Best in Eurorack 2023 -Sinesquares Awards!
Best Eurorack Oscillators, Filters, Effects, and more!
We are so excited to announce our favorite gear from 2023! The first Sinesquares Awards are here! Keep in mind, that we only included gear that was released in 2023.
Eurorack
2023 is the year I fell into the rabbit hole of modular synthesizers. Such an exciting journey that seemed daunting but in reality, it’s not as frightening as it seems. Eurorack is the place where the most crazy innovative ideas come to life so choosing our favorite modules of 2023 was a tough task. So let’s see our 2023 winners for each category!
Best Analog Oscillator
Bronze Medal: Vostok - Sena
Vostok is a new Eurorack manufacturer that made quite an impact with its releases. All of their modules are very simple and affordable, and due to the number of VCAs, LFOs, etc. that they have, they are extremely useful.
Sena is their analog oscillator that has 4 separate waveforms (Sine, Triangle, Saw, and Square) with individual outputs and one modulation option for each one of them. Even more impressive is that all VCOs can also become LFOs with a flick of a switch! It also has individual outputs for 4 noise waveforms (White, Pink, Brown, and Blue).
While not being anything new or super-exciting, Sena packs so many things on a single 14HP module. The only thing I would like to see on a second version would be to have all 4 waveforms on each oscillator so you can create your own blend of waveforms but other than that, it’s an amazing VCO!
Silver Medal: Dreadbox - Telepathy
Dreadbox continues to enrich its module collection and in 2023, they released their new Eurorcak voice called Telepathy.
Telepathy is a complete voice, not just a VCO, that has a filter, VCA, and Envelope onboard. Dreadbox’s vision is to use it alongside other Telepathy modules and create your own polyphonic modular synthesizer as they even have a bundle with 6 Telepathy modules and a mixer module called Psychosis.
A full analog voice in just 10HP is a great way to save space on your case and still have a great-sounding, analog voice. Being so small requires a bit of menu-diving but we’ll have to test it and see how easy it is to use.
A very solid release and a serious step forward in making polyphonic modular synths a thing!
Gold Medal: WORNG Electronics - Acronym
WORNG Electronics released its fully analog oscillator called ACRONYM in 2023 and it’s one of the gnarliest oscillators out there. ACRONYM stands for Analogue CoRe Oscillator New tYpe and has a triangle oscillator combined with wavemorphing, waveshaping, and two sub-oscillators.
It is a very rich and powerful oscillator made for nasty basslines and thick leads and the wavemorphing capabilities give it a wide range of sounds. From your standard waveforms to complex timbres.
ACRONYM is just 12HP and it looks like a Make Noise module but in reality, it’s an STO oscillator on steroids.
Best Digital Oscillator
Bronze Medal: Clatters - Sibilla
Clatters Sibilla is a very complex voice that uses harmonics to create rich and moving sounds. We also have a full hands-on review here.
It’s stereo, has an onboard filter, and an LFO, and can be used for many different applications. It can generate evolving and harmonically-rich drones but at the same time it can become your standard oscillator that also has quite a few tricks up on its sleeve.
It’s a very musical and deep module that requires a bit of getting used to, but in the end, it’s definitely a rewarding one!
Silver Medal: Neuzeit - Warp
Warp is a monster of a module that combines additive and wavetable synthesis to create any type of sound you want. It has a lot of hands-on control, a big screen with a lot of information that helps you visualize what you’re doing, and many modulation options (internal or external).
It is a complete synth voice, not just an oscillator since it has two ADSR envelopes and two LFOs while it’s also MPE compatible. It also comes with lots of presets and if you also have the WarpEx expander you can even play it as a polyphonic synth with 4 voices!
This is a powerhouse synthesizer that’s way more than your standard Eurorack oscillator and will be the centerpiece of your modular setup!
Gold Medal: Make Noise - Spectraphon
It’s been a while since Make Noise made a flagship module. And Spectraphon it’s exactly that. Such an innovative and fresh module that creates spectral oscillators based on the incoming signal that you feed through its input and output sounds that cannot be recreated using your standard synths.
Nothing is standard with Spectraphon and while it is a unique design, it’s not for the average and novice synthesis. It’s a concept you’ll have to wrap your head around to take full advantage of it but it’s definitely a very cool idea. And who’s better at taking a cool and complex idea and turning it into a fully functional module? Make Noise of course!
Best Modulation Module
Bronze Medal: Intellijel - Tangrams
At first glance, Tangrams is just a Dual Envelope with a bonus of two VCAs which is great as itself but probably not that exciting. Having lots of envelopes and VCAs is a crucial thing to have an interesting modular system after all.
But the cool thing about Tangrams is that Intellijel introduced the Pulser circuit which is a new way to set a Gate On time and Off time. That allows you to have an envelope that’s relative to the time settings you’ve set on the T1 and T2 knobs. That’s a very nice twist to an already useful module and that’s why Tangrams got a spot on our list!
Silver Medal: Xaoc Devices - Batumi II
Batumi is one of the best modulation modules ever created so since the 2nd version came out in 2023, it was certain that it’s going to make it to our Best of the Year awards.
Batumi II is a Quadruple LFO module that offers four channels of tempo-controlled oscillators that can be routed throughout your system and modulate anything your heart pleases. In the second version, all the internals have been redesigned and upgraded with new components so now it offers an extended range up to audio rates. That means you can now use CV to track the LFOs and use them as oscillators!
A legendary module that is already in so many modular systems got even better!
Gold Medal: Bela - Gliss
And our gold winner is Gliss by Bela! I’ll soon have a full review of Gliss on the website and, spoiler alert, it’s magnificent. Gliss is a 4HP module that has a recordable touch sensor where you can use gestures to create CV. It tracks the position and size of your touch to generate signals that you can use for modulation or even for controlling Pitch.
It is such a simple but effective and fluid way to control your system that encourages live playing and physical interaction but not in a gimmicky way. It has a few modes and as an added bonus, you can record a gesture and let it loop. That is very similar to the motion recording a few sequencers have on standard synths and it’s great that it found its way into Eurorack.
I love how easy and fun to use this module is. The concept of motion recording in modular is something that I feel should become a standard in the next few years. So if you want, let’s say, to do a looped filter sweep, you can just use Gliss and record the knob movement and let it loop. Once you get to know how it works, I’m sure it’s going to become your favorite way to modulate thing in your system. So I’m definitely planning to get more than just one Gliss for my modular!
Best Filter
Bronze Medal: Klavis Grainity
We’ve been playing a lot with Klavis Twin Waves MKII Oscillator in the past few weeks (full hands-on review coming soon) but since we’re talking about filters, we should definitely have their new Granular Filter, Grainity on our list!
Grainity is a unique concept, granular VCF that uses a standard multi-mode filter combined with a granular filter that expands your sound by adding harmonics, sub-harmonics, flanging effects, and formant filtering all at once.
It is something that’s never been tried before and the results are awesome! It is a design and pairing that no one has ever considered but works great. So instead of just filtering your signal, Grainity adds, through granular processing, more to the incoming signal making interesting and evolving.
Silver Medal: Sovage Engineering - Le Brazier
Le Brazier is a germanium-based, fully analog, multimode filter that aims to add a ton of character to your sounds. It has an onboard Distortion circuit that can be either a mild overdrive or a Fuzz that boosts high and mid-range frequencies so you immediately understand that it’s made for nasty powerful sounds!
Its hyper-resonant nature also makes it capable of creating waveforms that you can combine with the distortion and use as an analog oscillator, and you can, of course, modulate all of its parameters using an external CV.
Le Brazier is a raw analog filter that saturates and colors your sounds and that’s what a good analog filter should do!
Gold Medal: Ritual Electronics - Altar II
We recently had a full review of Altar II here and if you read that, you’ll probably know why it got our Gold Medal for 2023. And the main reason is that it’s an amazing standard filter for absolutely everyone. It may not have all the extra features the other two filters have but for the average user, it’s the perfect overall filter module.
It’s very well built, has the most satisfying knobs that I’ve ever touched, it has a continuous variable shape that goes from Bandpass to Lowpass and then Highpass, and if you track its resonance you’ll get one of the most round and percussive sinewave you can get.
It ticks all the boxes for a Eurorack filter, so the Altar II is our 2023 winner for Best Filter!
Best Eurorack Effect
Bronze Medal: Blukač - Endless Processor
Endless Processor is a dual-channel infinite sound sustainer machine. What that means is that you can feed sounds into Endless Processor and the module will record, re-synthesize them, and sustain them for as long as you want. It’s made to create textures and pads that accompany your sounds just like a sustain guitar pedal would do for a guitar.
You can stack up to 5 layers of sounds per channel meaning you can have harmonies, chords, or complex textures, and with their new expander module, you can now use CV to track the pitch of the sustained signals making it even more powerful.
A great concept and an even greater execution make the Endless Processor such a great module that we’ll love to explore in 2024!
Silver Medal: BASTL - Basil
BASTL Instruments has been very very busy in the past year. And their delay module called Basil was one of their best releases!
Basil is a stereo, flexible delay module that can do your typical clean delays, but also do ambient drone delays, or glitchy effects. Basil also has the Space section that diffuses the delays creating a reverb effect. You can also use lower sample rates to have a more Lo-Fi delay and a freeze function for looping or creating drones.
Basil is a fully-featured delay module with lots of extras so if you’re looking for a delay module that can also go the extra mile, look no further!
Gold Medal: Qu-Bit - Mojave
Qu-Bit makes some of the best Eurorack effects modules in the world and their latest release, Mojave, is no exception. Mojave is a granular processor that takes granular processing to a whole new level. Having a clock input also gives you the option of creating rhythmic patterns and arpeggios with grains from the incoming signal.
Another great feature of Mojave is that it has an onboard microphone that lets you record sounds outside of your modular blending the modular world with the acoustic world and also giving your modular a more natural and acoustic nature.
Mojave is a very complex and fun module that can be just used on its own as an effects unit. It has everything you’ll need and if you add some modulation it can become even more wild and beautiful!
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