What’d you get? The 2019 gear junkies thread

  • I got a 2-tier keyboard stand to put the virtual instruments in front of the piano. Put the iMac on an adjustable arm, so I had to move some rackmount gear (the rack mounts were wearing unstable anyway)


    The Kemper is on the other side of the room connected by S/PDIF RCA Send/Receive under the carpet (wish this was an Optical cable!) and to a 1x2 cabinet next to the keyboard.


    What's new in 2019 is the keyboard, the top VI (Integra-7) with the white cable on top, the S/PDIF switcher on top, the PreSonus Monitor Station V2 below the Apollo 8, a hidden iConnectivity 4x MIDI switcher behind the iMac. There is supposed to be a WA-EQP but the postoffice "delivered" it somewhere else. Haven't found out where that is yet.




  • That looks great. How are you liking the Integra, db9091 ? I want to get one at some point, seems like the most powerful rack unit out there at the moment.

  • What's new in 2019 is the keyboard, the top VI (Integra-7)

    It's the perfect compliment to the XS Rack IMHO, Dennis. The Yammy provides a more-clinical, frequency-balanced sound whereas the Rolly brings warmth, weight and a shedload of patches to the mix.

    How are you liking the Integra, db9091 ? I want to get one at some point, seems like the most powerful rack unit out there at the moment.

    That's why I recommended it to you, AJ. ;)

  • That looks great. How are you liking the Integra, db9091 ? I want to get one at some point, seems like the most powerful rack unit out there at the moment.

    Monkey_Man hit it on the head.


    Yamaha Motif Rack XS:

    * more high pass filtering, so it fits in the mix

    * church organs are magnificent (if you're a tocatta & fugue kinda guy)

    * has about 1400 instruments, sounds, fx.


    Roland Integra-7

    * more moderns sounding (better orchestral for clarinets, violins, sax, etc)

    * instruments can be layered up to 16 parts

    * is better controlled with expressions (more realistic control) for Breath, Wheel or Joystick Mod FX.

    * history of Roland synths if you're into this. over 5,000 instruments, sounds, fx.

    * plugin control & ipad controller for manipulating patches & synths (if you want to tweak the LFOs by hand and not menu, etc)


    I think in the end, the point of hardware units like this are:

    * equity over time (in that software eventually goes to zero)

    * quick & no fuss production (presets load almost immediately, whereas software can take a minute to load a bank, so even if you replace later, you can get ideas down quickly)

    *lasts longer


    In the long run, they may even be cheaper because of update costs or rebuying new software to replace old outdated ones.

  • plugin control & ipad controller for manipulating patches & synths (if you want to tweak the LFOs by hand and not menu, etc)

    Of course, there's the Roland Editor, plugin-style:

    Roland - Support - INTEGRA-7 - Updates & Drivers


    K_Take's free stand-alone "INTEGRA-7 Sound Editor" is vastly-superior and a Godsend 'though:

    INTEGRA-7 Sound Editor


    HTH, Dennis.