Hardware (Instruments and Effects) • Re: 2024: A Year in Gear (What You've Bought or Want to Buy in 2024)

This might interest Eurorack bros bridging the world of software and hardware. Possible gamechanger.

As someone who is deeply 'invested' in both, including several 4MS eurorack modules, my initial take away:

$649. Hmmm... expansion cards @ around $100 each. Hmmm... $649! +.+.+.

It's interesting in theory/conceptually, especially/particularly for those who don't mind, or are accustomed/acclimated to working with inky-dinky-ass screens. I really do appreciate his enthusiasm, attention to detail(s), and myriad skills. But even IF it (like other devices that would benefit) had a video out port,

I'm inclined to lean towards/agree with >>> this:

I have to admit, it'd be interesting to be able to use various 4ms (and other) modules on a whim in my modular without actually owning them all as modules. But I figure I'll save $600 and a lot of HP by just running them in VCV on a nice big screen, and reserve the hardware for things I don't have access to in software.

I know, right? The thing is, you have to think about what it is good for. For me, my hardware studio only has dedicated computers. I don't have Reaktor or VCV running on a big monitor, because, a big monitor takes up a lot of space for both the monitor and for the (pc) keyboard. I have those things, they're around the corner, but, when I'm in the flow, I don't want to deal with that.

So, what this brings to the table is a bunch of knobs and a bunch of inputs all on one module with a big enough display to tell you what the knobs are doing when it's running as some module. I've spent more than the asking price for less functionality than that. With my modular, I'm not trying to optimize money in terms of a few hundred dollars, because, that's what we're talking about, right? The difference between one or two modules that I only use occasionally and that are already digital, and this, isn't very much money.

I'm also not trying to optimize HP. The reason for that is simple, it takes too much time and effort to do so. I have an unnecessarily large modular setup that is built on 19" racks. This allows me to optimize HP 84hp at a time. Adding another rack is insanely cheap. Power supplies are insanely cheap if you know where to look and know how to set them up.

So, I have a few of these kinds of modules and I think that this has some specific features that make it a winner, namely, the number of knobs and I/O, the ability to add buttons in the rack, that it runs VCV modules mapped to their open source SDK, and that it can be a midi host.

For all of that, for me, $649 is a bargain.

Statistics: Posted by ghettosynth — Fri May 17, 2024 12:14 am

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