The Studio

The Dean's List House of Hits

The Weeknd, Beyoncé, Kanye West, Travis Scott, Madonna, Jay-Z, Christine and the Queens... After seeing first-hand how Mike Dean, it's no wonder these artists and more seek out the "Synth God" for their modern-classics.

Ahead of an upcoming solo performance at Los Angeles' Wiltern Theatre on March 1, Mike Dean treated us to an afternoon session.

We arrived to talk synths and ending up catching a full track get built from scratch. Inspiration struck, and a new song was born.


The first part of Mike Dean's working collection of studio synths, including a Jupiter-8 and a CS-80.

The middle rack includes a MemoryMoog, MiniMoog, Prodigy, Subsequent 37 CV, and Rhodes 73.

The new favorites—an Oberheim OB-X and Four-Voice—above a Rhodes Chroma.

The 'Trifecta' of a Voyager, Juno (HS-60), and Triton that's been on dozens of hits.

The main computer, equipped with nearly every DAW and plugin.

A Native Instruments controller often used to sequence (all hardware synths are connected via MIDI).

The signature guitar tone is a closely guarded secret.

Photo captions, read from left to right:

  • The signature guitar tone is a closely guarded secret.
  • The middle rack includes a MemoryMoog, MiniMoog, Prodigy, Subsequent 37 CV, and Rhodes 73.
  • A Native Instruments controller often used to sequence (all hardware synths are connected via MIDI).
  • The new favorites—an Oberheim OB-X and Four-Voice—above a Rhodes Chroma.
  • The "Trifecta" of a Voyager, Juno (HS-60), and Triton that's been on dozens of hits.
  • The main computer, equipped with nearly every DAW and plugin.
  • The first part of Mike Dean's working collection of studio synths, including a Jupiter-8 and a CS-80.

The Synth CollectionDean's setup includes pretty much any synth you could dream of.

The Sound for Less
Affordable ways to approach the sound

Despite owning a fair few of the world's most desirable synth models, Mike Dean's setup has a surprising amount of affordable options. The trio of synths that he calls the "Trifecta" and used on scores of hits contains the Roland HS-60 (an overlooked and less expensive Juno variant) and a Korg Triton, which these days is just a few hundred dollars (and available as an official Korg VST).

Moog Model Ds and Voyager XLs are pricy, of course, but Mike also makes use of modern Moogs like the Matriarch and Grandmother that are easier to come by.

The cream of the crop CS-80s and Jupiter-8s of the world will take some more doing, but if you are interested in approximating those sounds with other instruments, check out our "Jupiter-8 for Less" and "CS-80 for Less" articles.

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