2019 Gear Purchase: Hits & Misses

The Lounge General Discussion
#123

Hits:

-no new purchase, but getting more serious with Ableton Live to the extent I’m considering repurchasing Push 2
-Strymon Volante: all the echo I need
-Overbridge - finally going somewhere
-Jupiter Xm - usability could be way better, but the sound is spot on for me

Misses:

-OP-Z not living up to it’s full potential, I just HATE the synth engines and the sample memory limitations. I still pick it up frequently, but I feel it could be so much more
-Empress Zoia: it hurts to say this, but I don’t have the time to do what it is there to do, which is a shame

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#124

No misses for me this year, though only acquisitions were a DOD Carcosa fuzz pedal (love this pedal, especially how it retains note definition), Sennheiser e935 dynamic mic (improvement over the sm57 I’ve been using for live vocals), Pedaltrain classic jr (beats the cardbox box I was using to bring my pedals to gigs), but the biggest hit for me was:

Beyer Dynamic DT-770 Pro 80 ohm

My previous headphones and current monitors (Sony V6 and Yamaha HS50M) don’t have much bass, so the DT-770s have been extremely enjoyable. I’ve never enjoyed producing with headphones but that changed once I got these.

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#125

Hit: APC40 MK2. I had already been using Ableton, but I had been mostly working in arrangement view, which would encourage me to lay out a track structure and press STOP/PLAY ‘from the top’ a lot. That’s not a bad thing, but Ableton’s non-linear Session/Clip view encourages more of a ‘jam’ approach. The APC40 in combination with my Analog RYTM MK2 made for a very jammy 2019 and I can now do an improvised set without looking at the laptop screen much at all.

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#126

Love my DT-770 pros so much that I just purchased replacement pads for them. Had them for around 15 years and they’re still going strong.

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#127

My disgusting 10-year-old, sweat ridden 990s (love them, absolute workhorses) next to my new 770s:

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#128

Hits: Volca Drum, Polyend Medusa, iLoud micros. Out of those the Volca Drum has been my favourite. Surprisingly deep, yet super easy to pick up and fiddle around with.

Miss: OP-Z. Did not like having to remember like 6 different combinations of a few tiny buttons to do everything from entering sample edit to erasing a track, depending on the mode you’re in. Just felt like they didnt think ahead when they designed it. Wasn’t too keen on the sound or build quality either. Only part I liked were the dials.

#129

This was a big year in gear for me. I had three purchases I love: Digitakt, Korg Prologue 8, and an Eventide Space Reverb (technically I already owned the space reverb but I sold one two years ago and it was one of my biggest gear sale regrets). I absolutely love the Digitakt and am working on learning the workflow but I feel like it might become my main writing piece of gear and just supplement it with my other devices. The Prologue is just a really good sounding poly that has really rich classic sounds plus I can get some decent fm sounds out of it.
I did buy one piece of gear this year that I just haven’t gotten use out of. I bought a Behringer Model D and even though I think it sounds great, the workflow of it and the sound is just not what I needed.

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#130

Re: OPz, stackable step components alone make this little bundle of joy one of the bigger hits of the decade IMHO. Sure the sound engines are weak, but they can be used to draft up all your ideas on the fly and then mute the engines and sequence your studio rig once you’re back home. The most portable sampler ever too.

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#131

HITS: Digitone, Digitakt, Circuit Mono Station, Arturia Keystep, Analog Drive

The Digi-twins are the hub of my live performance setup, with the CMS providing some analog goodness to the mix. I use the Keystep to play live parts on the Digitone. All in all, a very flexible and inspiring setup.

I picked up the Analog Drive during the $99 blowout and I thought I didn’t really NEED it. I was wrong.

MISSES: MPC Live

At first I liked it, but over time it resonated with me less and less. Despite all of its raw power, I just wasn’t getting inspired by its workflow. Then I picked up the Digitone and discovered the “Elektron Workflow”. It was and is INCREDIBLY inspiring, so once I had spent enough time with the Digitone and away from the Akai to cleanse my over-reliance on samples and loops, I sold the MPC and picked up a Digitakt to mate with my Digitone. I have not missed the MPC at all since I sold it several months ago.

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#132

I thought I had purchased more stuff in 2019; I only made three big purchases (I guess I was so busy paying other stuff off that it felt like I had shopped much more). :sunglasses:

I feel my purchase of the Roland MC707 Groovebox, the Pioneer DJ Toraiz Squid Sequencer, the Korg Volca Drum, and the Korg Volca Modular are all hits. :heart_eyes:

Happy Holidays! :christmas_tree:

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#133

I’m not feeling it with my Roland MC707 :frowning:

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#134

Forgot I picked up KRK rockit 5 G3. Huge hit as I stole them for $200 a pair new and I was tired of phones all the time. They sound great!!

Miss: now my family is stuck hearing the mess I call music. Well, technically that’s a miss for them.

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#135

Worst Purchase: Roland Aira TB3
Best Purchase: Digitone Keys

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#136

Where are you using the analog drive? Also, I’ve heard it’s a little noisy, is it that bad?

#137

Bought the AR mk2 , A4 mk2, OT mk2, digitone and Digitakt this year!
They are all hits obviously …

but the digitakt feels unnecessary with the Rytm and Octatrack both capable with samples,
might be selling it… if I didn’t have the Rytm it would stay

Also got the toraiz squid that might go too,
not enough room for it and I can’t seem to coax any good patterns from it,
maybe could more time to get used to it but prob sell

#138

same… I just sold it.

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#139

Roland XV-5080: truly immersive.

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#140

hit: Korg Polysix. it’s the sound I’ve had in my head forever about what a vintage poly synth should sound like. it blew me away instantly. I may request to be buried with it. (btw, if it lends any weight to this being my #1 purchase this year, I also bought: Make Noise Shared System, Cwejman S1, Cirklon, Roland Juno 106, Digitone, Korg MonoPoly, plus lots of other stuff…)

miss: Korg Minilogue. it has this high-pitched VA sounding “sheen” all over everything. I found some sweet spots. but they’re rare and really, it just didn’t inspire.

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#141

Jesus any remote thought of ever getting an OP-Z died a horrible death in this thread…

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#142

As the year winds down, I realize I probably purchased too much stuff this year. My New Years resolution will be to not purchase anything music related until I create more music.

Hits: OP-Z, this thing is extremely powerful and plays well with others. 1010 Music Blackbox, really enjoy how compact and powerful this little beast is. Digitakt, I just received this, but I love it already. Looking forward to having this as the hub of my live DAW less setup.

Miss: Novation Mininova, purchased used and sold it along rather quickly. Did not find any inspiration from it. Nothing unique from what I already had.

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