All the highlights from GearFest 2025: New synths, studio monitors, mics and moreGearFest UK returned on 19 July for its 2025 edition at Tileyard London with panel talks, swag, prize giveaways, and a boatload of music tech gear to get hands-on with. The show is organised by TYX London, SoundOnSound, and marketing firm Create New Stories, and boasts around 140 exhibitors.

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I headed into London to attend the show for the first time, and found some new studio gems while I was there.
GearFest UK 2025 poster. Image: Press
Where is GearFest held?
Tileyard Studios is a labyrinthine complex of creative spaces that houses commercial sound and video studios, performance venues and an education campus. Plus, it’s also home to the offices of a number of music tech brands, including Ableton, SoundCloud, Spitfire Audio, Apple Music and more. It’s certainly worth checking out if you’re ever near the area.
This setting is as important as the gear itself at GearFest UK. Although space becomes tight as multiple visitors jostle for positions in a compact mixing room to audition studio monitors, you can actually hear what’s going on in a treated room, and pick up acoustic treatment and decor tips for your own creative space while having useful chats with brand reps. There are no cavernous, noisy exhibition halls here, which it’s wholly refreshing.
Tileyard London. Image: Press
Synths galore
Starting in synth land, Arturia’s black and green, limited-edition UFO colourway for the MicroBrute immediately catches my eye. This would be my go-to for squelchy, space-rock basslines on stage, with its supreme portability being a definite selling point. It’s a blast checking out this synth, and I come away with one of the most tasteful branded tote bags I’ve ever seen.
Arturia UFO-edition MicroBrute. Image: Press
At the higher end, I enjoy the playability and huge super-saw tones of the (also-black-and-green) PWM Mantis. This four-voice hybrid-analogue synth handily features full-size keys instead of the mini keys of PWM’s preceding Malevolent. I also experiment with Modal’s recent Carbon 8X and the flamboyant Buchla suitcase models — those synths are a work of art.
Buchla suitcase synth. Image: Press
But where are all the mics and headphones?
A mainstay of home and project studios, you’d expect microphones and headphones to be at the forefront of a trade show like GearFest, but they are more hidden away than expected or aren’t often plugged in to test. Telefunken (SX Pro) has a groovy listening booth for mics, and Focal (KMR), a comfy corner for testing headphones, but there’s little in the way of new gear in this category.
I was hoping to catch Warm Audio’s new WA-CX24 stereo mic, which seemed absent, but I did get to handle Austrian Audio’s dual-output, multi-pattern OC-S10 studio condenser. This mic will finally ship in the coming weeks following its unveiling at NAMM 2025.
The prize for most beautiful mic goes to the Myburgh M1 tube mic, spotted on Funky Junk and Make Noise’s equally stunning stand on the stage of Tileyard’s Gallery venue.
Myburgh M1 tube mic. Image: Press
Studio hardware
There’s a vast array of studio hardware at GearFest, ranging from dream mixing consoles by Neve and API to affordable, powerful audio interfaces from Audient, SSL and others.
One interface that catches my eye is Black Lion Audio’s recent Revolution 14X1, which combines the brand’s expertise in conversion and preamp technology. This particular box has dual mic preamps with Cinemag transformers, two further preamps, four insert points for input processing and hybrid mixing, and a generous three headphone amps.
Neve 8424 console. Image: Press
Three outboard gear brands stand out for their combination of indie sensibility, sound quality and fair pricing.
Firstly, I’d been blown away by online demos of Gainlab Audio’s Empress tube equaliser, which is loosely styled on a Pultec but with the added bonuses of a mid band, a tube boost saturation circuit, and is also stereo. So it is nice to get hands-on with Empress and chat with Makkay, the brand’s brimmingly enthusiastic co-founder. I also try out Wizard, Gainlab’s most recent product, a saturation processor with added EQ and vari-mu compressor sections. It’s not exactly cheap, but Wizard is a versatile, big-sounding box that goes from seductive valve warmth to cool annihilation at the turn of a knob, and I think it’ll be a real hit.
Meanwhile, HLabs’ EQ169 mono mastering EQ, based on a Studer 169, sounds incredibly smooth. I appreciate the Gain Range control for dialling in smaller increments on the stepped pots when mastering.
Finally, on outboard, since establishing a UK division, the wide range of analogue gear from boutique US brand AudioScape has become far more accessible. AudioScape’s products are inspired by classic designs, and I run a drum stem running through their sweet and punchy Pultec-like stereo EQP-2Q into a tastefully slamming Buss Compressor. Sound and build quality both impress.
Gainlab Audio’s outboard range. Image: Press
Mighty monitors
Studio monitors are well represented at GearFest, and I’m keen to check out the new offerings in different sizes as well as listen to brands I’d never auditioned before. Sadly, though, the default position of many brands is to plug in the largest main monitors they manufacture and only show those off. While the stuff of dreams impresses visitors, mid-level monitors that visitors might actually be able to afford are left on plinths, unplugged and neglected.
Bucking this trend are German brands EVE Audio and HEDD Audio.
EVE has all four sizes of its new EXO active monitors in a mixing booth. Rear ported, with DSP control of EQ and digital in/out on board, the EXOs have a more forceful bass-end than you’d expect for their size, even on the second-smallest five-inch model. I think the EXOs will become hugely popular for home studios and Atmos arrays; applications where compact size or being able to mix and match different sizes of speakers is key.
EVE Audio’s new EXO series. Image: Press
HEDD has the new, stripped-back A-Core version of its Type 05 and 07 active nearfields on demo (see our recent review), and switches between those and the original DSP-equipped Type MK2 monitors that impressed me in my 2021 review.
Also on show is a pair of limited-edition Type-20 MK2 three-way monitors in a glorious orange finish. HEDD’s CEO, Dr Freddy Knop, explains that they’ve made ten sets, all in different colours. This is HEDD’s favourite pair, with the colour closely matched to the shade of orange originally used by the garbage disposal trucks in Berlin. I. Want. Them.
A limited edition Type 20 MK2 from HEDD Audio. Image: Press
Also present is Amphion with X versions of its One18 and Two18 passive monitors. They feature new tweeters with lower levels of distortion and a wider frequency range. These monitors impress with their revealing mid-forward voicing yet ample, tight bass extension even without the help of the brand’s Base system sub-woofer stands.
New One18X and Two18X monitors from Amphion. Image: Press
The main event
Panel events are held in a makeshift marquee and cover the gamut of Atmos, mixing skills, classical recording and a live edition of the Mixbus podcast. I attended the Atmos session, with practitioners Penny Eau, Emre Ramazanoglu and Stan Kybert reflecting on their experiences of the format and offering insights into how associated technologies have developed to facilitate Atmos.
A surprise, though, is the unexpected appearance of mixing hero Bob Clearmountain, who emerges mid-session from the rain outside to listen and take shelter. In a near-Biblical moment, the sizable crowd at the back of the marquee parts to let Bob through and take up a well-earned seat towards the front.
Atmos panel discussion chaired by Sound on Sound’s Sam Inglis. Image: Press
Topping all the other experiences of the day, my favourite highlight reveals the perfect partnership of GearFest and Tileyard London. High-end speaker brand PMC’s demo room is set within the working commercial Atmos studio operated by TaP Management, and is a joy to behold. This 9.1.4 system has huge PMC mains for left, right and centre, there are racks of synths around the sides for when creative energy is flowing, and a mood-lit, miked upright piano for more mellow moments.
PMC takes the award for best swag, too, with cans of its own craft IPA commissioned especially for the occasion. I sip on PMC’s beer, sitting on a comfy sofa listening to a world-class Atmos system in an inspiring and seductively vibey studio space. This is a big moment and from here on out, I predict that my gear obsession could become progressively more expensive.
PMC’s demo space inside TaP Management’s Atmos studio at Tileyard. Image: Press
The post All the highlights from GearFest 2025: New synths, studio monitors, mics and more appeared first on MusicTech.

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Signing Stories: N8NOFACE Date Signed: March 2025 Label: Stones Throw Records Type of Music: Synth-Punk Management: Daniel Hall (Worldwide) Booking: Nick Storch Legal: Bryan Christner A&R: Peanut Butter Wolf Web: n8noface.la Anyone who has seen N8NOFACE (pronounced Nate No Face) live won’t forget the experience in a hurry. The synth-punk provocateur (think L.A. pioneers the Screamers, but more unhinged) has mastered the ability to grab a melody and then twist it round his hairless cranium and impressive moustache, the result emerging from his tear-filled ocular cavities like a dancing Basket Case mutant. It’s a mad, unpredictable situation, and yet it all started with MySpace. “When MySpace first started, I made really weird songs and posted them on there, being too shy to tell people it was me, constantly changing the ‘band name’ of the page,” he tells MC. “People in my city started to dig the page, making some noise among artists and bands of my city. I finally settled on the name N8NOFACE (Nathan being my real name) when I came out and revealed myself. The idea being no face or any particular sound—do what I want, which is everything.” N8NOFACE was a fan of Stones Throw Records, long before signing on with them himself. “Being a hip-hop head who also loves different styles of music, Stones Throw was that label,” he says. “Then in L.A., finally meeting and becoming friends with Peanut Butter Wolf, getting to send him stuff from time to time and then him remixing a song of mine. The relationship was building, then I sent him the latest project produced by Chico Mann, he was like ‘Let’s do some stuff.’ I was with it.” His latest release is “Waiting to Wait for You.” “Chico Mann produced, performed, and wrote all the music on this,” he says. “I just came up with the words and singing. I wrote the song about someone waiting for their partner to get dressed before they both step out. ‘I watched you try five outfits on, I'd wait and watch five thousand more,’ is the first line." N8NOFACE will celebrate the Stones Throw deal with an EP this summer, and he’s hitting the road with Eyedress in July before going back into the studio to record a debut album for release in 2026. The man just won’t stay still. The post Signing Stories: N8NOFACE first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

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2025 One-Hertz Challenge: It’s Hexadecimal Unix Time[danjovic] came up with a nifty entry for our 2025 One-Hertz Challenge that lands somewhere between the categories of Ridiculous and Clockwork. It’s a clock that few hackers, if any, could read on sight—just the way we like them around here!
The clock is called Hexa U.T.C, which might give you an idea why this one is a little tricky to parse. It displays the current Unix time in hexadecimal format. If you’re unfamiliar, Unix time is represented as the number of non-leap seconds that have ticked by since 1 January 1970 at 00:00:00 UTC. Even if you can turn the long hex number into decimal in your head, you’re still going to have to then convert the seconds into years, days, hours, minutes, and seconds before you can figure out the actual time.
The build relies on an ESP32-S2 module, paired with a 7-segment display module driven by the TM1638 I/O expander. The ESP32 syncs itself up with an NTP time server, and then spits out the relevant signals to display the current Unix time in hex on the 7-segment displays.
It’s a fun build that your programmer friends might actually figure out at a glance. As a bonus it makes an easy kicking-off point for explaining the Year 2038 problem. We’ve featured other similar Unix clocks before, too. Video after the break.

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You can get 90% off the entire Sonnox catalogue right now at Plugin BoutiqueDid somebody say new plugins? We producers all know that you can never have too many, and right now Plugin Boutique is hosting a big sale on Sonnox plugins, with up to 90% off the brand’s entire catalogue.
Yep, the British brand’s entire catalogue is now massively discounted, but here are some of our favourites.
Check out the Oxford Inflator – often regarded as a “secret weapon” for mixing and mastering engineers – now priced at only £14 down from £138. Able to deliver instant sonic enhancement to your mixes when conventional compression and EQ just aren’t cutting it, the Oxford Inflator is a worthy addition to any producer’s arsenal. And for only £14, you’d be crazy not to, quite frankly.
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While you’re at it, why not grab the Oxford Limiter, which allows you to effortlessly grant your masters top-notch loudness, dynamics, density and presence. Plugin Boutique says this is the Oxford Limiter’s “lowest price ever”, at just £23, down from £234.
“You’ve worked hard to perfect the dynamics of your track – the thump of the kick, the snap of the snare, the space and depth in the mix. The last thing you want is to crush the life out of it at the final stage. With the Oxford Limiter, you don’t have to choose between loudness and life,” says Plugin Boutique.
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But perhaps the best deal of the lot is Sonnox’s Essential Plugin Bundle, which comprises four classic Sonnox plugins – Oxford EQ, Oxford Dynamics, Oxford Reverb and Oxford SuprEsser. This bundle is usually priced at £684.60, but you can get it for just £68 right now. That’s a massive 90% off, or £616.60 straight back in your pocket.
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These deals – along with everything else in Plugin Boutique’s Sonnox sale – are available until 30 August, 2025. But don’t wait around, your best mix ever could be one purchase away.
For more information, head to Plugin Boutique.
The post You can get 90% off the entire Sonnox catalogue right now at Plugin Boutique appeared first on MusicTech.

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