As the title says, which piece of music production hardware that you purchased this year became your favorite one? Whether instrument, outboard gear let us know which one, and please explain why.

My choice undoubtedly goes to the Ferrofish A32 Pro Dante Smart Converter and Router. After waiting 9 months to get one, Ferrofish did not disappoint me. As Ferrofish states, it is a "lifesaver, problem solver and flexibility champion." In a nutshell, the Ferrofish has allowed me to easily connect and route my outboard gear and instruments into my DAW over my Dante network with extremely low latency and amazing sound.
Anyone with a hybrid setup should give the Ferrofish serious consideration before buying extra converters, or digital patch-bays (sorry Flock Audio)

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/A32ProDante--ferrofish-a32-pro-dante-multi-format-converter

 

I'm a fan of the RME (MADI) totalmix software with standalone convertors.

My favourite piece of gear this year was a Manley Backbone paired with a Dangerous Liaison. I hate daisy chaining hardware via software so with the setup the outputs of the Liaison feed the inputs of the Backbone offering 14 hardware inserts. Single button press and I can insert compressors, EQ's, reverb etc into the chain.

 

Yamaha A5000 just because I like using hardware machine, the sound is pretty neutral but he can handle a lot of samples, I have old 12 bit samplers, but polyphony are limited, I can sample old samplers into the A5000 to increase polyphony, the sound is not exactly the same but it's more practical to work like this.

PS: I got it at a very good price, 350€ with all options on "le bon coin" a french used stuff buying and selling site, the only thing I have fixed was the encoders.

 

Did it come with the 4 or the 10 ouputs?

 

I love the Liason. Shit, I love DM. Before I got the Ferrofish I gave a serious consideration to the Liason, coupled with the Dangerous Master but still went for the Ferrofish. The A32 Pro was better suited for my set up. DM should have packed more inputs/outputs into the Liason but did not thus forcing you to daisy chain other units if you ever need more. This can become a expensive expansion.

 

Not this year, all that I bought were guitar strings, but next year I'm probably gonna plunk down for a Great River MP-2NV, a UA LA -610 amd get a 00 sized guitar, deeper than usual with a cutaway.

 

With the AIEB1 outputs board, internal scsi 9GO HDD, and an 100mb zip ide drive replacement for FDD, and 128mb of ram, really full options, "le bon coin" is a good site with nice sellers not like reverb bourgeois

 

sooo great!

 

Novation launchkey 88,love the faders & the velocity resolution of the keys

 

Great River pre-amps are sweet. Another preamp that I purchased, and liked it so much I ended up getting another, is the AudioScape Golden 58. They only plan to sell 300 but almost every week they go on sale but only one or two units. https://www.audio-scape.com/products/golden58

 

Last edited: Dec 24, 2022

Actually being able to buy one is like winning the lottery. Every week I get their email on what's on offer and wonder in a dreamlike state.

 

alpha juno 2. its a Japanese store demo nos. why? because I really like the old school warm analog sound. it has so many strong points and layering with modern synths really beefs them up. I love it!

 

M32 to control KK & NKS plugins.

 

Last edited: Dec 24, 2022

My new crazy favorite music production hardware of the moment, the Xmas gift I've gave to myself:

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Model: NS Design WAV5c-CO-TR electric cello, around $1,248 in the US, and 1390 € in Europe (VAT included) as we speak, varies greatly depending of your dealer.

For a total beginner like me, this instrument is difficult as hell to learn, but I was not satisfied by all the cello sample libraries I tried, the impossibility to find a good and easily tweakable glissando articulation, etc.... decided me to learn to play this instrument by myself.

I plan to use it as a composition and arrangement tool, like new colors on my palette, new possibilities in my soundscape...

I just learned that NS Design have been created by Ned Steinberger himself, so I don't risk of being wrong with this model, one of the cheapest they have... Wish me good luck for the learning.

 

Last edited: Dec 24, 2022

S2400 ❤️

Has become one of my favorite gear purchases of all time. Even with its limitations its very inspiring to make music with it. ISLA itself is a great company and has made some incredible updates to the unit over the past year. I'm really looking forward to the fx expansion board which hopefully will be released soon.

 

lol is that an sp 1200 clone? they finally made it to the market
how often do you use it?

 

Finally made it to the market? It has been out and available for almost 2 years. It is a beast. Same sound as the original but with higher sampling resolution option (24 bit) plus features that the original never dreamt of having. Also, this thing is built like a tank. Only problem is with the owner of the company...but that is a another story.

 

Nice!!! I would love one of these.


For me, this year it is a Novation Launchpad X, which has been great at helping my creativity. Lock it into a scale, and play away. It complements my other MIDI controller's nicely, as my keyboard is only a 25 key.

I wiIl also be getting a couple new pieces of gear at Christmastime, so my answer may change before the year is up!

 

If you want to really unveil its sounds you must pair it with the likes of:

Novation Remote Zero SL, or

DTronics DT300, or

Retroaktive MPG-50, or

PG-300...

or an iPad.

 

Yes, I thought about a hardware extension for it but then started using the plugin which is cool. Still learning it.