What would you buy now if you could never buy any new plugins or software or hardware ever again?

[E_Anderson]

Ableton
Keyscape
All the Spitfire libraries
I have a Novation 37 mk3 I love, but I might go 63 keys.
Some Genelecs and a sub.

Spitfire is that good, huh? I'm not much of a sample library aficionado, but maybe I should check them out.

If you're interested in orchestral anything, you should really check out Performance Samples and Cinematic Studio Series. ...And Strezov, and Fluffy Audio for Dominus choir. Spitfire has some good sounds, but their scripting is... lazy, in some places. Mistimed samples, legatos inconsistent, tuning issues... CSS and Performance Samples have incredible scripting, but also drop-dead amazing sound. In my mind, they are far Spitfire's superior for what they're offering specifically. Spitfire has a plethora of extremely useful libraries, but for bread-and-butter-and-then-some strings, WW and brass, you'll want to check those other developers out. Spitfire is great for flautandos and certainly they have some excellent libraries, but they have their rough spots that I guess they don't feel compelled to fix.

For the record, my answer to this thread totals probably around $10k-$20k. I'll spare you my list.

[echosystm]

Logic
Korg Mono/Poly v2
CME Xkey 37
Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
Rode NT1A
AKG 240 Studio
AKG K92

I got over the gear hoarding phase, years ago. I try to be minimalist now.

[Dirtgrain]

I don't need any wavetable synths - they don't do anything I can't do other ways and working with them is both fiddly and a bit hit and miss. They've been around forever and nobody cared then, all of a sudden, everybody was doing them. It's a fad, it will pass.

Then how do you make your metallic bass dubstep growls and chomps?

[BONES]

Any V/A synth with FM and/or Ring Mod, then add distortion if needed. Personally, though, I am more of a fan of Hard Sync, which definitely seems to have fallen out of favour lately.

[zerocrossing]

I’m not quite sure what to answer. Is there a money constraint?

I did recently make a decision to stop, or at least bring it down to a very low level. I picked a house that would give me a good size room as a studio. That means my usual $5k/yr budget will go towards everything but my music stuff.

The good news is, I’m well fortified with pretty much everything I could ever need and most of what I want. My final fling was to build a screaming fast PC. I’m now going through my software to see if any unused licenses could get sold to fund upgrades. For instance, I’ve got both Voltage Modular and Softube Modular stuff, so I’m consolidating by getting rid of the Cherry Audio stuff.

Will I “never buy anything again?” Of course I will, but it will be very modest. The only thing I sort of want to do is sell my Peak to buy... something that doesn’t exist yet. I’m still not perfect satisfied with the wavetable-hybrid slot, but no one’s really made the synth that makes me feel it’s a good replacement.

[zerocrossing]

I don't need any wavetable synths - they don't do anything I can't do other ways and working with them is both fiddly and a bit hit and miss. They've been around forever and nobody cared then, all of a sudden, everybody was doing them. It's a fad, it will pass.

I’m probably older than you, and I can’t remember a time since the 80s when people weren’t into wavetable synths. You should probably get out more.

[echosystm]

Wavetable synths are a fad?

Another thread derailed by Boners nonsense.

[BONES]

I doubt you are older than me - October '58 - and the only one I was aware of was the PPG Wave and I only ever saw them in music videos. I never saw anyone using one on stage. Yes, synths like the ESQ used wavetables for some sounds but nobody thought of them as "wavetable synths" and users had no control over how the wavetable was read.

I think I have found my hardware Nirvana - Uno Pro Desktop and Rocket. I spent some time over the weekend with some of my other hardware and, while I like each of them in their own way (except Skulpt), the reality is that I just don't need them all. They don't offer anything of value to me that I can't get from the Chosen Ones. I'll keep Analog Keys because it looks good on stage and I'll keep Ultranova because I still want it around, even if I don't actually need it, but the two little Modals and MicroMonsta will be up on eBay next weekend. I should have done it 12-18 months ago.

[werp]

welp, I’m now incredibly skint after buying another Gibson so I guess it was that...

[E_Anderson]

Wavetable is like VA. Except a lot of VA oscs in a row... that you can scroll through.

I personally just use additive and the little bits of FM I can do for that stuff but I’m thinking I’m missing out in some ways, I just never really think to use it.

[digitalboytn]

Wavetable is like VA. Except a lot of VA oscs in a row... that you can scroll through.

That's how I see it...

[machinesworking]

Easy, a really good, really expensive microphone set.
I think I have a total of $250 spent on mics, SM578, SM58, reference mics, and some MXR crap my friend gave me.

[sin night]

My setup is already quite complete and has more than I really need; however if I was forced to buy now because then I would have no chances for the rest of my life, I’d buy:
- That adat converter that I’m dreaming of, in order to expand my I/O count (and then all the cables I’d need, of course!)
- Computer memory (SSD). A lot of storage, actully, so I could record and sample without having to be afraid of running out of space.
- Maybe a few more hardware synths (maybe even some modular stuffs). I don’t need them, but I know I want them.
- A midi keyboard with at least 5 octaves, because all my synths have no more than 3 octave and the only keyboard with a wider extension is my digital piano (and I would feel “unsafe” with just one keyboard with a good octave range for the rest of my life).
- A “professional” expensive microphone (maybe even two?): I rarely use a microphone at all, but how could I live my life knowing I have no hope of buying something decent at some point?
- Likewise, it would make sense to buy a few guitars (an acoustic and an electric), a bass, some amplification, some percussion/drums, guitar cords... I only play keys, but I may want to learn something else at some point of my life... I probably wouldn’t buy pedals because I already have a decent collection.
- Spares: computer, components, accessories... if something breaks, I’d need a replacement or to be able to repair it.
- A second pair of good monitors (as “spares”... but I’d have to use them, they can’t just go into storage for years).
- A PA and some dj stuffs (if I ever want to perform one day... or just have a party).
- A lot of insulation and construction material (so I can prepare a room someday).


I think I would have to blow a lot of my savings and still I would feel unsatisfied. I would buy whatever I could get my hands on, but I’d look to maintain my setup in the long run first (so spares and replacements for the things I use most would be higher in my list of purchases).


Actually, I’m not buying much of that list only because I know I can/may buy things later in my life if I will need them (some items, like guitars, it’s something I’m not interested at the moment and for the foreseeable future, go figure!)... I currently keep just a minimal amount of spares (cables, connectors, some electronic components... cheap thing that may get me stuck during the weekend if I need them) and I don’t plan to change this habit (hopefully); although I already have some spare computer gear (keyboard, mouse, modem), so if something breaks when I’m working from home, I would have no downtime even if there’s a covid-related lockdown going on and I couldn’t go out and buy a replacement in just a few hours.

[opochtli]

-Studio One
-U-he Diva
-Fabfilter bundle
- Spitfire audio libraries
- Rme Babyface pro
- Akai m3 controller

There is no problem for making music!

[SLiC]

I’m just waiting for my Osmose (as much as a midi controller as a hardware MPE synth) and my OXI hardware sequencer (for my Eurorack mainly) and that’s it....I also need to get around to eBaying some stuff (just to declutter) and maybe even sell some VSTs (again, just to declutter, I keep updating stuff I never use....)