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The Mighty Have Fallen (Sort of)…
Well, it finally happened. After five years of dominating Reverb’s best-selling electronic gear list, the Teenage Engineering OP-1 is no longer king. Let that sink in. Once an undisputed heavyweight, the OP-1 slid to #5 this year, with Elektron’s Digitakt stepping up and snagging the top spot.
Now before you grab your pitchforks, don’t get it twisted—Teenage Engineering is doing just fine. They’ve actually expanded their lineup, and that’s part of the story here. Between the budget-friendly EP-133 K.O. II (which landed at #6) and the updated OP-1 Field (#11), the Swedish brand gave buyers more options across price points. Oh, and they’re not slowing down either—the OP-XY just dropped last month.
The takeaway? Teenage Engineering split its own crowd, and honestly, they’re still everywhere.
Elektron Takes Over
So how did Elektron pull this off? Simple: they dropped some serious heat. The Digitakt II and Digitone II launched earlier this year, and they sparked a wave of interest that pushed both products—and their used counterparts—straight up the charts.
The Digitakt now reigns supreme at #1, while the Digitone clocked in at #9. A lot of this success comes down to resale value. Used prices for both the Digitakt and Digitone fell by over $160 this year, making them way more accessible to anyone looking to upgrade their setup without torching their wallet.
Add in Elektron’s reputation for clean workflows, innovative sound design, and diehard fans, and it’s no surprise they crushed 2024.
Top Five Highlights
Here’s how the top-five overall shook out:
- Elektron Digitakt
- Ableton Push 2
- Roland SP-404 MKII
- Korg Drumlogue
- Teenage Engineering OP-1
While Elektron dominated, Ableton’s Push 2 jumped up to #2 thanks to some killer deals through Ableton’s Reverb shop. Meanwhile, Roland’s SP-404 MKII continues to prove it’s one of the most versatile samplers out there, sliding into the #3 spot.
The surprise here? Korg’s Drumlogue at #4. Korg kept its foot on the gas this year, offering solid discounts that pushed the Drumlogue up the list and solidified its place in the beat-production world.
The Brands That Ruled 2024
When you zoom out to look at overall brand performance, the story gets even bigger. Roland topped the charts as the best-selling electronic gear brand, with strong performances from the SP-404 MKII and the TR-8S.
- Korg locked in second place.
- Yamaha grabbed third.
- Akai and Arturia rounded out the top five.
Honestly, no surprises there. Roland continues to be an absolute juggernaut, and Korg is everywhere. But the under-the-radar brands are worth a shout, too. Companies like Make Noise and Dirtywave—smaller operations with cult followings—managed to carve out their own space on this list.
Case in point: the Dirtywave M8 Tracker landed at #19 overall. If you’ve used one, you know—it’s a compact beast, and seeing it hold its own against big players like Roland and Elektron is huge.
What About Used Gear?
Looking at the used market, a couple of trends stand out. The OP-1 might’ve dropped to #5 overall, but in the used category, it shot up to #3. The average price fell by around $100, making it a more affordable buy for anyone who’s been waiting to pull the trigger.
Meanwhile, the Arturia MicroFreak (#5 in used gear) benefited from a price dip thanks to its larger sibling, the MiniFreak. Long story short: great deals on used gear made 2024 a solid year to buy.
Drum Machines, Samplers, and Controllers
When you filter out synths and focus just on beat production gear, things get even spicier. The Digitakt still crushed at #1, followed by the Ableton Push 2 at #2.
But Native Instruments fans, take note: the standalone Maschine+ landed at #11, edging out Ableton’s standalone Push 3.
And shoutout to Akai, whose MPC One was the only MPC to make the top 20 this year. Affordable, full-featured, and reliable—it’s easy to see why.
Key Takeaways
Here’s the TL;DR on Reverb’s best-selling electronic gear of 2024:
- Elektron Digitakt dethroned the Teenage Engineering OP-1 after five years.
- Teenage Engineering is far from down—they split their crowd with multiple killer releases.
- Roland is still the top electronic brand, followed by Korg and Yamaha.
- The used market is thriving, with the OP-1, MicroFreak, and Digitakt seeing major price drops.
Final Thoughts
This year’s rankings reflect a growing trend: accessibility matters. Brands like Elektron and Teenage Engineering are offering more options at every price point, making pro-level gear available to more people than ever before. Whether you’re hunting for a deal on the used market or picking up the latest drop, 2024 proved there’s something for everyone.
For gear heads, producers, and synth enthusiasts alike, these lists are more than just rankings—they’re a snapshot of where music-making is headed. And if you’re looking to snag one of these best-sellers for yourself, well, you know where to look.
Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
