How is your luck with equipment?

RawDepth

RawDepth

New member
Is it just my bad luck, or does everyone have a lot of equipment problems now-a-days?

I've been big into home recording for 2 or 3 years now and own some 25 to 30 pieces of gear, both analog and digital. I'm talking racked powered components, not so much the accessory items. To date, I think I've had "some" troubles with at least half of it.

(Let me also add that I’ve been in the sound reinforcement business and heavily involved with pro audio gear for almost 30 years so, I am extremely confident that I am hooking it up correctly.)

It's usually odd ball stuff like...

Computer fans buzzing loudly from bad bearings.
Of course, all of the expected Microsoft Windows frustrations.
Battery backup alarm acting up.
Poor connections in patch bays.
Toslink cables intermittently dropping signal.
SPDIF (RCA) jacks breaking.
Digital jitter and stubborn sync problems.
Power supplies burning out.
Older capacitors and resistors giving up.

Does this sort of thing just come with the job or have I simply been having a streak of bad luck? Has the quality control of modern hardware been going down the tubes?

Not a rant, just curious about how common it is.
RD
 
actually, other than using windows (which should be illegal in pro audio but I have no option to move to mac at the moment) everything's rock solid in my setup and has been now for (knock on wood) 6 months without trouble.

Other than user error of course. But my cables are good, gear's good. Well ok, something wierd going on with my dbx 903 compressors right now, I can't get the compressed signal out of them but the meters on the units indicate that they're compressing just fine, however no audible compressed signal (just either silence or original bypassed signal depending on how I experiment), but these comps were rented out to someone for a while and I didn't use them for a month after they returned (which was stupid on my part) so it could well be something that happened to them while out of my room. Wish I knew for sure, but I can't do anything about it now if it did happen while rented out, just have to bite the repair costs. Anyway, point is that it was probably damaged by user error (not mine hopefully) so I don't think it counts in this thread as being a problem item.

Cheers,
Don
 
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It happens. My tube mic just stopped working, and now I have to figure out if it is the tube, power supply, or cable. A fan went out on my old computer. Some cheap reference speakers seem to work intermittantly. Soundforge freezes my older computer. I just built a new computer, so now I anticipate a host of new issues.
 
Sounds like luck to me. (Sorry, by the way. :o ) All of my recording gear is on the cheap side of things but I never have any problems. I even have gear made by Be****er... :D
 
I have this habit of finding incredible deals on defective equipment that is easly repaired with about an hour of my time, and a few dollars in parts... Many times just three strategically placed fingers during power-up...

I've only had one mic crap on me... and I wasn't that heart broken to lose it...

There, now I've jinx myself... the studio's going to burn down tonight...
 
I guess I have been lucky, I haven"t really had any major problems with equipment (Since I build most of my own Equipment Like Mics and Preamps and even by Guitar and bass amps) I guess I must be lucky or maybe I suck really bad ... It"s one or the other....
 
RawDepth said:
Is it just my bad luck, or does everyone have a lot of equipment problems now-a-days?

I've been big into home recording for 2 or 3 years now and own some 25 to 30 pieces of gear, both analog and digital. I'm talking racked powered components, not so much the accessory items. To date, I think I've had "some" troubles with at least half of it.

(Let me also add that I’ve been in the sound reinforcement business and heavily involved with pro audio gear for almost 30 years so, I am extremely confident that I am hooking it up correctly.)

It's usually odd ball stuff like...

Computer fans buzzing loudly from bad bearings.
Of course, all of the expected Microsoft Windows frustrations.
Battery backup alarm acting up.
Poor connections in patch bays.
Toslink cables intermittently dropping signal.
SPDIF (RCA) jacks breaking.
Digital jitter and stubborn sync problems.
Power supplies burning out.
Older capacitors and resistors giving up.

Does this sort of thing just come with the job or have I simply been having a streak of bad luck? Has the quality control of modern hardware been going down the tubes?

Not a rant, just curious about how common it is.
RD
Click to expand...


I have been recording pro and now home for about 30 years and have some equipment that old. To date I have had 1 failure and I fixed that (bad solder joint). I only buy high end stuff and although it is $$$$, if you really need it to work reliably, there is no way around this. My lower end stuff I really don't use that often, so all is still working fine.
 
I mainly work with my VS recorder. It has been working solid for 4 years. When I was working with my computer it was nothing but headaches. But I am not computer savy. Rack gear works fine as well. :)
 
It sounds like your computer is self destructing, if it is going through power supplies if definitely has an issue, the problem is why is it doing it. Power surges? To much draw on your circuit? etc etc
 
Funny, I seem to have had a little bad luck lately as well. I have an ART VLA that something went bad in the power section (fortunately they give a 5 year warranty so it only cost shipping and a box, still about $30 though), I had a screen that was starting to fade on my DM Pro replaced (not an actual break, but $$ nonetheless), and I may need new power tubes in my Marshall. Small things, but they seem to have happened in a relatively close span.
 
Seeker of Rock said:
I had a screen that was starting to fade on my DM Pro replaced
Click to expand...
Whoa... that's one I forgot... the caps on the trigger inputs started drying out on my DM Pro... the place that repaired it just changed the one cap ... now the hi-hat trigger is is flaking out on me... time to bust it open... though I seem to remember it's being mostly surface mount... (messy)
 
Unfortunately I've had a lot of problems...partially because I don't own very high end equipment.

I've had problems with my Digi 002R's internal cabling (who hasn't), my Digimax LT syncing up with the 002, bad mic cable (too many times to count), as well as the computer fan being very noisy.

That's just some of the many problems I've had. Not to mention the obvious; lower end equipment and horrible room conditions. I just can't seem to get a break....

- Mat
 
I haven't had any major issues and i use pretty low end stuff. I had to replace a fader on my mixer, that was my bad though. I've had to replace the needs for my cartiges on my turn table accouple times due to me just not being careful. And i've had some non-audio related computer problems that i should have been smarter about, namely a harddive crash.

The only real problem i had was with my behringer mixer. That was just a POS. I've made some other bad purchaces as well, mics for example. I wasn't really willing to invest money when i started so i did the "buy cheap/buy twice" thing accouple of times. I'm pretty good about buying lowerend stuff that actually will work for awhile though.

I do tend to stay away from usb/firewire though. I'm not to the point where i trust it yet. Or anything with motorized faders or other cool things that would be expensive if they died. Things where i know can be a big problem if they stop working.
 
Not too many major problems... had a Tascam ADAT deck eat a tape and copmmit suicide recently, had to replace that... I also have a few Behringer pieces, and have replaced others in the past, but mainly because they sucked, not because they broke.

Had tw pencil condensers start making a loud, low-level hum for no reason, and they are now shot, but not worth the money to get repaired.

Other than that, been pretty lucky so far.
 
I am completely cursed with anything electronic. The computer i'm writing this on is actually starting to slowly stop working. (at work hehe yes i'm a slacker on a friday afternoon)

man,

recording related problems are as follows:

firepod crapping out and me getting screwed out of any chance of getting it fixed
constant computer issues... loosing whole projects because of it.
Headphones just stopping to work for no real reason (company tells me it was a manufacturer defect)
Rack tuner doesn't pick up a signal from the low strings (but that can be chalked up to behringer quality)
samson microphone clip breaking (making me duct tape it to a stand until i get a shockmount)

oh and let's not evan talk about amps,
I've had a fender twin (vintage) catch on fire once
A traynor just shut off for no reason
once when i was drumming the spring of my bass pedal snapped (i know that one is not electronic)
ALL OF THIS HAPPENED DURING VARIOUS GIGS LIVE haha
not to mention the barrage of broken choards and pedals

as far as non related stuff breaking

mp3 player just stopped working a week after I got it
my cd player for my car that i just got for xmas this year won't take in cd's anymore..

Funny thing is I pride myself on taking care of my shit... I don't abuse my stuff because I can't really afford to buy new things.. 90% of all these problems end up being manufacturer defects or common problems...
 
So far, pretty good. I have made a few purchases which were wants rather than needs and well, frankly, those items have simply been sitting on the shelf or they've been sold. I've been very fortunate in that I've not purchased any lemons or problematic equipment as I can recall.

Bad choices;

Metrophone Headphones...crap...simply crap. The ear muffs are liquid filled and drain out on their own after a short while. Replacing them will set you back about $20. If they lasted a bit longer I might not have the attitude.

Fender Strat, baby blue : uncomfortable so it doesn't get played much. I just don't like how the bridge hardware snags up my hand.

Fostex MR8 - thought it would be handy for when I travel...no phantom power. Works as advertised...just...gotta have some phantom.

M-Audio USB interace - again for travel, no phantom and the latency is hell! My bad for not doing my homework.


Best choices;

Mackie MCU
Behringer HA4700 headphone amps
Delta cards (just a damn good bargain)
THD Univalve...OMG such a sweet amp
MPA Gold...suprising really
DMP3...BAM bargain and just works
Green Lava Lamp...how did I ever get by with out it?
SONAR...It works for me
Dual computer monitors...that's what I'm talkin' about...21" CRTs are getting CHEAP!
Avatar Speaker cabs...again, huge bargain, great product
SONOR Drum sets - buy 'em in sets of two and you can get a hUge price break...from my source anyways :D
 
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