P.S.: and by "techno" I mean the genre of EDM called techno, starting in Detroit in late 80s/early 90s and spreading through Europe by the UK, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany, not the "general techno" that is used in US to mean any kind of electronic dance music.
I have dedicated myself to use only hardware for a while, working on a computer for 8+ hours a day really puts me off on being creative on it so I went to the only-hardware route.
With that said, my current setup is:
* Roland TR-8S for the drums, recreations of the classic drum machines (TR-606, 707, 808, 909, etc.) and it also plays samples, it's a really cool instrument to play live and perform instead of programming but with the A-H variations per pattern it also is much more powerful than the previous TR-8
* Elektron Analog Four Mk II as my main analog synth, it can do 4-voice polyphony if you aren't using all 4 tracks for different sounds or you get 4-in-1 synths with 2 oscillators per track, a lot of options for modulation (2 envelopes per track, 2 LFOs per track, etc.). I use it mainly for basslines and some leads but sometimes will use for pads, sample them and free up the tracks for playing other stuff.
* Elektron Octatrack Mk II is my brain for the setup, my sampler, my pickup machine, looper, and so it goes. It's a VERY deep machine with tons of possibilites, artists across many genres use it (from Radiohead to a lot of techno producers) and I'm even using it to help a friend who has a solo ballad rock project to add some cool ambiance to his tracks.
* Elektron Digitone, my FM and polysynth, 8 voices, 2 per track but as the A4 it can steal voices from other tracks to play up to 8 notes at a time from a single track. This machine is really cool and inspiring, it's FM-made-easy as apart from the FM engine you also get the world of subtractive synthesis with its filters. I also love that that it has 4 MIDI tracks that I can internally route back to it to use more than 2 LFOs per track to have even more modulation.
I'm very happy with this setup, it covers all the bases while keeping it more or less compact (for a 4 synths setup).
Feel free to ask any more questions if you've got them :)
It looks amazing especially when you need to travel
I'd say that the A4 can give me a "deeper" bass when I need but the DN comes loaded with quite a few basses presets for you to start from while you are getting the hang of it. I'm not sure how close to bredran's basses you can get (as I don't produce DnB) but if you can try a DN from a local music store for a bit do it! It's quite fast to get inspired with it and much easier to design sounds than it first appears.
And yup, I've been carrying it around sometimes while traveling, I'm starting to consider getting an external battery capable of powering my Elektron gear as I'd love to bring the OT and the DN while off the grid.
A big selling point for me was the Elektron sequencer and workflow, I just "got it" from the start as I didn't have much experience with other synths before. I don't really mind the menu diving as, after you get familiar with it, it feels like the machine is a keyboard of shortcuts for you to get around easily.
Mind sharing what is your setup like? Sometimes I've even thought about selling the TR-8S to get an Analog Rytm but the TR-8S is so much fun to play live (and the AR is more than double the price) that I've put the idea to rest, haha, also trying to not fall too much into GAS.
Have you some music published?
I haven't published anything yet as I don't feel comfortable with my creations, haha, most of the fun I have now is playing live with a friend or jamming by myself and recording 30-90 minutes sessions, mostly to track my own improvement. I hope I can publish something in the next year or so.
P.S.: I'm linking their "All Products From Mars" combo pack so you can dig into each one individually to check them out.
[0] https://samplesfrommars.com/products/all-products-from-mars
He for me it's actually the other way around. Well, sort of: I really go for the music or more specifically for dancing hours in row. It does get me in a trance and that is the main aspect which makes me return home more happy and enthusiastic as you call it (too bad that effect doesn't last long but that's something else). But this wouldn't be possible without the atmosphere: I can only dance like a maniac because it feels ok there, exactly because no one cares and/or does what I do. The feeling of unity is very strong at goa parties, possibly the strongest of all genres I've been to. Even if I barely talked to anyone for a whole night, I exchanged smiles with many strangers and felt like we all wanted the same thing. It's a pity this only exists for more underground parties; other genres have this as well (punk and all subgenres, acidcore and the likes, some techno but definitely not all/everywhere). Society would be a better place if people would behave like this always and everywhere including daily life. So it's a pity not everyone experiences this.
Note I wouldn't be too fast blaming alcohol for problems at other parties i.e. I'm not convinced there's a causal relationship. There's quite a lot of drinking at trance/... parties as well, and I yet have to see parties where apart from alcohol no other drugs get used. I think it's more of a correlation between the type of people and their general mindset and the use of alcohol and the abberant behavior and those people not going to trance parties.
Unfortunately, what made me quit the scene was the transformation I saw on my friends and acquaintances due to drug abuse. I don't know if it is a cultural thing, but I have witnessed people losing some or all of their mental sanity due to drug abuse; one time I was at a party when someone died - in the end I called it quits because I didn't want to become involved with that in any way.
I still like the music though
Also, I'm not wholly unconvinced that maybe more LSD-use would make us all so much better as people.
The people are amazing and friendly, even tough their beliefs are mostly batshit insane. The vibe is so much better than any other festivals (and no trash! clean nature!).
Music wise I've always preferred other psychedelic genres to actual psytrance, but there always interesting stuff at festivals.
Even if you don't share all their ideas (my case) you won't have any problem getting along as long as you are open minded.
About drugs, sure, there are lots. But no one will force you to take them and they won't think any less of you if you don't.