Excuse me for this long post but want to be thorough so… I have sold a lot of my gear, but have kept all the Elektrons and a few other pieces. I’ve been COVID unemployed for 5 months now and need to upgrade from my 2009 iMac 27". It is seriously slowing down and hampering my workflow. On Overbridge I can only get about 3 instruments connected at once but at only 16 bit. I’m thinking of getting either a new Mac Mini or MacBook Pro which will cost about $1500-2000 USD.
But to afford this, I must sell a few pieces of my Elektron gear and/or others. Here is my list:
AK - Great synth and the only piece of gear I have with keys. I like it but haven’t used it extensively enough to love it.
OT mk1 - I’ve spent the most time with this (took most of my time from learning my other Elektron gear) and it was the centerpiece of my live rig. However, I haven’t played live in 5 months and doubt I will till sometime in 2021. I also found this sampler frustrating many times. I wouldn’t mind having something more modern and more intuitive.
RYTM mk1 - I have barely used it so can’t really say
DN - Probably my favorite synth ever. NOT SELLING!
DT - More intuitive and easier to work with than RYTM, but haven’t used either a whole lot.
AH - I mostly used it for live to fatten up the sound, but not sure a distortion & fattening up piece of gear is worth $400-500
Model:Samples - Very fun, but still limited despite seeming like a Korg Volca Sample on steroids. I think I’d like to keep this one.
My non-Elektron gear:
KMI K-Mix - I used this digital mixer and audio interface for my live shows. Great concept, but I don’t love it. Not sure it’s worth the $400-500 I could sell it for.
MOTU Ultralite mk3 - This has been my audio interface for 7 years. It’s great bit a bit long in the tooth as it’s firewire only and wouldn’t work with a newer computer. I also don’t think it has a great headphone amp and I do A LOT of my productions with headphones only due to living arrangemengt. I can probably get $150 for this. I also don’t need 2 audio interfaces.
Modal Craftsynth 2.0 - I love this tiny synth! Not selling!
Roland / Studio Electronics SE-02 - My favorite analog mono-synth. Not selling!
Eventide D9 Max - Lovely FX pedal and great for live use, but not using it much in the studio. I’m also not sure it’s worth the $500 I could sell it for.
Volca Sample - I love this but not sure I need it if I have the Model Samples
Volca Kick - This one is fantastic and easy to make interesting kicks that evolve.
Zoom R16 - Very intuitive recorder and great for live multitrack jamming. I don’t use it as much since working in the DAW more and more again. Could get about $150-180 for this. - I also have 3 headphones (including AKG K702) and studio monitors (Equator D5) I can sell and get a couple hundred for.
So if you were in my situation, which ones would you sell to come up with $1500-2000 and why? Granted I haven’t given some of the gear (especially RYTM and AK) enough of a chance, but the DAW is still an essential element of my work, and my current computer is the weakest link in my chain and has to be updated soon.
No real advice on what to sell (other than ask yourself if you sold everything what would you expect to rebuy within the next two years), but do you need a new Mac mini? Afaik it’s a fairly minor upgrade from the 2018 and 2019 models, and if you’re using it mainly for DAW purposes I’m sure the 2018 model would work well and cost a lot less.
Get rid of the Rytm and DT. You basically answered your own question in your descriptions and you have access to an even better Elektron sampler in the OT, so keep that for sampling duties. Plus, those two combined on the second hand market instantly solves your problem
Edit: Chuck the Volca Sample and the MOTU soundcard too, and put the money towards something that does work with modern computers
Easy. Sell everything that is not labelled “NOT SELLING!” plus when you got your new iMac, sell the old one too. Good for at least another 450$.
As Computer i would buy that new 27" iMac 3,3 GHz 6‑Core CPU (Turbo Boost 4,8 GHz),
512 GB SSD,
Retina 5K Display. That should last you for another 7 - 10 years. I find the new MacBooks simply overprized. With DN you can use Overbridge, so No need for an extra audio Interface, and have the Modal Craft and Roland SE02 run into audio in of the DN too. For sampling use your DAW.
Keep the Octatrack, Digitone, SE-02, Modal, K-Mix and Volca Kick. Sell everything else. A more interesting option for a computer could be buying a Mac Mini and an iPad Pro. You can use the iPad as a monitor as well as another musical device with a lot of capabilities. iPad + K-Mix = portable studio.
Do you perform live much or is it mainly a studio thing?
You say you haven’t used the DT much, but for me is priceless at getting down great beats on the fly, but it’s a little rigid for live performance compared to the OT.
There’s some stuff that isn’t required as you seem to have tiers above, but it won’t fund a new computer. Talking volca’s model:samples etc…
Mate all the stuff you say you barely used… just get rid. If you miss it you can always buy it later.
I’d say keep the OT, DT, DN and flog the rest.
Or just sell RYTM and a couple of volcas and build a PC. If you’re that hard up I don’t see the sense in a Mac
The DT and Rytm cover a lot of the same ground, you could sell one or the other I prefer the Rytm for its extra features and analog engines…
By unpopular opinion:
Next to go Octatrack, timestrech is not good enough for melodic content.
no multi trig editing, no overbridge, most the effects sound dated…
the computer can replace this the best
Boo to @DanJamesAUS. OT is amazing! Jokes aside, it all depends what type of sampling you want to do, or to put it another way, how deep do you want to go with sampling? If it’s all the way, OT, and if it’s one shots and occasional sample start manipulation then DT or Rytm do the job nicely.
The OT will be a difficult one… I like some things about it, but there’s so much in it I don’t use and not sure I ever will. I actually prefer sampling, chopping, editing in the DAW then exporting to the OT. The Volca Sample was fun and I made many tracks with it, but I can get $100-120 for it.
I love the iMacs, but the reason I bought one 10 years ago as opposed to a MacBook Pro was the price difference. But I could have worked in different environments the past 10 years rather than just stuck to my desk. This is why I’m leaning towards a MacBook Pro.
Your idea of having the Modal Craft and Roland SE02 run into audio in of the DN is great. However, I’d need a small mixer to route more than 1 stereo input into the DN. The SE-02 also plugs directly into computer via USB. I had some trouble using both Model Samples and SE-02 directly into my computer at the same time. This might be because the MS outputs at 48kHz and the SE-02 outputs standard 41.1 kHz.
I bought most of my gear between 2015-2017 when I had a cushy well paying corporate job. Money has been more tight since, but especially this year for obvious reasons.
I forgot to mention I have an iPad 2018 (not Pro model), and my last album was made entirely on it (except teh mixing and mastering). The iPad is hands down the most underrated piece of gear for music. There are things I can do on it I can’t do with any hardware or DAW plugin due to its touchscreen and crazy apps.
I was performing every few months in 2018 and 2019 - only performed twice this year before lockdown. So I gig here and there but not as often as I’d like. I’m not well known lol.
I’m leaning towards selling entire “dark trinity”. The Keys is just too big for my desk so I’m always taking it off and storing away. The OT I used for live but mostly as a long stem player which I’d mess with in real time. I’m not crazy about its FX, the LCD screen, inaccurate determining tempo, and a bit clunky editing samples compared to the DAW. But it’s a unique piece of gear that comes in handy.
I only worked on PC from late 90s till 2006 when I had it with compatibility issues with sound cards and such. I bought first generation MacBook Pro and haven’t looked back since. I used a PC laptop again from 2015-2017 at my job and I really didn’t care for it. My 2006 MacBook still works (except the internal sound card and internal battery). My 11 year iMac still works (although it needed some fixing back in 2013), but every PC I’ve had became junk after 3 years. YMMD.
Sell your body?