Depeche mode keeps things simple onstage: no amplifiers. Every sound, from keyboards to guitar to drums, runs through the P.A. system: a Brittania Pow Flashlight System.
David Gahan and the backup singers use Samson Synth radio microphones with EU 757 capsules.
Martin Gore plays a Roland A-50 and Alan Wilder plays an Akai MX1000, each controlling two Emulator Emax II samplers; Andrew Fletcher has another pair of Emaxes. Each pair is hooked up in parallel, so if one were to malfunction, the other is ready. But "I don't remember an instance when we had to go to a spare," says Wob Roberts, the keyboard technician. Samples come from strange and sundry sources, including old analog equipment.
The piano onstage is a Korg 01/W Pro X transplanted into a grand piano body. For downstage keyboards, Fletcher and Wilder use Philip MIDI line drivers.
Away from the keyboards, Gore plays either a Gretsch Country Gentleman or a copy of a Gretsch Anniversary guitar, strung with Gibson strings, from .010 to .046 gauge. Dick Knight copied Gore's original Gretsch for stage use, using Gretsch parts but adding more wood in the body to cut down on feedback.
Wilder's drums are mostly Yamahas: a 22" bass drum and 12", 13", 14" and 16" tomtoms. He uses Noble and Cooley piccolo and 7" snare drums and Zildjian K cymbals: a 22" ride, an 18" China, 16" and 18" crashes, a 6" splash and 13" hi-hats.
And don't forget the tapes: two Sony 3324's, one of them a spare. Of the 24 tracks, Depeche Mode only use 14, because many of the songs were dubbed from a 16-track Tascam that used 12 tracks for sound and four for sync. "As soon as anyone sees the size of the machines, they think the whole show is on tape," says Roberts. "But it's just bass and drum parts and a couple of sequences. This band does not mime."
(source: http://www.tuug.fi/~jaakko/dm/keyboards.html)
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