So ever since the deluge of clones hit the analog synth market, I've been able to use numerous analog synths for dirt cheap. This is super cool but for some reason, I predictably sell them within roughly 6 months of purchase. The engineer side of me does not understand this. I mean, if the schematics/designs are the same and side to side no one can tell the difference in sound, then, why on earth would I get rid of them? It's not like they are very valuable money wise. Every time I get a clone or other cheap mass manufactured synth though, I play it, maybe record a song, then shortly after, something inside me just goes, "eh *shrugs*" and I totally loose interest.
Artistically these clones just feel really dead and yeah I know they are made with cheaper components/construction and you could argue the bad mojo ethics of intellectual property theft, treatment of workers, big corporate evils, blablabla, but, artistically, there is no math I find to explain why I just loose interest. In they come, out they go. Another resale on reverb.com. It's like clockwork to the point where I don't even chuck the box they come in anymore. I know, it's probably going to be history in no time.
This really didn't become apparent to me, till I recently bought a local hand made analog synth from rarewaves.net and was looking over my past sales/purchase records on line. I realized just how much gear I had bought and quickly hawked. The only analog synths I actually legit regret selling, were all hand made stuff from either UK/Europe or north America.
There's also the issue of the sound from this new rave waves box. Holy crap. It's like serious liquid magic inspiration. It really feels ALIVE. I know that sounds kinda gay but the artistic side of things can be like that sometimes. Maybe there is no common math to explain artistic feelings. I suppose it also doesn't hurt that the rave waves synth is designed extremely well and biult like a tank with high end components. The oscillators are SOLID. I mean, like, DEAD stable. Unlike any of the clones or general mass manufactured stuff I've tried from the "affordable synth" market. I will tell you, I am NOT selling my rave waves. Not unless I'm literally starving to death. The funniest thing is, rare waves's stuff isn't actually that expensive. All things considered, it's competitive.
Out of curiosity, I checked sales trends on reverb and such to see if I was the only one who had this issue. As it turns out, I wasn't. There is a very LARGE quantity of resale for clone synths and cheap mass manufactured synths in general. Still makes half of me go "wait what?". I mean people supposedly keep raving about the clones and stuff, so why are they dumping them so much? I never see many resales of hand made synths. I was once told, you can tell the real quality of gear, by how many people are dumping it on the secondary market or not.
The whole thing leaves me more appreciative of the smaller, more integrity-full synth companies. As tempting as it is to buy every time behringer, for example, releases a new clone, I think I'm done with the marry-go-round of buying and selling cheap ass gear. I'd rather save up and buy something worth hanging on to.