Roundup 24 January 2025 | Melbourne Instruments Roto-Control and more...
While Jason’s over in California checking out the latest products being unveiled at NAMM, the rest of us are bunkered down in Scotland as Storm Eowyn batters the country.
We’ve had to close the shop today and temporarily halt shipping as the local travel network has ground to a halt, but normal service will resume on Monday. Thanks for your patience if you’ve placed an order since Thursday afternoon that hasn't shipped yet - we’ll get it out to you just as soon as we can!
There's lots of cool new stuff to tell you about this week, so we’ll keep this intro short and sweet. Read on for news of Melbourne Instruments’ new MIDI controller, some drone-tastic new synths, pre-owned bargains and lots more.
Until next time,
Jason, Aleks, Kyle, Luke, Molly, Rob & Tom
Melbourne Instruments Roto-Control!
Our pals at Melbourne Instruments launched the Roto-Control at NAMM yesterday. It’s a smart MIDI controller with their signature motorised knobs, designed to integrate seamlessly with Ableton Live and any other MIDI gear in your studio. We’ve been playing with a prototype and it’s awesome - the instant visual feedback from the knobs as you move between channels and plug-ins really improves the experience. In stock now and selling fast!
Melbourne Instruments Roto-Control Motorized MIDI Controller
£389.00
What we say about the Melbourne Instruments Roto-Control Motorized Midi Controller... The Roto-Control smart MIDI controller with Melbourne's signature motorised knobs is designed to integrate...… read more
The Drone Zone
Drone synths are having a bit of a moment at Signal Sounds - could 2025 be the year of the drone? At one end of the budget spectrum, the new Dubreq Stylophone DS-2 landed this week and it’s everything we hoped for. Two analogue oscillators, with filters and LFO, plus lo-fi delay and reverb. Battery or mains-powerered; Eurorack compatible with patch points and case mounting options; built-in speaker… this little thing is pretty special!
Dubreq Stylophone CPM DS-2 Analogue Drone Synth
£229.00
We say... A cracking little drone synth that's a lot more fun than it has any right to be! The DS-2 has a nicely chosen...… read more
We’ve also taken delivery of a huge range of pedals, desktop devices and Eurorack modules from Uruguay’s Maneco Labs. With striking H.R. Giger-inspired graphics and uncompromising sound, these units are seriously gnarly. Check out the Manecolin and Grone Drone (which has a clone of Mutable Instruments Clouds built in!) to get a flavour of what’s on offer.
Maneco Manecolin Desktop Drone Synth
£509.00
Manufacturer's description Desktop version of the Manecolin Eurorack module. Chaotically emerging from the minds at Maneco Labs, the Grone Manecolin is a dual-oscillator digital voice...… read more
For the discerning drone connoisseur, the Elta Music Solar 42f desktop synths are due in on Monday! The black and white editions are all pre-sold and there are just a handful of colours left from this batch. It’s likely to be a few weeks before more stock arrives, so we’d recommend you don’t hang around if you’ve had your eye on one of these.
Elta Music Solar 42F Multi Voice Drone Instrument (Yellow)
£1859.00
We say... A drone dream machine! This beautiful instrument packs a hell of a lot in. It offers a unique combination of drone parts and...… read more
Elsewhere in the world of drone, the ever-popular Neutral Labs Elmyra 2 and SOMA Laboratory Lyra-8 are both in stock in various colours, and we’ll have the new Lyra-4 in stock very soon - you can sign up on the product pages to be notified when they arrive.
Other new arrivals
Fresh in from Ginkosynthese is the mighty Sampleslicer MkIII, the latest incarnation of the cult classic Eurorack module. Feed in audio and it gets chopped up automatically and spread out over 16 steps in the internal sequencer ready to mangle. So much fun!
Ginkosynthese Sampleslicer MkIII Eurorack Sampler Module
£364.00
Manufacturer's description The Sampleslicer is the ultimate realtime sampler for your modular system. No, it is not a sample player! It is a real-time sampler/slicer...… read more
We’re now stocking the superb range of studio monitors from Focal. If you’re looking to level up your monitoring game this year, these are tried and tested in thousands of studios and there’s a model to suit most room sizes and budgets. Our Luke has been using the Shape 65 in his home studio for years and swears by them.
Focal Shape 65 Active Studio Monitor
£520.99
Please note this price is for a single monitor. If you need a pair, please select an order quantity of 2. Manufacturer's description Shape 65...… read more
The long-awaited Supercritical Redshift 6 is due in on Monday. Combining great-sounding analogue oscillators and filters (based on the Demon Core and Neutron Flux respectively) with powerful digital control, MPE support and DSP effects, this 6-voice desktop polysynth both looks and sounds pretty special.
Supercritical Redshift 6 Desktop Analogue Synth
£1099.00
Manufacturer's description Supermassively dense analog oscillator combined with a chameleon analog filter with versatile gain staging. Now sixfold. Redshift 6 combines technology from the company’s previous...… read more
Restock news
We’ve had a big restock of Random Source Serge Eurorack modules, including all the old favourites like the VCFQ and Resonant EQ as well as more recent releases like the Medusa and GTO.
The second batch of Joranalogue and Hainbach’s ultra-sought-after Collide 4 is finally due to arrive on Monday so if you’re one of the many people waiting for your pre-order, they’ll be shipping early next week! We’ll then be opening up pre-orders for batch 3, which is expected in March.
We’ve also got restocks on the way of the ALM Busy Circuits MCO Mk2 and Beanie Bunnie Moo Moo dual oscillator - both expected early Feb.
Pre-owned bargains
We added another big batch of quality used gear to the site this week. Highlights include three long-unavailable Mutable Instruments classics, Make Noise Maths and Pressure Points, Xaoc Devices Batumi and Kamieniec, the Befaco Hexmix and Hexpander… plus lots more. These probably won't hang around for long, so look sharp if you want to snap up a bargain!
And finally...
We’ve been overwhelmed with the response to our new Synth Club events, and they haven’t even started yet! Places for the January and February sessions got snapped up in a matter of hours, so if you want to get an early heads-up about future events, join the Synth Club Discord, where you can also chat about all things synth with our growing community.
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