Join us! 
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Sinner here, knew this would be outside my capacity - we’re barely 3 weeks in and I’ve already bought an AF mk2 (yes I already own a mk1… no I don’t plan on selling it…) plus an Adam Audio Sub8, plus about £200 worth of decksavers (long overdue) …and also spent £300 in the Thonk Jan sale 
I also bought an Opsix between xmas and new year…
Somebody please confiscate my wallet!
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hey, stop buying plugins, yo. you can still commit to the idea of this thread. the plugins aren’t going to make you better or happy.
the more i see folks talking about “sins” and jumping off the bandwagon, it makes me wonder if some people are being too hard on themselves. it’s a process, i think. some will not be able to break free as easily, which is just fine. the community will be here to support you.
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Please keep me on the list, as a sinner, as both encouragement for me to make it through the rest of the year with no more purchases, and so we can track how many have sinned in your OP.
I have been thinking about why I am so torn about the purchase of the Waldorf Iridium. As others have said, I am both excited, but also dread, getting to know yet another “deep” musical instrument, when I already have several that need further exploration (MPC One, Analog 4 and of course, OT). Now that I have become sufficiently familiar with a couple of others to make use of them (Analog 4, Cobalt8, Wavestate, and Hydrasynth), I am instead jumping into another very deep pool. I know myself after all these years well enough to know I will spend a few months getting to know the Iridium, and when I come up for air to look at my other stuff, I will need to relearn what I want to do with them. Hmmmm.
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I think this too the more I read.
We’ve not really discussed main reasons for wanting to address GAS on a personal basis.
Seems to me the main reasons of addressing GAS would be;
1- Money (spending too much and/or spending beyond your means)
2- Time (the time investment in new purchases is a massive distraction and not being properly considered, you’re wasting time on new things that you really don’t/didn’t need)
3- Space (your physical space/environment is being impacted negatively. You’re a hoarder, adding new gear on top of existing gear is a physical problem)
Then guilt/anxiety that would be associated with all 3.
Am I right?
Does this cover peoples’ reasons for wanting to address GAS or are there any other main reasons?
1, 2 and/or 3… state YOUR reasons for getting involved. 
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I think my main reason, for wanting out of the GAS, is actually none of the above. Of course I want to save money, and the time part is also valid, but the focus for me, is that I use new gear, as a way of stepping around the fact, that I’m not really making music.
I love complex gear, the more complex the better, so I can spend time examining it. When it comes time to use it for its intented purpose, I’ll get something new.
I’m doing this to face the music, so to speak.
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I’m glad you mentioned this, I’ve been thinking about it as well. Everyone is coming at this from a different context, with different goals in mind. I do think people are being too hard on themselves here — this music stuff is supposed to be fun, it’s about being free and expressing yourself — so it’d be great to make the discussion more nuanced and useful to different kinds of folks.
For me, I wanted to do this because I bought a few really nice instruments last year, and I feel very content with what I have. If I didn’t have some of this stuff, I’d still be buying and searching. I’m also trying to focus more on recording and finishing songs vs. learning and noodling, so that’s another incentive to hunker down on my current pile of machines.
Interested to hear more perspectives on this, and hope you all feel supported whatever your goals and reasons.
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2022 so far: no new gear, but not really any new music yet either
My goal with NGNY22 is to quit running from music theory. It’s less fun than a dawless jam, but more rewarding in the long run. Without the distraction of new gear, I have to confront the fact that it’s my lack of knowledge and exp holding me back, not the feature sets on my synths.
My Model:Cycles is both my best friend and worst enemy on this journey. I’m quick to start GASing over a DN or M8, going for new tech rather than skill building. Time spent would be better spent on practice or songwriting, but I’ve just been jamming on the same chord progressions over and over, wondering why the model cycles sounds so samey… In some ways GAS can break me out of stagnant workflows, but better to be able to keep things fresh without buying a new piece of gear every few months. I’ll spend some time studying & listening before I jump into my next session, get some intentionality going
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Actually, I just picked up the “Sound Better Pro” plugin. I can enter any MIDI and audio data, and it outputs #1 hits in any genre. I highly recommend it!
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All three of those in spades, plus as @Joebas says I’m not actually making any music with any of this!
haha… nice. so now you’re done with buying gear because you can crank out bangers at the push of a button. enjoy all your newfound free time — you can finally pick up scrimshaw!
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Same here. Exactly. Here’s the thing though, what if I am a collector of complex musical gear, rather than a musician? Is that okay? I think it is. As I type this, I am looking at my mini-stack of old rack synths (Korg TR-Rack and JV-1080), which I still think are both really cool, even though I have owned them for 20 plus years, and almost never use them, but do dig back into them from time to time (and they are always connected via midi and audio to the rest of my studio). So, what if I like to become completely immersed in a complex piece of gear, then come back to it, like the gift that keeps on giving. And my interest in that piece of gear is what kind of sound design I can explore and that is more appealing to me than actually making music? Isn’t it just a different reason for owning gear? Not that these two things need to be mutually exclusive. I guess I am more a collector than a musician, and I am admitting this.
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I have worried about this too. Once I have a bit of gear, I serially learn some basics, bash out a couple of patterns and loops, modify a preset or two, and then lose interest.
We’ll see if not buying gear this year reveals the truth!
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https://youtu.be/TyKuzY52hWU A lot can be done with a sequencer and a couple samplers… the EMU’s are very deep, but minuscule compared to Ableton. I think deep gear is good as long as you master it. Keep it simple and the music will be better. I need to listen to this advice myself
I guess I don’t “lose interest” at least not indefinitely. This morning, I was going through the massive manual for the Korg Kronos, re-learning how to create multisample layers and keyboard splits, and thoroughly engrossed in it, and I’ve owned the Kronos for 8 years now.
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it is working and helping me focus on mastery this year. I won’t afford new gear for a few more years as home repairs cost real money and no raises or bonuses at work.
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All works as planned here as well - no real GAS despite still visiting enticing sites now and then.
Lots of more focus on the gear in the studio - feeling energised and happy with the small learning steps taken 
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I think we are wired in a very similar way. And I agree - there is nothing wrong with finding joy in the machines, the way we do. But at the same time, I think there is so much more to learn, if I let go of my fear of the gear I know. It’s like I’m afraid of running out of new sounds, cause then what?
It’s that what, I’m exploring now, and it feels great.
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I might not have made it 100% clear by my definition of ‘time’ in one quick sentence, but this is definitely what I meant, the time spent on new gear taking away from the aim, most of ours (I imagine) is making music and feeling productive.
If you’re role is to be a reviewer/demo person, like Loopop for example, then that’s a productive use of your time. If your aim is to make music it’s the opposite.
New gear is an unquantified/unknown time investment most of the time, a time sink/drain at its worst.
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