Best of 2015: Other years have seen the introduction of great synthesizers of all types. But 2015 brought a treasure trove of new hardware sequencers, the likes that we have never seen.
We asked Synthtopia readers to vote on The Best New Hardware Sequencers Of 2015, and you picked the Arturia Beatstep Pro as the best new hardware sequencer of the year. The Beatstep Pro offers impressive MIDI and CV connectivity, power & immediacy, at an unprecedented price.
But the Beatstep Pro was one of many great hardware sequencers introduced in the last year. Readers voted the Squarp Instruments Pyramid sequencer into second place, followed by the huge and powerful KOMA Komplex Sequencer.
Check out results below – and then leave a comment and share your thoughts on the state of hardware sequencers!
The Best New Hardware Sequencers Of 2015
- Arturia BeatStep Pro 27.88%
- Pyramid Sequencer 16.28%
- KOMA Komplex Sequencer 13.98%
- Social Entropy Engine Step Sequencer 8.61%
- Korg SQ-1 Analog Sequencer 8.27%
- Zaquencer Multichannel Step Sequencer 7.67%
- Kilpatrick Audio Carbon Sequencer 5.37%
- Buchla Polyphonic Rhythm Generator 3.41%
- Analogue Solutions Megacity Step Sequencer 1.45%
- Arpeggio 1.36%
See the poll for complete results.
I t would be interesting to not prices on them, the list would have a different layout if you go by price
Zaquencer is the BEST!
I’m one of the consumer beta test hamsters for the BSP. They have really done a good job of updating the firmware to fix bugs and even extending some functionality beyond the initial specs. Right out of the gate there were some issues but it’s my main sequencer and a ton of fun to use.
novation circuit..?
Not a sequencer – more of a sampling groove box.
“Sampling”?
Are you sure you know what the Circuit is and isn’t capable of? Especially now with the software upgrade. The Circuit is very much a sequencer!
When that Circuit was 1st announced I didn’t like it because of the limits, but having a look at the new software editor for it and it makes it quite impressive. You can get a Circuit and a Volca for the same money as a JDXi.
come on what’s all that fuss about that circuit … just a waste of time … 4 channel drum sequencing lol
pick up an electribe sampler and you get 16 channels of whatever you like, drums or poly synth …
Ditto for Zaquencer, rocks. Jaded against BeatStepPro since I was BeatStep 1 buyer. Abandonware! Will likely get Pyramid in next production run.
I find it unfair to call the Beatstep “Abandoware”.
You can buy it for 1/2 the price of a Beatstep Pro. And from what I understand, it was user feedback on the uses of the Beatstep that lead to the Beatstep Pro, that is a progressive move for any company.
You seem to be blaming Arturia for yourself moving too soon into the market, that’s not their responsibility. It is like saying I am not buying that new car because it is twice as good as last years model, you are supposed to be inspired and impressed by progress and not butt-hurt – that is the world you live in.
Beatstep 1 is most definitely abandonware. Many of the features of Beatstep Pro could easily be added to Beatstep 1 with a firmware update, but we haven’t seen a peep regarding their old hardware since the second they announced the new one. Progress is one thing, but turning a blind eye to your old customers is different. Arturia are notorious for only supporting their most recent flagship products while letting others go by the wayside. Just look at all the complaints that arose asking for software updates to their buggy soft synths when they launched Beatstep Pro.
“Many of the features of Beatstep Pro could easily be added to Beatstep 1 with a firmware update, ”
Not sure how that is really possible – the Beatstep 1 doesn’t have the physical controls or the connectivity that the Pro has.
Does the Beatstep 1 not do the things that it was advertised to do?
Novation circuit !!! 2 channels poly sequencing and 4 track drum sequencin 🙂
very intuitive
The pyramid is awesome. I love mine.
this thread is so 2015
Hey, what happened with that red millennium falcon??
I think it was Akai maybe.
That was a Roland, they are currently redesigning it so it is a little more cumbersome to use.
That was made by Casio and did not have MIDI OUT, only USB. FAIL!
Otherwise, I probably would have bought one.
I resisted the beatstep pro in favor of the engine, but am bummed the engine’s cv io board is still not out, making it basically useless to me (I tried using it in MIDI mode but it’s been too cumbersome to integrate into all analog, all cv setup).
My most used sequencer of 2015 would probably be the SQ-1 because of the CV/gate functionality and the fact that it just works. Would really like a more advanced sequencer with built in CV to sequence to modular and it’s monosynth friends… close to breaking down and picking up a BSP, they are just so ugly and the bug reports have been pretty nasty, seems like the way to go though.
Especially sequencers. Given the affordability and limited accessibility of some sequencers, at best this should be a popularity or what I like poll at best. Nothing really to do with being the best in 2015.
Is the Carbon even available yet?
The Carbon is more 2016 than 2015, hasn’t been released yet.
The Fyrd SQR, on the other hand was released in 2015 and is missing here.
The only ”New” sequencer with ”New features” in this case would be Pyramid Sequencer as most of the others ones are like “Oh we seen this before”
for me there wasn’t really a best. this year it was about moving data around and playing with it in different forms.
2015:
mpc 1k with jjos – was updated in 2015 so it counts 🙂
raspberry pi 2
littlebits+korg sq1
really making my own on laptop lol
i also got back into alesis mmt8, ensoniq sq-1, sy77 and kurzweil k2000 sequencers and got into nord g2 as sequencer.
tbh, most new sequencers aren’t really doing much for me. i feel like most of them are missing out by not having a design vision of integrated sounds of some sort.
i would like to try moog mother32 and dsi pro2.
no atari ST?