What Makes Gear Great? 2023 Gear Buying Tips

[@Hainbach]

Best buys for me: Nagra 3 and Cat-Lonbarde Cocoquantus. Both changed my music for the better.

[@DUNGEONMUSICTHEATRE]

Had to look up the Cat-Lonbarde Cocoquantus :) I've seen you cover it on your channel. Super cool! A Hollywood post production company I worked for a long while back had a couple of Nagra IV's (I believe?) where they tracked gun recordings for feature films but were retired after the digital portable recorders came on the scene. I wish I picked them up when they had their yard sale. :(. Your portable Nagra is def G.A.S. inducing!

[@pawnotdaw4559]

@@DUNGEONMUSICTHEATRE STOP GAS

[@ChristopherOrth]

I have a "three day cool off" rule before I buy anything new. Once I decide I want something, or that I am definitely going to buy something, I wait 3 full days without buying it. Usually by then I've forgotten about the thing, or haven't thought of it at all, or I have found a solution with gear I already have, or it just doesn't look as shiny when I go back to it. This simple thing has saved me tens of thousands of dollars over the decades.

[@DUNGEONMUSICTHEATRE]

There should be a three day buddy system, like GAS anonymous support group! :)

[@exploreaudio]

An acountaBuylity buddy!

[@orphic-trench]

I used to have an electronic drumkit a long time ago (Roland TD-12), which I sold for good cash. Found a Rickenbacker 4001 Bass dating from 1979. The serial number had my initials on it, so I bought it with the drumkit money. Price has gone up like crazy ever since. I don't think I'll ever sell it. But my most collectible instrument is a Fender Strat from Japan (Squier series with the Fender logo on it), dated June 1982 (serial starting with JV0). I'm thinking on selling it because the thing is so expensive that I'm afraid to even play it. Good purchase for an investor, but not for a musician.

[@DUNGEONMUSICTHEATRE]

Neat! That’s a cool problem to have when it works out! Makes it all the more “fun” :)

[@saysthetedd]

Gotta be honest, I wish we were friends irl man. Love your content

[@i.syntaxerror]

Thank you for your this very needed episode. In terms of synths I wasn't lucky to touch many.. However my soul has been stolen by Dreadbox Polyend Medusa synthesiser nearly two years ago. I LOVE IT! Another good investment I did was Zoom F6 sound recorder- honestly hundreds of hours of recording. This thing is working horse. Also I shouldn't forget to say how easiest my life is due to having rack mounted audio interface.

[@DUNGEONMUSICTHEATRE]

Lovely! Thank you for sharing! Always great to hear these kinds of stories!

[@i.syntaxerror]

@@DUNGEONMUSICTHEATRE it's my honor sir.

[@NGC0Music]

I ordered a GR-1 yesterday, even though I heard controversial opinions about it, some people said they love it, but some people told me to stay away from it, but I kept having the feeling it would be one of those gears that would change my musical journey completely, watching your comments on it right now makes me happy and excited to get it asap

[@DUNGEONMUSICTHEATRE]

GR-1 is great. But again, it's not for everyone and even if it resonated with me. I'd love to hear from you your long term thoughts after you play with it. The best results for me was recording my own source materials! I try to stay away from its presets and judging it from that.

[@NGC0Music]

@@DUNGEONMUSICTHEATRE interesting, that’s exactly what I have in mind as well (to record my own material), I’ll probably make a video about it, I don’t make videos talking, but it might be the first with the GR-1

[@BlackMan614]

I've found the efx pedals (analog and digital) are so good nowadays, they can literally make a 'meh' sounding synth sound awesome. I've stepped away from buying more eurorack and only synth purchase in the past few years was a prophet 10 - which is an instant classic. But Strymon, ChaseBliss, Meris... awesome (and a LOT cheaper). I like your example of the Distressor. I think it goes beyond the Distressor to Neve preamps. Why save $200 on a clone?

[@DUNGEONMUSICTHEATRE]

That’s a video topic that’s be fun to cover. Take a $5k synth vs a $300 behringer plus $4700 worth of pedals. Which would sound cooler? Or which would you rather own? Umm maybe the answer is too obvious?

[@ChristopherOrth]

If you like Granular Eurorack, check out the Instruo Arbhar. It's extremely cool and powerful.

[@DUNGEONMUSICTHEATRE]

Yes! Arbhar is fancy for sure. I end up reaching for the Nebulae more than my Arbhar. Arbhar is awesome for exploration but nebulae is a little more musical in that I can control it a bit more precisely (for use in my daw) so each has a flavor of its own. :)

[@kenswanson1093]

Hey man, .. good thought process, this .. alot to be said about having "foundation" tools/instruments, .. with little or no overlap, of equipment. There's no debating of choosing one, over another, IF you only have one tool for the job, is there. But, .. if a person likes a spectrum of sound generators, let's say .. then it's back to acquiring gear, again.

[@DUNGEONMUSICTHEATRE]

yeah...not all gear purchases have to be "great" some can be good enough and it can be just fine. But if you do buy/sell gear often, having some type of system can help sift the snake oily or over-hyped, overpriced products.

[@doctorauxiliarymusic]

I always get a LOT out of your insights & demos & tutorials & such. this is no exception. which is to say, I also got lots outa this one. thank you, dungeon maestro. & a happy-ee-eee new yeeear!!

[@DUNGEONMUSICTHEATRE]

Too kind!

[@robroilen4441]

Interesting seeing all of those U87s for sale on Reverb, makes me wonder what people are buying instead.

[@DUNGEONMUSICTHEATRE]

My guess is clones? U87 is probably one of the most cloned mics out there. From what I hear, they all sound pretty great. Probably a good video topic for the future :)

[@robroilen4441]

@@DUNGEONMUSICTHEATRE Yeah I would love to see a video on that! Been wondering about the United UT Twin87

[@CaidicusProductions]

Not gonna lie, your studio looks like a producer's wonderland.

[@CaidicusProductions]

My best advice for buying gear is, buy whatever you want! So long as you can afford to without spending credit to get it or putting yourself in financial struggles.

[@DUNGEONMUSICTHEATRE]

Too kind and thank you for sharing your thoughts!

[@pawnotdaw4559]

Thanks you’ve given me gas for a GR1

[@DUNGEONMUSICTHEATRE]

STOP GAS

[@pawnotdaw4559]

@@DUNGEONMUSICTHEATRE it’s ok I’m onto the Iridium now. But I think it’s only a fleeting fancy. Was a close one though. But going back to your video. The Buchla Easel is something I shouldn’t of sold a couple of years ago. That thing was so inspiring and helped started a lot of tracks. The tuning and ground issues used to bug me. But now time has passed I would forgive that. Love you video style, very chilled. Sick of people shouting at me I’m vids. Much love

[@middaymeds]

My favorite purchase of the year is definitely the Neuzeit Quasar module. It's one of those standalone niche products that you mention that holds their value well. As far as I know, it's the only standalone binaural 3d mixer on the market so if you're going for that sound, it's pretty indispensable. I really like it to add some swirling texture to an otherwise fairly static progression, it just gives any song some extra life.

[@DUNGEONMUSICTHEATRE]

Fun stuff! Thanks so much for sharing