u/ReticulatedNoise

Finally following up on my previous post, where I finally to decided to sell accumulated gear after many years of refusing to let go. I wanted it to be gone as quickly and hassle-free as possible (mainly so I wouldn't change my mind), so I did a trade-in with Perfect Circuit since I'm not too far away and I'm a customer of theirs anyway.

I'm making this post to talk about the experience. TL;DR: I was happy with how things went, in no small part because I felt like a weight had been lifted. Definitely could have made more money by selling individually, and I might do that in the future. Also, since the Electribe EMX-1 was what many people asked about, it is up for sale on their site for $899.

The process was pretty painless: I filled out a form on their website, waited for them to email me with an initial offer (only took a few hours) that included what they were interested in, and packed it up and shipped it to them. I took a single picture of everything and attached to the form (I had to zip up the pics since the form was limited to 10 attachments and I had a ton of gear). The initial estimate was about $3920 in cash through PayPal or $4465 in store credit. They didn't want the Maschine Mk 1. I might give that away.

I spent around $280 on the shipping and insurance of four boxes through UPS. It would have been significantly cheaper without the insurance, but I was paranoid about damage. According to the UPS clerk, the good thing with UPS is when you a high value, they are supposed to handle them more carefully. Almost everything was in its original boxes, and I packed so much bubble wrap in there I wrote a note kinda apologizing to PC for it. Also, like an idiot, I forgot to pack up the two guitar pedals, and only noticed later.

A week after the initial contact (which included a US holiday), they had tested everything and got back to me with an offer of $3715 cash/$4230 store credit. I chose cash I thought if I took the credit I would just turn around and re-clutter instead of being sensible. They didn't itemize. I didn't think to ask if they would.

They didn't want the DrumBrute, KeyStep, and BeatStep Pro (could be because the rubber started to go sticky, but they didn't say). I asked them to ship it back to me, and they deducted $25 for the shipping, which was reasonable. I decided to just reincorporate the DB, use the KS for quick desktop noodling in the DAW since I had more desk space, and use the BSP for additional MIDI to CV (and sometimes as an independent clock source that is intentionally different than the main clock).

So, $3410 in profit for the below list. I mean, it wasn't going to be a profit in the real sense since I bought all of these new, and it's not like I had something really rare. Oh, and then I promptly mismounted a heavy amp modeler on the sloped shelf above my rack, and it fell in the middle of the night, breaking two modules (MIDI to CV and an EG), so I had to replace those ... from Perfect Circuit ... with better modules because I had the cash. In any case, I'm a lot happier. I also promised myself if I didn't use something for a year in the future, it was gone one way or another.

• 1010music Toolbox
• Crea8audio NiftyKEYZ
• Herbs and Stones Liquid Foam
• KORG Electribe MX EMX-1
• KORG Kaoss Pad KP3+
• KORG SQ-1 Step Sequencer
• KORG Volca Bass
• KORG Volca Beats
• KORG Volca Keys
• KORG Volca Kick
• KORG Volca Sample
• Mackie Big Knob
• Moog Werkstatt-01
• MOTU 8A
• MOTU MIDI Express 128
• MOTU MIDI Express XT
• MOTU MIDI Express XT
• Pittsburgh Modular 2 + 2 Mixer
• Pittsburgh Modular Analog Replicator
• Pittsburgh Modular Chain Reactor
• Pittsburgh Modular Lifeforms Outs
• Pittsburgh Modular Lifeforms SV-1
• Pittsburgh Modular Lifeforms System Interface
• Pittsburgh Modular Mix Mult
• Pittsburgh Modular Verbtronic
• Roland AIRA Scooper
• Roland AIRA Torcido
• Roland VT-3
• Sonicware SmplTrek
• Tiptop Audio BD909
• Tiptop Audio HATS808
• Tiptop Audio SD808
• Tiptop Audio Trigger Riot
• ZVEX Effects Fuzz Factory

WMD support (William himself) responded very quickly to an issue I reported through the form on their website for some modules I just bought, and they were ready to do a swap out for a replacement when it seemed like the issue couldn't be solved. I just wanted people to know they're great!

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Also, friendly reminder: no matter how long you've been playing in the modular world, re-read the manual if you are having problems and don't make any assumptions.

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My problem was connecting their Performance Mixer to the Channels expander: I read the part of the manual about doing the physical connections, but missed the important part about configuring the expander to send its mix to the main mix. Especially embarrassing since there is an LED indicating that on the unit.

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The second problem was everything was coming out mono but not once I disconnected the expander. It didn't make any sense, and that was what prompted them to want to swap it.

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Welllllll, I was using an ALM MFX after a compressor in the master insert. Turns out the reverb models on it were outputting the the dry signal as mono. I had no idea because I was using it on mono signals to do long tail verbs separate from a reverb unit on my outboard mixer. A firmware update later, and the MFX is functioning like it should be.