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Hi Sacguy71,

Yes indeed, I actually bought (at that time) the Sinfonion a bit too early, I wanted it to buy it a half year later but then there was such a good offer that I couldn't let it go and that module when it just came out was (and still is) so intriguing that I couldn't let it go.

Can one buy a Sinfonion too early? Well yes and no. If you want to feed that "black hole sucking monster module" enough to keep it happy like a happy tail of a dog then yes. You seriously need tons of modules as an input for the Sinfonion, if you don't have that but you still got the Sinfonion then you will realise that you can't provide full and enough input to the 3 voice/melody channels, the chord channel and the arpeggio channel. Now that is not necessarily a disaster though, you can start with the chords, arpeggio and for example one voice channel instead of straight away 3 channels but of course on the long run you like to use it to it's maximum, hence my terminology: "This is a black hole that sucks up all your modules" ;-)

But having all said that, I have not even a single thought or moment of regret, not at all. Yes it's bloody expensive and yes, in my opinion there should come laws to protect us users from ridiculous prices for modules ;-) But putting the fun aside, I wouldn't go as far as saying something cliché as: "It's worth every penny of it" because that's just too cliché but yes I think, it was worth the investment but I agree with everyone saying it's (too) expensive as well and therefore deciding not to buy it. So you just have to consider for yourself: "Is it worth it?". Download the manual if you are more interested in the Sinfonion and completely read it, it's one of the modules I haven't tested it at my local dealer but as mentioned I didn't regret it buying it "blindly" (but of course I read the manual completely and watched all the tutorial video's from Mathias Kettner, who designed the Sinfonion).

Very difficult decision of course but keep in mind two things:

• It's cheaper than the Five12 + Jack Expander sequencer combination, even if it is just a little bit cheaper ;-)
• But... the Sinfonion is not your classical sequencer as such (see also above my earlier message), it's a chord progression sequencer and thus if you like to have some "classical" sequencing (which I indeed like to have) then you have to get yourself another sequencer beside the Sinfonion

Especially that last point makes it unpleasantly expensive, because a Sinfonion costs already a fortune and then yet another fortune is required for a good sequencer next to it.... And yes, I do realise that the above two points are a kind of contradiction...

Or check out this video, didn't know this one till today, quite nice introduction of the Sinfonion:

The Sinfonion you see in that video by the way, looks like a prototype to me. The now available Sinfonion has nice dim yellow lights (not too bright), more comfortable for the eyes and a different setup on the layout of the buttons. You also can see a (very) nice modular setup of "Ströme Studio".

Or if you like to hear the Sinfonion used by myself, the track in my below post demonstrates some of it's possibilities:

https://www.modulargrid.net/e/forum/posts/index/8749

Not the entire track has been done by the Sinfonion though, however the arpeggio you hear in this track is definitely done by Sinfonion.

Regarding that complex sequencer question of yours, why not consider the Five12 - Vector + Jack Expander, yes expensive but it looks like a good sequencer, ask Jingo, he loves it ;-)

However, I still want to give that Ground Control (from Endorphin.es) one more change, I am waiting till the end of this month to see if it's finally going to be released, depending then on perhaps yet another delay message from my dealer, I am going to decide, I think, not sure yet because the Ground Control is attractive in it's way too (beside the much lower price than that Five12 combination).

I realised I haven't answered to your suggestion of the Frap Tool - USTA, that definitely looks like an interesting sequencer but my guts say or warn me a little bit to be careful with the "sexy module look syndrome"; it might be nicer looking than being that "perfect" sequencer I am looking for. Or let me put it in another way, it's too expensive for what it (technically) offers. It has 4 tracks (8 CVs and gates) but no triggers for percussion/drum. Of course you could use those 8 CVs/gates for that but then you have to give up on a few channels. It still looks interesting, I have to give you that :-)

Kind regards, Garfield.