(1) How much have you spent on your Euro-Rack to date (US$)
I don't exactly know, but well north of 10k for ~1200hp
(2) Are you still happy you made the decision to get into modular?
Absolutely. I'm the most productive I've ever been since the early 90s, and it all comes down to the relationship I can have with my racks.
(3) How do you manage the cost so it's within your budget to sustain?
If it's available in DIY, I build it. Started down this road in 2014, so expenditure has been spread over a number of years, and I'm averaging less than one medium size rack a year.
(4) How do you manage the constant urge to want new modules to play with (HAHA!).
Difficult for me. I also live in a location where there is no possibility of going to the store and trying something in person, and I've never met another modular synth person in real life. I rely heavily on the internets to tell me whats up with a particular unit. I do a TON of research before pulling the trigger on a purchase, and that's only bitten me a couple times over the years (either not being everything I expected, or being sold out by the time I get around to it). I have not sold many modules though, so I guess I'm doing ok.
How much have you spent on EuroRack gear!
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syntheticthings
- Learning to Wiggle
- Posts: 9
- Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 10:26 am
- Location: Knoxville
(1) I have spent over $8k over the past 5 years.
(2) Not any more. It was a lot of fun for a long time, the quality of musical output has been questionable at best (it's me not the modular), the fun I was having is what mattered. The truth is, I can achieve 80% of what I do with the modular on one of my integrated synths much more quickly. I’ve never found a way to integrate it into my wider musical output; no patch memory, questionable tuning stability, time consuming. For me it has always been a totally separate musical endeavor.
Lately I've realized that it's become more about building the synth than musical output. The thing that has stopped me from cashing out has been more the idea of not having it sitting in my studio than the loss of a great musical tool. Based on this I've come to the conclusion that my interest in eurorack has come to an end. I suspect that I will sell it off within the year.
(3) I nickel and dimed it so that it never looked or felt like I was spending as much as I was.
(4) I have come to accept the fact that the acquisition of new modules and building up my modular seems to be what sustained my obsession. I basically stopped buying modules a year or more ago and my interest has waned ever since.
(2) Not any more. It was a lot of fun for a long time, the quality of musical output has been questionable at best (it's me not the modular), the fun I was having is what mattered. The truth is, I can achieve 80% of what I do with the modular on one of my integrated synths much more quickly. I’ve never found a way to integrate it into my wider musical output; no patch memory, questionable tuning stability, time consuming. For me it has always been a totally separate musical endeavor.
Lately I've realized that it's become more about building the synth than musical output. The thing that has stopped me from cashing out has been more the idea of not having it sitting in my studio than the loss of a great musical tool. Based on this I've come to the conclusion that my interest in eurorack has come to an end. I suspect that I will sell it off within the year.
(3) I nickel and dimed it so that it never looked or felt like I was spending as much as I was.
(4) I have come to accept the fact that the acquisition of new modules and building up my modular seems to be what sustained my obsession. I basically stopped buying modules a year or more ago and my interest has waned ever since.
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aragorn23
- Wiggling with Experience
- Posts: 404
- Joined: Wed Jul 26, 2017 6:02 am
- Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
- Contact:
(1) How much have you spent on your Euro-Rack to date ($k)
About $6.5k.
(2) Are you still happy you made the decision to get into modular?
Absolutely! After 20 years of exploring everything from trackers to traditional hardware setups to programmatic stuff like Supercollider, I can safely say that this is by far the most fun I've ever had making music and performing live. I've been spending more time on music lately than I have since the 90s.
(3) How do you manage the cost so it's within your budget to sustain?
I spent a fair amount on my original setup (and the inevitable learning curve that followed, which involved buying a bunch more stuff), but my current rule is only to spend the money I make from my hobby/second-job (lathe cutting limited run vinyl for local artists) and not to dip into my primary salary. Secondhand and DIY have proven very helpful in this regard too, although my DIY failure rate coupled with the setup costs (soldering iron and so forth) hasn't resulted in much saving yet. That said, I find DIY module building almost as much fun as patching. Oh, and living in South Africa, which has a crap exchange rate, helps a lot!
(4) How do you manage the constant urge to want new modules to play with (HAHA!).
Every time I see a new module I really like (e.g. Erica's cool little T-G module) I challenge myself to think about how I could reproduce it with my current setup (function generator and logic in this instance), which is actually quite enjoyable as it forces me to think more deeply about the setup I currently have. If it's truly something I can't do I look around for DIY or cheap secondhand.
PS: To answer the follow-up question about keeping track, I have a doc that contains the details of every purchase (cost, date, etc.) I look at this doc before every new purchase.
About $6.5k.
(2) Are you still happy you made the decision to get into modular?
Absolutely! After 20 years of exploring everything from trackers to traditional hardware setups to programmatic stuff like Supercollider, I can safely say that this is by far the most fun I've ever had making music and performing live. I've been spending more time on music lately than I have since the 90s.
(3) How do you manage the cost so it's within your budget to sustain?
I spent a fair amount on my original setup (and the inevitable learning curve that followed, which involved buying a bunch more stuff), but my current rule is only to spend the money I make from my hobby/second-job (lathe cutting limited run vinyl for local artists) and not to dip into my primary salary. Secondhand and DIY have proven very helpful in this regard too, although my DIY failure rate coupled with the setup costs (soldering iron and so forth) hasn't resulted in much saving yet. That said, I find DIY module building almost as much fun as patching. Oh, and living in South Africa, which has a crap exchange rate, helps a lot!
(4) How do you manage the constant urge to want new modules to play with (HAHA!).
Every time I see a new module I really like (e.g. Erica's cool little T-G module) I challenge myself to think about how I could reproduce it with my current setup (function generator and logic in this instance), which is actually quite enjoyable as it forces me to think more deeply about the setup I currently have. If it's truly something I can't do I look around for DIY or cheap secondhand.
PS: To answer the follow-up question about keeping track, I have a doc that contains the details of every purchase (cost, date, etc.) I look at this doc before every new purchase.
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Jpscurry8
- Learning to Wiggle
- Posts: 25
- Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2018 4:25 pm
- Location: South Carolina, USA
Start my rack in Feb of this year (2018.)
1) About $4k and I've never spent so much in my life except for my car.
2) Totally, totally worth it so far. I don't think about or want to do anything else! Mostly...
3) I can't afford it at all but I really really wanted to get into Eurorack so I stopped caring if I had money or massive debt. Thank you Visa.
4) The aforementioned credit card bill is the only thing managing that urge now. Also, I'm kind of at a point where I need to learn to use what Ihave better before any more cash is outlaid. However, I still want to try everything.
1) About $4k and I've never spent so much in my life except for my car.
2) Totally, totally worth it so far. I don't think about or want to do anything else! Mostly...
3) I can't afford it at all but I really really wanted to get into Eurorack so I stopped caring if I had money or massive debt. Thank you Visa.
4) The aforementioned credit card bill is the only thing managing that urge now. Also, I'm kind of at a point where I need to learn to use what Ihave better before any more cash is outlaid. However, I still want to try everything.
da game
(1) How much have you spent on your Euro-Rack to date ($k)
ummm maybe 8 or so, if i add up everything i've traded for modular as well. I have bought almost everything used and almost always go for discreet modules vs multimode or all in one pieces
(2) Are you still happy you made the decision to get into modular?
i vacilate becuase it is WIKKID fun but i am making less music than when i was more hardware and spending more time re-organizing the racks (Always B Opand buying/trading.
(3) How do you manage the cost so it's within your budget to sustain?
i mainly trade these days, it's a great way to shed stuff you are not using and try new stuff
(4) How do you manage the constant urge to want new modules to play with (HAHA!).
can be tough, for me recognizing that shopping for and buying and trading for modules is actually more about being bored at work than wanting the modules themselves. I also suffer from - i just need this one cable/adapter/stand etc to make my setup really complete...
ummm maybe 8 or so, if i add up everything i've traded for modular as well. I have bought almost everything used and almost always go for discreet modules vs multimode or all in one pieces
(2) Are you still happy you made the decision to get into modular?
i vacilate becuase it is WIKKID fun but i am making less music than when i was more hardware and spending more time re-organizing the racks (Always B Opand buying/trading.
(3) How do you manage the cost so it's within your budget to sustain?
i mainly trade these days, it's a great way to shed stuff you are not using and try new stuff
(4) How do you manage the constant urge to want new modules to play with (HAHA!).
can be tough, for me recognizing that shopping for and buying and trading for modules is actually more about being bored at work than wanting the modules themselves. I also suffer from - i just need this one cable/adapter/stand etc to make my setup really complete...
Boston, MA / San Francisco, CA / Chicago <ill>
http://www.mercurysoul.com
https://machinetone.bandcamp.com/
http://www.mercurysoul.com
https://machinetone.bandcamp.com/
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InnnerSight
- Wiggling with Experience
- Posts: 265
- Joined: Sat Jul 02, 2016 3:54 am
- Location: Kent, UK
(1) How much have you spent on your Euro-Rack to date ($k)
About £6k, then sold it all.
(2) Are you still happy you made the decision to get into modular?
Yes, I love experiments. My only regret is not getting into it sooner.
(3) How do you manage the cost so it's within your budget to sustain?
I only brought modules when I had cash in the bank.
(4) How do you manage the constant urge to want new modules to play with (HAHA!)
I worked out what I liked and that turned out to be the sound of the music easel and that was that - although brought a DFAM recently
and still lust after more Buchla, however when I play the easel it soothes the desire.
About £6k, then sold it all.
(2) Are you still happy you made the decision to get into modular?
Yes, I love experiments. My only regret is not getting into it sooner.
(3) How do you manage the cost so it's within your budget to sustain?
I only brought modules when I had cash in the bank.
(4) How do you manage the constant urge to want new modules to play with (HAHA!)
I worked out what I liked and that turned out to be the sound of the music easel and that was that - although brought a DFAM recently
and still lust after more Buchla, however when I play the easel it soothes the desire.1. About $3k.
2. Absolutely. Building "my instrument" has been an absolute dream of mine for decades. The entire process of building and now playing with what has come to be as much my counterpart as my instrument is more rewarding than I would have thought.
3. Just budget. It helps that I came into this late. I have a great career that pays well, own my home, own my cars, have plenty of money saved for the kids college and retirement...like I said, I wanted to do this for decades, but I wanted to check all of those other boxes first...I did and now I get my reward.
4. I really haven't experienced much of that. I filled my Mantis with what I needed/wanted to make the sounds that have been in my head for so long. Everyday I am still pulling new sounds out with that which is perfect. In addition, like I said I wanted "my instrument", and for me that 6U is kind of perfectly instrument sized, I don't want a studio, if that makes sense.
2. Absolutely. Building "my instrument" has been an absolute dream of mine for decades. The entire process of building and now playing with what has come to be as much my counterpart as my instrument is more rewarding than I would have thought.
3. Just budget. It helps that I came into this late. I have a great career that pays well, own my home, own my cars, have plenty of money saved for the kids college and retirement...like I said, I wanted to do this for decades, but I wanted to check all of those other boxes first...I did and now I get my reward.
4. I really haven't experienced much of that. I filled my Mantis with what I needed/wanted to make the sounds that have been in my head for so long. Everyday I am still pulling new sounds out with that which is perfect. In addition, like I said I wanted "my instrument", and for me that 6U is kind of perfectly instrument sized, I don't want a studio, if that makes sense.
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amop
- Wiggling with Experience
- Posts: 350
- Joined: Tue May 17, 2016 11:45 am
- Location: Sweden and California
(1) How much have you spent on your Euro-Rack to date ($k)
About 30
(2) Are you still happy you made the decision to get into modular?
Absolutely.
(3) How do you manage the cost so it's within your budget to sustain?
What is this "budget" you speak of?
(4) How do you manage the constant urge to want new modules to play with (HAHA!).
Focusing on the shame of not fully understanding and using my existing purchases.
About 30
(2) Are you still happy you made the decision to get into modular?
Absolutely.
(3) How do you manage the cost so it's within your budget to sustain?
What is this "budget" you speak of?(4) How do you manage the constant urge to want new modules to play with (HAHA!).
Focusing on the shame of not fully understanding and using my existing purchases.