2023: A Year in Gear (What You've Bought or Want to Buy in 2023)

[foosnark]

The world already has rotating radar dishes, windmill generators, amusement park rides, etcetera that supply power and signals to rotating components. I'm confident this is an engineering challenge that can be sorted out. For one thing, the synths don't need to spin endlessly in one direction. They just need to rotate +/- 180 degrees. That should simplify things quite a bit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slip_ring

That would be a huge hassle for multiple synths' power, audio, MIDI, USB, arbitrary other signals etc. so just limiting the rotation makes a lot more sense.

If it has 6 slots and you're on #6 and want to go to #1, it has to rotate back by 5 instead of forward by 1.

[WatchTheGuitar]

My suspicion is that this device would strangle cats so on reconsideration I’m fully behind it.

[McLilith]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slip_ring

That would be a huge hassle for multiple synths' power, audio, MIDI, USB, arbitrary other signals etc. so just limiting the rotation makes a lot more sense.

If it has 6 slots and you're on #6 and want to go to #1, it has to rotate back by 5 instead of forward by 1.

Exactly! It doesn't need to rotate endlessly.

Note: In addition to traditional slip rings, there's also the beloved Mercotac but I doubt we really need either one for this.

[vurt]

we have an engineer over in off topic, currently looking at building a motor that will break light speed, perhaps we could ask him.
get him to slow his motor down a bit obviously.

[McLilith]

Not all of the synth cables would need to cross from the rotating section to the external world. One power cable could supply power for the entire rotating assembly, with each tray having its own AC outlet. One of the trays could contain a wireless hub that connects by wireless USB or a dedicated WiFi style system, which would handle all the MIDI, USB, and audio signals. All the synths would have their audio, MIDI, and USB cables plugged into this hub. We would also need the functionality of a digital audio mixer on one of the trays, to convert all the synth audio signals to digital format, and transfer the audio in and out of the digital hub.

All that electronics is expensive you say? Eh, we could probably have Behringer build all the electronics for $50.

[vurt]

"not suitable for modular synths"

[McLilith]

"not suitable for modular synths"

You could have a modest sized modular synth sitting on one of the trays, and you could get audio, MIDI, and USB into and out of it. Admittedly, it wouldn't be practical to have a bunch of CV and audio patch cords flying off the rotating assembly and going to various destinations scattered across the room. However, you could have multiple eurorack systems sitting on different trays, with patch cables running between them. You wouldn't have access to ALL the knobs at all times, but nothing is without some sort of limitation.

So, I'd say it's at least somewhat modular friendly. After all, how many knobs do you really need immediate access to at any given moment?

[vurt]

i already occasionally find myself tangled in patch cables, i don't need the added motion.
which may also end up with me strangled by a carousel and patch cable accident, which would be the kind of accident id expect someone like me to have. not some "oh he slipped on a wet floor" regular accident, but one where people react with "he did what? f**king idiot"

[cryophonik]

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F37FC21F-695F-4159-B9F3-9AE106CEE561.jpeg

Waldorf Iridium Core might be on the Christmas list…

[McLilith]

That Waldorf looks nice!

[Shabdahbriah]

... meanwhile. Granulating:

[cryophonik]

That Waldorf looks nice!

Yeah, it does look nice, but the price is a bit higher than I expected (€1,941.00 incl. VAT; 1849€ intro price - haven't seen a USD$ price yet).

[ghettosynth]

I think that this might be the one.

[imrae]

That Waldorf looks nice!

Yeah, it does look nice, but the price is a bit higher than I expected (€1,941.00 incl. VAT; 1849€ intro price - haven't seen a USD$ price yet).

Yikes, you'd think they could case-mount the jacks properly at that price point. From the picture I'd be a bit nervous of how much strain they can take.

[McLilith]

Yikes, you'd think they could case-mount the jacks properly at that price point. From the picture I'd be a bit nervous of how much strain they can take.

Also, I see it has a MicroSD card slot, instead of a more robust SD card slot. I'm not particularly fond of MicroSD cards, unless it's for a product that absolutely needs to be as small as possible and there isn't room for a normal SD card.