Haloplane samples audio by moving pickups through magnetic fields

KOMA Elektronik and Passepartout Duo have built a sampler you play by waving things around it. The Haloplane is a micro-loop sampler and wavetable synthesizer driven by an electromagnetic sound field, and the controller is a pair of electromagnetic pickups.

The interface offers seven magnetic fields. Send a sound out of the compact device, move the two pickups around its frame, and the audio shifts with every small motion. Rest them on the unit and the sound holds steady. Move them near and far in a pattern and you get more complex sequences.

Sampling comes through a built-in microphone or a line-in, with playback over the attached speaker. You can manipulate samples in real time for live use or route them elsewhere for recording. The Haloplane can also send sounds into a DAW. Built-in wavetables are selected with the same buttons as the magnetic fields, or through a companion app that shows the parameters more clearly. The unit runs its own Wi-Fi network, so it works anywhere.

The launch includes the Doppeldisk, a larger pickup that adds to the Haloplane’s sound options. It also works as an electromagnetic sound source when connected to the audio outputs of any device.

Pre-orders run on a tiered system. The first 30 units cost €486, the next 50 are €505, then 100 at €532 and 200 at €550. The Doppeldisk is €65 flat. Both are expected to ship early 2027.