Quick update
I’ve switched to using a Roland TR-8 with the B1 straight into it with no mixer and it’s great fun, really just back to enjoyable jamming with no other considerations.
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That is my brain.
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Haha, this topic is so funny.
Imagine this topic in on any other forum:
“Idea of beekeeping more fun than the reality?”
“Idea of writing a novel more fun than the reality?”
“Idea of running a marathon more fun than the reality?”
“Idea of living off the grid more fun than the reality?”
“Idea of actually making cheese more fun than the reality?”
…
Aiiight, time to log-off 
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The ideal of ideation. Ah, what a dream.
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If you check those forums I fully expect you would find loads of threads like that.
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Well, those aren’t like comparisons. If this topic was called “Idea of making music more fun than the reality” sure. But this, like many GAS-centric threads, is about how the gear doesn’t make the music, the person does.
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As a chronic hobby dabbler I can confirm
The people I know who play magic and warhammer all complain about it constantly
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realising that using 4 elektron boxes at a time sucks does not mean you can’t have fun with hardware. I am certain there is a way to do things that works for you and figuring that out is the journey. But yes learning music gear and rearranging setups could practically be considered a separate hobby from making music. Many people just enjoy doing that forever. It depends what you want out of this
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Absolutely this
I used to run the Fretboard guitar forum and the number of people who fall into the trap of building “That Pedal Show” pedalboards and end up spending loads of money and time on something that is unwieldy, expensive, complicated and detracts from making music is huge. I’ve done it myself.
When I was a kid I played Warhammer and again fixating on optimising armies to the point of never actually playing was a huge thing.
For anyone who has misunderstood this thread. I make music all the time, it’s my favorite thing.
I’ve gone back to 2 box techno without a mixer and I lost 2 hours today went off to do something else and ended up coming back and doing it again for an hour!
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it occurred to me yesterday that they are called instruments because they provide measurement data on the test source. but an oscilloscope attached to your ears is way too simple of a measurement. so to look into something more complex, you need… the right collection… of instruments. bitwig is like trying to use a teensy and call it an instrument. it can be, but, it’s not. until. elektron or dirtywave puts it in a box and give it eyebrows.
You have to consider it as a whole. Not everything has to be part of a Song but for an Album or a Live set, everything has its part. Also, the magic of the Elektron boxes is that you can program them beforehand and never touch them or so during a performance while you concentrate on other elements of the Track.
P.S. I had to scroll down the entire thread to see if I wrote this before or if I just imagined it or dreamt about it. 
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I think everything starts out with goals. When someone acquires gear, what do they hope to do with it? I believe one potential source of frustration is when you have a vision in mind but can’t achieve it. Not only being able to complete a piece of music, but being able to complete one in the style that you’re aiming for or being able to express yourself musically.
Now, there are those who say that they just jam on hardware for the pure fun of it, and that’s 100% ok. But if that’s the case, then “finishing a piece of music” isn’t likely one of their goals.
In order to complete a piece of music that achieves your musical goals requires you to understand the component parts - the types of sounds, the types of patterns (rhythms, melodies etc) and the type of arrangement that would suit that final piece of music.
There might be gear that suits the sounds, the creation of the types of patterns, and the makes the creation of an arrangement easier (and even more fun), but I think you need to understand what you’re looking for first. Listen to examples of music that might be in the ballpark of what you want to do. Try to get a sense of how simple or complicated it is. Visualize creating that music on your hardware. Is there something that would be difficult? I think there are certain aspects of some music that might only be easily done in the box (i.e. using a DAW on a computer), however I think some things just take some planning.
For example, many times I’ve heard that it’s difficult to create an arrangement using Elektron gear, for example the Digiakt. However with some planning I think all it takes is understanding the various sections of a track/song you want to create, and making those variations across patterns. Listen to some music and try to understand how many different sections are involved. I constantly hear about people “stuck in the loop” (i.e. coming up with one pattern that just loops indefinitely). They problem might be that they don’t have a sense of the song/track they want to make and what types of pattern variations lead to creating that kind of journey.
Hopefully there was something helpful here in my lengthy ramble. Curious if any of this resonated with anyone or if anyone has counter-arguments, etc.
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I was gonna mention something along these lines earlier only my suggestion was to try and go all software for a while and work with audio on a linear timeline, I’ve found working that way has informed my decisions in ways that have been very beneficial when setting about making some music, it’s definitely made me more critical and able to jettison ideas that before I would just be hammering until all the fun was sucked out of the process…
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A lot of it is gas
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It’s interesting, if you’re a guitar player and you’re constantly buying and selling different pedals and changing your setup, at least you’re still playing the same six strings and your fingers are touching the same instrument the whole time. You’re just trying out different post processing.
If you have a whole bunch of different grooveboxes and you’re constantly swapping them out or focusing on different ones and they all have different button layouts and screen interfaces that’s a very different thing. Many of them arguably aren’t really instruments if they don’t even have pads or keys or anything to play.
If you have a main controller keyboard and you use it to play a bunch of different synth modules at least the keyboard is a common interface that doesn’t change and you’re just trying out different flavors of synth. A pure groovebox based workflow where you don’t have a main unit that’s controlling everything is kind of a strange abstract, amorphous thing if you think about.
This is just kind of a random shower thought, not any sort of serious argument.
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Very impressed you typed this all up in the shower.
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My secretary takes dictation
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Yes and Yes.
I’ve been into hardware since shortly after I first started (2002 or so) and although I’ve used and really liked countless bits of software, for me hardware wins every single time, even the hardware that’s less capable than software (often the limitations breed new ideas).
Hardware is just more fun and there is a connection between me and it that just doesn’t happen in software. I prefer software for mixing, arranging and mastering but for everything else hardware is infinitely more fun and interesting and really much more inspiring to me.
I have VCV rack pro and I have 15U of eurorack and although VCV rack has nearly limitless modules I only use it to screw around in but with my eurorack I’ll spend hours getting lost in it.
That being said if it’s not for you it’s not for you, everyone thinks and works differently. If you’re not finding yourself drawn to the hardware and excited about it then it’s not for you.
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I 100% agree with this but there’s also the paradox where it’s hard to learn what you actually like in a groovebox without trying a bunch of stuff, which usually means chasing the gas for a while.
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exactly, u see radiohead live surrounded by racks and stacks of gear, and they’ll finally reach over and use one box for one sound of one song, and it’s essential
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