how much have you spent/made with your recording gear

how much have you spent so far?

  • under 300

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 300 - 499

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 500 - 999

    Votes: 1 4.8%
  • 1000 - 2999

    Votes: 2 9.5%
  • 3000 - 4999

    Votes: 1 4.8%
  • 5000 - 9999

    Votes: 1 4.8%
  • 10,000 and up

    Votes: 10 47.6%
  • just a fun hobby

    Votes: 2 9.5%
  • serious hobby would like to make $$

    Votes: 2 9.5%
  • trying to be a pro and make it big

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • already made my expenses and more

    Votes: 2 9.5%

  • Total voters
    21
Perhaps I've said this before. My brain hurts... But I believe that some gear is worth buying simply because of it's resale value on the secondary market. If you buy cheap stuff, it will end up on a junk pile somewhere in China. More expensive gear with the fancy name plates has more staying power. And when you sell it (and musicians are always guilty of this) it will retain much of it's value. This is particularly true for fine guitars and similar instruments.
 
Perhaps I've said this before. My brain hurts... But I believe that some gear is worth buying simply because of it's resale value on the secondary market. If you buy cheap stuff, it will end up on a junk pile somewhere in China. More expensive gear with the fancy name plates has more staying power. And when you sell it (and musicians are always guilty of this) it will retain much of it's value. This is particularly true for fine guitars and similar instruments.

yes you said that

i do not plan to sell anything
i use them till they die of old age

and even if you do sell used stuff you still lose money even if you lose less by selling stuff that held value better

your new car lost 30% of the retail value when you drove it off the lot
far better to buy a 3 year old car that has the bulk of depreciation done already than to buy a new car ever
same for expensive audio gear
but then you take the risk of hidden problems and did the seller abuse it and try to hide things .....

i prefer to buy mid range new and keep it no matter what it is
appliances, cars , and stereo gear ....
 
yes you said that

i do not plan to sell anything
i use them till they die of old age

and even if you do sell used stuff you still lose money even if you lose less by selling stuff that held value better

your new car lost 30% of the retail value when you drove it off the lot
far better to buy a 3 year old car that has the bulk of depreciation done already than to buy a new car ever
same for expensive audio gear
but then you take the risk of hidden problems and did the seller abuse it and try to hide things .....

i prefer to buy mid range new and keep it no matter what it is
appliances, cars , and stereo gear ....

I'm guilty of selling everything that doesn't move after 6-10 years or 1/8" of dust, whichever comes first. I've always struggled with the concept of material possessions. So I have to do a ritualistic cleansing every now and again. Sometimes you gotta travel light.

The last time I sold guitar it was a Rick 360. I bought it for about $1,000 in 2003 and it sold for $1800 roughly ten years later. So I used it for ten years and I pocketed $800. Well, not exactly. I suppose you have to control for inflation or use constant dollars to make a fair comparison. But my point is that a sound investment in a decent product will often produce a decent return. Not in the strict financial sense, but in intangible terms.
 
There is one overiding reason professional buy expensive, high quality gear that I don't think has been touched upon?

Reliability. You simply do not read of Grace controllers, Neve pre amps or RME converters going wrong. I suppose they must but the failure rate is so low as to be invisible.

Dave.
 
There is one overiding reason professional buy expensive, high quality gear that I don't think has been touched upon?

Reliability. You simply do not read of Grace controllers, Neve pre amps or RME converters going wrong. I suppose they must but the failure rate is so low as to be invisible.

Dave.

I couldn't agree more. These days.......however.....the quality of any product or brand name is SO quickly subject to change. A company sells out or moves their production to China or East Oshkosh and......baddabing.......reliability changes.....usually for the worse.
 
Expensive equipment investments also have to be considered in light of changing technology and other advancements. I'd hate to buy the last big thing just as the new big thing comes on the market. :D
 
There is one overiding reason professional buy expensive, high quality gear that I don't think has been touched upon?

Reliability. You simply do not read of Grace controllers, Neve pre amps or RME converters going wrong. I suppose they must but the failure rate is so low as to be invisible.

Dave.

Yes...reliability is a big factor in the overall cost for sure...but you also can't deny that much of the inexpensive stuff and the plugin models are trying to copy some of the (and I really am starting to hate this word, since it's so overused these days) "iconic" high-end gear.
So at the end of the day, there's a lot to be said for having/using that "iconic" piece VS one that's just trying to sound like it.

I absolutely disagree that it comes down to 99%...or better said, a 1% difference. That's just wishful nonsense by people who need to always lower the bar in order to make things fit their lower budgets.
I don't look down at people because they don't have the budgets and can't afford to drop serious coin on anything (been there)...but the obvious secret envy and subsequent public ridicule and denial by those who don't and can't...gets pretty tiresome, as this is a repeating debate that occurs only on home rec forums.
"I can't afford it, therefore it's not better than what I have, therefore I don't need it, therefore I must show contempt for it."

Finally there's another aspect to higher-end gear that might not be obvious or often mentioned...and it's the shear pleasure of using it, because you know it's going to deliver and it will be reliable and have great support, and it leaves ZERO questions in your mind AFA what's missing or "can I do better"...and it looks great in the rack, and makes your cheap stuff look that much cheaper.
For some, those considerations are not even on the table...because they simply don't have the budget..but let's not make believe that if the budget was there, they would still opt for the cheap, inexpensive stuff.

Again...this thread is not about gear (because not a single piece of gear or specific comparison has been offered or made)...it's about the money, or lack of, with an obvious disdain for anyone that has it and can afford to use it on better gear.
Kinda of a pointless and even somewhat depressed sounding.
 
Expensive equipment investments also have to be considered in light of changing technology and other advancements. I'd hate to buy the last big thing just as the new big thing comes on the market. :D

That seems to happen more with the digital technologies these days....everything becomes so quickly disposable...but if you look at much of the audio hardware that's been around for a long time...it pretty much has held up, some of it for 50+ years, and at most, it requires basic component maintenance and replacement every so often, and it's as good as new. You are able to keep it running, at spec, almost indefinitely.
Try that with most current technologies. :)
 
I'd love to say that the money I have piled into this over the years has repaid itself, and with it I produce better music that others who could not invest the money, but that's rubbish. My best paying music was recorded over ten years ago, so all these new sample libraries and kit haven't increased my income. I wish it had!
 
On the gear side of the aurgument I
Think this post has all the truth needed.
vvvvvvv
I can't see myself knocking anyone for spending a bundle on the good stuff. I've made my opinions known on occasion where arguably "poor judgement" was involved (spending $2500 on a mic and listening on $500 "monitors" is usually that type of thing) and I'm not one for "snake oil" (my monitoring chain easily tops $10k - but my speaker cables don't).

Beyond that, there are several layers of what and why to spend on what.

One layer -- I still do a fair amount of live tracking and what not. Depending on what the expectations are, I may use "in house" gear - or I may bring my own. Do the recordings through my stuff sound better than the "house" stuff typically? You bet your a$$ they do. Is it a $15k difference that everyone is going to rave over? Probably not. If the goal is an archival recording to use for YouTube videos and sponsors, the house gear is fine. If they're going to make a live album for public release, maybe I'll bring a better set of converters or some nicer preamps. Just like purchasing the gear, it's a calculation that needs to be made.

Then there are internal / external expectations -- Are these *your* expectations or a *client's* expectations? If you're recording your stuff and you're happy with it, it doesn't matter a darn what you use as long as you get what you want out of it. But when you have clients that have higher expectations - or simply the expectations of the "higher-end" gear, you have to satisfy those expectations. I'm presenting more than a weird skill - The goal is to present a system that's arguably better and more detailed than possibly any system they'll ever hear their recording on. They want nameplates that make them comfortable. They expect gear they aren't going to find at the local Banjo Shack. It's a package. And although I do know a few people who buy a bunch of expensive gear that don't exactly have the skills to back it up, the vast majority of the time, it's someone's expansion of talent and skill that leads to upgrade gear. And again - far be it from me to knock the folks who want to get the good stuff that might not *YET* know what they're doing with it. Dad always told me (actually he was speaking of tools, so this applies) - "Get the best you can afford and if you can afford it, get the best. That way, you can't bitch about it later." Having the best hammer doesn't make you the best carpenter - But the best carpenter probably has a pretty sweet hammer.

Then there's the whole "knowing" thing (call it skills, call it talent, whether studied or innate). There are people I know that have been at this for years, that do it for hobby, that can't hear the difference between [this and that]. Maybe they don't have the listening skills (there are some people who don't understand that critical listening is a skill - and a perishable one at that), maybe they have crappy monitors (many speakers I know that say "Studio Monitor" on them would fall into this category for that matter), maybe a combination. You need to know the limitations of your skills and hope that your gear exceeds those limitations.

All of that out of the way -- This is an awfully good time to be involved in this stuff. There is some seriously decent *and* freakishly cheap gear out there. There are $400 mics that compete with $4000 mics. There are $300 preamps that compete with $3000 preamps. IF you have the listening skills - and a monitoring chain that is accurate and consistent enough to utilize those skills - in a space that's accurate and consistent enough to utilize that monitoring chain - you can do a whole lot with nearly nothing. Or you can spend a bunch of money on kick-ass hand-made boutique gear and do even a little more.

In any case, buying cheap isn't always a horrible thing. Not knowing your limitations is much worse.
 
I'd love to say that the money I have piled into this over the years has repaid itself, and with it I produce better music that others who could not invest the money, but that's rubbish. My best paying music was recorded over ten years ago, so all these new sample libraries and kit haven't increased my income. I wish it had!

If anyone is getting into a recording studio situation to make some real money...it's going to take a big investment up-front, and it will require that you have a fair amount of pretty decent gear. If you're going to play with the big boys for some real money, you need the big toys.
You need the gear and you need the space(s) to put it in, and it has to be pretty competitive...and then maybe after a whole bunch of years when you've paid all that off, you actually start make some net profits.

The guys who have a small rig in their basement or garage mostly as a side hobby, and maybe record the local garage bands, and some singer/songwriter types just starting...those guys will never make any profit, because the minute they start making money, and their side hobby becomes more of a business...they will start adding more gear and expanding....and there's the rabbit hole.
That's how many commercial studios began....but there was a focused desire to elevate their game and move toward more pro recording. If you don't have the desire, nothing will ever move forward.

For the ones who just want to "hold" at that side hobby level...it's mostly a labor of love, and for most will forever operate at a net loss when they add up everything they've put into it....but is it really a "loss"?
Also, there is no "rule" that says if you are only doing it for yourself or the occasional friends...that it's a waste to invest in any big toys, and that you need to keep things low budget because you're not going to make any money, so why "waste" money on the high-end gear...blah, blah, blah.
I hear that all too often..."It's just for fun, so I don't want to waste money on it."...but IMO, that is when it IS the most important time to "waste" money on something, when you are doing it for yourself, for your own personal pleasure and to fulfill some goals/dreams that you don't want to regret one day not doing if your resources allowed it.
 
If anyone is getting into a recording studio situation to make some real money...it's going to take a big investment up-front, and it will require that you have a fair amount of pretty decent gear. If you're going to play with the big boys for some real money, you need the big toys.
You need the gear and you need the space(s) to put it in, and it has to be pretty competitive...and then maybe after a whole bunch of years when you've paid all that off, you actually start make some net profits.

The guys who have a small rig in their basement or garage mostly as a side hobby, and maybe record the local garage bands, and some singer/songwriter types just starting...those guys will never make any profit, because the minute they start making money, and their side hobby becomes more of a business...they will start adding more gear and expanding....and there's the rabbit hole.
That's how many commercial studios began....but there was a focused desire to elevate their game and move toward more pro recording. If you don't have the desire, nothing will ever move forward.

For the ones who just want to "hold" at that side hobby level...it's mostly a labor of love, and for most will forever operate at a net loss when they add up everything they've put into it....but is it really a "loss"?
Also, there is no "rule" that says if you are only doing it for yourself or the occasional friends...that it's a waste to invest in any big toys, and that you need to keep things low budget because you're not going to make any money, so why "waste" money on the high-end gear....and I hear that all too often..."It's just for fun, so I don't want to waste money on it."...but IMO, that is when it IS the most important time to "waste" money on something, when you are doing it for yourself, for your own personal pleasure and to fulfill some goals/dreams that you don't want to regret one day not doing if your resources allowed it.




From everything I have read the studio business is essentially dead. The ones already in it are hanging on - barely, or retiring. Yes there are a few really big one that are doing okay but for the regular guy it is a bad investment to start a studio now.

Every garage band has the gear to DIY which cuts into the customer base. Even the stars are setting up studios in their mansions to avoid paying the high costs of renting a studio. And they are still selling their work so the quality is plenty good enough for the marketplace.

Everybody has to figure out how much they can afford to spend on their hobby whatever it is. Boating can be a big expense, skiing is not cheap if you have to pack up and take a trip to ski. If you don't go crazy then a really good music studio at home can be had for under 1000usd. And if you don't think you are going to start a record label then it is plenty good enough for quality of sound too.
 
I cant understand why anyone would ask this question even of themselves unless it was for tax purposes.:eek: I neither know nor care how much I have spent in total. Christ, i bought the house I live in now specifically to build a home studio and also have a three car garage, should i count that bill?:rolleyes: I'm not a gear snob, I buy what i can afford and make it do what i want. Sometimes cheap ass crap is exactly what is needed. But i also am not so deluded as to think there is no sonic difference between cheap ass crap and a piece of well made quality kit. Frankly , if you cant listen to something like the Sweetwater Mic shootout and discern obvious differences in what can be gotten "sonically" for more money, then either your ears or monitors need repair. And as the OP claims that it is a "fact" that spending more money doesn't get better sound only different sound makes me question the validity of his assertions, let alone his acquaintance with the concept of "facts" which require proof that thus far has not been offered. Miro is expanding , at least partly to enable upgraded possibilities to record at home, even though his setup is already perfectly workable. He can do so so why not? Aspiring to better ones recordings, whether through learning or acquiring better quality gear or space is not something that can be dissed without making one look like a mean spirited wannabe playah hater. Rant completed.:wtf:
 
I cant understand why anyone would ask this question even of themselves unless it was for tax purposes.:eek: I neither know nor care how much I have spent in total. Christ, i bought the house I live in now specifically to build a home studio and also have a three car garage, should i count that bill?:rolleyes: I'm not a gear snob, I buy what i can afford and make it do what i want. Sometimes cheap ass crap is exactly what is needed. But i also am not so deluded as to think there is no sonic difference between cheap ass crap and a piece of well made quality kit. Frankly , if you cant listen to something like the Sweetwater Mic shootout and discern obvious differences in what can be gotten "sonically" for more money, then either your ears or monitors need repair. And as the OP claims that it is a "fact" that spending more money doesn't get better sound only different sound makes me question the validity of his assertions, let alone his acquaintance with the concept of "facts" which require proof that thus far has not been offered. Miro is expanding , at least partly to enable upgraded possibilities to record at home, even though his setup is already perfectly workable. He can do so so why not? Aspiring to better ones recordings, whether through learning or acquiring better quality gear or space is not something that can be dissed without making one look like a mean spirited wannabe playah hater. Rant completed.:wtf:

rotflmao

not everybody has a 3 car garage

many people dont even have a one car garage

some dont even have an apartment to live in

I guess it all depends on your perspective and whether you can print money or have a really really good job.
 
This gets even more varied and complex. Some of us have to park our cars in the driveway because we are using our garages as studios.
 
This gets even more varied and complex. Some of us have to park our cars in the driveway because we are using our garages as studios.


yes, a few use their garage as a studio. more do not even have a garage, or a basement.

the range of financial circumstances in the world is very very large
 
yes, a few use their garage as a studio. more do not even have a garage, or a basement.

the range of financial circumstances in the world is very very large

I get it. The world is filled with inequity and injustice--even in the land of the free and home of the rave. It sucks but that's the way it is and probably always will be. I'd love to be an Anarchist or a Marxist but I'm too old and sick to take to the streets, never mind seizing the means of production or conducting show trials for the bourgeoisie. I try to feel a little guilty everyday under the guise of Christian humility, but I'm just an ordinary man. Poverty, Syria, homelessness, cancer, gun violence, and terrorism are well beyond my control. Besides, if I had to consider the "bigger picture" every time I pulled out my wallet, I'd have to put a gun to my head.
 
some dont even have an apartment to live in.
Well I guess in that case you can throw having a home studio out the window. :D
(I should add, the window you dont have)
:D :D

Edit: I wish we were having this stupid conversation in person, in a bar. It would be over in 5 minutes. Then we'd move on to sports or women.
:)
 
Edit: I wish we were having this stupid conversation in person, in a bar. It would be over in 5 minutes. Then we'd move on to sports or women.
:)

I don't know about that. It feels like there would be broken bottles and bloodshed. :D
 
From everything I have read the studio business is essentially dead. The ones already in it are hanging on - barely, or retiring. Yes there are a few really big one that are doing okay but for the regular guy it is a bad investment to start a studio now.

You need to get out more often instead of making all these broad, blanket statements about everything you think is...when it actually isn't.

Every garage band has the gear to DIY which cuts into the customer base. Even the stars are setting up studios in their mansions to avoid paying the high costs of renting a studio. And they are still selling their work so the quality is plenty good enough for the marketplace.
:laughings:

Just because some high-school garage band can download a free DAW app and buy $100 interface and a few mics...it ain't cutting into any serious recording studio's customer base.
AFA the stars who can afford the better studios in their mansions...they also can afford the big studios with the pros, and they won't risk anything to chance because their "stardom" depends on it too much. When you're deep into the music biz...it's a complete machine, albeit, there are some who are talented enough to do their own thing.
Look at someone like Jack White...he's made a big name for himself, opened studio and mastering/vinyl cutting house...and he doesn't go in there all on his own...he has pros and he has pro equipment.
Stop trying to imagine that "anyone can do it, for cheap, anywhere"...you are so wrong, it's amusing that you keep repeating that view point.

If you don't go crazy then a really good music studio at home can be had for under 1000usd. And if you don't think you are going to start a record label then it is plenty good enough for quality of sound too.

:laughings: :laughings:

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