And I need to add that the MPC Live has really made a difference. A stand alone box with built in synths etc.
I can basically sequence a complete song and then plug the Live in and take it to the software side of MPC, correct all my bad programming with a mouse and use my plugin collection and my rack synths as sound sources. It’s a winner. Not to mention that the Live SSD has enough space for all my sample libraries ever.
I was trying to be positive, but 1\2 note off is definitely a problem 
. Is it latency?
This is me. I used to have thoughts and justifications for buying gear like “OK, I’ll splurge on this, but this one’s a KEEPER FOR LIFE and I’ll use it so much that the high price will be worth it” and that’s just a recipe for the extreme sorts of purchase-hangover Judeochristian guilt-and-confession dynamics that are evident in this thread, and emotional sense of possession/ownership and attendant sense of shame and failure when, inevitably, it’s not the Most Perfect Dream Gear Ever but instead just a means to an end (literally, an “instrument”) that requires skill, perseverence, and high-firing neurons for sustained periods of concentration that those of us working the capitalist gigs that pay for luxuries are in short supply of at the end of an exhausting day…
In any case, I was over all that after enough cycles of it. Now I fully accept that none of my gear is “around to stay”, it’s just a constantly rotating stable of a few thousand dollars. I learned to play the high volatile buy-and-sell game keenly enough that I make a very tiny profit, more often than not, by buying low on the used market and selling high. I’ve gotten way more knowledgable and proficicent at modular stuff, for example, simply by rotating through so many modules I was curious about and constantly swapping out one thing for another thing. It requires a counterintuitive resistance to the urge of feeling like a “proud owner” of a brand new hot, hyped thing, and having your identity tied to the gear you own, and all that. I regularly sell gear I love and that’s probably strange to a lot of people, but I find it totally freeing. Instead of even allowing something to sit in a closet for months unused and then feeling guilty about it, I cut things off at the source. Anything not getting used regularly is on the chopping block and something else I’m interested in comes into my workflow seamlessly and without regret or hesitation. It’s spiritual praxis that somehow leans into GAS so openly and without justification labor / mental work that the emotional attachment to objects gets numbed over from the constant rotation and you end up just thinking about the music and how to achieve it using a constantly expanding stable of techniques and methods you’ve learned about in the process of demoing all this stuff. And the music making process constantly stays interesting because it’s always shifting. Your mileage will probably vary greatly, and I have no doubt I’ve chosen to make my ADHD “work for me” rather than wreck me, but if any of this sounds appealing for any reason, I recommend at least thinking about what it might look like and feel like for you and your music.
I’m glad this thread exists as counter argument to the barrage of news from NAMM.
I don’t think I need to list all the greats who got there on little to nothing. “It’s not the gear” is a cliche at this point.
Im far less anxious now of “fomo” when a new piece of gear with a couple new tricks was released ("Oh no it’s the future sound and I’ll be left behind ") Keep in mind SOPHIE is on a MM and a 808 sample is (somehow) current.
Music is not my work, I have so little time and theres a whole universe of interesting shit out there why would I complicate matters with a constantly changing setup? My toys now are extremely capable and can handle any task wout breaking a sweat.
Plus, as a freelancer, I choose not to work as much to afford me more of the most valuable commodity: time.
Work more to afford more toys that I would have less time with? Nah.
I bought really a lot of shiny boxes with unique sounds, always the goodest noodels - synths, pedals, but I didn’t use them I realised. So I sold really a lot of all those synths and I’m not gonna buy anything in the future.
Only things left is now an mc707 (it’s my main box now), a sledge keyboard, a keystep, an monomachine/octatrack rig and a stylophone gen-r8 and bitwig.
I’m thinking of getting rid of it all except the 707, the keystep, that space echo and gen-r8 (the gen-r8 is special to me, I guess I wouldn’t sell it if I would get deaf), and well, bitwig software. If someone in Vienna reads this and want’s that OT/Monomachine rig or a sledge synth, lets meet and drink some coffee. 
edit: well, talked to a nice guy. thought about it. wont sell my ot/mnm rig. haha. dang. head onto table.
Ah, no it’s the pitch that is off. If I concentrate a lot I can make the offset quite stable, but not to be in pitch 
but I think we are drifting off to offtopic here.
a proper looper pedal (ehx 2880) leads to concentrate on the capabilities of one synth or whatever sound source. the ability to multitrack and erasing all of that over and over gives a good sense of timing and experience with gear and harmonics.
iam still reducing my gear that I bought over the last 10 years and it’s great to find the real keepers but without the anxiety of missing something.
You can break this down into one single item: OP-1. It provides sound-Engines, Effects and a 4-Track Recorder. + the idea of committing to a take and moving on instead of messing around on the same loop over and over again. Sadly I don’t want to spend that amount on another piece of gear 
OP1 since 2012, ehx 2880 since 2017.
Yeah, great thread, I just want to add (and I know there’s a thread related to the subject) that in addition to interrogations about my basic enjoyement of the music making process and health of my wallet, there’s a consumerist aspect and an environmental concern that also help question every acquisition I am thinking of making. Like, how was this built? Using what materials? What’s gonna happen with it once I am not interested anymore? If that can help with the GAS thing, well I’ll take it
I’m quite into minimalism these last years and I think part of the stress is also that most purchases I made were not very conscious. Even though it seemed so at the time.
Things around you require your time and energy be it direct or indirect. Less gear, is less stuff craving your attention.
It took a while too finally beat the addition of buying things, I’m still not fully over it. Every time we have money, we are thought to spend it. Which is crazy!
Just my 2c though.
I’ve been performing in a duo with a pianist recently. Just piano and vocals. That’s been good for anti-GAS. It’s inspiring working with someone who plays one instrument, and can play the shit out of it, really to an unbelievable level. It’s also the most immediately successful (in terms of audience response) music I’ve done.
And if not minimalism, at least sobriety.
If “they” try to sell you a synth with new features yours don’t have, try to emulate them with what you have instead of buying, it will be far more interesting.
I would say 50 percent of this forum posts are new gear related. (maybe more). Not that im telling you to walk away
These days, I tend to go for just one of each kind. So I have one synth (Mono Evolver), one sampler (Blackbox), one external effect (Polymoon) and one mastering unit (the Heat). If that won’t help me make music I like, then I’ve decided I’ll drop it and do something else.
Yea, true. It influences spending habits for sure, still responsibilities are a personal affair. And mostly only public it they are fashionably relevant.
Variations of this sort of thread pop up pretty regularly to the extent that feeling this way is clearly absolutely normal.
For me, I hate having anything expensive/valuable lying around the house unused. Not really sure what the root cause of that is but it does have a tendency to get under my skin enough that I ultimately end up selling. Even now, I’m sitting working from home inches away from an Octatrack that I haven’t used in months thinking if it’s time to let her go and try something new. I’m even wavering on the OP-Z at the moment.
Selling and rebuying isn’t a destructive loop for me. Christ, I’ve bought and sold the OT 5 or 6 times now. Had this one over 2 years which is a record. I realised long ago that I am an ITB guy at heart but I think I’m the sort of person who would like to have one piece of OTB/hybrid hardware around.
Anyway, all I’ll add to this is don’t fret about it. It’s all part of the process. Clearing the deck can, and does, feel great and liberating. As does hoarding new gear when in a real creative phase. Just, well, c’est la vie!
Synths are just too accessible now. You can listen to them all on YouTube or whatever to your own demise.
Then you have to get them, so easy as an impulsive online purchase. 
So, don’t tempt yourself. Choose a new, poison. Care Bears, Little Ponies, 
Behrnie Babies
Calculators 
I just bought three 