NAMM 2025: Australian manufacturer Melbourne Instruments had the synth world in a spin back in 2022 when it announced the release of Nina, a 12-voice analogue poly equipped with specially-developed motorized knobs that respond to parameter changes in real time.
This means that you're able to select a patch and Nina's knobs will instantly spin themselves into the relevant positions, or hook up an LFO to a parameter and watch the associated knob rotate all by itself as that parameter is modulated. Pretty neat, right?
Three years on, and it appears that Melbourne Instruments has placed those motorized knobs in a MIDI controller. While no official announcement has yet been made, images and video have appeared on Synth Anatomy, MatrixSynth and the Elektronauts forum that show a modestly-sized rectangular controller equipped with eight of Melbourne's self-rotating knobs.
The video - which unfortunately has no audio - appears to show the controller hooked up to Ableton Live, its eight knobs mapped to specific parameters in the DAW. A row of LED-equipped, keyboard-style buttons sit below the screens, mapped to the Mute controls for eight tracks in Ableton's mixer; the track names are visible on small displays above each button. On the controller's right hand side is a keypad with several more buttons.
To our ears, applying the motorized knob concept from the Nina and Delia synths to a MIDI controller sounds like a stroke of genius. With NAMM just around the corner, it seems likely that Melbourne Instruments will be officially unveiling the mysterious controller next week. When we know more, so will you.
