As i moved from the Netherlands to nearby Bali (indonesia), i completely changed my setup to be more productive and mobile in the tropical environment.
Hits
Maschine +
Full blown production machine with great sound ( with proper fx on top ). I like the ecosystem. I love the way it integrates in maschine software on the laptop. All works so well and extremely fast when getting used to the maschine mindset. There are some flaws, but hopefully it will be addressed with updates.
Mpc one +
So much sound to discover. With the mpc 2 i didnt click with workflow, now with mpc 3 its a whole different thing. Such an amazing setup.
A keeper.
Native instruments M32 keyboard
Works so well with maschine software. Cheap, but great to play with.
Miss;
Akai Force
On paper it should be great and looks a bit like the MPc 3 software, but i didnt like the size, clip management was not my thing, recording didnt feel good, rec button layout was wrong. Sold it fast.
I have no opinion whatsoever on the move. Can be amazing or not.
But I am very suspicious of a thread about 2024 purchases when there’s still almost two months left in the year, and furthermore praising devices launched less than one month ago. If the sentiment is the same in June next year, then it will carry much more weight. For now it just seems a bit of “shiny new thing syndrome”.
shiny new thing syndrome could happen buying a 20yr old synth … its ‘new to the purchaser’ so theres that honeymoon period even if its 20 yrs old.
i’m sure some of the novelty will wear off regarding ‘newly launched’ devices, as it does with everything …
If i’m honest i’d say Digitakt2 has been a miss/tbd so far… its ok, i mostly bought it as my dt1 went a bit weird… but its more of an iteration than anything new… more channels just helps to reduce the amount of thought about parameter locking multiple sounds on one track… less thinking / organisation.
It doesn’t seem to be just the shiny new thing syndrome to me. The praise around these two devices is unprecedented as far as I can tell. I haven’t seen a more unanimously positive first impression from users of the Move, and even the ex Elektron staff praise the Digitone as a great release and “more more interesting than the Digitakt 2”, etc. But you’re still right, let’s see how people feel in June.
This happens every year. I post in January and I’m one of the last on the thread. It’s more accurately described as “The pre-Black-Friday list of what worked or didn’t work for me over the past ten to twelve months”.
Rolling Sampler: it’s a 404’s skipback feature for DAW - it just sits on master channel, quietly records everything and I can just drag&drop any part of it to a daw. Great piece of software! Simple and just works, I added it to default templates in Logic and Renoise.
This pretty much matches my experience. At the time, I wanted to spend a modest amount on a single box (it was replacing a Zoom MS70-CDR), and it seemed like the right choice. But, in retrospect, I should have either gone for the Nemesis+Ventris, or the Empress pair, or gone all-in on iPad FX with a MIDI-capable audio interface.
My approach to new gear this year has been that I’m happy with Ableton to make full tracks and any hardware is for jamming, ideas and/or to integrate with Ableton. I’ve stopped trying to make full tracks dawless as it always fell short of using the daw. Also I’m producing with two other people and working on a live set for our album launch so buying gear for that.
Hits
Polyend plus - been enjoying this so far. Fills the requirements I have in hardware in that it’s fun and great for generating ideas. The combo of samples with the included synths, sequencer and live effects make it a very engaging machine for me.
Microfreak - second time buying this and it’s for our live show, vocals and pads. Great bit of kit for the money and was using it as a controller in pigments with the touch sensitive keys. Also used it as a controller for eurorack, lots of options for little money.
Ableton Move - Early days but positive so far. Fun to use and integrates with Ableton. Not much more to say yet but happy with the purchase.
Miss
Maschine plus - This was always a risk as I don’t like the maschine daw, used my mk2 as Ableton controller when I had it. Bought it for live as I like the NI synths and fx but it just sat unused. Lots of options and great sounds but it just didn’t engage me at all.
Sp404 mk2 - same as above, bought for live and second time I’ve bought one. Just not for me. I thought with the updated it would fit in to my setup but it didn’t ignite any spark and I have a strict rule of it doesn’t engage quickly it moves on.
EP133 KO2 - This wasn’t bad, I really liked the punch in fx and was fun to use. Novelty wore off though and found myself making ok tracks but wanted to spend the time in the daw as was focussing on tracks for release, plus I needed cash so sold it.
Undecided
Eurorack - Back in for third time, I have a love and hate relationship with it. Thought I’d get a single row rack to have something interesting to tweak and play with. I bought the 4ms meta to stop my obsessing over changing modules but I still find myself looking at modules and setting it up and patching etc takes up so much time which I don’t have. I think eurorack is my perfect thing to do when I retire. Now it just feels a drain on my time when I like to be productive.
I do like to sell gear on if not being used and selling eurorack is a pain so I keep it sitting there unused but not being bothered to get rid off.
Nice…but could have been better:
Bébé Chérie : + sounds great, nice 2 band eq on tracks 5&6, usable comp and bliss, drive OK in small amounts
- tilt eq on track 1-4 not very usable, left-right offset is a shame, but most OTO machines
have this problem with one side being louder than the other
Razzmatazz: + Nice sounds, small footprint
- midi implementation sucks
Misses
Polyend Play: I got one of these on a lark when they were getting blown out. There are lots of little pain points in the workflow that just aren’t for me.
Chase Bliss Mood Mk2: I really like my Microcosm, so I thought I needed more glitch pedal in my life. Turns out I do not. It sits at an awkward level where it requires more hands on tweaking than the MC but doesn’t provide the flexibility and control of a real sampler.
Searching for
I missed a sweet local deal on an Analog Keys, and I’ve been kicking myself ever since. I’m on a quest to find one locally, since the A4 is one of my most used pieces of of gear
Fantom EX - why does Roland insist on over convoluting the basics plus saving on their flagship synth is as bad as saving on the SH-4d. However, the onboard sequencer is very interesting and could save it from the chopping block.
Miss
Syntakt - not strictly fair to call it a miss but using 8 MIDI tracks on a Digitakt makes more sense than using 8 MIDI tracks on a Syntakt. So, as I only ever need a single Elektron box in my setup, it did not end up replacing my OG Digitakt.
The thing with this thread is I don’t always remember if I’ve purchased the devices this year or last year. I try so many devices in a year.
The hits that I’m sure they were bought this year are :
Digitakt II and Digitone II : it doesn’t take that long to realize the broader capabilities of these two compared to the originals. I loved them in their first suits now I love them more in their tuxedos.
Grind : it came in this week but everything is pointing in the hit direction (now that I’ve deactivated Auto-Play ).
Vongon Polyphrase : surely one of the best sounding Delay I’ve tried but one thing bothered me : the weird Preset saving system. I’ve contacted Ryan from Vongon about this and he told me that it should be updated in a future update. I’m waiting for this to repurchase a unit.
I don’t have a DFAM, so no point of comparison, but this thing is affordable and sounds great. It’s an instant techno machine, just start rolling and turning knobs and you’re off. Highly recommended!
).