Gear Lust? Gear Lust!

[John Koch-Northrup]

As a musician it's hard not to occasionally get caught up in that lust for new gear... What's caught your eye lately? What's that piece of gear you can't live without!

If you splurged and bought it - fantastic! Or if you never plan to buy it, but want to share what you found...

[John Koch-Northrup]

I have a tendency to not buy gear all that often which is a good thing. I've collected my hardware synths, effects, and bass gear over 25 years - many pieces date back to the 80's for me.

At the moment - I've rekindled my absolute need for buying Native Instruments Reaktor. (Of course - I don't really have the money right now so I'm just dreaming here...)

So I'm looking at Reaktor and am pleasantly surprised to find it's $100 cheaper than it used to be at $400 US. But then... I realize that NI's Komplete bundle has two things I must have in it - Reaktor and Guitar Rig... not to mention Battery... and FM8.... and Massive and Absynth... and... and... and... quite the freaking bundle of software for the hefty price tag of $999.

And then I notice that there's a special limited time bundle where they toss NI's hardware controller Kore in at that same $999 price...

Before getting caught up in wanting that big pile of software I was looking more additional hardware... a new bass multi-effect pedal (which is how I ended up looking at NI's Guitar Rig software) - and I'm definitely still looking for a much better mixer than I have now - but that will have to wait... I've also wanted a Roland Handsonic for years. But all of these I've put back on the backburner where they've been for a long time while I focus on not buying Komplete... :)

[SAVO]

I bought myself THE Logic Pro 8. thats EVERYTHING for me at the moment. Its because Im totlly a software guy.. at least nowadays. Hope to do some sampling and hiphop in future. get an old MPC or AKAI. Still got to look into that yet...

getting NI's Komplete package is a MUST!

[Paul Vnuk]

Kore...the software rocks...the controller is OK.

If they throw it in thats cool. Actually I have been having more fun with just Kore and its sound packs and never really cracking Reaktor or Kontakt any more.

Although the Komplete bundle is still very cool.

Oddly enough I am in an anti-soft synth mood lately after rediscovering analog synths again. I am even selling my Roland V-Synth due to lack of use and just focussing on the Moog Voyager & Prophet 8...oh well I digress.

Paul

[John Koch-Northrup]

Good to know on the hardware part of Kore.

Humorously - I'm in the opposite mode. I've really never used softsynths (beyond tiny bits in Fruity which isn't really the same.) I've got my fantastic synthesizers.com modular to scratch the fully analog, no memory, lots and lots of patch cords required bug - and then a juno 106, prophet 600, and korg dss-1 to round out the synths. (also have a yamaha tg-33 I picked up a few years ago, but I rarely touch it.)

I think I'm ready to mix in some softsynths with my old favorites.

Of course - it'll be much later this year before I can buy anything that big. I could have maybe swung just Reaktor - but Komplete makes so much more sense.

[Andi]

What I'd really like to do is get a chance to sample someone else's toys...my little brother uses Sonar, Acid and Ableton Live - but he's in Southern CA so I havn't been able to try any of his gear. Nobody, I mean nobody, in this neck of the woods makes electronic music to my knowledge (or maybe I just haven't met them yet). I don't know how that's going to happen, many other things seem to fight for priority and with the kids making music, too, they seem to "get stuff" before the adults do!

[John Koch-Northrup]

Many software companies have demo versions and can be a lot of fun to play with... it's not always the full blown experience, but it at least gives you a feel for the layout and what it can do.

I'm putting all purchases off until after my surgery and after the bills start rolling in. :)

[Exuviae]

I don't have any real preference between hardware or software anymore-both are awesome and useful in their own right.

I have a sickness these days that gravitates toward guitar pedals-small, powerful little boxes that really come to life when they are chained together in ways the designers never intended, or routed in ways that probably cause the boxes themselves physical pain, but produce such lovely noises...ahhh...

-stomp-

Brooks

[Vir Unis]

TC Electronics boxes are cool. The Nova delay and reverb are both pretty good. I bought the delay then took it back. I didn't realize it was only 3 seconds of delay. However, it was still quite lovely and very clean. I have the Boss dual delay that has 23 seconds of stereo delay. The only problem with it is that it's not really that clean. It's cool though and has a grittier sound, but I was also looking for a cleaner pedal like the Nova. I just need more delay time man!

[Mark Mahoney]

I absolutely love Reaktor and think it's the king of soft synths. In the last 6 months I have been getting into Ableton Live along with my Akai MPK49 controller. With the controller Ableton has become more of an instrument and less a DAW. The Akai has really been great with Reaktor. The heart of my setup is a Moog Voyager, and for live performance I usually add a Waldorf Q rack or swap it out for a Waldorf XT. I have a couple of other keyboard synths, but I haven't taken them out of their cases in 8 months. I find that if I have too much equipment out for live performance, I get too busy working the mechanics and can't concentrate on the music. What I lust for is some kind of i/o interface like a MOTU Travel lite or a Presonus.

[virtual]

its just never ending........i bought gear over 20 years so i did ok but you know - gear lust is a terrible thing , somedays i just wonder whether you really need anything more than a pc / mac and some simple software and spend your time on sampling / resynthesis etc but i love a gadget.My eyes been caught by an analogue modular...........or building one as i figured it would mean i can just forget about lust for anything else - the synth to end all synth lust . . . but then you start ' imagining ' your modular system and its all to much .........plan b stuff and some doepfer stuff i love to own but like everyone cash isnt there just to spend ! how about a buchla 200e.......you know its really just to much for me somedays .........what can i sell ? :) i have many bits of gear that do one thing once a year but have loads of superb sounds i never use - i might downsize soon to a monome and an ibm thinkpad but chances are within a few weeks i'll be back on ebay wasting valuable time ;) guitar pedals will be next .........far to addictive but wonderfull and this cycle will never end .I think you have 2 choices. Avoid all known gear pages ,. forums , magazines and news and stay away from any info on that stuff or do the opposite and just get lost in gear but the 'cant live without it ' train of thought is one i have attached to everything i own yet its utter madness on my part .I got lost on what this thread was about ? what is the cure ?

[John Koch-Northrup]

I think everyone is different with the gear thing... whether it's hardware or software - vintage or brand new - most musicians dream about getting something new... whether they go out and buy it or not is a completely different matter.

Virtual - you mentioned toying with getting a modular synth... I'd wanted a modular since I first started getting into synths back in 1984. I finally bought one about 2 years ago (I bought it in 3 big chunks from synthesizers.com - it's a 22 space small system - chose it because of the larger form factor due to issues I have with my wrists/hands - the Eurorack format and Rack format stuff was just too small of plugs and knobs...) - ironically - I was choosing between getting the modular or getting a new pc and Reaktor. I'd still love to get a new pc and Reaktor (actually the whole Komplete since basically everything else in the bundle is free once you buy a couple of their big synths...).

I rarely succumb to gear lust - I have fun every once in a while studying up on new gear. I told my nephew (who's 14 and getting into music heavily for the first time playing guitar - wanting to get a Les Paul and a Marshall amp - he's all about the early 70's rock stuff...) - that I'd like the following stuff...

- new pc and Komplete
- a fretless bass
- a decent electric guitar - don't know what
- Roland Handsonic

For me personally - I still love the hands on feel of my bass or piano or my synths. I've still never really connected with softsynths on a sort of emotional level. When I'm playing something - the feel is so much of it - I'm not really feeling through a mouse yet. Admittedly - a good keyboard and knob controller for my pc would go a long way to making a pc come alive in my hands - and eventually I'll do that. I have no interest in buying any more hardware synths - most of my synths I've had forever and know what they can do and can't do really well. I'll have to drone on about the gear I own one of these days. I think I mentioned it earlier - but here's my synths:

- Korg DSS-1 - bought in about 1987
- Roland Juno 106 - bought around 89
- Prophet 600 - borrowed it for 4 years in the 80's, it somehow ended up back in my hands a few years back
- Synthesizers.com 22 space analog modular - freaking fantastic beast... bought in 06
- Yamaha TG-33 table top module - it's ok - I don't really use it much

[Steve Brand]

For me, it's all about budget and space...and imagination. Our house was built in 1948 and is really more like a bungalow in terms of size! Everything I own is compact and relatively inexpensive. My gear lust usually is limited to flutes, drums (acoustic instruments), and sometimes a pedal...right now it's one of the Electro-Harmonics 2880 super multi-track looper, and one of the smaller Kaos Pads. I'd love to do more organic looping, and this would allow me to subtract and add more easily. Midi is something I can hardly grasp the concept for, let alone worked with (I know it's goofy), but I own an M-Audio keyboard controller...for me, it's more for utilizing the softsynths which I've heavily manipulated to suit my own tastes. I've never really been a technophile...I usually find what's serviceable, and use that. My other key instruments are an iMac, a small Mackie mixer, a M-Audio Microtrack for field recording, and a nice Audio Technica mic. Back in my garage band days, I used to be much more up to date on what was new and shiny, but even then it was limited to guitars, amps and pedals. As my musical tastes, inclinations and expression have changed, I've really found limitations to be more of a creative stimulant than suppressant...they make me more resourceful and force me to think in different ways. Who knows, given time (and more space), I might become restless with my set-up and become interested in more and better, but for now, it all serves well.