Top 5Has said they use
Moog
Moog One“But the Moog One - I've realized if I treat it like a monophonic synth, it fucking sounds great.”
Said in Synth History: Interview with Trent Reznor, September 2022
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Independent research by truerecs. Not affiliated with, endorsed or verified by Trent Reznor. Every item links to its public source.
47 items · Last checked What synths does Trent Reznor use?
Trent Reznor has said he writes in Ableton Live, runs Nine Inch Nails live from a laptop with Apple MainStage and Soundtoys effects, and named a Moog One, Prophet-6 and Elektron Digitakt in 2022. His 1990s guitars went through a Zoom 9030, and on tour he played Gibson Les Pauls.
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Top 5
Where to start with Trent Reznor's gear.
01
02
Top 5Has said they use
Sequential
Prophet-6“I'm currently kind of into the Prophet 6, which has been around for a long time as a go-to.”
Said in Synth History: Interview with Trent Reznor, September 2022
03
Top 5Has said they use
ARP
Odyssey“An ARP Odyssey, I have a couple old ones and I have a new one. I just love the way ARPs sound.”
Said in Synth History: Interview with Trent Reznor, September 2022
04
Top 5Has said they use
Dreadbox
Nymphes“I've got Dreadbox Nymphes, it sounds great.”
Said in Synth History: Interview with Trent Reznor, September 2022
05
Top 5Has said they use
Oberheim
Four Voice“I've got an Oberheim Four Voice, nothing sounds better than that, but it's punishing to set the patch up.”
Said in Synth History: Interview with Trent Reznor, September 2022
What synths Trent Reznor uses: a sourced gear guide
Independent research by truerecs: every item links to the public source it comes from.
Synths
Has said they use
Moog
Moog One“But the Moog One - I've realized if I treat it like a monophonic synth, it fucking sounds great.”
Said in Synth History: Interview with Trent Reznor, September 2022
Has said they use
Sequential
Prophet-6“I'm currently kind of into the Prophet 6, which has been around for a long time as a go-to.”
Said in Synth History: Interview with Trent Reznor, September 2022
Has said they use
ARP
Odyssey“An ARP Odyssey, I have a couple old ones and I have a new one. I just love the way ARPs sound.”
Said in Synth History: Interview with Trent Reznor, September 2022
Has said they use
Dreadbox
Nymphes“I've got Dreadbox Nymphes, it sounds great.”
Said in Synth History: Interview with Trent Reznor, September 2022
Has said they use
Oberheim
Four Voice“I've got an Oberheim Four Voice, nothing sounds better than that, but it's punishing to set the patch up.”
Said in Synth History: Interview with Trent Reznor, September 2022
Find it on
Has said they use
Doepfer
A-100 modular system“When I think back to my exposure to modular synths, I got a Doepfer system”
Said in Synth History: Interview with Trent Reznor, September 2022
Has said they use
Moog
Prodigy“It wasn't until a few years later I got a Moog Prodigy, which we could afford, my Grandpa got it for me.”
Said in Synth History: Interview with Trent Reznor, September 2022
Has said they use
Korg
Mono/Poly“Eventually, I got a Korg Mono/Poly... chords!”
Said in Synth History: Interview with Trent Reznor, September 2022
Has said they use
Moog
Minimoog“I use the Minimoog a lot.”
Said in Keyboard Magazine: Trent Reznor interview by Greg Rule (NIN Hotline archive), March 1994
Has said they use
Oberheim
Xpander“Aside from that, I still use the Oberheim Xpander”
Said in Keyboard Magazine: Trent Reznor interview by Greg Rule (NIN Hotline archive), March 1994
Has said they use
Sequential
Prophet-VS“And the Prophet-VS, I still use that.”
Said in Keyboard Magazine: Trent Reznor interview by Greg Rule (NIN Hotline archive), March 1994
Has said they use
Waldorf
Microwave“I have a Waldorf MicroWave now.”
Said in Keyboard Magazine: Trent Reznor interview by Greg Rule (NIN Hotline archive), March 1994
Has said they use
Moog
Minimoog Voyager“My entire musical career, from the first demoes of Pretty Hate Machine to the present, really the only constant has been Moog in one form or another.”
Seen in Moog Music: Trent Reznor | Archetype of a Synthesizer, September 2015
Seen using
Analogue Solutions
Vostok semi-modularSeen in EQ Magazine: Nine Inch Nails, With Teeth (NIN Hotline archive), July 2005
Find it on
Moog
Moog IIIc reissue modular
Has said they use
“I invested in a reissue Moog IIIc.”
Said in Synth History: Interview with Trent Reznor, September 2022
No store page for this one.
Moog
Moog Model 15 reissue modular
Has said they use
“A couple years earlier I got the Model 15 reissue”
Said in Synth History: Interview with Trent Reznor, September 2022
No store page for this one.
Seen using
Nord
Nord LeadSeen in Keyboard Magazine: Nine Inch Nails, the album, the tour, February 2000
Clavia
Nord Modular
Seen using
Clavia
Nord ModularSeen in Keyboard Magazine: Nine Inch Nails, the album, the tour, February 2000
No store page for this one.
Seen using
Waldorf
Microwave XTSeen in Keyboard Magazine: Nine Inch Nails, the album, the tour, February 2000
No store page for this one.
Samplers and drum machines
Has said they use
E-mu
Emax sampler“I got an Emax and that was Pretty Hate Machine.”
Said in Synth History: Interview with Trent Reznor, September 2022
Has said they use
Akai Professional
S1100“Then we sampled them all in stereo with velocity splitting on the Akai S1100s.”
Said in Keyboard Magazine: Trent Reznor interview by Greg Rule (NIN Hotline archive), March 1994
Has said they use
Roland
R-70 drum machine“I did use a Roland R-70, just because I wanted something that was a drum machine.”
Said in Keyboard Magazine: Trent Reznor interview by Greg Rule (NIN Hotline archive), March 1994
Has said they use
Elektron
Digitakt“I've moved over to hardware drum machines and Digitakt, I like touching stuff.”
Said in Synth History: Interview with Trent Reznor, September 2022
In the studio
Has said they use
Ableton
Live“The last few years I've written exclusively on Ableton rather than Pro Tools”
Said in Synth History: Interview with Trent Reznor, September 2022
Seen using
Native Instruments
ReaktorSeen in EQ Magazine: Nine Inch Nails, With Teeth (NIN Hotline archive), July 2005
Seen using
GForce Software
impOSCarSeen in EQ Magazine: Nine Inch Nails, With Teeth (NIN Hotline archive), July 2005
Seen using
Sherman
FilterbankSeen in EQ Magazine: Nine Inch Nails, With Teeth (NIN Hotline archive), July 2005
Seen using
ZVEX Effects
Fuzz FactorySeen in EQ Magazine: Nine Inch Nails, With Teeth (NIN Hotline archive), July 2005
Seen using
Has said they use
Native Instruments
Maschine+“I liked the limitation that everything was in Maschine;”
Said in Soundtoys: Process: Nine Inch Nails, June 2015
Has said they use
Soundtoys
EchoBoy“Calling EchoBoy a delay plug-in is doing it a disservice.”
Said in Soundtoys: Process: Nine Inch Nails, June 2015
Has said they use
Soundtoys
Decapitator“is the no brainer of using Decapitator on things, slightly, just to grit it up a bit”
Said in Soundtoys: Process: Nine Inch Nails, June 2015
Opcode
StudioVision
Has said they use
Opcode
StudioVision“Load that back into Studio Vision.”
Said in Guitar Player: Rusty Nails, April 1994
No store page for this one.
Digidesign
Sound Tools
Has said they use
Records that shaped me
Has said they love
Frank Zappa
Sheik Yerbouti“And it was Frank Zappa, the Sheik Yerbouti album, filled with profanity.”
Has said they love
Kiss
Hotter Than Hell“It felt like you might get in trouble if you had the Hotter Than Hell album.”
Has said they love
Talking Heads
Remain in Light“Since I started making music myself, this wonderful album has been something I can always consult.”
Said in Vinyl Writers: Trent Reznor on Talking Heads, Remain in Light (1980), September 2020
Live rig
Has said they use
Apple
MainStage“My live rig for Nine Inch Nails is a laptop running the MainStage”
Said in Soundtoys: Process: Nine Inch Nails, June 2015
Has said they use
Soundtoys
FilterFreak“All of which are virtual, but the effects pretty much are all EchoBoy and FilterFreak, actually.”
Said in Soundtoys: Process: Nine Inch Nails, June 2015
Seen using
FIR Audio
Krypton 5 in-ear monitorsSaid in FOH: Nine Inch Nails 2025 to 2026 Peel It Back Tour, March 2026
No store page for this one.
Rupert Neve Designs
OptoFET Dual Stage CompressorSaid in FOH: Nine Inch Nails 2025 to 2026 Peel It Back Tour, March 2026
No store page for this one.
Early gear
Has said they use
Film scores with Atticus Ross
Dewanatron
Swarmatron
Seen using
Guitars
Digidesign
TurboSynth
Has said they use
Digidesign
TurboSynth“going direct into Digidesign's TurboSynth”
Said in Guitar Player: Rusty Nails, April 1994
No store page for this one.
Zoom
9030 guitar multi-effects
Has said they use
“almost everything was put through a Zoom 9030”
Said in Guitar Player: Rusty Nails, April 1994
No store page for this one.
Seen using
Questions
About Trent Reznor's gear.
What gear does Trent Reznor use?
In 2022 he said he writes in Ableton and named a Moog One, Prophet-6, ARP Odysseys, Dreadbox Nymphes, Moog IIIc and Model 15 reissues and an Elektron Digitakt. In 2015 he said his live rig was a laptop running Apple MainStage with Soundtoys EchoBoy and FilterFreak.
What synths does Trent Reznor use?
In a 2022 Synth History interview he named a Moog One, a Prophet-6, ARP Odysseys, Dreadbox Nymphes, an Oberheim Four Voice, a Doepfer modular and Moog IIIc and Model 15 reissues. Keyboard reported in 2000 that a Nord Lead was the first synth he reached for on The Fragile.
What DAW does Trent Reznor use?
He told Synth History in 2022 that for the last few years he had written exclusively in Ableton rather than Pro Tools. In 2015 he said his live rig ran Apple MainStage, and in 1994 he described recording guitars into Opcode Studio Vision.
What guitar does Trent Reznor play?
Guitar tech Billy Howerdel has said he went through 137 Gibson Les Pauls working for Reznor in the 1990s. In 1994 Reznor told Guitar Player that almost everything went through a Zoom 9030 and Digidesign TurboSynth, recorded direct rather than through miked amps.
What does Trent Reznor use live?
In 2015 he told Soundtoys his live rig was a laptop running Apple MainStage with effects that are mostly EchoBoy and FilterFreak. On the 2025 to 2026 Peel It Back tour, FOH reported he uses FIR Audio Krypton 5 in-ears and Rupert Neve OptoFET compressors on his vocal.
What was Pretty Hate Machine made on?
Reznor has said his first real sampler was an E-mu Emax and that the Emax was Pretty Hate Machine.
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Trent Reznor
About this guide · Last checked
Trent Reznor is the founder of Nine Inch Nails and, with Atticus Ross, an Oscar-winning film composer. This guide covers the synths, samplers, software, guitar setup and live rig he has named or been documented using from 1994 to 2026, and the records he has said changed him.
truerecs put this guide together from public videos, interviews and posts. Each item says how we know and links to the source. Trent Reznor didn't write it or choose anything on it. How we source gear guides.
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