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Best New Drum Machines + Samplers of 2025
Mindbending New Rhythm Machines from Roland, Elektron, & More
Each year, the Perfect Circuit / Signal staff sits down to reflect on the releases of the year; ultimately, aiming to narrow down to a list of our favorite new instruments & tools for electronic music makers. Depending on what we come up with, we opt to share the results in the form of Signal articles like this one. In years past, we haven't done dedicated articles about drum machines because, well, there weren't that many exciting new developments to report on. In 2025, that changed.
Indeed, 2025 saw a ton of innovation in drum machine & sampler design. We saw accessible new designs aimed at beginners; creative approaches to hardware-based multisampling; and we even saw the return of an absolutely legendary presence in the history of drum machine design. So, read on to learn a bit more about our favorite drum machines, samplers, and grooveboxes of the year.
1010 Music Bento
1010 Music’s Bento is a compact, all-in-one sampling workstation, designed to redefine standards for modern music-making—equally at home sketching beats on the go, performing from your lap, or running an entire synth setup in the studio. Its sleek 7" touchscreen and sixteen pressure- and velocity-sensitive pads make hands-on exploration a joy, while eight endlessly flexible tracks adapt to accommodate a variety of musical tasks, including loop slicing, sample playback, granular textures, multisample playback, and even—of course— external MIDI control. You have detailed control over level, pitch, pan, modulation, and effects sends, keeping sound design intuitive and in the moment.
Bento’s scene-based sequencer ties together its wide range of sonic capabilities. You can build evolving patterns, launch clips live, or lean into probability-driven generative ideas, all with the kind of immediacy that keeps creativity flowing. Deep modulation tools like LFOs, envelopes, and step sequencers are built right in, and per-track routing gives you expressive effects control with reverb, delay, overdrive, phaser, and more. From tight rhythmic edits to sprawling ambient performances, Bento’s sequencing feels fast, musical, and deeply rewarding.
Connectivity is equally impressive: three stereo ins and outs, USB host and device support, dual 3.5mm TRS MIDI I/O, and a dedicated headphone output. It can sample, resample, and even stream long WAV samples directly from a microSD card. With its internal battery and rugged build, Bento feels ready to go anywhere—no laptop required. For anyone looking to stay focused, portable, and creative, Bento is a refreshing reminder of how fun and freeing standalone music-making can be.
Akai MPC Live III
AKAI’s MPC Live III takes the beloved portable pad-based workstation and supercharges it for modern performance and production. Compared to its immediate predecessor, the MPC Live II, one of the most notable new additions is a physical step sequencer with sixteen soft buttons, making programming fast and intuitive. The new assignable touch strip can be linked to performance effects for expressive control. A built-in microphone lets you sample or perform on the fly, and under the hood, an upgraded processor, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of internal storage (expandable via USB, SD card, or SATA SSD) give you plenty of power for complex projects.
Of course, the pads are the heart of the experience. The updated MPCe pads feel responsive and expressive, perfect for finger drumming, synth control, or slicing samples in real time. Their 3D sensing allows for truly dynamic performance, allowing for nuanced control of many musical parameters simultaneously.
Connectivity is where the Live III really shines. With eight CV/Gate outputs, four full-size MIDI inputs and outputs, RCA inputs for turntables, dual combo XLR/TRS jacks, and USB-C audio supporting 24 channels in and out (!!), it’s ready to integrate seamlessly with any studio or modular setup. Whether you’re performing live, composing in the studio, or both, the MPC Live III is a powerhouse that combines portability, depth, and reliability, making it a companion you can count on for years of music-making.
AlphaTheta Chordcat
AlphaTheta’s Chordcat is an eight-track groovebox designed to make harmonic composition intuitive and inspiring, while maintaining a fun & hands-on workflow. It arrives loaded with 145 preset sounds and 16 drum kits. It lets you build full arrangements across eight tracks, saving up to sixteen phrases per track and chaining them together with the Pattern Chain feature for seamless song creation. Touch-sensitive pads and a keyboard give hands-on control over patterns, sounds, and effects, while built-in tools like the arpeggiator, delay, and ducker help add nuance to your performances.
If you're a true Chordcat pro, then we know we'll find you out there cruisin'—chord cruising, that is. Chordcat's Chord Cruiser mode suggests musically compatible chords on the fly, letting you experiment with harmonic progressions, quickly assign chords to the keyboard, and remix ideas in real time. Key and scale settings keep everything centered around your tonal center of choice. Of course, this is a pertinent performance feature; but it also makes Chordcat quite accessible for beginners, helping to ensure that they'll feel inspired and stay in the flow as they learn their way around the wide world of music-making. If you're looking for another way to mix things up, the grid-based sequencing offers multiple running directions, letting you generate variations on sequences and discover fresh ideas without forcing a particular path.
Whether you’re sketching chord progressions, jamming on the go, or experimenting with intricate harmonic textures, the Chordcat offers a playful yet powerful workflow that encourages exploration. Compact, creative, and fun, it’s a groovebox that’s ready to take you on a cruise through some new musical structures. Plus, it's got "cat" in the name—what's not to love?
Elektron Tonverk
With the release of Tonverk this year, Elektron has decidedly entered a new era. It's the first in a new format of instruments, boasting more processing power, welcome enhancements for the sequencer, and a bevy of modernizations for integration with present and future devices, musical or otherwise.
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Tonverk Polyphonic Multisampler & Audio Processor
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Tonverk specializes in multisampling: rather than transposing or stretching a single audio sample across a range of playable notes, numerous samples are instead mapped across zones of notes and velocities, in the vein of VSTs like Kontakt or Ableton's Sampler. The most classic scenario here is to take a monophonic instrument (whether it be a synth, human voice, trumpet, or what have you), capture a bunch of samples, and then play back chords from the recordings you've made.
Of course, that's just one suggestion. Thanks to the integrated auto-sampling feature, Tonverk makes it easy to hook up your favorite instruments and create deep multisampled instruments within a few minutes. Mix in different patches or sounds at different velocities and/or notes to create richly layered instruments. Tonverk then allows you to get inside your instruments and fully explore them inside and out through various sampler machines and, of course, the Elektron sequencer.
Multisampling is only part of the story with Tonverk, though. Like the Octatrack before it, Tonverk is equipped with an arsenal of creative effects to spruce up not only the sounds that Tonverk produces but also any external sounds you may want to incorporate via the USB or stereo audio inputs. In addition to the overdrive and filters on each audio track, each track can also have two insert effects loaded into it for further processing. Then when you add in the four Bus tracks, three Send FX tracks, and the global Mix track, you'll realize that there's so many places to inject and combine different effects chains. And don't worry, the effects comprise some of Elektron's skronkiest algorithms yet, including fun things like granular pitch shifters, frequency shifters, tape warble, and more alongside essentials like compression, delays, and reverbs.
We can't cover every aspect of Tonverk here, but you can check out our overview article if you're interested in more. Tonverk has so much more going for it, and like past Elektron boxes, we're sure it'll continue to evolve through firmware updates in the years to come.
Erica Synths x Hexinverter Hexdrums
While the world of electronic instruments has a habit of returning to classic designs, this doesn't mean there isn't room for new iterations that extend the musical possibilities of time-tested sounds. In the Eurorack world, Hexinverter Electronique's legendary line of Mutant drum modules are a perfect example of taking a new spin on classic designs in order to offer new avenues of expression to modern musicians. While these 909-inspired percussion circuits have graced Eurorack systems from the classic Hexinverter days to their newer, Erica Synths-made editions, the emergence of a desktop device for bringing these sounds to non-modular users has long been only a passing dream lost in the wind—until now.
Enter: The Erica Synths Hexdrums Analog Drum Machine.
This potent percussion processor predates Roland's return to analog circuits, having been announced early this year at Superbooth 2025. While you won't find the TR-1000's deep digital and sampling options available here, Hexdrums arguably goes further to provide analog heat and flexibility that extends beyond the strictly classic. Across its voices, you get two (TWO!) analog bass drums, the vastly flexible Mutant Machine percussion synth, the Mutant Snare, Clap, Rimshot, and Hi Hat voices, as well as Erica's own Cymbal voice. Together, these analog voices with digital cymbals offer something akin to a 909 from an alternate dimension, one that provides intuitive access to classic sounds with plentiful potential for carving out new sonic spaces.
Erica Synths has outfitted the Hexdrums with wonderfully clacky sequencing using tactile keyboard-style buttons. This 64 step sequencer makes it easy to program complex rhythmic material and improvise variations during performance, with per-track accents, per-step microtiming, ratchets, rolls, and per-step probability parameter for shifting sequences that keep looping patterns lively. Naturally, patterns can be stored in 16 banks of 16 patterns, offering a boon to live performers looking to play their arrangements on stage. Each voice features its own direct output for independent processing in the studio, while the stereo master out offers panning control alongside saturation and compression circuits derived from Hexinverter's Mutant Glue. No matter your set-up, HexDrums is easy to integrate, offering both analog clock and reset inputs alongside 5-Pin DIN and USB MIDI. Whether you're looking for something beyond your classic analog drums or just jumping into hardware percussion programming for the first time, Erica Synths HexDrums is an easy choice as one of the best analog drum machines in the modern era.
Roland TR-1000
Based in part on the same analog circuitry from their beloved original TR-808 and 909 drum machines, Roland has bucked the trend to create a flagship centerpiece drum machine with the TR-1000. In a time when there are more small, inexpensive devices than ever before, this beast of a machine—weighing in at 12lbs (5.5kg)—commands attention and excels at rhythmic composition. Beyond just patterns, you can easily compose entire pieces in this box with the versatility afforded by the experience Roland has with drum machines, samplers, and synthesizers.
While the 10 tracks have abbreviations for common assignments, those are merely suggestions, as each track can be assigned any of the drum engines, called Generators. The first four tracks are special: they are layered tracks, which means they can have two generators assigned to them, effectively turning this into a 14-track drum machine. While you have access to 16 analog circuits from the 808 and 909, the TR-1000 also uses Roland's Analog Circuit Behavior (ACB) modeling to recreate dozens of additional drum sounds, and has a built-in sampler with 16 minutes of sampling per track.
These exceptional sounds would be nothing without control, and the TR-1000 has control oozing out of every knob twiddle. Each channel has a dedicated set of knobs—some labeled CTRL, others with specific functions—however, all can be freely assigned to just about any parameter or multiple parameters. This becomes incredibly helpful when used in conjunction with the Motion Record features that lets you assign, or lock, parameters to a specific step in the sequence. In addition, you also have a macro Morph control that functions as an offset to any parameter(s) it gets applied to.
Structure is what really makes a composition, pattern, or element really shine; and while the TR-1000 limits you to 16 steps per variation, you can chain up to 8 variations per pattern, with 128 patterns available per project. Combine this with the aforementioned motion recording and Morph slider, along with the dedicated reverb, delay, master FX, and analog filter/drive section, there's never been a finer excuse to hot-knob. While this is certainly a premium piece of equipment, the sound, feel, and joy that comes from using the instrument is second-to-none.
Be sure to check out our interview with the TR-1000's lead product designer, Peter Brown.
Teenage Engineering Riddim + Ting
Teenage Engineering’s EP-40 Riddim is a dub- and reggae-inspired edition of the company’s portable EP-series samplers, paired for a limited time with the EP-2530 Ting handheld microphone. Together, they form a playful, all-in-one setup made for rhythm, performance, and creative spontaneity—evoking the classic dancehall vibe in a compact & affordable groovebox.
Like its siblings—the EP-133 and EP-1320—the EP-40 delivers up to 12 stereo or 16 mono voices with full polyphony, so you can build layered arrangements and perform them live, straight from the handheld device. Over 300 sounds and instruments come pre-loaded, packed with dub-ready flavor: deep grooves, vocal stabs, sharp percussion, and enough sirens to shake a sound system. You can load your own samples via USB or record directly through the input, with 128 MB of memory and an onboard subtractive synth engine ready for basslines and leads that complement your sample sets. Plus, the built-in sequencer and arranger enables classic EP-series performative control, including punch-in FX inspired by classic dub-style techniques.
Plug in the Ting mic to add vocals or live sampling on the fly. With its own built-in effects and lo-fi character, it’s a perfect match for the EP-40’s hands-on workflow. Portable, inspiring, and full of character, the EP-40 Riddim + Ting bundle captures the fun, collaborative spirit of dub—and lets you take it with you, wherever you go.
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