Hits :
- no purchase at all this year.
- also I started to downsize.
Miss :
- not having enough time or energy to make the amount of music I wanted
22 Likes
Proper random selection of stuff. Rather more looking back than I remember. And no real purpose or strategy behind it. Although also got shot of quite a lot to make room, thankfully.
Hits
Battered old acoustic bass guitar - everyone should have one
Poly Ample - the best, simplest amp in a box out there. Just so much less fuss than all the tweaky rubbish people end up nerding out on. Does the job and does it well.
Synamodec Levitate - superior drone goodness of the slightly quirky kind. One that will stay in the drone arsenal a long while.
Crum Hum - this is great. Everything the Lyra isnāt and I wanted it to be. Just a marvellous zero fuss noodling droning tool.
OP-1F - it is what it is. Just a great Swiss army knife of stuff to have around. Sold my OG OP1 and got this when second hand prices dropped. The upgrade was worth it.
Future Retro Vectra - got for an absolute steal when prices dived following their sad discontinuation. A marvellous box of amazing noises with a straightforward(ish) interface and a control surface that is utterly awesome. I think Iāll be keeping this a long while.
RML 432K rev2 - a beast of a fuzz box. I love this company and everything they make
EP-40 and Ting - just lots of fun. Still exploring it. But definitely a keeper for now
On fence
Wireheads Basilisk - I quite like this. A sweet little generative bassline thingy. But as I predicted in my review, after loads of messing about with it enthusiastically in early days of ownership (as it is immense fun) it ended up on the shelf. A great toy, but one Iāll probably sell on in the new year.
Decadebridge Albers - decentish little drone box. But will probably move on sometime next year as have too many drones (can you have too many drones?)
Misses
Chase Bliss Lossy - bought through their Mystery Box initiative, arrived early this year so sort of counts, and probably the one pedal I was not remotely interested in getting (such is life and luck). Found nothing about it appealing at all and was very glad to be rid of.
Stylophone CPM DS-2 - nice sounds, loads in a very cheap box. But felt like a very cheap box. Lots of knobs, which is always good. But drone boxes are meant to be tactile, pleasant things to mess with and this just isnāt. Too fiddly and too plasticky. Now loaned to a friend who is less fussy about this sort of thing. Going to duck the filter I think.
Moog Theramini - got it cheap, so not a huge loss. Maybe itās slightly broken. Whatever, didnt enjoy this, and am probably going to let it go to the charity shop. Just not as much fun as it should be. Next time I get a theremin, Iāll get a proper one, not this sort of nonsense or the Stylaphone rubbish.
4 Likes
Hits:
SSL 2+ Mk2 - excellent plug & play audio interface, very happy with it, but with a minor flaw - build quality could be a little better
Genelecs 8030C - no need to explain anything, these babies are set and forget, crystal clear sound.
Mogami 2549 cables with Neutrik plugs (XLR and TRS) - they are a little more expensive, but the quality is top notch.
Misses:
Nothing, Iām proud of myself for not buying a new synth/drum machine/groovebox this year even though GAS was high.
3 Likes
Hits:
- Erica Synths PÄRKONS: FUN!
- Vermona PERfourMER: it just sounds great.
- Analog Heat+FX: The combination of the analog side with the ābasicā FXās just works. Some more FXās would be nice though
- Fieldtone Weaver: great for textures and background sounds, but also for pads and glitchy beats
- Hologram Chroma Console: still exploring, but like it so far
On the fence:
- Critter & Guitary Eyesy: it doesnāt make any sounds
It might also not be capable enough to generate the kind of images I had in mind for use during gigs. And I donāt know if I want to invest the time needed to make better videoās with itā¦time will tellā¦
Misses:
- Tasty Chips GR-Mega: it sounds great, but it just didnāt work for me
- More gear doesnāt mean better music. Thereās the learning curve and finding the best way to implement it in your workflow and music. I love all the new toys and the experimenting, but I donāt feel like thereās been much improvement in the music itself.(not that I was expecting this from buying new gear, just an observation
)
New arrivals:
Tonverk will arrive in about an hour according to track and traceā¦maybe Iāll update when I have spend some time with itā¦
8 Likes
Hits:
Digitone 1 - traded a Quadrantid Swarm that was not being used for this, and it has slotted into my setup perfectly. Used it in most things Iāve made this year, and it had almost no learning curve due to the fact that I know the DT1 back to front and I understand FM principles. An instrument for life.
Adam Audio D3V (and desks for a new office setup) - No fuss, sound good and clear, tonally and for clarity they compare favourably to my NDH 30 headphones, and I can switch between them with ease.
Motu M4 - Excellent quality, no fuss.
Undecided:
Vermona DRM1 MKIII - I really like this, and have used it a bunch so far, especially paired with my DT. That said, it needs more processing than I had anticipated for the sounds I gravitate towards. The tuning range on certain voices are absurdly large and therefore unprecise, the filter knobs are often more subtle than I would like, and I havenāt fallen in love with Drum 1 and 2 voices. Not been making beat based music for a few months, so I expect to see where I land with it next year.
4 Likes
OP-XY is a hit and a miss?
Hits:
Torso S-4
Digitone 2(bought end of 2024)
Tonverk
Soma Cosmos
Misses:
Torso T-1- used a little, liked it but not easy to incorporate with my workflow. Not easy to remember what was there inside projects.
Moog subharmonicum- nice, but not really my way of working.
Roland Aira P6
Roland SP404mk2 - Roland systems are not for me. I prefers S-4 and TV for samples, granular and fx.
1 Like
Hits!
- Squier Classic Vibe 70s Jaguar - Just a really nice, affordable guitar
- UA Apollo Twin X interface - Great piece of gear, easy to work with
- Strymon El Capistan plugin - Itās my favourite pedal and now i can put it on everything!
Just in (got myself some black friday treats)
- Spitfire Audio Olafur Arnalds Cells plugin - Seems like a really inspiring library, very excited to use it on tracks
- Felt Instruments Ciemno plugin - It sounds so dreamy, had to get it
- Neunaber Wet Reverb plugin - So lush! Iām sure iāll be using this on a lot of stuff
1 Like
Iām really curious why the OPXY landed in both the hit and miss categories!
1 Like
hits:
Tonverk -
p-lockable insert fx & routing are glorious. so much depth for folk like myself who like to experiment. a veritable playground. my favourite elektron since the A4, hands down.
9 Likes
Hits:
Digitone 2
Move
Miss:
My wallet
9 Likes
Man this year was a massive amount of buying and selling for me, by far more than ever before. Donāt want to continue but really on a journey of finding the right hardware setup for what I want to do.
Hits/Kept:
Godin Multiac ACS**
I got this electro-acoustic because I thought I would need it for live performance. Bonus perk is that I can run it through a pedal chain. I was thinking of returning it because one of the things I love about guitar is playing an instrument unplugged from anything. However, it is by far the nicest-playing guitar I own and its a beautiful koa top that looks great hanging on the wall. Bonus points, its made in Canada. Bought used and had a cigarette smell that thankfully dissipated after a week or two.
Union LAB Compressor pedal
Got this for my small pedalboard. Itās subtle, but once you get used to it, you canāt un-hear the difference when its turned off. Iāve only used it with the aforementioned Godin. Adds a ton of balance and evenness to my playing in a smooth and musical way. Canāt recommend it enough.
Yamaha TX7 Module
I was coveting the famous E Piano 1 patch in hardware form but wanted no part of a full size DX7 in my limited space. Wasnāt even aware these things existed, so I jumped on one when it came up used. Sounds amazing and the form factor is pretty good, although it takes up more space in an awkward way than you might think. I ordered a custom LED and installed it, looks way better now. Iāll keep and use this until one of us dies.
Chase Bliss Thermae
I sold one this year, and regretted it pretty quickly (after listening to some recordings I had made with one - never do this if you want to be austere). Was planning to buy another new from Chase Bliss on Black Friday and have it sent to my friend in Washington state, who would then smuggle it over the border for me - but about a month ago they sold out completely and are unavailable forever! Luckily one popped up on marketplace for significantly lower than the scalper prices you tend to see.
Misses/Sold:
Teo-5 Keyboard
Purchased new, I thought it would be great to have a compact-ish analog that could really focus my setup. Turns out, I just really donāt like having my keybed attached to my synths. I donāt know why, I have some kind of baggage, but I just prefer to use a MIDI controller + modules. On top of that, I come from a piano background and I just canāt get used to really limited range keyboards. The Teo-5 sounded fantastic and I may get a module sometime, but the 5 voices are also pretty limiting for my playing.
Korg M3R
This had amazing sounds but I needed to make space and wasnāt using it enough. I miss some of the iconic patches - Fretless, Ooh/Aah, etc. are perfect for some of the stuff I do. I want to get an M1R one day.
Godin Glissentar
This came up on FB and having never heard of it, I was like holy crap what is that. I had to try it. Turns out, I suck at playing this style of fretless guitar and donāt have enough time to learn what is basically a very different instrument than guitar. I bought it for a strangely low price and passed it along at closer to market price, making a small profit. But more importantly, the guy who bought it from me sounded great when testing it out, so its gone to a good home.
Boss Sy-1
I thought it would be novel and kind of funny to make dungeon synth with a guitar pedal. Unfortunately, this pedal mostly sounds like shit and it just wasnt fun or rewarding to use.
Squarp Pyramid
I got this because Iām looking for multi-tracked arpeggiator/sequencer solutions, but Iām quickly getting fed up with having too many devices in my workspace. I would rather consolidate these functions within my controller or synth, so Iām going to look into stuff like the KSP or figure out another solution. In the process of trying to sell this now.
7 Likes
Hexdrums is great for techno and industrial. Not really meant for softer styles of music. It has that raw Erica sound. I love it so for making my industrial/EBM and hard techo it solves that part of the equation.
2 Likes
Alright! So, itās not for me 
3 Likes
I thought Iād had a pretty minimalist year, but Iāve actually bought more than I thought and most of it good.
Hits
Uno Synth Pro X
This is a real bargain at the prices you can now pick them up for and it has everything you could possibly want from a mono in terms of features. It also benefits from loads of hands on controls and an easy to use mod matrix.
It was very nearly a miss because the presets are terrible so I was thinking it was not a great synth until I started making my own patches and realised it was actually very good sounding and flexible.
Roland TR-8
Got this on a bit of a whim as I wanted something very hands on which had an audio input so I could run a two box setup without any mixer being involved.
I decided to go with this rather than the TR-8S because I wanted something very imediate without menu diving. It gives me a great alternative to the also excellent Drumbrute Impact when I want Roland sounds
Roland BC-1X
Just a very simple professional sounding bass compressor. Quite transparent, but makes everything sound better.
Zoom CDR70+
How are these things so cheap?
Loads of fun inspirational FX in an easy to use compact package. You can see why they are so popular.
Synapse Audio Proxima
The only plugin I bought this year (which is unusual for me!). I already have Repro so I donāt really need another Prophet VST, but everything Synapse do is top notch so it was an insta buy and just as brilliant sounding as I expected.
Misses
Some kind of Behringer Mixer
Complicated things with too many wires kill my creativity so itās been packed away.
2 Likes
Iām happy that I made more money selling gear than what I spent buying new gear this year. Eurorack went from 10U x 104 HP to a little 3U 84HP skiff and I hardly ever use that 
HITS
Digitone 2- Itās just stupidly great in nearly every possible way.
Tonverk- Iām crazy about mine, both for live work and writing. Sound quality is top notch and so many possibilities I havenāt even begun to explore yet. The TV/DN2 combo is really tough to beat for such a small setup.
SEMI HITS/JURYāS OUT
Line 6 HX Stomp XL- sounds fantastic and has gobs of great effects and sims. So far I havenāt really cracked the code on programming it effectively without the computer app. Thankfully, the computer app is awesome. Will very likely keep it around.
ENDORPHIN.ES EVIL PET- Sounds very nice for sure. Will I still love it in 6-12 months? No idea. Beautiful and well built.
DOEPFER (A-111-6?) MINI SYNTH VOICE- Sounds pretty good and super small. but really itās just too small and cramped to even use. Sold it and got a Studio Electronics ToneStar 2600. Much nicer, but when I need a mono synth voice, 9.5 (at least) times out of 10, Iāll just use my Syntakt. Iāll never understand how anyone can not love the Syntakt.
BEFACO ONEIROI- Some folks flip out over these and while I think itās āgood,ā it aint that good. Better concept than actual product unless something is wrong with mine, which Iāve often thought there must be
14 Likes
If the HX stomps were easier to program it would be absolutely fantastic but whenever I think about getting another I think about how annoying it was to change basically anything on it and decide that the immense power it has wasnāt actually that important to me, lol.
2 Likes
Totally get it. As I said though, the computer app is fantastic for patch building, but I wouldnāt know where to start tweaking it in a live situation.
Yes. The first few months I was using it was nothing but crashes and lost work, and lots of time spent troubleshooting with TE. I got so frustrated I returned it, which sucked because I could see it had so much potential.
Eventually later in the year people were saying it was much more stable and I ran across a deal on one I couldnāt pass up, so I bought it again. Happily no more crashes or lost work, so I was able to use it as I envisioned at last.
3 Likes
once Tonverk came out I was like āok thatās my multi effects nowā and called it good, lol. I still have plenty of other stompboxes if I ever need.
2 Likes