Superbooth 2025: Neuzeit Instruments Drop is a new snapshot-based MIDI & CV controller with 32 push encoders designed for live performance.
In one week and one day, Superbooth 2025 begins in Berlin. Hopefully, with sunny, warm weather like last year. The event is primarily dedicated to synthesizers, but not exclusively. You will also find the latest drum machines, samplers, grooveboxes, mixing and mastering tools, as well as MIDI controllers.
There will be a new MIDI controller. Ahead of Superbooth 2025, Neuzeit Instruments, creator of the Warp oscillator, has unveiled Drop, a new live performance MIDI & CV controller with a unique feature set.
Neuzeit Instruments Drop
If you’re using a large setup with hardware and software, a MIDI controller is a valuable addition to have as a hub with mapped parameters. This gives you a central station with which you can control all the devices simultaneously, without having to split your hands into four or six.
However, if you use many parameters simultaneously, you can quickly lose track, and everything can spiral out of control, and if this happens in a club, in front of a crowd, you draw the jackpot but in a negative way.
Drop is a new MIDI & CV controller that brings order to these live performance situations. It allows you to connect all your gear to one master controller. The snapshot function is a key feature of the new Neuzeit Instruments Drop controller.
You can map your MIDI equipment across devices and easily store different controller positions as snapshots. There are two powerful snapshot modes. With the JUMP mode, you can jump back to these snapshots at any time and trigger them as well during performances. Better, you can quantize these and add variable fade times, allowing you to use snapshots for slowly building tension.
The second mode is the DROP mode, which fires the programmed snapshots at precisely the right moment, thanks to an integrated clock with a built-in counter ranging from 1 to 32 bars (cycles). For example, you can schedule a snapshot to trigger at the beginning or end of a cycle.
Another powerful feature is the ability to sequence the DROP snapshots. There is a chain mode to automatically trigger them sequentially on stage.
Of course, you can save plenty of snapshots in the hardware. Neuzeit Instruments Drop has space for up to 20 banks with 20 snapshots. And you can also assign MIDI messages to the snapshots.
Two Operation Levels
Neuzeit Instruments Drop has two distinct operation levels: PLAY and MENU. The PLAY level gives you hands-on access to the most crucial parameters for a live performance. This includes a clear progress display, buttons for beat jumps, and an option to change the number of bars per cycle and quantization on the fly.
The MENU level lets you dive into the mapping area of the Drop controller. Good, the controller works 100% standalone, and no additional software is required to configure it. In this, you can find various functions, such as MIDI Learn, copy, paste, move, MIDI monitor, and more.
On the hardware side, it features 32-push encoders without detent, eight mutes, eight faders, distributed on two layers A/B. There is also a 5×4 pad matrix that can be used with Ableton Live support (script available) or as a keyboard.
More importantly, it supports every MIDI command possible, including 14-bit CCs (NRPN), Program Change, Bank Select, Aftertouch, Pitchbend, CC, and notes. Besides this, each controller also has a neat macro mapping function that allows you to send up to eight different MIDI messages simultaneously to any MIDI output port.
Connectivity
On the back side of the unit, there are four TRS MIDI in/out ports (A and B), and two USB-C ports that automatically switch between device and host modes.
Furthermore, it has two CV inputs and two CV outputs for clocks and 0-5V control signals. It also has a MIDI merge function for filtering incoming messages and distributing them to the connected devices.
Neuzeit Instruments Drop is powered through USB-C or via an included external power supply. According to the developer, the device is made of a solid metal chassis and has metal shaft encoders. It is built to last, says Tom of Neuzeit.
First Impression
This looks like a very well-thought-out concept for a MIDI/CV controller. I suspect the Drop won’t be cheap, but what it offers is original and unique. It also looks great and offers everything you expect from a modern controller.
Neuzeit Instruments Drop will be available in late Summer 2025. Price TBA.
More information here: Neuzeit Instruments
there are already several midi controllers. It has 4 midi outputs and 2 cv outputs. i would prefer a controller with more cv outputs that costs less than 600Euro
sure there are many MIDI controllers, but find me one with this Snapshot functionality
Get VCV Rack, Reaktor, Cardinal and skip the moneyhole and start making music. Any MIDI controller will do then.
when you already lost a lot of money to this moneywhole, a rack space saving desktop cv controller would be nice 😅
You can always downsize and save yourself maintenance, overhead, inconveniences and even more money pits. Just going hybrid surely helped me a lot. In the end, I want to make music. If I want to tinker with electronics, I can do that for way cheaper with way more impact for others. Just alittle dab on some people and their walls of modular and questionable results on YouTube. But you do you.
You do that then. We’ll try this.