Speaking of HP, I'm wondering if the Erica Black Sequencer is going to stay. On paper it seems to give me more than the Metropolix, but it's (to me) not as intuitive and immediate to use, so I've been using it more for MIDI-to-CV than as a sequencer. If I cut that out, is there an obvious candidate for taking in at least 4 channels of MIDI? Hermod looks like it, but is there something else I don't know about? I've tried the Doepfer A-190-4 and was impressed with how cryptic it was to set up.
-- arthabaska
Have not used the Black Sequencer, but have an Erica Drum Sequencer (which has a single pitch/gate channel that operates in a similar way to the Black Sequencer only clunkier/way more tedious to edit) and a Metropolix. Metropolix is loads of fun to use and very immediate (while also having some very very deep probability & self modulation functionality), but it kind of takes you where it wants to go so can be difficult to create a deliberate/specific sequence if you have something in mind. If I have a bassline or melody in my head that I want to capture, I'll go to the Erica Drum Sequencer or Tete+Tetrapad first. Metropolix is a riff generating machine though, so will def be holding on to that for the foreseeable...
Five12 Vector Sequencer might be an option. Only 2 channels without an expensive expander, but it integrates with MIDI well and can sequence both CV & MIDI. Have seen quite a few people rave about it, and its the same HP as the BS. NerdSeq does pretty much everything as well and has a huge fanbase, although personally I can't get around how ugly I think it looks :)
In case you have not already seen it, there's a comprehensive comparison of Euro sequencers here: https://doudoroff.com/sequencers/