Let's talk about: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

[lionscub68]

So, I'm selling a Behringer BCR2000 and a Novation A-Station rack;
and a JLCooper MSB+ MIDI patchbay; and a Kawai MAV-8 MIDI patchbay.
Any takers? I need $$ funds for my next big adventure.
Which by the way is a pay-to-play weekend electronic music weekend getaway seminar thingee.
(I haven't put 'em on ebay or the Marketplace forum yet).

This IS relevant to GAS because some of the funds go to the gig, some will definitely go to the inevitable "Holy Crap, my Korg nanoKontrol2 is busted," Murphy's Law kind of situation that always seems to happen immediately prior to any gig I have.

Speaking of GAS in this regard, I went full circle in the controller department, too.
first 2 Korg nanKontrol (1st version), then a Novation Nocturn keyboard, then the Behringer BCR, then a CME Bitstream 3x (currently using) and now two more Korg nanoKontrol2's on top of that. Oy. If ANY of these stop working when I upgrade OSX to 10.8, you'll hear me quietly sobbing in the corner.

I managed to NOT go down the road and waste my time mapping Omnipshere to any controller.
I am, however, looking forward to FINALLY receiving the KMI QuNeo I paid for in that Kickstarter program many, many months ago.

[VitaminD]

Last week I never made it to the grocery store.. I discovered good foods in my freezer and cabinets that I did not know I had. A whole weeks worth (and then some) of food. It can be hard to see what one has if they are always looking for more.

Awesome! I wish I could find weeks worth of food in my place, but I eat it up pretty much as I buy it Eating vegetarian, all natural, low carb, healthy AND interesting is, well, rather difficult on my allowance.

Yes, that would be much more difficult.

Essentially the only fruits and vegetables I eat are in my daily, large cup of juice I make with my Juicing machine... carrot.. tomato.. kale.. apples.. pears.. peaches.. etc.

My health has improved a bit since I started earlier in the summer.

[V0RT3X]

I still have a ton of stuff that I wish to purchase.. some of the stuff that I want isn't necessarily things that I need since I already have a bunch of my bases covered with my current setup.

However there is always that *NEW* plugin or HW that makes you think you will make more music with, because it "sounds different, works different, part of a collection, Famous Artist XY used it etc etc"

I guess in the end we are always striving for that "perfect setup" or we continuously make excuses to get more things for a bunch of different reasons.

Then in the end, we have so many things its like a cluttered office space, which in some instances can lead to insanity! Pick your addictions carefully ...


If you do this with software, imagine moving up to hardware... I think i'll be happy with my collection of music software, because hoarding hardware is just downright expensive.

So far my list of next purchases are


Apple Logic Pro

NI Komplete

UHE Zebra
UHE Uhbik

Fabfilter Pro-Q
Fabfilter Pro-L
Fabfilter Pro-G
Fabfilter Pro-C

Soundhack Spectral Shapers
Soundhack PVOC Kit

Izotope Alloy 2 & Ozone 5 Bundle
Izotope Trash
Izotope Spectron

The Sound Guy Spectral Machine

U&I Artmatic

Cytomic The Drop
Cytomic The Glue

Xfer LFO Tool
Xfer Nerve

ValhallaDSP Shimmer
ValhallaDSP V-Room
ValhallaDSP UberMod

Then THATS IT until ... until.. Im not sure..


I already own

Ableton Live 8
UHE DIVA
UHE ACE
Fabfilter Twin2,Saturn,Timeless2, Volcano2
The Sound Guy SFX Machine Pro
U&I MetaSynth 5
D16 Silverline Bundle
Fxpansion DCAM Synthsquad
Fxpansion DCAM Dynamics
Fxpansion Tremor
Fxpansion Geist
Fxpansion BFD Eco
Fxpansion Etch
Sonic Charge Bitspeek
Sonic Charge Permut8
Native Instruments Reaktor *Whenever the seller decides to send it to me ... "


As for freeware.. well I got all these lovelies

UHE Tyrell N6
UHE Zebralette

Xfer Dimension Xpander
Xfer 8Bit
Xfer DJM Filter
Xfer Delta Modulator

Soundhack Delay Trio
Soundhack Freesound

ValhallaDSP FreqEcho

[knobs]

I wish i hadnt clicked on this thread and seen the CME Bitstream 3x.

[hibidy]

I still have a ton of stuff that I wish to purchase.. some of the stuff that I want isn't necessarily things that I need since I already have a bunch of my bases covered with my current setup.

However there is always that *NEW* plugin or HW that makes you think you will make more music with, because it "sounds different, works different, part of a collection, Famous Artist XY used it etc etc"

I guess in the end we are always striving for that "perfect setup" or we continuously make excuses to get more things for a bunch of different reasons.

Then in the end, we have so many things its like a cluttered office space, which in some instances can lead to insanity! Pick your addictions carefully ...


If you do this with software, imagine moving up to hardware... I think i'll be happy with my collection of music software, because hoarding hardware is just downright expensive.

So far my list of next purchases are


Apple Logic Pro

NI Komplete

UHE Zebra
UHE Uhbik

Fabfilter Pro-Q
Fabfilter Pro-L
Fabfilter Pro-G
Fabfilter Pro-C

Soundhack Spectral Shapers
Soundhack PVOC Kit

Izotope Alloy 2 & Ozone 5 Bundle
Izotope Trash
Izotope Spectron

The Sound Guy Spectral Machine

U&I Artmatic

Cytomic The Drop
Cytomic The Glue

Xfer LFO Tool
Xfer Nerve

ValhallaDSP Shimmer
ValhallaDSP V-Room
ValhallaDSP UberMod

Then THATS IT until ... until.. Im not sure..


I already own

Ableton Live 8
UHE DIVA
UHE ACE
Fabfilter Twin2,Saturn,Timeless2, Volcano2
The Sound Guy SFX Machine Pro
U&I MetaSynth 5
D16 Silverline Bundle
Fxpansion DCAM Synthsquad
Fxpansion DCAM Dynamics
Fxpansion Tremor
Fxpansion Geist
Fxpansion BFD Eco
Fxpansion Etch
Sonic Charge Bitspeek
Sonic Charge Permut8
Native Instruments Reaktor *Whenever the seller decides to send it to me ... "


As for freeware.. well I got all these lovelies

UHE Tyrell N6
UHE Zebralette

Xfer Dimension Xpander
Xfer 8Bit
Xfer DJM Filter
Xfer Delta Modulator

Soundhack Delay Trio
Soundhack Freesound

ValhallaDSP FreqEcho

Dude, you've got it bad

[michael2]

GAS is mainly an internet disease, imo. Stop your internet connexion is the way out.

you are pretty much right on. I find myself buying things when I can't actually make time for music. like if the kids won't fall asleep, I'll read about music and gear, and the next thing you know: I'm signing into Paypal. if I couldn't download gear, I wouldn't be buying it. come to think of it, it's KVRs fault.

I often think about the days when I was a working musician, and how I had the same gear for years. couple guitars, a couple synths,... I never bought anything unless something broke. I can remember buying a volume pedal one time and almost feeling guilty: "damn, I don't need a pedal to do that, I have a volume knob on my guitar."

[hibidy]

Though I was NEVER starved in the gear department, it was far more difficult to get things back in the day than now (I'm not talking about it being faster). So there is a tendency to take advantage of the new tech. Gotta be part of the problem.

Of course there used to be bumper stickers with "who dies with the most toys wins" so, it's also kinda inherited.

[michael2]

Though I was NEVER starved in the gear department, it was far more difficult to get things back in the day than now (I'm not talking about it being faster). So there is a tendency to take advantage of the new tech. Gotta be part of the problem.

Of course there used to be bumper stickers with "who dies with the most toys wins" so, it's also kinda inherited.

new tech is also cheaper now. bought a 4 track when I was a kid and although I can't remember the exact price, it wasn't cheap. same with synths. they were a fortune back in the day. now I can get some great stuff for nothing. saw Melodyne in the marketplace today for $200. if something like that had come out in the 80's, it would have been like $40,000 and only Quincy Jones would have had it.

[braj]

Yep, a few thousand for the computer, interface, daw, instruments and controllers is still cheap. Video games are like $60 each, so I don't feel too indulgent.

[Gonga]

I remember: my TEAC A-3340S 4-track reel-to-reel was $1800 (1976). I have never been so in love with a piece of gear as I was with that thing. I still get goose bumps

I have 9 years of education and worked in various high-responsibility stressful positions over the years making decent money, but I have a limited income now that I'm disabled. However, I still am adding to my setup with occasional smallish purchases because I was lucky to have been paying into a good disability insurance policy for years.

I am getting to the point where all I really want is just the really expensive libraries (Vienna for instance) that I can't afford, so I have realized it's OK not to have everything I want, and that bit of discipline makes me feel good about where I'm at at this point.

My big purchase recently was Arturia Spark, a rare hardware purchase. I will use it to control all my percussion synths and libraries though. At this point, I'm pretty much just upgrading my favorites when upgrades or sometimes sales come up, like Spectrasonics (can't wait for Stylus RMX 2.0), and SONAR. All bets are off if Urs Heckmann announces a new product though. I'm a bit worried that my old 88-key piano-action board (Alesis QS8) is starting to fritz out because I can't afford a new quality controller this year.

I've managed to spend less than I used to when working by setting up savings for other purposes, thus limiting available money for music. Saving is slow, but this way I saved enough to paint my house this year. I also saved some for my kid's college and am starting to save again for my future living expenses. Little by little, I'm saving more and spending less.

[bronxsound]

Everytime a non-musician person comes and sees my setup I get embarrased. Whatever I do music wise it does not reflect even 1% of the rig's capabilities...

[Acid Mitch]

GAS is mainly an internet disease, imo. Stop your internet connexion is the way out.

you are pretty much right on.

I know plenty of people who had GAS long before they or their friends had an internet connection.

[nickman]

No no, this is something very different. I have Maschine too, but Mobius running along side will give you a whole new way of "jamming." Try it! It's free! It's very addictive though, be warned.

Thanks for the tip zerocrossing - Mobius looks good - and donationware..

http://www.circularlabs.com/

But now I need to buy a good footswitch..!

D'oh...

[Ingonator]

I'm now at the stage of selling things, so I can re-buy them again at a later stage.

Happened only two times for me so far.

first in 2004 i sold a Wavestation EX (while i still got a Wavesatation A/D at that time) and got another one at 2005 which i use until today.

The second time was Arturia Jupiter 8V which i sold last year and purchased again for a special price at JRR Shop now.


Ingo

[zerocrossing]

GAS is mainly an internet disease, imo. Stop your internet connexion is the way out.

Sorry young wipper-snapper. Before the internet there were stores that whorishly displayed their wares to induce G.A.S., not to mention music videos showing people lavished in fun gear. I had G.A.S. long before the internet existed.