Nord have long been revered for their realistic recreations of piano, organ, and electric keyboard sounds from Fender Rhodes, Hammond, Yamaha and others. We have found that owning the original units to be unreliable and the source of many headaches, so we opt for the Nord because it always works and we love the way it sounds true the the originals.

The Novation X-Station, quite literally, does everything. For a unit that's over 20 years old, no other manufacture has dare come along and try to improve on it. We'll be honest, there are nicer sounding synths at the studio but the X-Station is so unique and emblematic of its era that we refuse to sell it and sometimes it just happen to the right keyboard for the job.

You can keep your 808's and 909's, we love the Rytm and believe it will be remembered with similar fondness in 20 years time. 8 voices split over 12 tracks, each one with a synth and sample layer for complete scultping potential. The built-in sequencer, modulation matrix and effects chain are really what sets this drum computer apart from the pack. You already know it from countless modern top 40 electronic and rap songs withour realising it. That hasn't stop us from sneaking it in the indie songs like "Life in Circles" by Music Hall.

If you listen to the bridge on "Ocean Child" by Music Hall, you'll hear exactly what this this semi-modular monophonic synthesiser is capable of. It's great for any quirky or experimental parts in an arrangement but also equally at home as a unique bass synth. Can also be heard arpeggiating in the upper register during the outro of "Guilt" by A Life in Binary.

From the small Kiwi company, Synthstrom, comes this one-of-a-kind MIDI sequencer, sampler, synthesiser, drum machine, looper, etc. that serves as the "brain" which orchestrates the menagerie of electronic music equipment we have at the studio. Many ideas get constructed on the Deluge first before we bring them into the computer due to it's quick, no nonsense interface. We've been actively involved in the development of the Deluge since 2018 by suggesting and testing new features. Now, since Synthstrom open-sourced the firmware in 2023 we've been working with the community of software engineers to implement features that make this the best groovebox on the market.

The D85 cost about $18,000 in the early 80's and has a lot to show for it, including three instrument layers, a drum machine, bass synthesiser, and rotary speaker. Some electronic music aficionados see it as the cousin to the famous Yamaha CS 80, which was popularised by Vangelis on the soundtracks for Bladerunner and Chariots of Fire, but we think this fully analog beauty needs no comparison. Despite its patina, it is not a "church lady" organ, it's a full band in a box.