The Pocket Operator Modular 400 from Teenage Engineering is an analog modular synthesizer that you put together yourself. If you’re at all interested in DIY kits or synths, this might be a great weekend project.
You bend the bright yellow chassis into shape to start, mounting the various modules into place with tiny little screws. The kit comes with a bunch of gear: a few oscillators, filters, envelopes, a step sequencer, a mixer, and an on-board speaker. Patch cables let you chain these together for all kinds combinations and sounds, while a battery option lets you tweak it on the go.
Route a sawtooth oscillator through an envelope or mess with the voltage control amplifier… there’s really no wrong way to go about this. Half the the fun is tinkering with the connectors and knobs while building out the kit — and anyone who doesn’t know how they work can easily learn as they go.
The POM-400 is available through the Teenage Engineering store, although it’s frequently sold out.