i’ve always advised people who want to get into modular/eurorack is to buy the biggest case you can first.
which leaves you
A, not obsessed with space and the size of modules
B, not end up with lots of small cases and lots of wall warts
and always advised against these starter systems, as in the long run you just end up with a load of modules you don’t want.
Just get a massive case, then take your time picking only the finest modules.
I see your Lifeforms and I’ll raise you one Metron (though it is twice as much, it certainly does far more)
Full Disclosure: I work for WMD.
Dude, my Mother 32 is my favorite piece of gear… You can such crazy bass out of it! And the sound really is amazing, also the feel of the knobs and switches, I love it! It’s definitely my main piece of equipment. It also pairs really well with my Drumbrute, so that’s kinda my two main pieces.
I love the feel of the knobs, and I LOVE THAT IT’S ANALOG so you can get infinite possibilities and degrees of change on patches. I love that thing, definitely worth the $600 I paid for it, which really wasn’t THAT much considering it was a Moog.
I had an M32 and Drumbrute at the same time. Great combo. Very different texture to their sweet spots.
And yea. Everything about the M32 is just a pleasure to work with. If I went for a Moog again I think Id try a different one but the M32 is solid.
For a smaller rack I see your Metron and lower you an arpitecht. Awesome sequencer that’s so much more than an arp. Doesn’t get the credit it deserves in my opinion.
Also by WMD, which I’m sure you know.
Insert “why not both?” Meme here.
I said before but it might have been on the previous forum hardware thread. I seriously considered modular but it would take too much time out of making music itself. It would be fun but its not the thing that is my primary goal.
Sound design, while important, is still just another tool and not the end goal in itself. For me. For others whatever floats your boat and nothing wrong with that.
the AE Modular stuff isn’t too terrible! But yes, Eurorack is likely completely out of the question 
I found a DSI Evolver desktop for cheapish and I might pull the trigger.
Selling that one was one of my regrets.
My Octopre came in last night. No pictures because the only place I have room to test it right now was to pull everything onto my bedroom floor and set up down there, but it worked without issue. I just set up my routing fresh from scratch and was able to make some improvements there in how I was grouping some of my channels in stereo vs. mono, so it works better for me as a standalone system now than it did before and setting up to record in the future shouldn’t be such a chore. I need to order some rack rails and build a stand soon and get everything set up in that. Probably get some photos then.
I just got a second monitor, found a good deal on a 24" HP monitor from Best Buy, cuz they were doing price match and got a 179.99 monitor for 134.99!! IT IS SO FREAKING AMAZING!!! I can split up Reaper with the edit window on one screen and the mixing window in the other. I can play games while chatting or something on the other… I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!
When I was an IT tech (before my current job) in our office we got to work on screens with double screens a lot, so that was when I first kinda thought how I would use a second monitor, as I never considered using two before. But I just went for it, and it’s so awesome!! Huge upgrade to workflow!
I remember the first time I went double, it was great 
though at home my second monitor is kinda off to the side. Now I have a 34" 21:9 ultrawide that just spoils me but I keep that 24" 1080p sitting off to the side anyway. It’s so handy to have over there for Discord, a web browser, etc.
As of about half an hour ago, the OPsix exists. It’s $800 US for those who aren’t inclined to look it up. I’ve been wondering what was going to happen with that thing all year, kinda want to dig into FM, and I know having a hardware subtractive synth taught me way more than a VST could, so wondering if I couldn’t get the same out of hardware FM. This could be one to keep an eye on.
Ahh that looks fun. $800 tho, oof. Maybe wait to buy a used one.
I was thinking the same thing. Or wait and see if a module version comes out and how much cheaper that might be. I have two pretty good keyboards already, really not looking for a mediocre one.
Kong are hitting it out of the park lately with their little synths imo. This, the wavestate and the mini/ monologues are all very neat.
I thought the same thing. As I said above, I’m really not looking for any keyboards right now, so I’m hoping for a module version. Maybe they’ll do like the Argon 8 and end up with module, 3, and 5-octave versions of the same synth.
800 is steap, but I watched the Loopop vid on it today and my 2c is thatthis is probably the best possible way to learn FM.plus it does some wave folding and stuff that i really enjoy in sone softsynths. I am still personally stuck on getting an Argon8 though. That thing sounds awesome.
I don’t just have an extra $800 to spend on a synth but that doesn’t actually seem that bad. I’d defo like to see an OPSix v Digitone shoot out.
It does seem to make the process a bit more approachable, being much more “hands on” than the menu diving in the DX7 or any of those. The faders for the operator levels and simple knobs for ratio is handy. The interface itself doesn’t seem terribly different from other FM synths. It does offer more operator configurations than others, which is nice, but aside from that it’s pretty much a canonical FM synth, just as any other good FM synth like the DX7. As FM is normally a digital process, IMO it doesn’t gain as much value by having it be a physical device (it’s a digital process, not analog) besides it having the faders and knobs all set up to easily mess with the synth. Any good FM synth plugin will follow the same format, so having the software loaded into a chip I don’t see as being a big advantage over just using a VSTi.
With that said, it is a nice, fun looking and accessible package for an FM synth. Having so much control immediately accessible by physical knobs and dials makes for an intuitive interface to FM, tho I don’t think it will replace an understanding of how FM works (you can still easily be baffled as to why nothing seems to be doing anything even with knobs and faders immediately accessible). I still could see people getting stopped in their tracks trying to make it work (which makes me happy lol).
All in all, I definitely see the value of the package, and I think it definitely makes FM much more live-tweakable to have everything so immediately accessible, and gives a tactile interface for those who learn best by being touching things, moving things, seeing what they do (like me).
I would love to have one in my studio, the three octave format to me is a nice range also for sound design without being too cramped, but also allowing for more traditional playing.
To me, all I see in this unit is an FM VSTi loaded into a keyboard, which is nice, but not terribly different than just grabbing a MIDI controller and mapping a few sliders and dials to the appropriate settings. FM is a pretty specific type of FM, and it’s pretty solid as it is. It’s also digital, which means you can do it on a computer. For $800, I feel that’s a steep price tag for essentially just a MIDI keyboard with FM permanently loaded on it. I could see it good for performers who want to avoid using a computer, but even so, I might pay $300-400 for one with three octaves, but beyond that, I could probably just deal with a computer.
As I mostly work in the studio, I’m always using a computer, so having it all in this hardware unit isn’t terribly necessary. Definitely looks fun, but I just don’t see much offered beyond just a keyboard with FM software.