...which is a very relative location this days, so I decided to reorganize my gear to fit my life... Got a GPS on the phone to tell me where I am, where I'm going, so that's sorted :-)

Everything not able to travel or too heavy or too much hassle to move is gone. No more KRK for me! (Imagine the face of the salesman when I told him that I'll go with M-Audio because KRK is "too heavy" :-) Oh the fun!

The goal was to be able to move, move in various degrees, but also to be able to do field recording in reasonably unlimited fashion... and even use the gear live, in both DJ sets & for group/band performances & jamming.

Everything not used at least once a month, or easy to rent is gone too. So is gear that has good SW replacements. I'd been a Cubase slave for far too long, so thats gone too... as are more or less all soft synths, replaced by Reason alone. I cannot stress enough how important for my productivity is to LIMIT my options. Hard to do, but it pays of in the end.

Not on the gear list:
* Lenovo T61 (Dial core, 4GB RAM) - Dual boot XP & Vista 64
* Lacie external USB HD, 500GB
* Sennheiser HD 650 & HD 25-1 headphones (Used a lot for sound shaping, NEVER for mixing. For tracking, I prefer in-ear headphones - cheap Sennheiser will do nicely)
* Rode NT-2, several AKG mics (stereo overheads, drum set, vocal condenser, large diag) If I need something esoteric, I rent it.
* Pro Tools 7.4 M-Powered (used to make happy people that insist on sending me PT sessions. Oh well...)

Ergonomics gear:
* Hight adjustable desk on wheels, with 2 levels for keyboard(s) and surface. If your body is in unnatural position for hours, will it surprise you when you feel like doing anything else but music?
* TrackBalls - If you mouse around for more then few hours for, say, 15 years, you WILL get a RSA, just as I did. You have been warned! Get two, and get used to using both interchangeably, so your other hand gets some rest while you use the other one. It becomes automatic after only a few days.
* Adjustable monitor hand, speaker hands. I am amazed how much time and money are people prepared to spend on choosing and buying speakers that will give them good stereo imaging, that are not fatiguing after a long sessions, and monitors with crisp and clear, high resolution image... and then they put them in impossible positions, wrong angles, too far/close and see and hear CR**!
* Full-on, fully adjustable, "drawing" chair (AKA architects chair). Your chair has to feel like a natural extension of your body. They way your body feels while making music will SIGNIFICANTLY affect the music your hear and make.

They say that emotion is created by the motion. It is true. The way you sit, stand, move and interact with things WILL change your emotional state, your capacity to observe and create. The ergonomics is the single most important thing in my music making setup! This includes both the hands-on gear (ProjectMix, REmote, HandSonic, trackBalls) and the gear for my body (ADJUSTABLE char, ADJUSTABLE desk, ADJUSTABLE monitor hand, ADJUSTABLE speaker stands, ADJUSTABLE HandSonic stand)

Your feedback is appreciated.

FUTURE PLANS
* Still considering Kore 2, but no 64 bit drivers... :-(
* Have 5.1 monitoring setup too (Event 20/20 BAS + Event sub) so a panning joystick might be of interest. If I can finally figure out what is a surround sound good for...
* Also looking for a ribbon mics
* Want to move to 64 bit Vista so I can use all of my 4GB RAM for sampler. Hopefully M-Audio will complete there beta driver in this century...

Check out my DJ rack: http://www.gearjunkies-userstudios.com/studio.php?stid=352

Your feedback is appreciated.
Andrej Falout