My biggest hit this year is probably the least GAS satisfying thing I’ve ever bought but I got an iPad and loaded up a bunch of granular apps. It’s just so damn useful and it’s neat to see how creative some of these things are. It’s very handy and quick.
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Hits: Polyend Tracker- I don’t even need to elaborate on this. See thread of same name.
MPC 1000- It loop records, which is all I’ve ever wanted out of Ableton Live without having to bend over backwards. I also put my old CF card (from 7 years ago) in it and all my old projects opened right up. This one has a battery so it’s getting carried around. It’s a workhorse.
Lyra 8- It takes me places. Sublime.
Koma Field Kit & Field Kit FX- Just like most of the gear on this list, I used to have these but sold them. If I overuse these, I can get sick of them very quickly but when I designate a day to concentrate on them, I usually end up with something I’m very happy with. The ultimate happy accident setup (I don’t know about everyone else but I’m getting a little tired of that term, however, for the Koma stuff it’s applicable).
OT- Yep, bought my third one. Went without one for 4 years. So glad I got back into it since I’m no longer scared of it and finally figured out how to live loop guitar, bass, etc.
Simplifier- I can finally get a decent guitar sound going into my hardware samplers. Plus, I can use it for gigs when I don’t want to haul an amp around. This and Zoia and a tuner is all I need.
Misses: Digitakt- It wasn’t bad, I just didn’t use it enough. Same with the Digitone.
OP-Z- I love my OP-1 and thought I wanted the Z again but I just don’t use it enough. Plus, mine is pristine and I can’t seem to get rid of it. Trying to sell it with a bunch of extras but no one is biting. Maybe there’s a reason and I’m supposed to keep it. Guess we’ll see.
MOTU Ultrlite MK5- I’m keeping this but, I don’t like it as much as I thought I would. Partly because my experience with their customer service and because it still won’t work with my phone. Everything else it does pretty well. I’m actually thinking about getting the M4 since it’s bus-powered.
EDIT: Can’t believe I forgot **MPC Live 2 ** as one of my biggest misses this year. I loved the speaker and battery but I have an aversion to touchscreens. I hate using my phone because of the touchscreen but I’m old so maybe that’s why.
EDIT: Just realized I answered this thread back in September so sorry for the double post. Some things changed between then and now.
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Miss: Teenage Engineering OP-1. Doesn’t play well with others and has an unusual UI. Didn’t get enough results I liked. Sounds were rather unconvincing.
Hit: bought a Digitone to replace the OP-1. Already had a Digitakt. Love the twins. Ideal minimal setup for me.
On the GAS list, in order of instant gratification potential:
- Moog sound studio DFAM/Mother32
- MAM BM33
- Dave Smith Tetra 4
I can´t list everything…was too much, sold a lot of older stuff too…but my favourite hit this year…Waldorf M!
Never had a Microwave before, nor was interested in one…this one caught me by surprise and damn…it sounds SO good! Love it!
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Miss
Modular - I started with good intentions but became wanting stuff I couldn’t afford and knew I’d see something better 5 minutes later. It was everything I hate about music production, in that I spent more time thinking about what to get next rather than using it.
Don’t get me wrong I totally love the flexibility and creativity in designing your ultimate rack etc. Just wasn’t fitting with my ethos
Hit
Modular mini case - after deciding Modular wasn’t for me I kept few choice pieces in a 40hp case to meet my original intention. A piece of kit to accompany my opz and for live. I kept bitbox micro, clouds and some modulation. Love it so far.
Blokas midi hub- only just got this but seems great. Adding to my opz and mini rack
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Surely on my top priority 2022 list.
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I’m a 100% sure I’ll start gassing for one as soon as @plusn releases his next album, which, if I understood correctly, will have quite a bit of M on it.
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I should update my list. Digitakt is still a hit, even though I sawpped it out for an OT MKI, because the DT 1.30 update is amazing and it single-handedly helped me find my flow again.
I sold the Subharmonicon today, though I still really liked it and think it’s an amazing concept.
Possible upcoming hits. I have a Modal CraftSynth 2.0 on the way and after that I’m hoping to go full Modal with a Cobalt8 or Argon8 (or possibly a Skulpt instead) but I can’t make up my mind about which one I want. I’ve considered Hydrasynth several times too, but every time I watch a video it seems too feature-heavy for its own good haha.
And yes, the Audeze LCD-1 are still the best headphones sub £400, full stop. Go try em 
That’s an easy choice… get a Peak. 
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Ha. Beyond my budget, and I think the way Modal have embraced digital oscillators makes it sound far nuttier than analogs to my ears.
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My only music-related purchases other than cables and accessories since the SiX are both hits.
Meris Mercury 7: Oh my this thing is amazing whether on guitar or effects bus on the mixer!
TC Electronic Flashback 2: Super simple stereo delay that sounds great!
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I spent more on hardware this year than I ever have before, thanks in large part to discovering Elektron.
Hits (hardware):
Hydrasynth–when I first posted in this thread, I forgot to mention this one, and this is my favorite purchase of the year, I think it might be the most elegantly and intuitively smart synth I’ve ever used (and that’s going back 20+ years)
A4MKii, just really f$ck!ing cool and so deep.
Cobalt8m (really easy to grasp for the incredible variety and power of sounds it creates–not like anything else I have).
Mackie 16VLZ4 Mixer
16 Channel Midi Mixer (too lazy to check the name of it)
2021 MacBook Pro (M1 Pro) (Yeah, not a musical instrument, but kinda is).
Hits (software):
Bitwig 4
Pigments 3
SoundToys 5
Misses:
Model:Samples (figured it out, used it for a bit, haven’t touched it for many months–I think I just don’t like the nonintuitive way of grabbing internal samples for kits).
Not sure yet:
Equator 2 (just purchased Black Friday)
OT MK2 (love the concept, what it can do, have hit a wall with the UI)
MPC One (love the variety of what it can do, having a lot of fun doing dumb stuff, but don’t love the workflow).
Linnstrument (will arrive today, so we will see).
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For now, I’m safe because my local store don’t have it in its catalog and there’s NO STOCK online. I’m not in a hurry, I’m still waiting for a UDO Super 6 and a miniKORG 700 FS.
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A small update.
HIT: Prophet 6. The best analog (or hybrid) poly I’ve had. Sure, I’d love more LFOs but not at the cost of knob per function UI.
Which brings us to…
MISS: Prophet 12 module. The UI is just so off-putting. The thing sounds great but I just don’t have the patience to make my own patches with it. Sure, I could buy sound packs (and I have) but it’s not the same. If I’m using presets, I could just as well use VSTs. Still have the P12 but not for long necessarily.
Another MISS:
Oto Boum. Just wasn’t using it at all basically and prefer the Heat for subtle saturation. So this is my bad and it went to a more loving home.
Which brings us to the Digitone I got for the Boum. It’s my 2nd DN and while I really like it, it’ll honestly have a tough task to lure me away from the MD and MnM. Same goes for the rest of my setup, of course.
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Glad you’ll be ok!
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HIT // Fender Bassman Ten amp - Wanted one for years, saw one come up for a good price and jumped on it. Crazy loud amp but wonderful sounds.
HIT // DSI Mopho Keys - Another one I got cheap and I love it. It’s small, sounds great and I dig the yellow. Sounds are finding their way into my tracks and the keys are really nice. Can’t ask for more.
HIT // Omnichord OM-36 - This thing is FUN! Great for coming up with chord progressions and I like the sound too.
HIT // Diamond Compressor - Really good pedal for both guitar and bass.
MISS // Some Waves plugins I got but rarely use.
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And I swore to myself at the beginning of this year that I was going to keep my gear purchases to a minimum…
HITS:
Fender American Professional II Jazz Bass: The bass of my dreams. So many tone options with two pickups. Strings sustain into forever. Bridge pickup growls like Jaco, neck pickup is buttery and sublime. Just an impeccably crafted instrument and I still get giddy when I think about it.
Roland TR-8S: Purchased for live performances but little did I realize just how insanely fun this drum machine would be to play. Button combos are crucial and took some time to memorize but I feel like I could just bring this to a gig and not need anything else. Uploading user samples is fairly straightforward and I don’t feel it’s as menu-divey as people make it out to be. Running other instruments through the inputs and using it as a kind of “live mastering” device to glue the sound together really makes it shine. Fingers crossed for another feature update next year but it’s just about perfect for my needs as-is.
Yamaha Reface CP: The best Rhodes emulation in a hardware instrument that I’ve ever heard and the built in effects are icing on the cake. Zero complaints here.
Boss RC-202: Needed a reliable looper that clocks to MIDI for live stuff and this gets the job done, even if the sound isn’t quite up to par and the effects are more or less useless.
STILL ON THE FENCE:
Hologram Microcosm: I was ready to be rid of this pedal but the most recent firmware update won me back. Still trying to find a worthwhile use for it but I’m starting to think that the whole shimmery-cascades-of-granulated-reverb thing just isn’t my bag.
Micromonsta 2: I really want to love this but need more time with it, I think. It can go to some truly far-out places but I don’t find myself hankering to use it.
Behringer Wasp Deluxe: Just received this earlier this week after impulsively hitting the “buy” button on a Black Friday sale. I swore I’d never buy any more B gear after my experience with the RD-8 a few years ago, but this feels solid and sounds gnarly. Can’t complain about it too much for the price I paid for it ($129!) and I’m sure I’ll find a use for it.
So no real misses for 2021, surprisingly enough. Happy musicking in 2022!
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OK as 2021 is coming to a close, time to weigh in…
Hits:
Pro-2: Effectively a full modular wedged into a keyboard, and definitely the most powerful monosynth ever IMO. I sold the Rev2 to get one and don’t regret it.
Blofeld: I’ve had different Waldorfs over the years (including a XT) but never got around to the Blofeld. This has been out for some time and it’s easy to judge it by the dated cheesy presets… but do some patching starting from a basic sound and be amazed by all the wavetable and modulation options available to you. Balances out the uber-fat tones coming out of the JD-990.
JD-990 w/Vintage Synth expansion: Hands down one of the best digital synths ever created, and certainly the best ROMpler of all time. Had one 20 years ago and regretted selling it since. It’s the sound… when you know, you know.
Retro Mechanical Labs Jekyll n’ Hyde Serpa: An absolute beast from subtle stereo analog coloration to wall-of-noise feedback. Pricey but worth it… I run almost everything through it now when recording.
i-Loud Micro Monitors: These sound crazy good for their size and price. Bought Genelecs soon after and actually preferred these (along with JBL 305 MkII’s) in my small space.
Modular: After avoiding eurocrack for years the Mutable Beads demos sucked me in, and quickly went from a Pod 48x to a 2x104 setup, controlled by the A4, Pro-2 and Keystep. DFAM and a Cat are taking up a lot of space in there so not fully committed, but I like not having too many options. 4MS Ensemble Osc and Erbe-Verb are ones I’m particularly excited about in conjunction with Beads (truly amazing.)
TBD:
TR-6S: Some odd UI choices and a good amount of menu diving, but a LOT of power in a small footprint. FM is simple but effective for percussion and some of the FX options are unique. Seems like good compliment to Elektron boxes.
Behringer Cat: Only just got this, but for $200 (on sale) it might be the best proper analog synth value ever? It doesn’t sound like a Moog or a Roland, which is good. But it does take up a lot of real estate in the modular… so we’ll see.
Montreal Assembly Count to 5: I love the concept of what this pedal does, and the idea of taking short loops of modular sounds and layering/glitching them to send back into the modular is appealing to me. Will report back.
Misses:
None really. I’ve phased out some gear to be replaced by others that were needed more (i.e. DN for DT) but that didn’t make them misses or less worthy, just ready to be passed along. In a few cases like the Zoia, I just didn’t think that I had the patience and fortitude to properly figure it out.
I’d say the closest thing to a miss was the Hologram Microcosm, which I had on pre-order and REALLY wanted to like it, but the reverb side of what it does sounded plastic-y and hollow to me. I do have very particular tastes in reverb though and the other shimmery/modulated/glitchy stuff in it was inspired… but when I heard Beads I knew that was the unit for those sounds that I had been looking for.
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Hits:
Subharmonicon: I love the way this sounds, and the way I can play it like an instrument. This led me to…
M-32 & DFAM soundstudio: I bought these to play with the SH. I don’t think I would love them on their own, but I really like the way they all play together.
Octatrack: I know I am about 10 years late to the game here, but whatever. I recently got one and really love it. I get it now in a way that I probably wouldn’t have even a few months ago. Something clicked and it makes sense to me. I think having a clear use case helps. I use primarily to live-sample and chop the Moog trinity, which allows for abrupt transitions that are hard with the semi-modular analog synths.
Nanoloop FM: Surprisingly fun and playable, and sounds decent, too. Don’t expect the world, but for what it is, it’s a nice surprise.
Still undecided:
Poly Beebo: I wanted a catch all FX pedal, and this certainly fits the bill. The interface was a bit slow clunky and hard to modify live, though getting much better & responsive with firmware updates. The reverbs are not as long and lush as I would sometimes like, but the short ones are fine and the other FX are good, and the flexible routing is kind of like another instrument in itself. I think some of the new updates could easily move this into the ‘hits’ category, and the development is active, so I expect this to get better and better over time.
Frustrations:
OP-Z: I returned one that was bending and double-triggering, and got a new one that is bending and double-triggers. I use this while traveling mainly, and really love the small clever interface, but really hate the build quality.
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Hits: Microcosm, Pro-3
Misses: Not purchased this year, but losing interest in Zoia to fund a Night Sky.