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

[vurt]

While I wait for Strega and wait for stock to open up with 0-Coast and 0-Ctrl

What are you guys using for patch cables?

I see that the hardware brands are also selling their own cables, but I’m curious if there’s actually a quality difference or if this is just a brand loyalty cash grab

my makenoise skiff came with some. theirs are quite nice and sturdy, simple no nonsense.
i mostly buy erica or doepfer though because theyre a little cheaper and i needed shit loads

one thing!
dont be an idiot and think "ooh all the same colour would look cool"
because trying to find the right length becomes very difficult when you just have a box of all white

thats not why i bought all white in the longer ones, that was all they had in stock at the time. sounds liek nothing but its a pain when you want a reasonably long one, and everyone you pull out is a hugely long one. and you know if you use that now, youll need a really long one later

you shouldnt need two meter cables.

yet

[foosnark]

What are you guys using for patch cables?

I really like ModularAddict skinny cables. They're cheap, reliable, and don't have permanent kinks like some brands. The downside is the store's website comes and goes and they don't always have them in stock -- but right now they mostly are.

Polar Noise seem to be a common favorite but out of an order of 10 of them, I had one go bad pretty quickly. Could just be bad luck though; a lot of people praise them.

[justin3am]

I don't like overly stiff cables. I don't like any of the braided cables. I usually buy the cheapest I can find. I have made cables in the past, but I just don't have time for that now. With cables that cost less than $1, I don't care if they fail but they don't fail as often as one might expect.
If you'd prefer something more reliable, I've had good experience with LMNTL and Ad Infinitum cables.

Just make sure that the plastic part of the plug is narrow enough that they don't touch each other when plugged into closely packed jacks.

[Shabdahbriah]

While I wait for Strega and wait for stock to open up with 0-Coast and 0-Ctrl

What are you guys using for patch cables?

I see that the hardware brands are also selling their own cables, but I’m curious if there’s actually a quality difference or if this is just a brand loyalty cash grab

Depending on you, there is some usability variance across cables. That said, I buy cheapos.

^^^ Same here. I do like the cloth covered cables which came with the Pittsburgh stuff (though I'd prefer black), and the sense of "quality" in many of the thicker diameter cables, but they are frequently way too stiff and unruly, so went with 100 or so (of varying lengths) at the beginning of my Eurorack adventure, from Hosa, which I've used for ages for most of my cabling needs. I have also gotten some recently from QU-bit, which are quite nice.

{aside} I do not use 'stack-able' cables, which, though expedient/practical in some instances, are stupid expensive (imho), and I prefer mults/switched-mults, for my organizational 'visual reference' needs, and finer control. [2c]

[lpr]

Guys I need a hand. If you could buy a new MIDI controller which one would you buy? I already have a P-125 and a K-Board. I need something for in between these devices. Preferably synth action and 49/61 keys no faders/pad.

[foosnark]

I used to prefer braided cables when I had a vertical rack -- they would stand out and away from everything, and not drape over other modules or get in the way of gear below the rack. But when I switched to a curved rack where each row is at a different angle, they started to annoy me and I switched to thinner, drapey cables.

[Shabdahbriah]

I used to prefer braided cables when I had a vertical rack -- they would stand out and away from everything, and not drape over other modules or get in the way of gear below the rack. But when I switched to a curved rack where each row is at a different angle, they started to annoy me and I switched to thinner, drapey cables.

Valid point.

[vurt]

I don't like overly stiff cables. I don't like any of the braided cables. I usually buy the cheapest I can find. I have made cables in the past, but I just don't have time for that now. With cables that cost less than $1, I don't care if they fail but they don't fail as often as one might expect.
If you'd prefer something more reliable, I've had good experience with LMNTL and Ad Infinitum cables.

Just make sure that the plastic part of the plug is narrow enough that they don't touch each other when plugged into closely packed jacks.

yeah making your own gets rather boring when you go modular
cant even be arsed doing instrument cables now.

havent had any problem modular cables so far, touch wood.

[elxsound]

Damn, that was incredibly helpful!

Some of the reviews online read more like wine tasting, so I'm glad I asked here. I see how much of a personal thing this is too.

Even if the Strega arrives with no cables I've got some 6" TS ones to use for now, but as the number of devices grows I think what Vurt said will be a big factor... having them colored by size.

Right now, I have a dumb number of things to sell, which I should work on this weekend because I'll need the space as the Koma stuff Shabdahbriah mentioned seems like a good direction to head in after getting on with the Make Noise ones. At that point, the cables are going to matter more.

Pedals -> Desktop modules -> Eurorack.

This seems to be the right path.

f**king dangerous thread this is.

[pekbro]

Oooo, the Orobas has shipped finally

[foosnark]

Heh, at first I thought those were Playstation style joysticks on it, but they're tubes

[pekbro]

Heh, at first I thought those were Playstation style joysticks on it, but they're tubes

Heh, yeah old metal tubes, you can get clones these days with glass tubes. Eventually I'll have
to do that probably. Though I don't mind the metal.

[justin3am]

Sounds nice! Do the tubes get hot? The sound resembles the pentode tube module I have in Color format.

[pekbro]

Sounds nice! Do the tubes get hot? The sound resembles the pentode tube module I have in Color format.

Well it's still in the mail actually, I will let you know. I expect they do, interestingly the tubes have
there own dedicated psu, rather than being powered by the rig, which is what the metasonix stuff
does I think.

[ghettosynth]

Sounds nice! Do the tubes get hot? The sound resembles the pentode tube module I have in Color format.

Well it's still in the mail actually, I will let you know. I expect they do, interestingly the tubes have
there own dedicated psu, rather than being powered by the rig, which is what the metasonix stuff
does I think.

That's pretty much necessary for the filament current draw. Also, if they are running the plates at a proper high voltage, then all of that is going to add up to something a bit more hefty than what you can get from a typical eurorack supply.