Nonlinear Labs previews C25, compact C15 successor for touring musicians

Nonlinear Labs used Superbooth 2026 to show that the C15’s oddball, performance-first idea was not a dead end. The new C25 kept the Phase 22 approach at its core, but moved it into a compact, redesigned metal chassis aimed squarely at touring musicians.

That matters because the C15 never behaved like a standard workstation or a classic subtractive polysynth. It was built as a player’s instrument, with a deep expressive control surface and a synth engine that mixed phase-modulation, waveshaping, physical modelling, and subtractive synthesis. The C25 keeps that identity intact while trying to make the package easier to carry, easier to understand at a glance, and easier to trust on the road.

Nonlinear Labs said the C25 was a complete redesign of the C15 platform, not just a trim-down. The company also said it had spent years refining the C15 through evolutionary steps before deciding it was time for a new instrument. That lineage is important. The C15 arrived at Superbooth 2016, and ten years later the C25 looks like the company’s answer to a familiar question in synth culture: how do you keep a distinctive design alive without turning it into museum piece hardware?

The spec sheet leans hard into performance. The C25 uses a Fatar TP/8S keybed with continuous sensors developed by Nonlinear Labs, and the keys themselves become polyphonic modulation sources based on position, velocity, or aftertouch pressure. It also keeps the C15’s Bender, adds a new Lever, and includes two ribbons with LED position indicators. Up to four pedals and four CV inputs can be assigned to macro controls, which gives the instrument a real tactile vocabulary instead of a menu-heavy feel.

On paper, the numbers are serious: 48 voices at 48 kHz or 24 voices at 96 kHz, a 7-inch TFT screen, touch input, six touch-sensitive endless potentiometers with haptic feedback, and 24 selection buttons with replaceable labels. Nonlinear Labs said the C25 will also support third-party synthesis or effect engines and will have access to the C15 preset library, a clear sign that it is meant to be a platform, not a one-off.

That platform thinking may be what makes the C25 matter beyond Nonlinear Labs’ usual circle. The company said the instrument is intended for touring musicians, built in a compact, lightweight, robust housing, with mostly European-made components and a focus on durability and sustainability. The C15 was already the synth that dared to be different. The C25 asks a sharper question: can that same strange, expressive philosophy become practical enough to live on stage without losing the instrument’s identity?