Hits:
SYNTHS
Poly Evolver- Massive hit. Drove 12 hours round trip to grab one in Northern California, it was a deal too good to pass up, and I almost never see these for sale.
Mono Evolver- Massive hit, special synth. The Evolvers are so damn unique!
Desktop Evolver- What got me started on the Evolver path! Incredible, and always come up with unpredictable results.
Delta Cep A- Incredible, special machine! I think the high price turned some people off, but I think it was said this was so the employees could be paid well for their efforts. I got a B-Stock good deal, this thing sounds so good and is so innovative! I hope more people play one. The shift commands can be excessive but the firmware updates really helped.
OPSIX- I paid full price, I see these things for a lot less second hand. I don’t regret it. Unreal sounds, as lovely and magical as the digitone.
MS2000- Super FUN to play! Love the sequencer and how easy it is with all the knobs.
Matriarch- This and the Grandmother, definitely classics. Got them before the price increase, thankfully!
Prophet 12 Desktop- Holy Moly…just magical, love the size and interface
Pro 2- Got one second hand for a great price. REALLY cool synth, so unique! I wish a desktop version existed.
Pro 3- A beast. A fun, wild beast.
Polybrute- What more needs to be said? I like it WAY more than the matrixbrute.
Prophet 5- Traded my Udo Super 6 for this, no regrets. I can’t wait to turn this into a 10 voice. My only problem is I prefer the desktop. I could use the extra space. A truly truly special and magical sound, despite being so “basic”. The king.
Tanzmaus- Huge fan of these machines. I loved the Tanzbar 2 but it was buggy to the point I had to return it. I have a Tanzbar one coming in the mail today!
Nord A1- Phenomenal. One giant sweet spot, so easy to work. Not sure why these aren’t a lot more popular.
Nord 2X Rack- The hype is real, really amazing and unusual sounds from this older synth.
Dirtywave M8- The hype is real. So powerful, easy to use, and sounds fantastic. Really versatile, I hope more become available. Real achievement by the maker.
Yamaha AN1X- Sounds really great, worthy of the “best VA” hype.
Polyend Tracker- this was my first experience with a tracker, it did not seem like it would be for me at all, but I was curious. Blown away! So much fun and a very different way of working, and it led me to get the dirtywave M8
MC202- Nothing else like it. The sequencer is frustrating and also magical in the happy accidents. I love how it looks aesthetically.
DX200- Super fun to jam on a pattern in real time, unique sounding.
AN200- Same as the dx200.
Vermona Retroverb Lancet- Surprised I don’t hear more about this! Is there anything else out there quite like it? Vermona products are so cool.
TR-06- I’m a sucker for the boutiques, and I like how many more options this has the the tr09 and 08 that I have.
Volca Keys- Like my 5th time getting it. It’s so easy to sell and buy again, but I think I’ll keep it for good this time. Beautiful to pair with pedals, and so simple.
PEDALS
Montreal Assembly 856- The coolest, most baffling pedal in the world. Irreplaceable.
Ibanez EM5 Echomachine- I’ve had just about every high end and low end delay there is. I’m a delay obsessed man. This is as good as any I’ve ever used. How did they do it??
Boss DD2- Just simple and gorgeous. An all-timer.
Boss DD-3t- I love the DD3 and wanted a tap tempo version. It’s very simple and sounds incredible.
Strymon Volante- I’m running out of words, but what can I say? Gorgeous, fun, inspiring, powerful, love the reverb and SOS features.
Strymon Brigadier- Strymon’s most underrated delay for sure. I like it more than the timeline and el capistan.
Pioneer RMX-500- I just have a blast with this! I’m curious to try the RMX-1000
Misses
Udo Super 6- It’s an awesome synth. But I traded it for the Prophet 5 and I like the sound and simplicity of that a lot more. This is a really great synth, but was not worth the money for me in the end.
Analog Heat- I flat out did not like this! It was the mk1 and I got it for a super low price, but sold it the next day. The Vermona retroverb does what I wanted this to do.
Twisted Electrons MEGAfm- I love the Deton8, thought I would love this. Hated it! Sold it the next day.
Tanzbar 2- My favorite analog drum machine. I LOVE how it sounds, I love the workflow. Simply too buggy, I had to move on, which is a real shame. If it weren’t buggy I’d buy another one in a heartbeat.
Tanzbar Lite- Sold. Fantastic but I prefer the sounds of the Tanzmaus.
Tanzbar 1- Just got this, it’s not a miss. It’s incredible, but I really want a Tanzbar 2!
Division Department 01/IV- Sold. Really unique, but I didn’t like how it was set up, it wasn’t as easy to sequence as I had hoped. Loved the aesthetics.
Neutral
Nord Lead 4- Sold it cause the A1 did enough of the same, but I liked it more.
OTO Bim- Sold it. Very unique and beautiful, but too expensive for what I was using it for.
Fred’s Lab Tooro- Sold it. Same as above. Love it, but after the microfreak got the update, I didn’t have enough use for this.
Micromonsta 2- Sold it. Really cool and powerful! I just didn’t want to have to sequence it externally every time.
Korg Radias- Sold it. I wanted to keep it, but it was too expensive, and the MS2000 was enough for me.
I work 12 hour days, 5 days a week as a therapist in detox’s, rehabs, and IOPs. I’m sober 8 years myself, and have dealt with way too much death and stress this year working in person. I bought and sold a lot more stuff I haven’t listed here. Sometimes I feel lots of shame for the excess, other times I remind myself about the struggles and hardships in life, and I want to enjoy my hobby. I’m currently single, I live alone with my two cats (of course I do) and I don’t have many expenses. I don’t record (well I make my own music but it’s more indy rock, just guitars and stuff) or play live, I just love synths drum machines and pedals, how they look, what they do. I’m in a lot of debt!