In looking back at the best of 2014, we’ve covered the 10 Best New Mobile Music Apps, the Best New Hardware Synths, the 10 Best New MIDI Controllers, the Best New Modular Synth Gear, the Best New Electronic Music Hardware and the Best New Music Software that was introduced in 2014. Most of these items are now shipping.
But there were also some amazing items that were introduced, leaked, teased or hyped in 2014 that left us equally excited and frustrated.
Frustrated, because the release date has been delayed. Or because no release date has been announced. Or because the awesome looking synth is just a design concept. Nooooooooo!
Here are our picks for the sexiest ‘vaporware’ introductions of 2014. We don’t know if it will ever be released, but we can hope:
The Best ‘Vaporware’ Electronic Music Gear Of 2014
The Emphase Synthesizer is a new synth, in development at Non-Linear Labs, a startup founded by Stephan Schmitt (Native Instruments, Reaktor).
Good pedigree, interesting concept, no release date.
In April, synth uber-designer Rob Papen teased fans with Rob Papen RP-Control, a MIDI controller, tailored to his synths.
“The idea is to make a USB controller for our synth products (BLUE-II, Predator, SubBoomBass, Blade),” explains Papen. “The layout is very clear, compared to other general controllers.”
We like the idea of seeing more experimentation with dedicated hardware controllers, but it looks like RP-Control is just a design concept, at this point.
In February, Moog Music filed a U.S. federal trademark registration was filed for “Matador”. The Trademark is for Music Synthesizers.
The Moog Matador is just a trademark registration – but the promise of any new Moog is tantalizing.
And, with a name like ‘Matador’, could something in the Taurus family be on the way? 
In 2014, Behringer announced plans to get into synths.
Then they announced that they were going to make a whole line of vintage-inspired Behringer synthesizers.
And now it appears that they liked Korg’s plan for a new ARP Odyssey so much that they might introduce their own Behringer ARP Odyssey clone. For $500.
The Behringer synth line is vaporware, for now, and we’re not expecting Behringer synth news at this year’s NAMM Show. But, we’ll be surprised if Behringer doesn’t introduce something at the 2016 NAMM Show.
In December 2014, user PIOTR shared these design concepts for three new Yamaha keyboards at the YamahaSynth forum.
Yamaha asked users for input, and PIOTR came up with Yamaha synthesizer design concepts that are sexy enough to have people hoping for new Yamaha digital synths, physical modeling synths and even virtual analogs.
They are unofficial design concepts, so these belong firmly in the ‘vaporware’ category.
Were there any announcements in 2014 that you think belong in the ‘sexy vaporware’ category? Leave a comment and share your thoughts!
What about the Behringer X-Touch series? 🙂
http://www.behringer.com/EN/products/X-TOUCH.aspx
Sexy and unobtainable.
the X-Touch is a must for the X32 RACK or the new X-AIR mixers ….
BEHRINGER!!! PLEASE!!!!! we need that one!!!!!!!.
Uli Behringer confirmed on Gearslutz that X Touch should be shipping in Q1 and delay was caused by a redesign to make it work with X Air.
I thought vapoware meant products that are officially announced by a company, but never materialise? What are those Yamaha mock-ups made by some random guy doing on this list?
Yes, I have to concur with the definition. Vaporware has always meant a severely disappointing broken promise. If there was never a release date, or it’s a known proof of concept and nothing more, or just a known registered trademark with nothing promised nor implied, it really can’t be classed as vaporware. Ideally it’s something people have queued for but the doors are never unlocked.
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
You caught us on that one!
At least we didn’t use the pretentious ‘vapourware’.
How is ‘vapourware’ pretentious and ‘vaporware’ not?
Yes! As a native speaker of the Queen’s-Proper-English-As-She-Is-Spoke, you have just roused the colour of fury in my cheeks.
How can the original, and still in-use spelling of a word be pretentious?
We accept that Bob Moog coined the word ‘synthesizer’, so you can have your ‘z’, but vapour is spelled with a ‘U’ in the country where the English language originates from, and has been for hundreds, maybe thousands of years prior to the existance of the USA.
‘Vaporware’ was also coined by an American (Ann Winblad), but the reality is it’s a compound word made up of ‘vapour’ and ‘ware’. Vapor is the American spelling of the word vapour, it’s not English. So the implications are that anyone who spells words in correct English is being pretentious?
I can’t imagine any other way to interpret this sentence, which is why I asked before jumping to conclusions, as I can’t believe a site as popular as Synthtopia would lower itself to be insulting to an entire country with nationalistic prejudice like this.
Please do correct us if you intended some other meaning Synthhead!
A couple of hundred. Certainly not thousands.
—Linguist.
> prior to the existance of the USA
Is that how they spell “existence” in England?
I’m Irish, the language was forced upon us!
wow. learn to take a joke bro. i think they call it “humour”… haha
Whoooosh!!!
That is the sound of Irish wit flying waaaay over your head.
Here is a winky face just so you know I’m not being serious 😉
Not really thousands of years. Middle English and Old English could hardly be understood by a modern Brit, and would easily be mistaken for German or Danish by some. Modern English is very modern, perhaps only predating the Tudors.
It’s only pretentious if we use it. Also, tell us more about the colour of your cheeks.
So not only do you not explain your meaning, you reiterate your prejudicial anti-English crap!
Unbelievable! You are a disgrace and an embarrassment to other right thinking Americans and should be ashamed of yourself!
well.. that’s enough wordtopia for the day i guess…
I’ve just re-read this having noticed a new comment and realise there is another interpretation of ‘we use it’ that is possibly, um… probably, what was intended in that ‘we’ refers to Americans using the English spelling.
If so, then I apologise. Sorry!
I’m still baffled as to why you would even make a point of it, either way you still stand the risk of alienating visitors i.e. the Americans who spell words with the English spelling.
smarf – you’re right, enough for one day. Letting this drop as it’s all a bit silly. I’m not upset, I was just kinda taken aback but it all as it seemed rather out of character.
explanation: its pretentious when we (americans) use your spellings. we have our own cultural perspective, believe it or not. no harm meant, so don’t get you knickers in a twist m8 🙂
Erm… ok!
For the record… I’m male and I don’t wear knickers!
*at least not normally – I’ve had some weird girlfriends who liked that kind of thing and well,,, when a ridiculously hot girl asks so nicely… how could you possibly refuse? 😀
Also, can we at least agree on ‘sexy’?
Just don’t let “sexy” get away with you.
http://www.umop.com/art/kb047.jpg
I definitely wish for Yamaha DX10 to become reality, and I’m curious about what Behringer is doing.
The Emphase Synth is not entirely vapor. According to their website, the new Native Instruments Kontour (a Schmitt/NI collaboration) is a component of sorts:
“Kontour can be considered a sort of “preview” to the first synthesis engine of our hardware synthesizer (working name “Emphase”). The audio processing structure of Emphase will be similar, but not identical (and therefore not preset-compatible) to that of Kontour.”
http://nonlinear-labs.de/blog/kontour/kontour.html
I still wait Technos Pi.
Bring me.
Those Yamaha concepts are seriously appealing.
the yamaha dx10 looks awesome!
Without any doubt the Yamaha series is just too good to be true. Specially if they were released in rack-mounting versions. All three are just wonderful stuff. The DX10 fills the great FM synthesis wich many of us love. Just take the ubiquitous TX81Z Lately Bass or the DX e-pianos in all its glory. The AN was great too and the Virtual Lead was a joy few people could afford.
This would be just great, but I very much fear they will present another keyboard Workstation with double polyphony, double Wave ROM, double RAM, double hard disk space, double effects processors… and they will be call it a step forward.
Let’s see…
Cheers
do Yamaha still own the patent on the F.M. synthesis..could another manufacturer come out with dx7 clone?
There should be a category for “delay-ware” then, for stuff announced as being available in 2014 but doesn’t actually show up until 2015, if then. Case in point: CME XKey 37, which was announced at MESSE last March as being available in late June 2014 but was most recently announced as coming out January 2015 (don’t hold your breath).
Perhaps a more appropriate category for the CME XKey 37 would be “stuff that gets delayed but nobody cares.”
Another no-show for this year was the Buchla half-space series that was introduced at NAMM 2014.
i want yamaha DX10 and the 2 others for reality !!!! please yamaha listen to me and realize this line of legendary synths revisited, these 3 synths have all that was missing on the old !!!! that’s why I sold mine, but if you make these synths a reality, I would be the first to buy them !! 😉
Surprised no one has mentioned the Korg ARP Odyssey, which was supposed to ship in September.
Korg announced several months ago that they were delaying it….