2023 Gear Purchase: Hits and Misses

The Lounge General Discussion
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No clear misses this year, mostly big hits!

Meris LVX: I got this for a gig that I did in March. I have many delay plugins, but having this one as an outboard effect unit makes sound design a lot of fun. The LVX encourages conceptual approach, and imagining sounds before diving into the pool, which often leads to good results. Yet at the same time I keep yearning for something more intuitive and hands-on experimental delay, like Vongon Polyphrase, something that I can play like an instrument… I’m also a little bit hesitant about the LVX user interface. I keep changing between the bubble and text versions of the UI and can’t decide which one is better for me. But the main thing is that the LVX sounds amazing and offers deep sound design tools!

AHFX: For years I have kept looking for a second hand AH, but this came out just at the right moment so I went for it. I have mostly used it for sound design inside Ableton, but it does shine as an end of chain box for the Digi Trinity and Octatrack. I have also other uses for it in mind, but haven’t had time to experiment. If Elektron comes up with a solution to the Overbridge gain drop flaw/feature, it will be even more comfortable to use.

Audient EVO SP8: Got this to expand my Scarlett 18i20, but ended up liking it so much that I’m currently planning on replacing the Scarlett with EVO 16. Smart gain is surprisingly useful when multitracking multiple synths! Just have all machines running, press a button and short moment later all levels are set and you’re good to record.

Austrian Audio Hi-X65: A much celebrated upgrade from my old AKG headphones. Nice to hear everything properly!

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thank you! im posting my tunes in the ep-133 thread but it can get pretty busy in there, all my tunes are up on my soundcloud tho. everything from the past month is made on the ep-133 and gussied up on the 404. this is my fav one i made recently

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Hits:

Roland Aerophone AE-20W - Despite not having much of a background playing wind instruments, I’d always been fascinated by wind synths. Find this discounted $150, thanks to King Midas, encouraged me to finally buy this particular wind synth. While I’ll be only playing at a beginner level for a good long while, the free AE Lesson app has been great for getting started. It has a gamification element when you playing the backing track for one of the 11 songs in the app by grading your playing. This is a hit because playing synth tones with my breath is such a different experience compared to a keyboard, and I like it despite the learning curve.

Hydrasynth Explorer - Surprisingly good feeling keybed for the size and price point, especially for poly AT. Much better than the in-store Explorer, which was probably beat up by being played by hundreds of customers a month. I already knew what to expect sound-wise and was not disappointed.

Fender Cory Wong Strat - I went into the store to buy the Explorer, and they let me walk out of the store with the Explorer plus this Strat with a nice discount. Could use some setup work but otherwise is comfortable to play and sounds very nice to my ears.

Ableton Push 3 - I won’t be anywhere close to utilizing the full extent of the Push 3’s capabilities, but I’m listing it as a hit because I enjoy playing the MPE pads with sounds that are MPE responsive to various degrees - some only respond to slides, some respond to both pressure and slide, etc. I was leaning towards the controller-only version but with the 20% off sale, I thought it’d be worth buying the standalone version.

Robert Baraban Chest Expander - High quality all-steel fitness tool which is particularly effective for training the rear and side delts and postural muscles.

Tacfit Competition Style Kettlebells - Tacfit sold these for 50% off around Black Friday time. I got 8kg and 12kg KBs for about $75. The lighter weights are ideal for mobility exercises such as the kettlebell arm bar, as well as practicing the Turkish Get Up movements for warm up rather than for a main strength training session. Also, when I try weighted pull ups and dips. I can use these as the load instead of having to start with the 16kg. The Tactfits are a hit because I like the feel of the handles and they appear to be good quality for the money.

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This is the thing that keeps me from buying it. To my ears it’s one of the best sounding reverb boxes out there, but that interface seems absolutely awful to work with.

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Curious about why you prefer mk1 OT. I find mk2 a lot easier to navigate with the extra buttons and fast encoders, only complaint is clearing scenes can be fiddly.

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***New Hit :rotating_light::

TE EP 133 KO II. Funnest I’ve had making music since I started decades ago. I have/had all the usual samplers/drum machines. None scratch the surface of how fun and quick KOII is. First TE product and I get it. The good and the bad. QC is trash. Tons of human error abound. However, they are simply better than everyone else when it comes to aestethic and workflow. I’m not even sure who is even remotely close tbh.

Panasonic Eneloop Pro Rechargeable Batteries by rec from @adamc . Dude. WTF are they putting in these batteries Nuclear isotopes?! Seriously. The pro line costs exponentially more than competitors but it’s very well worth it. Insane battery life. Do yourself and your gear a favor and cop these and a good charger.

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I got used to the button combos really fast so that wasn’t an issue for me, and I kind of like the slower encoders as I can dial in things more carefully. Build-wise it just feels a little sturdier somehow. And the paintwork is really nice, like a really fine grain, compared to the smooth papery finish of the black mk2 which marks up and attracts dust really easily (I loved the grey one tho tbf). The screen feels bigger too, and I like the way the screen is raised slightly from the main body. On my last mk2 I had a QC issue where the screen was not glued properly and was lifting up in one corner.

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I should mention a couple of hits that I overlooked in my previous post.

One is the Random*Source Serge VCFQ, which I bought in person at Schneidersladen (Berlin) on my dream visit in October. None of my other four modular filters can match it for ping quality. It has five CV inputs and I haven’t used four of them yet! Only the ping trigger input.

The other is the @DaveMech course on Digitakt (parts 1 through 3). I actually bought this late in 2022, but had two runs through it (fast, then slow) in 2023. Is it a gear purchase? Absolutely, even though the physical gear was bought in 2021. I have designed several online courses, but I don’t tend to go for them myself (as an old-school academic, I prefer text). Dave’s videos don’t feel like I am watching a lecture; more like I’m sitting next to someone giving me a demo with explanations, with a flow that I don’t feel I have to interrupt with questions. The casual style downplays the hours of work that must have gone into them, and the learning resonates in a way that I wouldn’t get from just text. It has significantly improved my interactions with Digitakt. I recently also bought his Digitone course (parts 1 and 2), and I expect to list that on my 2024 hits post.

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I actually don’t even use the Pro, just the regular Eneloops.

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hit:
reducing my collection to zero

misses:
Tascam dr05 recorder

RME baby face mk1

Berhinger ultragain pro-8 digital

Arturia key step

Elektron digitakt

Roland tr606

Roland mc202

Roland re501

Roland cr8000

Roland re-20

Korg pitch black tuner

Elektron model cycles

Pioneer toraiz as1

Pearl rhythm traveler

Sabian hh hats, dry ride, crash

Godin exit 22-s

Vht special 6

Tc ditto x2

EHX fuzz

Elektron analog four mk1

Vermona perfourmer mk2

Acid lab miami

Boss dr110

Korg es1 mk2

Grant/Coron ps-7 analog percussion synth

Electro voice m150 microphone

Kenton thru 5 midi router

Yairi G1F acoustic

Various mic stands and music stands and cables

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Which reminds me – I bought a pair of Audio Technica ATH-M50X headphones to replace the broken 770’s. Turned out to be an excellent switch, as I never felt really comfortable wearing the 770’s. Too tight on the head. The M50X are among the best headphones I have used.

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M50x’s are great indeed for tracking! The only issue I have with them is the inevitable broken hinges issue that for some reason has not been addressed by ATH

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If you like it so much, maybe sequence with another Elektron or Oxi One (Sequencer that feels right at home coming from Elektron)?

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Wow. I could have saved some money although no regrets. I guess that accounts why I’m at around 8.5 hrs on the Aerophone with 3 bars of battery remaining!

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The regular ones are more durable (more recharge cycles) and have a lower self discharge so if you leave the Aerophone turned off like I do when my current practicing instrument is my NuRAD or EWI it’ll have more charge still left when you pick it up.

Also I’m not setup for optimal battery life as I leave my WIDI Master plugged in which has a 37mAh draw and I still get 6ish hours.

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I’ve gone through a LOT of gear this year… earlier my main Elektron centerpieces were A4, AR and MD UW+ and now those are all gone, replaced by Digi-quadrafecta of DT, DN, ST, and AH+FX. As much as I loved the early Mk1 boxes I find the Digi-format much easier to get around on, which makes me able to put down ideas faster. I can monitor everything through Overbridge, and either record through that or record one track at a time via the UA Volt 476 interface.

A lot of the other things I’ve let go of aren’t misses at all, just not the right piece at the right time (with studio space being limited as ever…)

So… the Hits-

DT: third time is the charm! The new updates really make this click for me. Best sounding sampler I’ve ever used besides the SP-16 (and that’s mainly down to stereo and the analog filters…)

DN: just does so many things well. When they added ratio offsets to get those atonal FM sounds it really came into its own as a modern classic IMO.

Grandmother Dark: excellent bread and butter analog synth, can get weird/experimental as well. Many of the best bits of the early Moog modulars in one small inexpensive package.

Focal Alpha65S: the previous generation of Alphas, which to me sound pretty fantastic. I prefer them to Adams and Genelecs I’ve had previously.

Quadraverb GT: never sell a QV, you will immediately want one again. Not just for the thick, dark verbs, but for the converters as well. Plus way more reliable than the Midiverb II, my all time fave vintage reverb.

Jomox Mbase 11: that kick, in modular, drum machine or Mbase format, is still unrivaled. Especially through the RML 432k pedal… techno doom kicks for days.

Nord 3P: found one with busted pads to hack off into a module (thanks Phil!) …a killer drum source sequenced from the DT.

Retro Mechanical Labs Dual Hyde Custom: waited for almost a year for this, but Johnathan at RML built my dream cv-controlled dual distortion/filer unit, and their #999 distortion box. Most of the ideas are now in a metal box pedal version, but mine is a one-off that I’ll never sell.

The Misses-

Waldorf Iridium: I really wanted this to be the be-all-end-all of digital synths. It’s real strength, besides the interface, is combining different kinds of synthesis together. But for all the power under the hood, the overall sound left me unconvinced. The Blofeld sounded better for wavetables, and the Lemondrop was better at granular, and FM sounds better on the DN and early Yamahas. Of course you can go other places with the Iridium those machines never could, I’m not sure it was worth the effort.

Rev2: no good reason to sell this besides space. Favorite Sequential synth overall.

Euro: after going all in a few years ago, selling all that and then trying a small fx case, I find the open-endedness of modular to be too much. Limitations (for me) can be a good thing.

Undecided but probably-

ST: I had one when they first came out, but was disappointed with the hollow/plastic tones and brittle distortions that I was getting out of it. But since then I’ve heard artists that have dug deeper to get amazing sounds… that and the updates convinced me to give it another go, and lean into the sounds it does well and contrast them against more analog, low-mid sounds from other gear.

AH+FX: still need to give this a proper workout, but looks promising with all the internal modulation and CC control via the DT. Replaces a lot of pedals hopefully.

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What prompted the sell off? Are you still involved in music at all?

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Hits:

Terra- Favorite control interface, endless enjoyment

Nerdseq- finally found my modular sequencer.

Cosmos- Perfect pair with Terra/Guitar

Lyra- Drone monster

TX6- a gimmick for some but I use it every day.

Time will tell:

TP7- need one major bug ironed out then I’m happy.

Verbs- needs a mono to stereo option as well as kill dry signal.

Miss:

Sp404mkii- So close yet so far away. Would love 48k at 24 bit and a way to trim samples to perfect loop size. Also an 8 track mode would be amazing where all tracks are linked.

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Two purchases this year and both big hits.

Acidlab Drumatix: Tried an 8s and wasn’t convinced. A year or so Schneider’s Laden told me the Drumatix was out of production, so I was well pleased when klaus@acidlab replied that he had some Drumatix for sale. With the individual outs, tuning of the kicks, toms and snare, the second 808 modeled kick and snare (as well as 606 modeled) and the clap modeled on one of the classic Boss machines makes the Acidlab much more than an 606 clone. I had a Vermona DRM, still have a Tanzmaus, but for me the Acidlab is THE bread and butter analogue drum machine (luckily I’m over wanting a 909 or decent clone).

Digitone I wanted a portable, multitimbral synth (max budget 1.5k euros) with a deepish engine. No regrets I went for the Digitone (my second Elektron the first being my 7 year old OT). I’ve got some modest feature wishes, but there’s another thread for that. It is a unique and intuitive implementation (and for me fun and productive) take on FM synthesis. I’ve not used overbridge or audio out via USB, but to my ears, its “core sound” - which I guess includes the DAC implementation - is quality.

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Pretty low key year for me, only real gear was the HydraSynth Desktop and the SH-4D

HydraSynth’s only downside is it’s immense size, otherwise I think I’ll get years of use out of it.

The SH-4D is feeling more and more like a mistake, I jumped in quick and bought with almost no research, which I almost never do. More than half the engines are just terrible; wavetable mode is pointless, PCM is complete and total garbage, ring and chord are just meh. The patch/patten saving weirdness are well known and add an extra layer of friction from me enjoying it. The filters are so basic and another big missed opportunity. Let’s give it another 6 months and maybe Roland have a massive update in the wings, but it doesn’t look like it

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