It kind of depends on the cost of the equipment, how much I have at the moment to bring, and if I feel it’s worthy of the purchase. I paid $50 for my Akai S20 at my local GuitarCenter. That was a no brainer. But it’s only a basic sampler. No FX, no envelopes, no waveforms to look at & edit.Two months ago I bought a used Maschine MK1. I couldn't integrate in the way I do things and I'm selling it now and since I bought it cheap, I will have some money to spend on gear. I was looking through some options and nothing inspired me (just cheap stuff). Since I had to sell my sp202, I'm looking for another sampler but don't know if it will really integrate on my workflow (I found a cheap and new Sampletrak). How do you guys decide how to buy stuff?
One sampler was so awful I had to go back to the store that sold it to me & trade it in for a SP303. (Yamaha SY200 in case you ever come across one). I should have read the review of every unhappy customer who hated it as a clue.)
I forgot what I spent on my SP505, but I’ve loved that as one of my favorites. But it’s in need of repair, and if you’ve all been reading my posts, I’m paying off a MPC 1000. I’ve never owned a MPC before, but I’m going to just sit down with it for a few weeks, and just figure it out. Later once I’m more comfortable with it, I can use it with my 224 or SP202.
But as far as what I want to buy, I try to see what it will do, what it has to offer everything else I own. Sometimes by buying a piece of gear, you solve one problem, but then you start to notice 5 more problems you run into, and you can find your brain telling yourself only the next item will itch that scratch. This is where you have to be careful, because if it doesn’t work the way you want it, you start to find out how expensive it all becomes. I don’t care what people say, if you buy a drum machine, eventually you want a BassLine, or a melody. So you buy a synth. But then you need a mixer/monitors. Then you need audio/midi cables to hook them all together. So it starts to get a bit crazy before you know it. So it’s just a matter of asking yourself if you need or want that chosen item for your studio.
Some items I’ve dreamed of owning, but never got around to. Some things I bought were over my head, or I was too lazy to learn, & I got rid of. But it is those lessons you learn over the years that you got to find out yourself. Your methods of doing something might be your own, or quite common. It all depends on you. The gear doesn’t make the song for you. You just have to invest the time of using it. So just keep at it!
