For me, the Model Cycles is the perfect groovebox, especially once I paired it with the samples. Do I want to upgrade to the Digi trio or the flagship boxes? Of course I do! That’s the whole point. These two cheap boxes are so good that whoever owns them will eventually buy into the upgrades. However, a case could be made for why these cheaper boxes are more intuitive/immediate/fun than their more complicated siblings. And the form factor, which is as close to knob per function design that you can find in a groovebox, along with the relationship that I’ve built with the machines themselves, is the reason I will be keeping my M:C and M:S forever, even when I have access to the Digi Trio or the OG Trio/MKII’s.
In fact, I’m so down for the brand and what these machines offer, I plan to get as many of their boxes as I can get my hands on over my lifetime. They’re all really quite extraordinary.
Is the ST a souped up, hot-rodded MC? Maybe, and that makes me want it all the more. But I would never part with either of my models. I am so confident in that statement, that I decorated them. Once I paint an instrument, it stays in my collection forever.