Five synths that define Nine Inch Nails’ soundOne of the most anticipated sets of Coachella 2026 was that of Nine Inch Noize, the collaboration between Trent Reznor’s iconic industrial rock band, Nine Inch Nails and the trendsetting techno veteran, Boys Noize.

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Boys Noize, Trent Reznor and Reznor’s longtime collaborator and Nine Inch Nails bandmate Atticus Ross had performed together as an opening act for NIN’s recent world tour, but Coachella 2026 marked the first time they debuted their full set.
“The creative fulfillment of working on the Challengers and TRON scores with Boys Noize led me to think that including him in the Peel It Back tour could be an interesting way to express NIN in more purely electronic terms live – a concept I’ve wanted to explore for some time,” Reznor said in a statement.
Together, they played a series of Nine Inch Nails songs as well as one cut from Reznor and Ross’s other band, How To Destroy Angels, and even a track from the famed synth-pop outfit, Soft Cell. Except every song was remixed with a new kind of industrial flavor to reflect the fresh union of artists.
This kind of renewed approach defines Reznor’s career. Nine Inch Nails first formed in 1988, and in the subsequent 38 years, he has consistently tried new pieces of gear, ensuring no two releases sound the same.
“There’s always a good song in everything, an interesting experience to be had,” Reznor told Synth History in 2022.
And Reznor found good songs in the following five pieces of gear that ended up on albums such as Pretty Hate Machine (1989), The Downward Spiral (1994), and Hesitation Marks (2013).
1. E-mu Emax

The Emax was Reznor’s first real sampler, and according to him, he “got an Emax and that was Pretty Hate Machine.” He used it to make every single drum sound on the now platinum-selling album with a sample from an outside source.
Another noticeable instance of the Emax comes on Terrible Lie. The screechy synth line at the end of the song started as a woodblock, which Reznor ran through a distortion pedal, sampled with the Emax, and pitched down.
Emaxes were manufactured between 1986 and 1995, so an original often costs over $1,000. However, a software version is available for $49.
2. Kurzweil K2000

Another key piece of Reznor’s arsenal for his earlier, groundbreaking records such as The Downward Spiral, was the Kurzweil K2000 (it was also a favorite of another electronic icon, Jean-Michel Jarre). The synth has Variable Architecture Synthesis Technology (VAST), which allows users access to 31 algorithms of different component configurations. These built-in options empower them to extensively manipulate their chosen sound without getting into the technical minutiae of modular.
One sound on The Downward Spiral listeners might not expect to be software is the squeaky clean acoustic guitar on Hurt. It’s actually the acoustic guitar patch on the K2000 Orchestral ROM. Going the complete opposite direction, the crunchy computerized drums on The Becoming are also all K2000.
This vintage synth was mass-produced between 1991 and 2000, so a real one can be pricey, and as of now, there are no direct software versions.
3. ARP Odyssey

Reznor’s CV goes far beyond Nine Inch Nails, even winning two Academy Awards for Best Original Score alongside Atticus Ross. Most recently, they won for the Disney/Pixar film, Soul (2020), but their first was for Aaron Sorkin’s Facebook origin story, The Social Network (2010). Just as Mark Zuckerberg, played by Jesse Eisenberg, is sitting down drunk at his computer making a website where users compare women’s looks, the piece In Motion begins, which was created in part with an ARP Odyssey.
Given the synth was “lying around” in Reznor’s studio as recently as 2022, it naturally made its way onto other records as well. Namely, The Hand That Feeds, the Grammy-nominated cut from With Teeth (2005). The synth and drum break was fueled by the ARP Odyssey.
Being such a classic, it makes sense that Korg has an ARP Odyssey software version readily available for $49.99.
4. Waldorf MicroWave

The Waldorf MicroWave came about when Waldorf set out to make its own version of the PPG Wave 2, and Nine Inch Nails has used several versions of the MicroWave since. Reznor auctioned off a MicroWave XT and a MicroWave Access Programmer around 2009. Waldorf also made a custom MicroWave for Nine Inch Nails.
They used the Microwaves extensively on The Fragile (1999). Charlie Clouser, who was in Nine Inch Nails from 1994 to 2000, said of the MicroWave:
“I basically rely on three synths: the Nord, the (Access) Virus, and the MicroWave.”
5. Native Instruments Maschine

For Nine Inch Nails’ 2013 album, Hesitation Marks, Reznor composed the majority of the songs using Native Instruments’ Maschine. Despite having a massive arsenal of synths (and the money to buy anything he wanted), he chose to work on one device to use the limitation to his advantage. Beyond the sound banks that come with the product, he also used Soundtoys Native Effects bundle.
“I liked the limitation that everything was in Maschine; I liked the fact that it could be easily automated with fingers on knobs, and you don’t have to spend time assigning stuff,” Reznor once told Soundtoys. “And I liked the fact that it felt pattern-based.”
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