2025: A Year in Gear (What You've Bought or Want to Buy in 2025)

[seafire]

Looking to upgrade my live setup. Currently have the Novation Peak which is a powerful little synth. Any suggestions on a monophonic synth that I could use for really nice and warm bass? I was looking at the Moog Minitaur but keen on other suggestions.

Keyboard or module?

[cryophonik]

Looking to upgrade my live setup. Currently have the Novation Peak which is a powerful little synth. Any suggestions on a monophonic synth that I could use for really nice and warm bass? I was looking at the Moog Minitaur but keen on other suggestions.

It's really hard to go wrong with the Minitaur for basses, although the interface is not the best (lack of screen, memorizing button combos, etc.). Still, it's a beast for basses. Others to consider:
- Moog Slim Phatty
- Novation Bass Station 2
- Waldorf Pulse 2

[seafire]

Behringer Pro1 or Kobol sound great for basses, if you don't need keys.

[WatchTheGuitar]

Just ordered some modules from Andertons, should be here by Wednesday. Can finally get started and make some noise. Need some cables too tho...any recommendations? Any old cheap crap do?

What's coming (all behringer)
112 dual vco
130 dual vca
140 dual env/lfo

I bought a bunch from Amazon. They’ve always got a bundle going like 5 or 6 cables for a tenner. I bought two packs of five 3m cables on there the other day and they were only £16 a pack.

[whyterabbyt]

Need some cables too tho...any recommendations?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000350849628.html

[seafire]

Nice one, thanks.

Edit: can't seem login to purchase...

[seafire]

Came across the PO 12 Rhythm yesterday, been watching some videos. Seems cool with the kinda sounds I like. Thought it might be perfect for playing with the modular.

It's less that £50 right now. Worth it? Does it sync with a modular via whatever (trigger, gate, sync?)

Total noob.

[whyterabbyt]

Looking around, it looks like the PO run at 2ppqn (which is a bit rare) and a max 6V trigger, so you'll need to take that into account, and attenuate whatever you use down to below that voltage to be safe.

However any square/pulse signal can technically be interpreted as gate or trigger on a modular, its more about how its used in the receiving module than what it is as a signal that makes any difference. I frequently just use LFOs, though I can generate at actual BPM from various things like the Beatstep Pro.

I dont know if you have a dedicated clock source, but you may need a clock divider of some kind if you have some sort of 'proper' BPM clock running stuff in the modular and you need the PO to run at the same rate as that. (Or program the steps accordingly knowing that you're running half as fast or whatever it is)

[seafire]

I downloaded a clock app a while back to use on the PC, can't remember the name.
My new audio interface has midi, and I have a midi to cv converter.

I was just thinking if I use a seq module, I could use the PO 12 as a master/slave to sync the BPM. (When away from PC)
It's not a deal breaker tho, cos it sounds pretty cool.

[whyterabbyt]

Ah, right, going the other way, clocking the modular from the PO12?

You might need to set the clock app at a multiple (x2 ? ) or division (/2 ?) of the BPM you actually want the sequencer to run at, to compensate for the PO-12 ppqn rate.

[seafire]

Ah, right, going the other way, clocking the modular from the PO12?

Either way really, as long as they sync. I'll read up some more. Cheers for pointers.

[justin3am]

After clearing out a friend/colleague's storage space, I'm left with a bunch of gear in various levels of disrepair. Not much that I'm planning to hang on to but I've been having a lot of fun testing some things out and doing repairs.

Things that worked right away (after 20 years in storage):
Oberheim Matrix 6r
Korg Wavestation A/D
Ensoniq Mirage
Korg EX800
Korg MEX800
Roland M480 line mixer
Delta Labs Effectron II
Alesis Wedge
Alesis M1 Active monitors
Alesis QSR
Alesis D4
Alesis S4
Alesis Nano Bass
Alesis Metavox
Rockman X100
MIDIMan DigiPatch x2
MOTU MTP AV x2


Things that worked after replacing battery:
EMU Morpheus
Alesis DMPro
Yamaha SPX 90


Things which will require more invasive repairs:
Korg EX8000
DoubleDutch SAM-1
Oberheim DPX-1


Things yet to be tested:
Alesis MMT8
Alesis HR16
Alesis QS7
Alesis QS6.1
Alesis Quadrasynth
Sony DAT machine
Art Tube Preamp
DBX 120x

Many of the things which have floppy drives will get a Floppy Emulator installed and some things are gonna need a full recap (the DPX-1).

I don't know if I'll be able to get much money for any of this stuff but it's been a neat experience working on these things and getting them up and running again. Hopefully I will be able to find a good home for most of these things because it's all taking up a lot of space in my garage!

I kinda have a morbid desire to record a project with only this stuff, my big 24 channel console from the '90s and my Alesis HD recorders. It's been a long time since I used an MMT8 or HR16 for sequencing but it could be fun*.



*Masochistic and detrimental to my mental health/free time.

[ghettosynth]

That list feels like I just walked into the local consignment music shop circa 1995.

[WatchTheGuitar]

You could do a “Samples From Mars” style sample library with a lot of that gear, it’s pretty classic.

[vurt]

ooh mirage!
nice list of old classics really, as stated above, sample the shit out of it!