2021: A Year in Gear (What You've Bought or Want to Buy in 2021)

[ghettosynth]

i did receive those LA67 filters and found them very good. Pretty much as you might expect from the 24db slopes on the crossover and the 2140 circuit of the MACA. They are straight up, not too fancy which i like.

Mine came today. I really wanted a 2140 in a module, so I don't care, but, it's a good example of average build quality and what I've come to expect from many of the smallest Eurorack vendors. It has a pcboard front panel and relatively cheap knobs. No big deal, but, it was $150 and for the amount of circuitry that's there, that's not really good value. If it was most other filters I'd probably return it.

I'm willing to be that the borg is going to make money hand over fist on their modules and if anyone else gets into the mass produced game and tries to compete that they have room to drop those prices further.

Compare to the SSR labs VC divider, as one example, it has a metal panel and great knobs. It's all through hole as well, now, I don't see that as an advantage, I'm just pointing out that it costs more to make through hole products.

I'm not really complaining, it's ok, I just think that the whole "build quality" thing is a bit overrated. I don't need a eurorack module to last multiple decades.

[pekbro]

hmm yeah the knobs could be better I agree, i didnt look too closely, i thought the panel was pcb at first, but thought painted aluminum at a second glance. Anyway, i like them just the same. i like them better than another filter i have that cost twice as much.
can u say qpas heh. of course, i just want my filters to filter. Not do weird stuff with revolving resonance or whatever.

*I do like the QPAS actually, just not overly as a 'filter'.

[McLilith]

no, not blasphemy at all. just different choices.
if we all did the same shit, we'd all be coldplay or u2.

vive le difference!

I wouldn't mind being U2. I'd be filthy stinking rich, and all of my solvable problems would be either solved or in the process of being solved.

Of course, it wouldn't all be a bed of roses. I'd have to deal with the pangs of rejection, when I try to give everyone a free copy of my latest album and they all get mad at me.

Still, I think I could handle it...

I do have Irish heritage, and being over-the-top seems easy enough. That should give me a bit of a head start, right?

So, where do I sign up to be another U2?

I want to be filthy stinking rich, so I can give everyone in this thread a free synth, and watch you all get grumpy about it.

[ghettosynth]

I want to be filthy stinking rich, so I can give everyone in this thread a free synth, and watch you get grumpy about it.

Just throwing my hat in the ring for that free synth should this come to pass. I'm sorta rooting for you, but, I am pretty grumpy so that only goes so far.

For maximum grumpiness you should probably make it a Moog One. Overpriced, overrated, OMG it's f**king Moog, it's got a Moog filter, nothing's better than that ladder. I doubt it will sit in the mix, too big, too bombastic, too Moog. Jesus look at the size of that thing, didn't Moog get the memo on compact is where it's at?

Oh, 16 voices of course, so I complain about how inauthentic that is from a vintage point of view.

[chk071]

I want to be filthy stinking rich, so I can give everyone in this thread a free synth, and watch you all get grumpy about it.

I wouldn't complain about that at all.

[vurt]

no, not blasphemy at all. just different choices.
if we all did the same shit, we'd all be coldplay or u2.

vive le difference!

I wouldn't mind being U2. I'd be filthy stinking rich, and all of my solvable problems would be either solved or in the process of being solved.

Of course, it wouldn't all be a bed of roses. I'd have to deal with the pangs of rejection, when I try to give everyone a free copy of my latest album and they all get mad at me.

Still, I think I could handle it...

I do have Irish heritage, and being over-the-top seems easy enough. That should give me a bit of a head start, right?

So, where do I sign up to be another U2?

I want to be filthy stinking rich, so I can give everyone in this thread a free synth, and watch you all get grumpy about it.

would you rather be
poor?
bono?

[McLilith]

would you rather be
poor?
bono?

Though Bono, being the frontman, probably gets more female groupies, I can't sing. So, I was thinking I'd pattern myself more along the lines of The Edge.

You know, I'll be an instrumentalist with minimal live playing skills who uses tons of automation and effects to sound like he's blazingly talented.

[McLilith]

I want to be filthy stinking rich, so I can give everyone in this thread a free synth, and watch you get grumpy about it.

Just throwing my hat in the ring for that free synth should this come to pass. I'm sorta rooting for you, but, I am pretty grumpy so that only goes so far.

For maximum grumpiness you should probably make it a Moog One...

For truly maximum Moog grumpiness, I think I should partner with Behringer and finance the manufacture of an exquisite Moog One clone. We'll name it the "Another One" and hire DJ Khaled to promote it.

Oh, and it will have 17 voices of polyphony.

After all, why stop at 16 voices, when you can have Another One?

[foosnark]

Just bought a Xaoc Katowice and an After Later 3:1 mixer.

Between them they're sort of a hardware version of Bitwig's Multiband device... or a multiband VCA, or low shelf/high shelf/peaking EQ, or whatever. Should be fun for shaping and modulating. I love its sound in demos and it's been getting a lot of praise.

The mixer is cheap and tiny, so this is still the Year of Xaoc and Noise Engineering

[ghettosynth]

I want to be filthy stinking rich, so I can give everyone in this thread a free synth, and watch you get grumpy about it.

Just throwing my hat in the ring for that free synth should this come to pass. I'm sorta rooting for you, but, I am pretty grumpy so that only goes so far.

For maximum grumpiness you should probably make it a Moog One...

For truly maximum Moog grumpiness, I think I should partner with Behringer and finance the manufacture of an exquisite Moog One clone. We'll name it the "Another One" and hire DJ Khaled to promote it.

Oh, and it will have 17 voices of polyphony.

After all, why stop at 16 voices, when you can have Another One?

Perhaps, but I'd definitely have a "Number Two."

"You think that's great sound, wait until you hear my Number Two."

"Software isn't bad, but, my Number Two is more weighty and way more 3d."

"Your synth sounds like shit, listen to my Number Two."

wait wait wait...wrong thread.

[Shabdahbriah]

Compare to the SSR labs VC divider, as one example, it has a metal panel and great knobs. It's all through hole as well...

It's a quality build, and does what says on the tin, very well. Also a great DIY kit (at around $70 USD) with amongst the absolute best, most thorough step-by-step instructions (with appropriate images) I've found anywhere.

... can u say qpas heh. of course, i just want my filters to filter. Not do weird stuff with revolving resonance or whatever.

*I do like the QPAS actually, just not overly as a 'filter'.

Hehe... being a panning-pinging-ponging-dopplering-delay whore, that is exactly my interest in it. The 'filtering' is not that relevant to me, save for the extra bit of 'tonal-shaping' it would provide, which is a plus. I appreciate that it is not as typically (irritatingly and annoyingly) 'cryptic' as most MN stuff is. I really like how it is laid out, and it's actually very intuitive to me.

I will most likely pick one up second hand at some point, as it would be useful, and would free-up the 3-5 things I now use to accomplish more/less what it does, for other things, but... 'priorities', and for now, I have my needs covered (in a similar way) with the Patching Panda Moon Phase, and a Dual Borg, which I love to bits.

[WatchTheGuitar]

no, not blasphemy at all. just different choices.
if we all did the same shit, we'd all be coldplay or u2.

vive le difference!

I wouldn't mind being U2. I'd be filthy stinking rich, and all of my solvable problems would be either solved or in the process of being solved.

Of course, it wouldn't all be a bed of roses. I'd have to deal with the pangs of rejection, when I try to give everyone a free copy of my latest album and they all get mad at me.

Still, I think I could handle it...

I do have Irish heritage, and being over-the-top seems easy enough. That should give me a bit of a head start, right?

So, where do I sign up to be another U2?

I want to be filthy stinking rich, so I can give everyone in this thread a free synth, and watch you all get grumpy about it.

would you rather be
poor?
bono?

can’t I want to be a poor bono?

[ghettosynth]

Compare to the SSR labs VC divider, as one example, it has a metal panel and great knobs. It's all through hole as well...

It's a quality build, and does what says on the tin, very well. Also a great DIY kit (at around $70 USD) with amongst the absolute best, most thorough step-by-step instructions (with appropriate images) I've found anywhere.

Indeed. I was just talking about the quality and the value at the assembled price. However, I built mine as a kit as well and, if you are into that, it's a super bargain.

[Shabdahbriah]

If you were just starting out (with patchable sound modules, but not going eurorack yet) and planning to get both the 0-ctrl and the Strega, is there something else you'd recommend?

As mentioned a couple of pages back, the Koma Field Kit FX would give you a LOT of routing (including to/from your outboard gear) modulation, and other options that would expand your sound palette considerably, at a stupid cheap price for what it is. [2c]

The biggest reason I'm leaning toward just 1 company (Moog trio vs Make Noise trio) is that I'd like to use just one workflow. Most of the things I get will need to be taken down after each use, so familiarity is a must.

This is extremely insightful, and a wise approach/decision.

The Moog patching scheme/methodology and terms used for it, is both straight forward and consistent with pretty-much all other desktop, eurorack, or patchable (CV or audio) gear, whereas the Make Noise stuff is generally (imho) far more cryptic, obscure, and painfully counterintuitive. It is more of a willingly learned experience or mind-set, 'particular' to their product lines functions, quirks, and character. That's not a bad thing. Just is what it is.

That being said:

[justin3am]

My ridiculous 1998 studio is coming together!