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i find the spillover from boutique guitar pedal obsession into modular very interesting. it seems to meet the same standards for GAS, collecting being more important than actual music making.
i used to be super into boutique pedals but thankfully i didnt have any money to buy them at the time, i would have wound up with 20 oscillating fuzz units thinking that would make me play like my bloody valentine. i shanāt be fooled again!
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soā¦ have you ever owned/used a modular system then? Iām confused 
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I think I agree. I was all about modular for a while, researching, wanting to get into it hard. I got a 0Coast, which I absolutely adore. A good buddy of mine has an absolutely massive rack that Iāve played with a bunch. After really exploring it, I realized that itās definitely not for me. Beyond the expense, the work that goes into it isnāt as fun as I was hoping. I love the semi-modular of the 0Coast and I can see myself getting another semi, and even the 0Ctrl just for the 0Coast, but beyond that, Iāll stick with playing with my friendās setup. I love doing my own sound design, and I can get most of the sounds I want with my current hardware synths, DAW, and iPad.
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Iām not saying itās not valid to have this opinion and not have experience with the real deal, but itās definitely different than software.
the flexibility of modular and the ability to customize to your whims is what makes them the most interesting. i.e. make your own instrument out of your favorite oscillators, filters, sequencers, etc, regardless of manufacturer. not to mention the happy accident factor is increased a lot in a modular system versus a fixed hardware or software synth. and thatās a wonderful place to play in if youāre looking for samples.
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I donāt use mine much. I hate cables, they get in the way when I want to tweak, switching ideas takes too long. Some semi-modulars are better because you donāt have to patch everything and sometimes thereās a patch-bay on the side, keeping the interface clean. Also the sounds coming out of it are not that special, or rather theyāre not exclusive to modular. I like Noise Engineering stuff, but I can get 99% there with a Digitone and a Model:Cycles, for a fraction of the price. So thatās it, 3000ā¬ sleeping, but at least I know what itās all about.
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It takes years of learning, practice and having specific associated goals to fully get to grips with modular (if itās Eurorack youāre talking about).
Many beginners donāt understand this and donāt ever get there - to where it all makes a sense and they can actually utilise the benefits of a modular system.
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My sentiments exactly
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I get it, they can look incredible aesthetically and you get to build a rig that you are semi designing.
If you have the money and enjoy the process thats the main thing.
I doubt id go down that route myself as it looks like an expensive rabbit hole.
but you donāt know what you donāt know, you could one day get to see someones setup and it just speaks to you.
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i think this is the key.
but there is no magick in tools. they are just tools.
all magick happens inside us.
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I would add that new gear - modular or not - always require some time to learn and be comfortable with. And this time is not spent making music as such. Although experimenting with new toys is certainly enjoyable and does have a role in music making, it does not help to produce finished stuff if you do it all the time.
The āproblemā I see with modular, is that it seems to make it easier to constantly change your setup and try new configurations - which is not bad in itself, but just the time it takes. Single modules not being as expensive as a fully-fledged workstations/synths, I fear I would be buying/selling/swapping them like marbles, had I gone this way.
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Yes, and - at what point does one stop saying āwhat can I buy next to achieve thisā
and start saying
āhow can I do this with what I haveā
Seems like a difficult thing to determine in the modular realm.
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Enjoy your groovebox!
I reached a similar conclusion, sold my modular a few months ago and have much fun with the Model:Cycles and the rest of my gear.
Now itās one in ā one out: the mandatory time to choose avoids the instant buy.
While patching cables I was in a meditation-like state, I enjoyed this, but musically I wouldnāt say I was that productive nor confident, and as you say switching from an idea to another takes time.
Grooveboxes rule!
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I think Iām turned off of modular for the same reasons I moved away from software, too many options. I imagine my time would mostly be spent switching cables and flipping modules, I doubt I could focus long enough to actually make music.
Now the question if theyāre boring or not, I would say yes and no, depending on the modular system you put together. Many modular systems look fun to play with, though I personally have to avoid them because it does seem like the biggest rabbit hole / money pit of any possible gear one could acquire. Having the option is great though!
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x is boring, y is not boringā¦ all very subjective imho.
The thing with eurorack is that a lot of newcomers want all the fancy -hip and trendy- expensive (for most) modules as fast as possible. And just obsess over that. Now that is what I call boring 
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thinking that sample packs and a groove box are a substitute means you are not, and likely never will be the target user.
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We will see soon if Iām with you on this.
I agree that hardware boxes - in particular Elektron - can be more bang for the buck. Absolutely.
But sometimes modular can do things no box can do. Iām putting together a small skiff around the DPO. I have not heard the single unit yet that can hold a candle to what the DPO can do, timbreally.
But then it becomes ok well now expensive case and power supply. The āVCAā is ok but not great: Optomix. I need something to put in all those patch points: Mathsā¦and so on and so forth. Until youāre staring at a wall sized rack for a stupid amount of money.
I hope I donāt get to that point. I canāt, actually, I havenāt the resources. I hope the small system will be fun. I hope I donāt want to keep adding and adding. I hope I actually make tracks with it. We will see.
But what I know for sure is that Iām going to have a ball with that module that no other single box unit can match and samples of which canāt truly represent (far too static).
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This absolutely happens with Elektron gear too, play carefully lol. Itās like when I recommend a long game to someone. Do every side mission you possibly can. Somewhere along the way I forgot that I got in this to make songs not to learn the ins and outs of all hardware and memorise all the names and functions of available gear
Learned a whole lot along the way but Iām going back to actually making songs and using the extra time to learn a useful skill
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Iāll bite, why notā¦
From what Iāve seen on YouTube and heard on SoundCloud, about 10% of people using modular systems are doing something other than making random bloops and bleeps with it.
Nothing against random bloops and bleeps but I do wonder if youāve spent that Ā£3000 plus to make bloops and bleeps or to look at all the nice things you have. Both reasons are equally valid as long as you are happy at the end of it. I just wonder how much of the Eurorack thing is about sound design and how much is about treating GAS (again, both perfectly valid reasons).
Since I bought a DFAM I get the occasional pang of GAS for eurorack. Then I look at how much itāll cost to do pretty much what I can already do with what Iāve got and buy another awesome synth or effect unit instead.
The thing that always stops me entering the modular world (proudly nursing a couple of decent semis though) is the thought that Iād spend all that money and time only to end up being even less productive and making even shitter music than I do right now. What Iāve witnessed suggests this would most likely be the case.
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Itās just art for ya. An artist can paint using years of context, experience and techniques to come out with their masterpiece then 99% of people can walk past and look at it thinking well a child could throw paint at a canvas for similar results, and they wouldnāt be wrong.
Relevant
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