A synth that’s a stocking filler … this genius piece of tomfoolery turned up this Christmas and has kept this nerd fully occupied throughout the festive season. It’s basically a cheap (£45) tiny monophonic synth that has a ribbon controller instead of keys, one oscillator and a superb filter section, so you can create the harshest of dubstep bass runs right through to the gentle pitter-patter of birdsong. And there is nothing like being able to hoik real controls back and forth while your partner makes pains to ignore your avant garde blips and blops.

You’ve got all the basic controls you’d expect on an analogue synth: LFO rate (with a lovely orangey light) and intensity, a VCF cut-off and resonance, volume, and pitch. Not to be overlooked is the aux input so you can connect any outside source through the filter section (stick your guitar though it for instance). You can listen via the built in speaker, or via headphones when you’ve tested other people’s patience to the limit.

For the late night amateur Eno in all of you, this is a treat not to be missed.