Buying Gear a second/third/fourth time around.. did it ever work!?

The Lounge General Discussion
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I read a lot about people re purchasing a piece of gear and i wonder did it ever work?

was third time the charm for OT ?

im asking because, im seriously considering buying AR once again.
first time around i found several annoyances:

  • the synth engines to be to limiting,
  • that you could only apply a certain amount of parameters per scene
  • the overall sound to be really dark ( hard to not be subjective here though)
  • the Elektron Sequencer to be a bit boring

so why am i considering a repurchase?
i felt like ive grown alot when it comes to ā€œfinding my voice/expressionā€ and ive matured (a tad bit at least) in that i know what want to do more musically and have a basic understanding for how i want to achieve that.

  • ive realized for instance that just because a synth engine has a small amount of parameters to tweak, it can still be a deep synth engine.

  • ive always been on he hunt for THE drum machine and having gone through almost all of them i can say that it actually doesnĀ“t exist. so iĀ“ve fully started to accept limitations in a way i didnt before.

  • seeing videos as the on below, it made me realize that i used Rytm all wrongā€¦ i tried to max out 1 pattern and make a song of that (only really works on the OP-Z for me) and i would get frustrated because it felt like i couldnt go any further and making a correlating second pattern was like starting all over ( mentally). instead of filling up a whole bank with small patterns which i use direct jump to alternate between, it looks like a way more interactive experience then to try to coheres as much as possible from 1 pattern.

so, was third time the charm? was it love at second sight?
Or am i foolish in believing that this second time around will be any different? id like to here your thoughts!

Bonus video of reference:

Edit:

another shallow grievence was that i didnt really like the color scheme of the MK2ā€¦ now the black one looks awesome! so theres that as well :laughing:

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Not for me. Iā€™ve bought quite a few pieces multiple times and Iā€™ve always ended up selling them again.

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how did you approach those purchases? Did you go in with fresh eyes and new ideas on how to tackle the device or was it more of a ā€œi miss X deviceā€ type of thing?

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Yes and no.

Bought many devices repeatedly that didnā€™t click. A4s, ARs, AKs and OP1s high on buy/sell charts.

Iā€™ve repurchased an AK again though because it was so cheap though itā€™s had little use. Despite that, I like just owning it to be honest.

The only success story was the OT on possibly the 5th attempt. Things clicked and I really enjoyed it but had to sell for financial reasons! I flirt with getting another but do worry that the magic would be lost

People and skill sets are in constant flux. No harm at all in time something for a 3rd, 4th or more time. You never know, it could work out brilliantly. And if not, sell it on and chalk another one up as experience

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Both my Digitakt and Digitone are my second.

When I first got the Digitone I didnā€™t gel with its sound at all - I canā€™t really remember what I was looking for at the time but the Digitone wasnā€™t it. I also found the idea of sequencing polyphony a bit daunting on a device like that. Fast forward some years and Digitone offered something I actually needed and wanted, and I was familiar enough with its sound that I knew what it could and couldnā€™t do, and where it could shine.

When I sold my first Digitakt I knew Iā€™d regret it - I liked the machine but didnā€™t feel I was able to create anything that good on it - it didnā€™t really fit with my workflow or the music I was trying to create at the time. But as soon as I needed to bring drums/sampling back into the mix it was the fist place I looked.

Iā€™ve kind of replaced the DT with an OT but Iā€™m very hesitant to sell the DT - as much as I donā€™t like ā€˜sittingā€™ on gear I donā€™t want to have to buy a 3rd oneā€¦

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I have bought and sold multiple times
TR-606
TB-303
MC-202
SH-101

Every time I sold them it was because I needed the money, not because I did not like them.

I have had a ARmk1 and DT, I decided to consolidate them to a ARmk2, because I though maybe Iā€™d use the Rytm more with the sampling, I did not miss the DT or mk1 Rytm, but I did not really use the mk2 enough to justify keeping it, so I sold it. I donā€™t miss it.

I think if you did not get along with it before, maybe pause for thought and ask why, if it was because you feel you did not fully explore it then maybe try again. If you did feel that you fully explored it then this time will probably be no different, and you may end up selling it again.

It is a fairly deep and capable machine, but it does have a bit of overhead, more so than a simpler device, but it does have those limitations you mentioned, can you live with those this time?

Think about the gear you have and if it can do what you really require from the Rytm - in my case the big draw was samples through a nice analog filter, even though I actually did not use it much, it was nice knowing that when I wanted that, it was there. But, since I have other samplers and other analog filters, I realised I did not need to keep it around.

I think you know your way around the gear, and my gut feeling is you probably donā€™t need it, but if you think it fills a need that your other gear canā€™t, then go for it, if not resist :wink:

Good luck whatever you do!

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Currently on my 7th Octatrack.

Just bought a Syntakt but previously had 3 Digitakts and 2 Digitoneā€™s. So hoping this will work out. Might still get a 3rd Digitone. And I wouldnā€™t totally rule out swapping the Octatrack for another DIgitakt.

Not directly the same instruments but currently have an Mpc X, have used/sold an Mpc Live, One, Force, Live II.

My issues, from a music/production perspective have primarily been about the style of music and the way Iā€™ve traditionally made music for over 35 years . Elektron gear was/is meant to force a change In that. But itā€™s not that straight forward. In an ideal world Iā€™d only make music within one box or environment, but realistically I need different things from different machines.

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If Iā€™m honest, I get caught up in the GAS that made me want the item in the first place and then the reasons why I got rid of it emerge again.

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stop

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damn, Iā€™ve always wondered how to use the direct jump feature. I know now (wonā€™t be doing it though or not to that extent).

I bought, sold, bought the AR and for me, second time is the charm. But I did learn a lot (not enough it seems) between my first and my second AR. They added DVCO and other engines that were huge for me too. Still donā€™t use the samples though.

I didnā€™t really like the analog engine but I kinda like it now. I donā€™t use a cowbell for a cowbell or a tom for a tom anymore (my first mistake!) and I donā€™t fine tune my kick for hours trying to get it to sound like Iā€™d like it too (my second mistake) but once it is combined with everything else, it sounds very cohesive as a whole. And the DVCOs.

I bought the mk1 instead of the mk2 because I like the form factor and design of the mk1 more than the mk2 so I totally get the color thing! The mk2 black looks really cool! I understand the temptation!

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Absolutely. And thereā€™s real truth to that as a lot of my issues are based around mental health problems.

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that is what i fear i am doing currently, im trying to be level headed about it and trying to remeber why i sold it in the first place.

i mean youre probably right. i guess what im really chasing is fun, intuitive and deep workflows.
the aspect RYTM would bring is a live drum machine and not samples. a way to trigger drum lines instantaneously, chaning up the pace and so on. i didnt really explore the different sequencing modes on it and i feel like that could be the key that unlocks it for meā€¦ but i will take your advice and take a step back first!

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Ah sorry, I was just making a silly joke :sweat_smile:

But yea I can empathiseā€¦

If you get to number 8 let us know weā€™re always happy to lend a hand helping to encourage/discourage where neccessary

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The Rytm is my desert island machine, but thats mainly because I use it as an mpc with built in analog filters/synths/dist/comp.

I feel like the Rytm and the Octa are similar in that they donā€™t function well as just another machine on you desk you might use once in a while, or for maybe one sound every track. They want to be front and center, and be the brains of your setup.

If youre not planning to completely dive in, I dont think this second time is a charm!

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I had two digitakts and and two Push 2.
I sold them twice.
I often have GAS for stuff I once owned. 0 coast, Nord rack 2x, DFAM, sh01a, digitakt.
They all were nice, I actually think I never disliked any gear.
I sold them in order to justify other purchases or I felt I have this already covered otherwise. Canā€™t keep everythingā€¦
Chances are high I would come to one of these conclusions again

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interesting.

well what i plan is to use it as my only drum synthā€¦ using it simiraly as in the videoā€¦

for jamming i would have OP-Z sequence my modular and peak. have some stems on OT and then let the drums be played by Rytm, setting up a whole bank of small drum grooves based on the same kit and then jump between the patterns and use scenes.

if i ever get to a point of playing live. i would make stems from my synths and put them into OTā€¦
let Rytm handle the drums and then run the stems into Rytm and then the while mix into OT again and set up a Transition track for easy ways of transitioning between songs.

not sure if that is counted as diving in, but thats how i see myself using itā€¦

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If I had not sold my first EMX1, I would probably still have it.

I sold it. As I needed the money. Stupid idea.
Re bought a second one. Sold that for some other stupid reason too. Do I miss it? Not really. Do I still want one? Not really, but they are very fucking cool and I have fond memories of it, and Iā€™m into the sounds and places you can go with one.

Im not doing it again. Thats the only thing Iā€™ve ever bought more than once. I do second chances but I dont do thirds.

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ā€¦it only makes sense, if this time, ur truuly willing to put a fresh xtra amount of work effort into it, ur ready to take the deep dive, every instruments needs, to really shine for u, end of the dayā€¦

or/and if it dawns on u, oh, what a fool iā€™ve been, to not see through, how to accomplish a proper workflow on this thingā€¦

especially with elektron gear, this can happen a lotā€¦this feeling of frustration, why o why, am i the only person who does not get it just rightā€¦

but u sound to me, like somebody who just realised some essential truuth in all this sonic gameā€¦so u should give it another try for sureā€¦

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blofeld in like 2009 ? ā€¦canā€™t remember why i sold it, but got it again and the screen gave out, so i sold it again.

octatrack in 2011 ? ā€¦needed the money, bought an mkii a couple of years ago and happy that i did.

i donā€™t knowā€¦if youā€™ve bought something more than a couple of times, i think the proof is in the pudding.

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your comment instantly reminded me of ā€œfool me once, shame on you! Fool me twice, shame on me!ā€

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