Welcome to FutureMusic’s Gear Of The Year 2025. Here you’ll find our choices for the best gear of 2025 in several categories. There were a lot of compelling products that debuted this past year, so congrats to the developers and manufacturers who came out on top!
GEAR OF THE YEAR 2025
BEST GROOVEBOX
Akai MPC Live III
Akai has launched the MPC Live III, their most advanced standalone music production center to date, and the closest thing to a DAW in a standalone device. Live III introduces a new level of creative control with next generation expressive MPCe pads, a dedicated 16-step sequencer, and a touchscreen Clip Matrix for real-time performance and arrangement. With built-in studio monitors, a condenser microphone, and rechargeable battery, the MPC Live III delivers four times the power and memory of the previous version.
BEST MIDI CONTROLLER
Embodeme Erae 2
French concern Embodeme raised the bar for what a completely customizable MIDI controller can be for 2025. With a luxurious surface that can be personalized to precisely enhance your workflow, the Erae 2 hits a new high-water mark.
BEST DRUM MACHINE
Roland TR-1000
Roland finally gave the people what they have been clamoring for – a drum machine that honors their history, while dragging Mr. K’s legacy kicking and screaming into the future. The TR-1000 combines analog warmth, digital precision, and flexible sampling in a powerful, genre-spanning instrument with one of the most robust builds the Japanese company has debuted in quite some time. Unfortunately, all this wonderfulness puts the price out of the reach for most musicians, but if you can take out a second mortgage, it could be your ticket to go hard.
BEST DJ GEAR
OWC Envoy Pro Elektron
OWC’s Envoy Pro Elektron micro SSD drive could be the perfect complement to your CDJs with its 1000 MB/s performance and crushproof aluminum chassis. The Envoy Pro Elektron is also dust-proof and waterproof with an IP67 rating, so you don’t have to worry about drunken clubbers when they dump their cocktail all over the booth requesting some Sabrina Carpenter remix their friend made that “slaps.”
BEST GUITAR PEDAL
Meris Enzo X
The Meris Enzo X is an evolution of the original Enzo guitar synthesizer pedal, crafted to blur the lines between traditional stompbox effects and a digital synthesizer. The pedal exceeded all of our expectations during our long-term review and should be seriously considered by any guitarist who’s interested in sound design that can beautifully accompany their playing. Even better, electronic musicians, synthesists and anyone who can send a pure tone into the Enzo X – think saxophones and vocals – can take advantage of this incredible pedal.
BEST MUSIC APP
MIDI Designer Pro X For iOS
MIDI Designer went free when inventor Dan Rosenstark debuted the Pro X variant this year, but he didn’t handicap the apps Jedi Power, mainly creating the perfect audio interface where one doesn’t exist. Case in point, you can now access all the hidden MIDI functionality of interface-challenged guitar pedals – think Chase Bliss Onward, Mood II, etc. – with exciting new possibilities.
BEST UPGRADE
Spectrasonics Omnisphere 3
The long-awaited upgrade to Eric Persing’s glorious Omnisphere certainly didn’t disappoint. The upgrade remasters all of Omnisphere 2’s sounds while adding hundreds of new patches to the massive collection of 18 libraries from the Spectrasonics Sound Design team. What’s truly mindboggling is the quality of each sound. The new Adaptive Global Controls allow you to modulate the most important sound characteristics: Tone, Ambience, Filter, Envelope, Vibrato and Unison, and the Mutate feature instantly creates fascinating and inpiring variations of any patch.
BEST MICROPHONE
Nordic Audio Labs NU-24K
Finland’s Nordic Audio Labs debuted the NU-24K this past year and the large diaphragm condenser impressed us with its modern vocal presence and flat frequency response. The solid state microphone also features a luxurious smooth top end, while still maintaining detail, to ensure your recordings beautifully cut though dense electronic music productions.
BEST COMEBACK
Native Instruments Absynth 6
Native Instruments’ beloved Absynth finally made its long-awaited comeback when version 6.0 was recently announced. Currently in review with several of our staffers, Absynth 6 brings the same evolving soundscapes into the modern age with tons of modulation capabilities, enhanced mutation and even more features to welcome the old friend back into your workflow.
BEST EURORACK
Intellijel Multigrain
Intellijel’s Multigrain is an eight-channel stereo morphing granular sampler and live audio processor that can mangle your audio samples and live input into everything from evil drones to ethereal soundscapes to glitchy mayhem. It has an unbelievable variety of sound transformation possibilities and this module alone can keep your rapt attention for hours. The Morph slider, a definite theme with many of 2025’s offerings, creates new textures and tones instantly.
BEST SYNTH OVER $1000
Suonobuono Polyvera
Suonobuono’s Polyvera, a compact desktop synth, warps time and space to provide a 6-voice, polyphonic sound design platform that blends 1980s digital sounds with analog filters and effects. Polyvera features two wavetable or sampler oscillators with vintage-inspired models and terrific filters for a synth definitely worth checking out.
BEST PLUG-IN
Polyverse Filterverse
Polyverse’s Filterverse is a multi-filter plug-in for Mac and PC that is built for exploration, as well as turning even the most mundane sound sources into something unique and special. In fact, if you want to breath new life into your sample library, you’ll find Filterverse is an alchemist.
BEST STUDIO MONITORS
Telegrapher Gorilla S Monitors
Telegrapher’s Gorilla S studio monitors are for premium project studios, mid-level recording studios and audiophiles who are equally enamored by the aesthetics and sound quality. Assembling some of the best components from Scan-Speak and Helix in a super-sexy enclosure, will certainly get you so far, but Telegrapher was able to also deliver on several other fronts that set it apart. The build-quality is some of the best we’ve ever witnessed, the bass is fluent, full and punchy, and the investment in the anti-distortion technology has certainly paid off.
BEST SYNTH UNDER $1000
Polyend Synth
Polyend’s concept behind Synth is for the user to play and explore. Featuring a 60 pad interface with polyphonic aftertouch on each individual pad, each one of the three synthesizer engines can be assigned to one of several grid layouts supplied by Polyend. A FutureMusic Power Award winner, we have to salute Polyend for what they achieved with Synth. With so many manufacturers just trotting out, yet another, digital synthesizer in the some habitual format, the Polish company branched out and brought something unique to the world.
BEST STUDIO ACCESSORY
Hoto AutoCare Air Duster
This vacuum is quite useful allowing you to mitigate dust on your gear with a delicate brush that punches way above its weight in suction. Reverse the main chamber and the AutoCare Air Duster can then act like a small leaf blower. Handsome and handy, this surprisingly effective utility became a welcome accessory to maintain the extensive array of hardware in each of our Sound Labs.
WILDEST INSTRUMENT
Gene Polygene 2
Gene Synths Polygene 2 is an analog polyphonic synthesizer with two components. One half is all-transistor class A from signal source through audio path to output, the other half is identical except it uses analog chips to generate dynamic customizable waveforms. Inspired by the earliest polysynths of the 1970s, it is fully polyphonic and multi-timbral – all 24 notes can be played at the same time – and can be tuned to any scale or tuning. It’s alien-like, touch sensitive interface makes it look like it belongs in an art gallery, as well as in your studio.
BEST NEWCOMER
Reliq Instruments
Reliq Instruments has released a polyphonic sequencer with enough features and connectivity to win any music production Boss Battle. Reliq asserts that their new product “combines a polyphonic sequencer, a fully analog matrix mixer, and the most extensive connectivity in an instrument,” but also has deep DAW integration. We’re going to find out if their sequencer truly delivers this month – Stay tuned!
INNOVATOR
Submarine Subsix
Submarine Pickups released a truly hexaphonic guitar pickup, which allows six channels of audio to be outputted from a single pickup. What exactly does that mean? Each string of your guitar can be completely isolated and outputted to your DAW for full control, effects processing and manipulation. Sound good? We thought so!
