I bought a 'professional' color bar kit before I knew what I was doing
Back when I was just starting out, I saw a kit online with every color bar you could think of for about $300. I thought having all the colors would make me better, faster. The truth is, I didn't know how to use half of them properly, and a lot of them just sat in the case for years, gathering dust. I probably used maybe $100 worth of it before the rest went bad or got contaminated. It was a hard lesson that tools don't replace skill. Has anyone else blown cash on fancy materials before you had the technique to match?
Oh man, that hits close to home. My early studio looked like a gear catalog threw up in it. Convinced myself the right gadget would unlock some hidden talent. Turns out my main talent was wasting money on stuff I didn't understand. That fancy color kit probably thought it was going to a better home.
Totally feel you on that. Had a phase where I bought three different audio interfaces in six months. Each one was going to fix my muddy mixes, right? Nope. Just ended up with a closet full of boxes and the same bad recordings. Sold most of it for pennies on the dollar. Wish I'd just spent that time learning to use what I had.