How do you keep up with all these music software/hardware purchases?

[AnX]

dont buy anything, it's all a scam

[Michael L]

I know all this, but why it is still so difficult.

Important question: How do you choose what to buy?
Price?
Demo?
Impulse?
Popularity?
Percent discount?
Does it evoke joy?
KVR tweaker reviews?
Famous muso reviews?
You have nothing like it?
Channeling the shopping spirits?
What you actually need for a project?

How did I choose what to buy at first? None of the above. I calculated how much I spent monthly on beer, then stopped drinking and spent that money only on plugins I liked more than beer (e.g. yes Alchemy, no Zebra).
Now I'm back to beer>plugins

[LoveEnigma18]

I know all this, but why it is still so difficult.

Important question: How do you choose what to buy?
Price?
Demo?
Impulse?
Popularity?
Percent discount?
Does it evoke joy?
KVR tweaker reviews?
Famous muso reviews?
You have nothing like it?
Channeling the shopping spirits?
What you actually need for a project?

How did I choose what to buy at first? None of the above. I calculated how much I spent monthly on beer, then stopped drinking and spent that money only on plugins I liked more than beer (e.g. yes Alchemy, no Zebra).
Now I'm back to beer>plugins

Glad I don't drink beer as much.

But those are really good questions. For me, these are the main ones:

Impulse?
Percent discount?
Does it evoke joy?
A prized possession; something that's been always on the wish list, but could never afford it before.

Selling unused stuff is something I am doing now, so as to at least recover from the previous expenses if not the new ones.

[RichieWitch]

Couple of great ideas here, so thought I'd throw my 2 cents in.

Definitely agree that there are only so many types of synthesis. If you have all the basics covered--subtractive, FM, wavetable, etc, you can stop buying, except for the occasional upgrade. Same goes for compressors/EQ/reverb and so on. When you find the ones that work for you, why keep shopping?

The other thing I agree with is setting a budget. When I decided that my wavetable synth would be Eurorack, I set a monthly budget and stuck to it. It allowed me to grow the rack slowly, learn my modules as I went, and refine my design as I figured out what really worked. The same could be done with any studio setup, hardware or software.

I'm really satisfied with my studio now. I make two or three purchases a year. I still use a monthly budget, but now I bank it if I don't spend it so I can buy those bigger-ticket items.

Full disclosure though.. there were a few years in the beginning where I was downloading every freebie and chasing every sale, scouring eBay, Craigslist, and Reverb every day. And I didn't have time to learn half the stuff I was grabbing. Glad those days are behind me.

[jancivil]

I buy because I need for a project; rare exceptions are like NI Razor, the modal synthesis paradigm is interesting and it was a rather low price in the Sell and Buy here. Which I wouldn't have bought except I was flush at the time, relatively anyway. I also went for the bundle of NI Discovery Series and went on to sell half of it, breaking even pretty much. I wouldn't have a lot of use for say 'Cuba', so that's expendable.

I think if this is not the main driver for purchases, one may lack focus and is perhaps the kind of personality who would try to obtain happiness thru consumption.

I've gone for years buying nothing, I was broke and I was also fine with what I had. Today I sprung for the pre-buy of VE Pro 7 but it comes with content I so have a use for I'm downloading now.

[V0RT3X]

The title says it all. With endless and more affordable music software and hardware available like never before, and with second hand bargains on KVR Sell & Buy forums, how do you keep up with all the things you purchase? Do you really learn or try to learn them all?

Do i try to learn them all? No not at all, it's usually a slow process of testing them out in actual tracks. Many of the things I've bought are "safe" impulse purchases meaning they are plugins created by a developer I know who make quality stuff. Some of the purchases are very intentional meaning I've been following the development on KVR for a while.

When it comes to actually using the plugins it varies on workflow scenario to scenario. There are days when using Reaktor or metasynth for sample design is great, but it's often a slow process. Other times I want something less complex so I turn to Zebra2, Hive etc.

Is it smart to have so many plugins when it comes to actual producing?
Well probably not, because with each new plugin comes a lot of quirks and bug hunting. You have to measure the pros and cons of that yourself.

So for me to keep things safe I usually buy from developers with a fairly proven track record in plugin stability. This is part of the demoing process and also by reading on the forums. By doing this it's helped me reduce having to deal with so many bugs.

The thing is we all have only so much time, and more so for those who are not doing music full-time/professionally. It is always so exciting to buy new gear, but the happiness is usually only until you buy it. Once you own it, it is not the same excitement. It maybe a part of what GAS means. Why does this happen? How to counter it?

You are absolutely right here in regarding the Time comment! Time is the real deal and so many people don't realize that waiting to buy the next greatest plugin isn't going to save them any time. You'll never find a plugin that will write a hit or make you stand out from all the other artists. This is a whole different topic though.

I think GAS happens because some people like to play with the various "ideas" or "workflows" that are presented with a plugin. Quite often this can get people inspired to write a new track or whatever and in that sense it works. Maybe it's the same way as musicians in the past needing a different location to inspire them.

However if you find yourself buying a lot of stuff and not getting anywhere for years and years then that means you're either happy with testing plugins and technology, or you're constantly trying to compensate for something you lack. If it's the latter then you need to find out what that is. Maybe go take music lessons which is kind of what this is all about at the end of the day.

[deastman]

As anyone who has been around here for a while might notice, I buy a lot of stuff. I attribute it to an obsessive personality and a lack of restraint when it comes to indulging my inner child. I buy new toys because they entertain and delight me. At least that’s one way of looking at it.

Another perspective is that I am enthralled with the tools of creation. Each new tool brings with it the promise of untapped potential... the ability to create something marvelous which was previously inaccessible. This goes for music hardware and software, my day job in animation, and other fields such as photography, 3D printing, CNC milling, software development, electronics and microcontrollers, and on and on.

This obsessive GAS does come with a downside which others have mentioned. There aren’t enough hours in the day. I become a perpetual product demo tester, rather than a master of any one tool. I’m fortunate that I learn new technologies easily and become moderately competent at using them quickly. But that will never get me to the level of a truly skilled artist on any given tool.

[V0RT3X]

You know this thread is kind of inspiring me to have a spring cleaning sale where want to sell off everything but 4 plugins and Bitwig. This would all be at a pretty huge loss but the mental clarity of it is so appealing.

Probably won't happen though, maybe I'll just uninstall all the stuff I'm not using right now and focus on four..

[RichieWitch]

Probably won't happen though, maybe I'll just uninstall all the stuff I'm not using right now and focus on four..

That actually works, at least it did for me. After a couple years of bingeing on plugins, I looked through my folders with a critical eye. If looking at the name, I couldn't recognize the plugin, or I had never used it for anything, I moved it to an archive folder on another drive, out of sight.

When I was done, my plugin browser was much more streamlined and it was easier to find the right tool for the job quickly. It's like, when you have fifteen compressors in your "dynamics" folder, how do you find the one that does what you have in mind right at that moment?

The archive folder came to save me down the road when I was collaborating on a track and the other producer had written their part with Synth1. I just dug it out of the archive folder and I could continue working.

[LoveEnigma18]

dont buy anything, it's all a scam

The more I think about it, the more I believe it is true, especially for those companies and distributors who are doing constant sales and luring people with cheap stuff.

[LoveEnigma18]

Thanks for your time and advice.

Is it smart to have so many plugins when it comes to actual producing?
Well probably not, because with each new plugin comes a lot of quirks and bug hunting. You have to measure the pros and cons of that yourself.

Absolutely agree, and this is something I need to work on.

You are absolutely right here in regarding the Time comment! Time is the real deal and so many people don't realize that waiting to buy the next greatest plugin isn't going to save them any time. You'll never find a plugin that will write a hit or make you stand out from all the other artists. This is a whole different topic though.

However if you find yourself buying a lot of stuff and not getting anywhere for years and years then that means you're either happy with testing plugins and technology, or you're constantly trying to compensate for something you "think you" lack. If it's the latter then you need to find out what that is.

EXACTLY my situation. I don't know why this started happening. This was not the case a year ago. It all started after I joined KVR (again) and was always on the look out for something. To a certain extent, yes, I needed that. I wanted to replace some tools and get some new ones I had always wished for. There was a situation where I was not able to work with music at all for a year and that gap kind of put me backwards. However, now, I have most of the things I wanted and "desired for". But when I see something going on sale for a cheap price and it is something I longer for, I find it hard to control. I need to start resisting to such impulses.

[DJ Warmonger]

I try to make the best use of everything I've got before making any more purchases. There's no point in buying a new synth only to make 0,3 track with it, is there?

Also, don't throw my money at every fancy thing until I make sure 10 times it's good for me and it's going to work in my setup.

[Distorted Horizon]

I'm a victim of "if I buy this plugin, my music will be better".
No it won't.
One synth of each synthesis type and some selected fx + the ones that come with your daw and you have all you need.

[LoveEnigma18]

When you find the ones that work for you, why keep shopping?

The other thing I agree with is setting a budget.

Thank you for your time and post. These are really great points that I can start thinking about.

Glad those days are behind me.

[LoveEnigma18]

You know this thread is kind of inspiring me to have a spring cleaning sale where want to sell off everything but 4 plugins and Bitwig. This would all be at a pretty huge loss but the mental clarity of it is so appealing.

Amen!