Superbooth 2026: Buchla Ziggy is a new west-coast Synthesizer and the most portable and accessible Buchla so far.
Superbooth 2026 will feature up to 300 exhibitors. And every now and then, there’s a big surprise. This year, it’s coming from Buchla.
The American manufacturer is usually known for its larger and more expensive synthesizers. Now they’re taking a different route. Ahead of Superbooth 2026, Buchla has released the Ziggy Synthesizer.
Buchla Ziggy
Ziggy is a new West Coast Synthesizer, and it’s the most portable and accessible Buchla synth so far. It has a flat design with a slanted interface. Looks cute to me.
According to Buchla, it incorporates many of the Buchla innovations that have long been taken for granted: digital control over the analog audio, additive synthesis, unique and musical interactions, and more.
Ziggy consists of classic analog complex and modulation oscillators. The complex oscillator starts from a sine wave and has frequency and amplitude modulations via the modulation oscillator. Plus, you have a timbre wavefolder to add harmonics.
The modulation oscillator can operate at low or audible frequencies and has selectable shapes, including sawtooth, square, and triangle. You tune and quantize for western and non-western scales.
Buchla Modulation
Like in a classic Buchla Synthesizer, there is no classic filter. Instead, it has an advanced lowpass gate (LPG) that operates as a VCA, filter, or both, with a Sallen-Key filter architecture.
Envelopes are blended shapes, rather than traditional ADSR, encouraging discovery, rather than precision. Also onboard is the Cycler modulator, which offers a variety of mixable shapes. It can be easily assigned to parameters to create living, breathing sounds.
On top of that, you have an XLFO that acts as an extra LFO with a triangle shape, mappable to any parameter.
Digital
While the core of the Buchla Ziggy is analog, it offers the advantages of a digital Synthesizer. A digital effects unit shapes the final sound with a selection of reverbs, pitch-shifter, flanger, delays, distortions, and more.
Neat, you can save your favorite patches in the user memory to recall them later. Or you can use one of the over 100 factory presets.
On the connection side, it has 1v/oct pitch, gate, and CV inputs, allowing it to work with Eurorack synthesizers and the Buchla LEM 218 controller. Also onboard is USB-C MIDI support, five-pin DIN MIDI, and a Type A 3.5mm MIDI port.
On the audio side, you have stereo connectivity via 6.3mm mono sockets and a phone socket. The synth can be powered over USB-C with a power bank, computer, or wall adapter.
A web browser with WebMIDI can be used to edit and archive patches as well as update firmware as we improve it.
First Impression
This is a big surprise, and a very positive one for me. A Buchla at an affordable price is something many have been waiting for. Ziggy looks like an exciting West Coast synthesizer with a modern mix of analog and digital.
Buchla Ziggy is available now for pre-order for $999 or 1039€.
More information here: Buchla
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Thomann
Wow a new mini Buchla. That looks very desirable!
Interesting, do you know who designed it? Was it Roman from Black Corporation?