My favorite gear manufacturers . . .

C

chessrock

Banned
Companies I Really like:

Microphones:

1) Baltic Latvian Universal Electronics. Total class act in every way, shape, and form. Build quality/manufacturing methods are outstanding. Sonically superior to many mics costing much more. Customer service is outstanding, and they even pay attention to the aesthetic aspect through uniqueness of artistic design, which is a rare and welcomed bonus.

Grade: A+

2) Shure They just keep on pumping out classic mics. Enough said. Grade: A

3) Audio Technica Outstanding bang-for-the-buck. Not the best customer service, but not bad either. Grade: A-


Honorable mention: Studio Projects Great bang-for-the buck microphones. Outstanding customer service. Dedicated personel. Owner/spokesperson tends to be a bit of a drama queen and demonstrates overall lack of people skills. Others in the company show promise in dealing with the public more diplomatically. Poor overall PR skills bring grade down a notch-and-a-half. Grade: B+


Companies I like: Rack Gear:

1) FMR Audio Very forward-thinking owner/designer. Somewhat limited in their product offering, but outstanding sound quality for the money. Grade: A

2) Sytek Audio Owner is a very competent and dedicated designer/engineer. Mic pres and consoles continue to be regarded as some of the very best values in audio. Grade: A

3) Great River Dan Kennedy is the shit. Very helpful, honest, upstanding individual who makes great gear -- never owned any of his stuff, unfortunately, but I have dealt with the man, and he's a class act all the way. Grade: A

Honorable mention: Symetrix Highly, highly under-rated company. These guys just have very well-designed and extremely durable stuff that never sounds bad. Anything you buy with the Symetrix name on it will still be around and going strong 20 years from now, and you probably won't have to get it serviced very often in the meantime. Not always your first choice, sonically, but never a bad one, either. Grade: B+


Favorite Companies: Misc :


1) Tech 21 The only guys who can make an amp modeler that actually doesn't suck. Their DI-type guitar modelers actually sound great on a lot more than just guitars, and their Sansamp Bass Driver is the shit for bass, and is a lot more wallet-friendly than a U5. Grade: A+

2) M-audio If you're a beginner and looking to start a modest project studio or record your own stuff, M-audio makes some very serious toys . . . far superior to Behringer or most any of the other budget options I can think of off the top of my head. Sound Cards are great values, mics are great values, mic pres are outstanding values, etc. Customer service sucks the big weinie, though, which brings their grade down a small notch. Grade: A-

3) Lynx Makers of some seriously professional-sounding cards. And on PCI, no less. How the heck do they do it? Grade: A-


Honorable Mention: Mytek Not as recognized as guys like Lucid, Apogee, etc., but their A/D converters are every bit as good, and they can usually be had for much less scratch. Nothing wrong with that. Grade: B+
 
It's all your opinion, so I'm cool with all of that...

But where can I usually buy a 24-bit, 96kHz Mytek 2-ch. A/D for much less scratch than a Lucid? I'll hop on it right away!
 
chess,

By only giving StudioProjects an honorable mention and not including Marshall Electronics is discounting them substantially since they are at the forefront of the "Chinese mic" revolution you mention at your website.....im referrring to the "$200 (mics) that are the near sonic equivilent to those traditionally selling for $2000 and more".....whats up with that.....

B+ to SP for people skills?....you KNOW that Alan and SP is A+ on customer service....i think internet flame wars should not be relevent in HONESTLY evaluating a company.......

Lynx on the same level as M-Audio? sorry but lynx is a step above M-Audio clearly.......

you, sir, are delusional....
 
Gidge said:
By only giving StudioProjects an honorable mention and not including Marshall Electronics is discounting them substantially since they are at the forefront of the "Chinese mic" revolution you mention at your website.....im referrring to the "$200 (mics) that are the near sonic equivilent to those traditionally selling for $2000 and more".....whats up with that.....
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Now that you mention it, the "Chinese" thing refers mostly to Rode, as a great deal of their models are either assembled in China, or have parts originating there. Ditto on the capsules for the CAD Equitech line, which is one of my personal favs. I'm also generally looking at companies like 797 Audio, Feilo, etc.

It's really kind of a broad thing . . . and I suppose the web site needs some updating, too, as this certainly isn't a new phenomenon anymore, by any stretch. But you do have a point which I suppose you could mention in your own list of favorites, should you decide to post one.

B+ to SP for people skills?....you KNOW that Alan and SP is A+ on customer service....i think internet flame wars should not be relevent in HONESTLY evaluating a company.......
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Actually, I give them a B+ overall. If it were based totally on customer service, I'd probably give them an A+ The only thing that brings them down, in my eyes, is the often boorish behavior of their senior-level management. And again, it's my list of favorites, so I can use whatever criteria I want. :D I suppose I could push them down to a C because I don't like their logo!

Lynx on the same level as M-Audio? sorry but lynx is a step above M-Audio clearly.......
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If this were my "List of best-quality Sound Cards," then you would indeed be correct. But it's not. Read the title of the thread again. It's companies I like the most, and M-audio wins out in that category by way of a few things in their favor . . . most notably their broad product line (including the Groove Tubes mics, the Tampa and DMP3, etc etc whereas Lynx only does cards).

Not to mention that M-audio manages to make cards that sound very close to the quality of the Lynx but for a lot less money, which you, of all people should relate to, Gidge. :D

Re-read the title of the thread, dude. It's my favorites. Now go list yours, so I can pick yours apart. :D
 
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Yo' chess, don't take this the wrong way, but what's the purpose of this thread!!??:confused:

I mean, every member here could make a list on what they feel is this or that and the next thing you know it'll turn into another 1 of those useless, argumentative thread with every-1's harping on their reasons why they like this or that.

Just curious!
 
C7 asked me, in another thread, if there were "any companies I actually like."

I wanted to answer his question, but I figured if I did, it would be the subject of a whole different thread. And I'm tired of turning the subject of one thread in to another -- I've played a hand in that one a bit too much in the past, I'll admit.

What are your favorite companies / manufacturers, Mr. Q?
 
I think you should move this to the Mic Forum.....thats where all the BS belongs....
 
chessrock said:


If this were my "List of best-quality Sound Cards," then you would indeed be correct. But it's not. Read the title of the thread again. It's companies I like the most, and M-audio wins out in that category by way of a few things in their favor . . . most notably their broad product line (including the Groove Tubes mics, the Tampa and DMP3, etc etc whereas Lynx only does cards).

Not to mention that M-audio manages to make cards that sound very close to the quality of the Lynx but for a lot less money, which you, of all people should relate to, Gidge. :D

Re-read the title of the thread, dude. It's my favorites. Now go list yours, so I can pick yours apart. :D [/B]
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close when comparing one track...compare an entire mix and an average person will be like damn.....
 
just admit that your list is full of flaws......


do us all a favor and pull a ChrisHarris and delete the thread......
 
MISTERQCUE said:
I mean, every member here could make a list on what they feel is this or that and the next thing you know it'll turn into another 1 of those useless, argumentative thread with every-1's harping on their reasons why they like this or that.
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I think this could be a pretty good thread actually. Some of my favorite manufacturers include:

Avalon - Great products, outstanding customer service.

Echo Audio - Products are quite good for the money, and they are committed to legacy support (which, as far as computer products go, that says more to me about a company than anything).

Empirical Labs - Similar to FMR in that they have a very small line of innovative and outstanding products. Very responsive to customer input. Dave Derr is a swell guy.

Sytek, FMR, Great River - already covered by chess.
 
my favorite company hands down is martin guitars. great service great guitars great history...

i also really like Rode, they make some great mics for pretty cheap.

as far as racks go, UA is one of my favorites. their 610 sounds awesome.

anyone who doesn't put shure on this list doesn't deserve to make music. just for the sm57 it desverves to be here.

FMR audio i wish they made more stuff. i love the RNP and RNC, but now there's nothing left for me to buy from them.

anyway, this is my opinion, and i'm only commenting on things i own. i know a lot of people go off and make comments based on the hype or what they've heard third or fourth hand. i work with all this gear, and these are my favorites.
 
jslator said:
Empirical Labs - Similar to FMR in that they have a very small line of innovative and outstanding products. Very responsive to customer input. Dave Derr is a swell guy.
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Good point. They're still a fairly young company, relatively speaking, but the Distressor and Fatso are already classics. And Dave has quite a history as a well-respected designer/engineer.
 
Screw em all chess I like your list. I think it is a nice summary of what you like. In fact I like most of the ones you mentioned too (some I;ve never tried like lynx, but anyway) I gotta love Rode mics. Great price great mic. I have been using my new Sytek pre and love it. Wonderful wonderful pre for the money....heck for any money.
 
Recording Engineer said:
It's all your opinion, so I'm cool with all of that...

But where can I usually buy a 24-bit, 96kHz Mytek 2-ch. A/D for much less scratch than a Lucid? I'll hop on it right away!
Click to expand...


It's not even out yet...don't let the pretty pictures of the 2 channel A/D fool you. It's not going to be that much more than a Lucid either (at least tentatively for now).

Nathan Eldred
atlasproaudio.com
 
chessrock said:
It's not out yet, but . . .

http://www.mytekdigital.com/stereo96.htm

Don't know the street price yet, but MSR doesn't sound bad.
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That's what I was referring to. The pics at that link are meaningless as far as implying that they are immediately available. The D/A will be out first (it's on order right now), and streets for $900. The A/D is probably going to land sometime early fall (I'm hoping before the AES show). Whether the the D/A and A/D are still identically priced at that time is still speculation.

Nathan Eldred
atlasproaudio.com
 
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