Hit: Push 3
Miss: have none
Have not bought much this year. Bought the P3 the day it was announced, sold tons of stuff after that. Main setup is now the P3, the Virus Ti2, a Quadrantid swarm and a guitar amp. M8 and a MC-101 for traveling.
Have not looked back a single day.
HIT:
Used Volca FM, like algoritm 32, 15, 5… 
my aim is saving up for a Digitone Keys. Started with analog fm on model:sampels(keytracking?) and Analog Keys (really fun to work with lfo1 and lfo2, first time i really understood that lfo1/2 is connected to dco1/2).
Used Boss RE-20.
Used Jomox T-Resonator. Strange and stereo
(
MISS:) on neutral now. Starting to like it
Used Boss DD-7 too clean sound almost. I like the DD-3(2) sound better. Think of buying a second DD-3(2?) For stereo.
Two big hits this year:
Erica Synths Perkons: The perfect turquoise playmate for my orange Soma Pulsar. Definitely a few bugs here and there, and while surprisingly versatile definitely stay within its own specific (but glorious!) sound, but tons of fun and I love how it really encourages experimenting and playfulness - just like the Pulsar, actually, but in a very different way.
A new iPad: Utterly overwhelmed with the large range of interesting synthesis methods, weird sequencing, advanced FX and fun noisemakers available.
Oh wow. My partner does mixer feedback and so far not had one blow. What was the mixer that blew up?
1202 is a solid one for sure.
Not bought much this year - in fact have barely messed around with musical gear as life, work and idleness has got in the way. But a few things have arrived to clutter the room even more than usual.
Hits:
Erica Fusion System II - this is a ridiculous indulgence and a beast of a noise maker. A big box of modules stuffed with valves and knobs marked drive and crunch, that kind of thing. Turn everything to 11, strap on a keyboard and you’ve got Hendrix on your tabletop. Also does rather fine drones and basslines. Fun and a keeper
Meng Qi Wingie 2 - this is a sweet little toy. Wish it had a battery compartment to make it mobile.
Sherman Filtertank 2 - not sure really why I bought this or what I’ll use it for. But actually works incredible well as a guitar effects box. Great sounding, warm drive alongside filters and modulation make for a lot of (slightly impractical) fun
Misses:
Glo the Polyphonic Whale v2 - a nice little toy, but after much oohing and aaaahing over its neat tricks (microphone --> clouds ----> headphone ----> happy ambient mooning about) its stayed in its box for most of the rest of the year. Probably something I’ll sell or give away. Its not that it isn’t worth it for the price, more that its longevity as a very fun bit of kit is limited.
Not sure yet:
Fender Shields Blender - supposedly MBV in a box. Or at least the end bit of a a live performance of You Made Me Realise in a box. It’s noisy and loud. But not sure quite whether it is a keeper or not. As fuzz boxes go, it hasn’t quite got the sound that hits my sweet spots. But its a nicely made bit of kit nonetheless
Holy Island Audio Tides Mk2 - another shoe gaze in a box pedal. This time allowing you to chain a couple of loud fuzzy drives and run them before or after a fairly basic reverb. Very nicely made, some good sounds, particularly when run loud. But not quite feeling this one either at the moment, although again I can see its utility if that’s the sound you are chasing.
A Soundcraft EPM 6. I don’t remember how I connected it, but it blew after I’d left Ableton on overnight. Also damaged a pair of Beyerdynamic 770 headphones.
As im travelling a lot from Europe to Asia since the beginning of this year, i went on buying portable gear that had to fit in my backpack.
Hit:
Dirtywave M8
What else to say? So much power in that little box. Once you cracked the nut open, its an amazing playground. Finished a few tracks on it. Its workflow is fast.
Woovebox
Also so much power in that tiny device. Still discovering new things. But the speed of creating and layout a track is amazing. And that 10hr batt life is nuts.
Roland S-1
Tiny, powerfull and great sound possibilities. I record most sounds into the m8 or woovebox.
Macbook Air M2
Fast, beautiful, long battery life. Ableton live and Bitwig runs perfect on it.
Miss:
Polyend tracker mini
Good visuals, good sound. But working on it is slow. Loading samples into memory takes me out of the flow. Performing effects on samples is offline. Takes also time. The button holding to access menu or select things doesnt feel good. No synth. No frequent firmware updates for fixes and improvements.
Roland J-6
Too limited to alter sounds. Some chords were nice. Waste of space in the end.
Sonicware smpltrk
On paper an amazing device. Sound is good. Feels like a gameboy. Pads have some good response. But the screen is too small. The OS is a bit slow. Missing automation options. No synth. If version 2 comes out with bigger screen im in though as just a sampler!
Tomorrow i’m flying again to Asia bringing with me, the hits 
I don’t notice it at all
I only buy one gear in year 2023:
Huge hit: Dirtywave M8
Hits
Roland S-1
Sonicware 8bit Warps, Lofi12, Smpltrek, XFM
Roland SP-808 with card reader replacing Zip drive
Donner Kebab, I mean B1 
Roland JX-08
Tubbutec MC2oh2 modification.
Miss
Sonicware Texture Lab - granular bollocks is still granular bollocks, I tried, but nah granular “synthesis” just ain’t for me.
Undecided
Elektron Syntakt, not played it much yet so uncertain if I will keep it, the Digi form factor is not something I enjoy, despite trying.
Ok now, let’s not do anything crazy…
Yes I will keep the Moog but I wish it had a on/off switch
Thanks. This will be on my 2024 hit list
Another hit: Arturia Microfreak
I’m not even talking about the impressive mod matrix, it’s the sound!!! What is this magic?
Background for context, I’ve had a ton of old, new modular, non modular gear. Yet this synth is truly impressive. I’d choose it over a eurorack of digital modules, Moog Sub, Roland Juno 6/60 any day.
The sweet spots remind me of old Roland mono and 6 voice poly’s, it’s really hard to go wrong on this synth and everything has a “character”.
The filters are amazingly simple, yet effective and colorful. The bandpass filter is especially magical.
Although not every engine is great, there are a lot of 100% winners in there. Some bread and butter engines like the supersaw, wavetable and sample playback are very pleasing to work with.
The Noise Engineering ones are lofi goodness to the max. Take the bass engine, switch paraphonic on and play it in a higher octave w/ a bandpass filter and you can easily get that VHS goodness.
I’ve also found that treating the microfreak like an FM rather than subtractive synth really opens it up. By treating it like an FM synth I mean using the second envelope to control parameters instead of having them fixed to always on.
TLDR:, microfreak is amazing for new and longtime synth users and deserves to a place in your home.
One more addition to my earlier list of hits/misses:
Nord Stage 4 Compact – I got rid of my 88-key controller early in the year and I was left with nothing bigger than 49-keys. After a couple of months I realized I was missing the freedom of at least another couple of octaves when practicing and playing. I’ve always lusted after a Nord but never pulled the trigger on one because they’re pricey and to be honest I’m not a live player. But an unbelievably good deal presented itself so I went for it.
I don’t want or need the size/weight of a full size keybed and I’m not into weighted hammer action so the 73-key waterfall style keybed on the Stage 4 Compact is perfect for my needs. The piano and synths are excellent (as are the organs but I rarely use organ sounds in my music) and the new layer based architecture and FX are great for creating interesting soundscapes. I haven’t made use of the 7-part multitimbrality yet, but that’s on the agenda as I explore more during the upcoming holiday break.
The layer based architecture is also super convenient for controlling external instruments and as a result the Stage 4 has become my master controller and center of my somewhat complex stable of synths.
I’ve been on the fence for a while on what direction to take with my studio.
I recently got back into using my BSii, and as my Push 2 is now causing headaches with strangely unresponsive pads. I’ve been recently been contemplating going down the DAWless route and doing much less ITB.
Hits:
Novation Circuit Tracks - I kid you not, I freaking love this little thing. As a Circuit OG user from way back in 2015. The Tracks fixed so many workflow hacks, that it really is a joy to use. Limited yes, but very powerful when you know how to get the best out of it.
IK Multimedia iLoud MTM - I am absolutely baffled about how they made something so small, so good. I bought these because I wanted to try to “fix” my room acoustics and had tried Sonarworks, see misses below for that story. If these don’t break after 6 months, it will be a real Black Friday bargain.
Misses:
Sonarworks SoundID Reference - I was initially amazed that the room calibration brought out the detail, from my 20 year old Tannoy Reveal Actives. But after using the systemwide option on my Mac for a few weeks, a World of glitches and pain ensued. I gave up in the end and disabled it and as of now I just use the plugin for my headphone mix. I’m really glad I got a good deal on the software and mic. If I didn’t and had paid full price I’d be pretty annoyed.
yeah their system-wide audio device is not the most stable and there’s lots of latency added, but the daw plugin works good.
isn’t the plugin supports monitors? I was considering upgrading from headphones only to headphones+monitors but now I’m not sure…
Regarding Sonarworks: You could buy a cheap guitar pedal (like flamma fs07) that can store impulse responses. Create your room EQ correction, make an impulse response file and upload it to the pedal. You can then put this little box between your main out and your speaker and you don’t have to worry about settings.
I use this in my DAWless setup… works fine.
I‘m so far happy with my purchases, but I regret that lxr-2 so much, it counts for 2023 too. Sorry to just come and rant, but this box makes me angry. 
