyone who likes large, hands-on analog-style instruments. GRP has that serious, knob-heavy design language, and A10 looks a bit like a giant cabinet of buttons and knobs that you are slightly afraid to touch, but at the same time you absolutely want to touch. That is exactly the charm here: direct control, not hidden menus.
Roland TR-1000 and UDO DMNO were two instruments we unfortunately did not manage to properly capture and record at the show, but both still belong here.
With Roland, TR-1000 remained a major story because Roland returning to a true analog drum machine concept after decades is a big deal. The machine combines recreated TR-808 and TR-909 analog circuits with modern digital tools, sampling, FM, effects and sequencing. Around Superbooth, Roland also had the TR-1000 Version 1.20 update, adding new instruments like 909 Bass Line and 808 Bass Line, new master effects including 303 Vinyl Sim, 404 Vinyl Sim, Cassette Sim and DJ FX Delay, plus new MIDI and performance improvements.
UDO DMNO also needed more time than we could give it. UDO has a recognizable approach: digital oscillators, analog signal paths, stereo width and performance-focused design. DMNO pushes that into a dual-engine hybrid instrument with two independent four-voice synth engines. We did not get the material we wanted there either, but it definitely belonged in the selection.
And beyond all of that, Superbooth was full of smaller developers, modular builders, experimental controllers, performance mixers, sequencers, filters, samplers and instruments that do not fit into normal product categories.
That is one of the main reasons Superbooth still matters. Big companies bring their flagships, but smaller builders bring ideas that would probably never appear in a normal mainstream music store.
Our takeaways
So, what stayed with us after Superbooth 2026?
The deepest sound-design machines were probably ASM Leviasynth and Waldorf Iridium Mk2. They represent two different versions of the same idea: synthesis getting deeper, but also more performable and more interactive.
The strongest performance angle came from Polyend Drums, Ableton's connected ecosystem and Expressive E Osmose CE.
The biggest mystery was obviously Korg's covered prototype. We still do not know what it is, but the fact that people immediately started talking about it says a lot.
The most practical reminder came from instruments like Nord Electro 7, Yamaha Montage M and Novation Launch Control XL 3. Superbooth is full of experimental gear, but professional tools still matter because they solve real problems for musicians.
And the most visible quiet hero might have been Arturia KeyStep. You could find it everywhere, even outside Arturia's own booth.
Closing
For our first Superbooth as Noise Harmony, the event delivered exactly what we’ve anticipated - it was a little overwhelming, sometimes confusing, often inspiring, and full of instruments that make you want to go back to the studio immediately.
Some companies are building deeper digital synths. Some are going back to analog circuitry. Some are making drum machines more performative. Some are turning effects into instruments. Some are trying to make controllers more expressive. And some are still hiding mysterious prototypes under plastic just to make everyone speculate.
That is what makes Superbooth interesting. It does not show one future of electronic music gear. It shows several futures happening at the same time.
And honestly, we really enjoyed being there. If you are into synthesizers, electronic instruments or sound design, Superbooth is absolutely worth visiting, even just for one day. You get a chance to explore new synths, including some of the larger and more expensive instruments that are not always easy to try in a normal store or everyday studio situation.
But the gear is only part of it. You can talk to the people who actually build these instruments, ask questions, exchange impressions and experience the whole thing surrounded by this huge world of electronics, sound and slightly obsessive music technology energy. And sometimes, while walking between booths, you can also run into interesting musicians, artists or your favorite synth YouTubers.
Maybe that is the real point of Superbooth. You come for new gear, but you leave with new ideas, new conversations and a better sense of where electronic music instruments might be going next.
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