I often sell gear I really like just because I can’t be arsed with it that week. I love the Syntakt, yet I’ve sold two of them in a year. I’ll almost definitely buy another at some point.
Bought a PWM Malevolent last month, took me three days to realise it wasn’t for me.
Lyra is my favourite instrument, but I’m on my fourth one and I can’t guarantee I won’t sell it at some point.
I don’t really give a shit though, I mean, it’s not like any of it matters. I did get myself in a bit of a mess with eurocrack, but other than that it’s all a bit of a laugh really.
I do get a bit pissed off with all the holier than thou “slave to consumerism” hand wringing and whatever. Just because it sucks for one person, doesn’t mean others are having the same experience. I have a real thing against people trying to put their own guilt/shame onto others.
typically I buy most things used. and there’s kind of an ongoing mental list of “that seems cool, maybe I’ll check it out someday if one ever pops up for a good price.” so the decision of “I’m interested for the right price” is already there, and makes clicking “buy” pretty simple when that opportunity arises. purchasing this way has a few benefits… first, I get more time to see what others have done with the item to learn more about whether or not it’s for me. second, if I don’t like an item, I can resell it and I shouldn’t lose much (if at all). and third, because I paid less, I likely didn’t break the bank or stretch myself too thin to acquire it. so if I don’t gel with it right away, I’m still comfortable giving myself time to do so. I don’t have to make a decision within a 30 day return window or before my CC bill comes due, etc… sometimes it’s a year before I realize “I’ve barely used that thing, I should sell it.” sometimes it’s a few months. it’s almost never a day or a week. and of course, sometimes it’s never.
For me, I think it’s about the feeling of interacting with the instrument more than it is capable of this and that.
Yes everything is capable of everything and you can learn to do all the things in world with what you already have and bla bla… But if I wanted to do that I would just use my computer wich is fine for sitting around working out details but it’s not what I’m interested in personally.
If I buy something new it is because I imagine it might be an instrument I like playing and probably also that it might fill a role in my live setup better than what I am currently using.
The thing is no matter how much research is done before I really have no idea if it works before I play it. Because it’s not about the specks or what sound it can make or whatever. It is about connecting with it and the physical feel of the instrument. So yeah, I send a lot of stuff back and sell, buy and resell and buy again quite a lot
It’s hard to know if you’ll like something without actually spending time with it in front of you. If I don’t like something I just move on and sell it. Whatever the difference between buying and selling price is just becomes the “rental” price. If I can’t afford to rent it, I can’t afford to buy it.
trying new gear out before buying is fun and best bet. I plan to visit some nice synth shops next year to try new product out. So far no gear this year and will also try next year too!
Same. I recently took my OT out of the closet, put in on a stand in my studio, hooked it up to the rest of my studio, and yet, while using my studio quite a bit here and there, I have yet to turn the OT on. And, like you, I hate the idea of selling it and then thinking I should have given it more of a chance. Just this morning, was watching a “best of” video by Jay Hosking. His final category was something like, “All-time favorite piece of gear. Of course it was the OT, which he praised profusely for all kinds of reasons I can agree with. Once I am using it, I have had some really fun stuff happen. Its just that initial barrier…
Ive only had one peice of gear I bought that I disliked instantly. And serves me right for not trying before I buy. Model:cycles. Absolutely hated it.
The Dysmetria I made, took a while to get into, but in the end I sold it on, as it didnt really fit into what I wanted.
The difference between "no, I dont like this’ and "myeah… dunno " is pretty clear. Its ok to hang on to a thing and see if it grows on you. That happened to me with the Sub37. Took a while.
I usually know pretty quickly if I’m going to hang onto a piece of gear for a while. If it doesn’t make it onto a track within a month or two of being in the studio, it’s probably gonna go. I like a lot of gear that I haven’t kept because I didn’t see myself really using it beyond that exploration process. The MPC, 707, OT and many other synths fit in that category. But I also like having a small arsenal of stuff available as opposed to a million options. The one exception to this I’ve found is pedals, partially because of their very modular nature. Swapping pedals in and out, I could do forever.
The problem in these cases is generally usually me.
The gear is often perfectly fine but i’ve acquired it in a time when i have no spoons to get through the last item i’ve bought deeply enough for proficiency.
If the problem is with the gear, i also shouldn’t have bought it.
I think the only instrument i’ve held onto long enough to gel with has been my Lyra-8.
Any way you look at it, if you’re seeing patterns with self, definitely meditate on that for a while. I can tell you about my relationship with stuff, but everyone should muse on their own motivations directly.
Ok, everyone but Fin25, who has a healthy relationship and needs no self counseling ;p
Seriously though i don’t see too many people over-judging others, I snark because i know the game and I think i try to target my responses to people who are frustrated and with more complicated relationships with stuff.
Like, it’s rarely just synths, i’ve got a camera, and video mixers, finding the purpose and working through is a process for me.
And i do agree, that not beating one’s self up about these things is imperative to actually doing more with whatever you have (be it less or more).
For the life of me I don’t know why I rebought the Rytm when the entirety of the first time I owned it- it never left the chopping block lol
(Around the time I listed it- the mk2 was announced…
As Finn so aptly put:
)
But yeah, as someone else said, you should either have an intention for how you’re going to use a purchase prior to purchasing it, or have an understanding of how you make music.
So when you actually get the product- if you can’t make it work for you/your intention. Off load it.
If its hard to acquire- like a MnM, all the more reason to offload it quickly. Otherwise you’ll fabricate a nostalgia- and that could become an expensive cycle to fall into.
I think it’s good to be honest with yourself about what is the honeymoon and what is the backlash/comedown, then differentiate that feeling from “this doesn’t fit my setup/workflow.”
Maybe I’m just jaded, but I don’t get the same “new gear magic” feeling I used to. In some ways, it’s better because I feel more clear-headed about what does and does not work for me. I’ve had plenty of pieces of gear where I nope’d out in 48 hours or less
We could look at them in a different way, like is it introducing a new form of synthesis or just another synthesis gear using different hardware or eventually it is just about workflow - a word I try to avoid as it had been abused to no end.
This reminded me of OT users, where it was known that some sold it off only to rebuy it later (a few times even) so besides a honeymoon period, the learning curve could also be a determinant somewhat.
Another comment is pre-purchase, does one already know how this thing works. It is possible if a company is very consistent with its offering so one can tell almost (after assimilating information out there) what to expect and later, whether that item turned out as expected. If said “consistent performance” device had some initial novelty but it wore off, then it would be on the user.
I was gonna say this same point, but differently. As I read it, this sentence sums up what I was going to say.
I’m in a weird end game of gear acquisition.
Summary
I’ve done so much research before buying. And how many mono synths do you really need?
I need 4.
They have different uses. Different sounds. Different tones, like a guitarist who uses a couple different guitars, including a drop D?
A lot of my synths have overlap.
For example, between the Prophet 6, the Grandmother, and the Malevolent, I can make the same sound. But each filter and signal chain is different.
Plus it’s Malevolent all day for the synth beast duties. The hard to tame stuff that just fills the entire frequency range and is hard to sit in with other synths.
Now here is a flip side. I have an Analog Heat (AH). But I think I’m about to pull the trigger on the Analog Heat+FX (AHFX).
I don’t use the AH enough, so why get the AHFX? Because of the Moog Semimodulars. The love reverb and delay. Some saturation is nice too on the SubHarmonicon. So I figure Id have an AHFX routed through the 18i20 with a dedicated send and return line? Then I just route a bus that goes to the Heat in Logic.
Okay, but I have Soundtoys and Eventide vst’s. Do I need more reverbs with also having Valhalla? No. Absolutely not? So why another effects box if I already have saturation in the original?
The Syntakt. How nice to have swarm going through chorus?
Plus the aesthetic of having two Knight Rider boxes in front of me?
This is just an example of the thought process that I go though now that it’s getting hard to regret anything after the fact.
Living near perfect circuit has been a blessing and a curse.
Actually putting my hands on lots of gear has stopped me from buying things I might have otherwise tried because it looked so cool on YouTube. But I’ve also bought plenty of things I had no intentions of buying…going into perfect circuit is a dangerous endeavour everytime!
I’m extremely fiscally conservative when it comes to synths. I never use loans or CC debt, never spend enough to threaten my ability to pay rent, etc.
So if something doesn’t live up to my expectations, it’s easy to keep it around for a while to see if it’s a me problem or a gear problem. Usually a me problem.
In the past I almost exclusively bought used gear and only when it was well below market price, so it was usually pretty easy to turn around and flip. Partly as a result of my fiscal conservatism I can afford more new gear, so I have to be a bit more cautious buying. I want a Cascadia, but it seems clear they will be in production for some time - so I can wait until they start showing up used at a discount or the GAS gets so intense that I just buy one.
Syntrx was by far my biggest impulse buy and it exceeded my expectations. So I think I’ve reached a point where I have a reasonable sense of my capabilities and preferences, but I’m reluctant to drop another $3k all at once on something I’m lusting after.
This question looks like it would be about sorting the difference between “I don’t l like it” and “I don’t like it yet”, doesn’t it? If so, the common denominator is “I don’t like it” and the difference is “yet”.
I find it easier to sort the difference between “I like it” and “I don’t like it”. The common denominator is “I like it” and the difference is “don’t”.
So far the third time seems to be a charm! I’m liking the Medusa a LOT more now. Maybe I just wasn’t ready for it then…revisiting gear is interesting sometimes.
Me too, unless something is broken or creates an intense sense of nausea and heartbreak; then it goes back right away.
Having something for months makes everything clear—what does this thing do? Does it fit?
At a certain point, I decided buying and selling was rarely helping me be happy or play music better. These days I tend to avoid both. But I”m glad I had the chance to try a lot of stuff earlier on, it’s part of an electronic musician’s learning process.
