Berlin, wires, acid voices, modular oddities, and warm synth souls — Superbooth never misses. Here’s what I saw, heard, and vibed with in 2025.
Hey everyone! This year’s Superbooth 25 was something truly special — not just because the sun blessed Berlin for once, or because I got to nerd out over delay lines at 9 a.m., but because the vibe was just… right. Warm, electric, intimate. From DIY kits that sound like alien birds to eight-channel function generators that might actually be smarter than me, it was a playground of sonic wonder. Let’s dive in.
Bela + Chair Audio: Acid Voices and String Mics?!
One of my favourite stops was the Bela & Chair Audio booth — a lovely hybrid of Berlin and the world, showing off modular gear that was both experimental and accessible. The star? A DIY synth voice kit for just €100 (pre-tax) that squeals glorious acid sounds. Fully solderable, it’s a fun project that doesn’t break the bank. Built by Paco, it’s perfect for synth dabblers and kit lovers.
Then came something truly mind-bending: the Analog Wave Guide. A resonator module using two delay lines and rotation mixing to simulate membranes, cymbals, and metal plates. You can ping it with an impulse and it basically sings like a haunted drum. You can even play it chromatically — a complete voice if you pair it with a simple filter!
They also teased a research prototype: a string that’s also a microphone. Yep, the string itself picks up sound — no pickups needed. It’s early days, but it could change how we build string instruments in the future. Acoustic-electronic hybrids incoming?! Fingers crossed.
Torso Electronics: Sculpting Sounds with the S4
Next up, I chatted with Jacob from Torso Electronics about the S4 Sculpting Sampler. This beast is made for sound mangling — with four tracks of audio wizardry and a granular engine that lets you explode samples into glittery chaos. Add in a 48-band morphing filter bank, bit crushing, reverb/delay, and more — and suddenly you’re not sampling anymore, you’re sculpting sound in real time.
The big update here was Firmware 2.0 and 2.1, bringing:
- Scene recall (128 scenes for performance-based setup swaps)
- Perform mode for global macros
- Temp mode for safe improvising (double-tap to revert settings)
- Disk streaming for loooong samples
It doesn’t even need a sequencer — just bring your own keyboard, DAW, or external sequencer. Or go full live-processing mode. Insane flexibility, and it sounds lush.
Elektron: Overbridge on iPad — Finally!
This one got people talking: Overbridge is (almost) on iPad! Thomas from Elektron showed us a beta build that streams multi-channel audio from Digitone, Syntakt, and Rytm straight into iOS. No desktop needed. 42 mono channels streamed live into Logic Pro for iPad? Yes, please.
Though it’s still in testing, the possibilities are huge. Think dawless rigs with full multitrack recording — processed in AUM or your iOS DAW of choice. It’s not clear if this will be a free update or a paid app, but it’s a game-changer in the making.
Make Noise: Polymaths & Universal Synth Chaos
I ended my tour at the beautifully chaotic Make Noise booth, where Walker introduced the Polymaths module. It’s an eight-channel function generator — each controlled by a single set of knobs. You can sweep across channels, modulate shapes, and introduce oscillator layers for texture. It’s Maths, but multiplied and mutated.
My favorite feature? Spread mode — tweak one control and watch the eight channels bloom into unique shapes based on their position. Add a clock and it becomes a pattern generator. It’s alive. It’s weird. It’s beautiful.
The Superbooth Feeling
There’s something magical about Superbooth that goes beyond the gear. It’s the nerdy excitement, the shared passion, and the feeling that we’re all just here to make noise and connect. Look, Superbooth is not about clean-cut product launches or perfect marketing decks. It’s messy. It’s sprawling. It’s half-festival, half-science fair. There’s dirt on your shoes and patch cables under your feet. And that’s why it’s magic.
From scrappy DIY kits to polished, high-concept gear, Superbooth 2025 delivered that same chaotic joy we crave every year. It’s a place where sound becomes playground—and everyone is invited to make some noise.
Thanks to all the makers, artists, and lovely humans I met and to everyone who let me poke, prod, listen, and ask awkward questions. Until next year… stay weird.