#1

For a couple years I’ve periodically checked monomes on ebay to see whats available. There are typically 1, maybe 2 listings, and often times none available at all.
In the last several months it has exploded; it seems that everyone is getting rid of their monomes. There are 8 or 9 listed right this moment. I’ve seen several 128s being sold just in the last month, whereas previously I’d see one of those pop up only every several months.

Does anyone know why everyone is bailing? I feel I noticed a slight uptick when Push 2 came out, probably due to the Push 2 emulating the MLR chopping features of the monome. But is there any gear that has come out lately to cause this?

(And to be clear, I still love monome and I’m sure you do too, I am just curious why there is a surge of other people selling them)

#2

As long as the grids are sold it means they are bought too! :slight_smile:
I think some people just get rid of their grids because other devices/controllers fit their needs better.
When I bought my first grid I truly hoped it would be more plug n play which it wasn’t.
It was always a hassle for me that sometimes it worked and sometimes it did not.
Another one is selling in the UK 'cause he fucked up his grid and crashed the walnut case.
Others like me sold, to upgrade their model (I sold my 2011 grid to buy a 2012 grid and arc.
I think nothing special happened (besides lots of people moving away from computers).

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#3

I don’t know. Many of those in the search results were non-current designs like the 64 or non-varibrite models. With the Ansible and Trilogy modules now pretty widespread, I would think users get much more mileage out of the newest/latest 128 iteration. Also, the Monome represents a sizeable investment for many users. If I decided I could get want I want out of a Push 2, selling the Monome frees up a lot of cash for such a purchase. Lots of controllers out there. Lots of expensive modules out there too. And probably a lot of folks with multiple Grids looking to pickup an Arc or something different.

#4

It’s also music trade show season. Lots of new gear in the music news. Increases trade volume in general.

#5

I discussed this briefly with @dan_derks. For me the push did everything i wanted and more with ableton integration. So i sold my 128.

However, as i begin tinkering with modular (semi for now) i feel that i will eventually look into an ansible/grid combo.

#6

i’m going to take the liberty to edit your title, as it feels misleading.

gear churn happens. people upgrade, people change. they might be simply moving to other grids. when someone sells a grid, someone else ends up with one. no need for panic :wink:

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#7

can the push emulate mlr? the only thing i have seen is the “pushMLR” m4l patch. though that cannot do inner looping or pattern recording. are there features/ patches that come closer? just curious. i could not be happier with my current setup of using a surface pro running the yeco touch controller for ableton, and a clip chopper m4l patch controller by my grid.

#8

no prob brian. Sorry about the misleading title. Of course they will all find a home. I was just curious if there was some new gear released or some event that would explain the sudden surge

#9

Push 2 is different from MLR, but has the basic feature of auto-chopping a track along a grid and allowing you to trigger different sections. If you are just chopping one track/loop, there are more features with Push 2, in some ways. So this works well for MPC style chops, and producers that like that style.
However it does NOT do multiple tracks at once like MLR does. Which is a big difference. You cant have several live loops going at once. So it helps producers that liked chopping up ideas and may have used MLR in the past, but for live performances MLR will still be the only option.
Hope that makes sense.

#10

Spring NAMM (January 25-28), Musikmesse (April 11-14), Superbooth (April 20-22)…

Tons of new products. Lots of shuffling of gear this time of year.

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#11

i’ve used that chop-play-through mode on a push2, and while cool - it comes nowhere near close to emulating mlr.

mlr = 7-15 loops at your fingertips, mute groups, pattern recording, inner-looping, instant reverse, etc… mlr is a true performance environment.

#12

I see, thats probably it. Although Ive been following monomes in my ebay feed for at least two years and havent noticed a surge anywhere near this one. I kept seeing people add to it and finally I was so curious i had to ask the community!

#13

I agree, as i said MLR is definitely way better for performance. However, I had a monome before Push 2 and used it for chopping ideas for my productions. In this context Push 2 is way faster and easier to use for coming up with ideas . My assumption was that there may have been other users like me and user steveoath above that got what they wanted from the new Push 2.
But for performances and all the other abilities that monome has, of course Push 2 isnt going to replace them. So I still use my monome for step sequencers and live jams, but for my chopping productions I always go to Push 2 now.

#14

I just picked up a Monome 256 and Arc 2 (2012 Editions). I’m loving it. I like the wood base versions more so than the new one, but I understand why Monome went that direction.

From what I can see, newer Monomes are being grabbed pretty quickly on Ebay and this site. Perhaps going to people with a tighter budget as these devices do come at a premium. Older Monomes could be getting an upgrade for some users.

There will always be Ebb and Flow. If you compare to Muff Wiggler and people selling off entire systems of gear in some instances, I think Monome has a very low turn-around from what I can see.

#15

what do you mean by low turnaround? that users dont sell them often?

#16

Yes, that’s what I meant.

#17

4 of the monomes listed right now are from a single seller as well.

I definitely keep daily tabs on the monome search on ebay. Trying to build a little monome eurorack setup and find an arc at some point and I almost always buy second hand. Though I’ll be picking up a brand new Ansible it looks like!:slight_smile:

#18

oh yeah you are right about the one seller. But I’m sure you agree that theres been way more monomes listed in general. I only notice because I’ve had them in my “feed” for years and it went from either 1 or none, to 4 or 5 on average!
They normally have a low turnaround like davidjez said.

Sounds like there isnt really any particular reason now, but I was thinking there might have been

#19

Yes, there does seem to be a fair amount of listings lately. Monome has been selling instruments for what, a decade now? There are a lot of grids out in the world and now all the modular stuff and arcs. I think that would carry over to the second hand market being larger and larger. (think I’m repeating an earlier response here basically). That’s good news for people like myself who are on a tighter budget I suppose. :grin: