how much have you spent/made with your recording gear

[miroslav]

I cant understand why anyone would ask this question even of themselves unless it was for tax purposes. 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? 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.

Yup...

When anyone repeatedly makes extreme broad blanket statements and offers them as "fact" simply because that is his belief...they either don't know what they are talking about, or they're just taking those positions because they have nowhere else to go...
...and it's pretty obvious that the purpose of this thread was to extract some kind of ammunition to denounce people who can afford to up-scale their studios and who see that as an evolutionary process with a longer goal.
I mean...that's kinda sad, to look down on anyone who has more than you do...I mean, WTF?

Comments were repeatedly made about gear "snobs" who are putting down people without...but I don't see that anywhere.
It's actually the opposite...the one without putting down those with, and trying even to toss some guilt on them, that they are wasting their money...blah, blah, blah.

I tell you...during the last couple of days of this thread...I picked up a pair of Audio Technica SDC mics, a Fender '57 Custom Twin Amp (the low power Tweed Twin), a new Scumback speaker, and a Telecaster Nashville showed up at my door today, not to mention some "boring" studio power distro gear that I want to upgrade when I move into my new studio after it's built...and I don't feel guilty about it, or have one ounce of regret.

There's only so much life here on planet earth folks,...and when it's done, it's done.
You wanna put your eggs in the "life after death" basket, and wait for that before you "go for it", that's fine...though even if there is something, I bet there won't be any guitars and amps, well OK, maybe some ethereal "air guitar"...but if I have the means and the resources now, I'm gonna put together the best damn studio that I can, and never for a moment feel any of the money was wasted. I worked hard all my life...so I'm gonna play hard as long as I can.



[EDIT]
Oh...and I wasn't just looking to brag about the gear I bought...but this thread was specifically asking how much people spend on audio gear, so that should provide some idea. I'm not going to add it all up...I really don't care. It's what I like to do and that's what money is for.
I could probably go on some stupid big cruise and drop $5k-$10k...which to me WOULD be a true waste of money...but I would rather spend it on more audio gear.

 

[RFR]

I don't know about that. It feels like there would be broken bottles and bloodshed.

I look forward to and welcome that scenario.

 

[RFR]

[If you don't go crazy then a really good music studio at home can be had for under 1000usd.

WHAT?????
A shit guitar, a shit mic, a pair of shit monitors, an iPad with garageband.......
Already you're over budget.
Wow. Talk about unreality.

 

[Massive Master]

We dismiss the need for really expensive gear because it adds no special value over moderately priced gear when it comes to sound quality.
You may or may not get some features making it easier to use, or you may or may not get more reliability, but mostly you get some fancy name
plate that you can show off and brag about that adds no value sonically.

I'm going to make an assumption that you have [limited experience] with high-end gear and/or [limited experience] in this particular field. Because it takes [A] experience at the craft *AND* [2] experience with the gear to actually acquire the appreciation for the gear.

No one is suggesting that you can't make great recordings with cheap gear. No one is saying you can't get from A to B in a cheap car.

I'd bet Josh Bell could bring an audience to tears playing a chaconne on a $500 Mendini -- but he'd bring the orchestra to tears playing the same piece on a Stradivarius or a Guarneri. As one who has been in the same room with these "name plates" on numerous occasions, I can tell you that there is a difference. Just as there is a difference between the preamps on a Focusrite Scarlett vs. a Crane Song Flamingo. Just as there's a difference between an Audio Technica 2020 and a Telefunken AR51. Call it quality or character or mojo - but it's there. On one track, the difference may be very subtle - a dimes worth of difference. On 30, all those dimes start sounding like dollars.

And come on - Cars...? There are cars that you drive and there are cars that make you *want* to drive. Whether it's power, features, handling - it might be just the way you feel in the seat. Wit me, it was motorcycles. I went through a few before I started riding Harley touring models. The earlier ones were nice to get out on. My last bike (it was in the Electraglide family), you didn't want the ride to end. No doubt, that was easily my most expensive bike -- I don't know if that's why it was my favorite, but I guess all that comfort and "mojo" was expensive. I sold it a few years ago (just didn't have the time) and not a single day goes by - summer or winter - that I don't regret that.

That all said - there are some truly exceptional pieces out there that just aren't expensive. Shure's SM7b. One of the greatest vocal mics of all time at any price. It's like $350. If it's was $3.50 or $3500 it would still be amazing. GAP makes preamps based on some of Rupert's old designs for a few hundos and the [well, somewhat more expensive version with the upgraded transformers] is quite nice.

Long story short -- If you don't want to use the pricey stuff, you're not obligated to. But don't tell people that the more expensive stuff isn't better just because *you* might not think so.

 

[RFR]

I'm going to make an assumption that you have [limited experience] with high-end gear and/or [limited experience] in this particular field. Because it takes [A] experience at the craft *AND* [2] experience with the gear to actually acquire the appreciation for the gear.

No one is suggesting that you can't make great recordings with cheap gear. No one is saying you can't get from A to B in a cheap car.

I'd bet Josh Bell could bring an audience to tears playing a chaconne on a $500 Mendini -- but he'd bring the orchestra to tears playing the same piece on a Stradivarius or a Guarneri. As one who has been in the same room with these "name plates" on numerous occasions, I can tell you that there is a difference. Just as there is a difference between the preamps on a Focusrite Scarlett vs. a Crane Song Flamingo. Just as there's a difference between an Audio Technica 2020 and a Telefunken AR51. Call it quality or character or mojo - but it's there. On one track, the difference may be very subtle - a dimes worth of difference. On 30, all those dimes start sounding like dollars.

And come on - Cars...? There are cars that you drive and there are cars that make you *want* to drive. Whether it's power, features, handling - it might be just the way you feel in the seat. Wit me, it was motorcycles. I went through a few before I started riding Harley touring models. The earlier ones were nice to get out on. My last bike (it was in the Electraglide family), you didn't want the ride to end. No doubt, that was easily my most expensive bike -- I don't know if that's why it was my favorite, but I guess all that comfort and "mojo" was expensive. I sold it a few years ago (just didn't have the time) and not a single day goes by - summer or winter - that I don't regret that.

That all said - there are some truly exceptional pieces out there that just aren't expensive. Shure's SM7b. One of the greatest vocal mics of all time at any price. It's like $350. If it's was $3.50 or $3500 it would still be amazing. GAP makes preamps based on some of Rupert's old designs for a few hundos and the [well, somewhat more expensive version with the upgraded transformers] is quite nice.

Long story short -- If you don't want to use the pricey stuff, you're not obligated to. But don't tell people that the more expensive stuff isn't better just because *you* might not think so.

Amen.

 

[mr average]

I'm going to make an assumption that you have [limited experience] with high-end gear and/or [limited experience] in this particular field. Because it takes [A] experience at the craft *AND* [2] experience with the gear to actually acquire the appreciation for the gear.

No one is suggesting that you can't make great recordings with cheap gear. No one is saying you can't get from A to B in a cheap car.

I'd bet Josh Bell could bring an audience to tears playing a chaconne on a $500 Mendini -- but he'd bring the orchestra to tears playing the same piece on a Stradivarius or a Guarneri. As one who has been in the same room with these "name plates" on numerous occasions, I can tell you that there is a difference. Just as there is a difference between the preamps on a Focusrite Scarlett vs. a Crane Song Flamingo. Just as there's a difference between an Audio Technica 2020 and a Telefunken AR51. Call it quality or character or mojo - but it's there. On one track, the difference may be very subtle - a dimes worth of difference. On 30, all those dimes start sounding like dollars.

And come on - Cars...? There are cars that you drive and there are cars that make you *want* to drive. Whether it's power, features, handling - it might be just the way you feel in the seat. Wit me, it was motorcycles. I went through a few before I started riding Harley touring models. The earlier ones were nice to get out on. My last bike (it was in the Electraglide family), you didn't want the ride to end. No doubt, that was easily my most expensive bike -- I don't know if that's why it was my favorite, but I guess all that comfort and "mojo" was expensive. I sold it a few years ago (just didn't have the time) and not a single day goes by - summer or winter - that I don't regret that.

That all said - there are some truly exceptional pieces out there that just aren't expensive. Shure's SM7b. One of the greatest vocal mics of all time at any price. It's like $350. If it's was $3.50 or $3500 it would still be amazing. GAP makes preamps based on some of Rupert's old designs for a few hundos and the [well, somewhat more expensive version with the upgraded transformers] is quite nice.

Long story short -- If you don't want to use the pricey stuff, you're not obligated to. But don't tell people that the more expensive stuff isn't better just because *you* might not think so.

You know what they say about ASSuming things.

My family was dirt poor. And I never had money to throw around after I got married either.

I am sure there are DIFFERENCES in those devices. But that is what I said. They are just differences. They do not sound any better. Better reliability maybe, easier to use maybe, and more prestige for sure.

I don't mind using the pricey stuff. I just don't want to pay for it to use at home. Our church is getting a new digital mixer that we will have a class on next month. 40 channels all digital with all the bells and whistles we will ever need. Are there more expensive boards of course. But they are only different not better. Ditto for bigger boards. They are just bigger not better.

I know that the pricey stuff is not better wrt how it sounds. They are different and any bettering is in reliability, features, and other nice to have but you do not need characteristics.

And better has to be judged by our wallets. If somebody can not afford a lamborghini then is it really better than the chevy that they own outright and works fine? I saw a guy driving one of those stuck in 1st gear during rush hour. All he did was get worse gas milage that day. Never got to go fast enough to need 2nd gear. So what was the point of spending so much money on a lambo except to impress his neighbors.

 

[miroslav]

You know what they say about ASSuming things.

Well brother...you should know, 'cuz you make a lot of them.

So how much high-end gear have you personally used, enough to have such in-depth knowledge of its sonic quality VS the cheap stuff...?
I mean, have you've actually had some $2k-$3k preamps on the table next to whatever cheap ones you like, and you did some real comparisons across many sources and with a variety of mixes...etc...???

And better has to be judged by our wallets. If somebody can not afford...

See...there it is again. Your judgment and views are all based on what you can afford.

 

[mr average]

Well brother...you should know, 'cuz you make a lot of them.

So how much high-end gear have you personally used, enough to have such in-depth knowledge of its sonic quality VS the cheap stuff...?
I mean, have you've actually had some $2k-$3k preamps on the table next to whatever cheap ones you like, and you did some real comparisons across many sources and with a variety of mixes...etc...???

See...there it is again. Your judgment and views are all based on what you can afford.

more BS from someone who has a poor self image and needs to put others down based on what gear they waste money on

i can read specs. they are all essentially just as good after you leave the drug store and go to best buy.
i dont need to go to the audio emporium to hear anything better.

i know what the gear can do and what is just fluff to charge more
and i do listen to them in showrooms to see for myself

not based on what i can afford but based on what i need
and i dont have the veblen problem nor GAS

 

[Massive Master]

And another thing ---

(oh lawd, here we go...)

No doubt, just because something is very expensive, it doesn't make it awesome - or right for you.

Back when I was a wee bit younger, I used to have a job doing interior repairs on various vehicles. Mostly cars, some boats and private aircraft. Upholstery, leather repair, cracks in dashboards - you get the idea.

A lot of it was "on the lot" (at dealers who were either prepping used cars or having me work on a customer's car as it was pretty specialized stuff in many cases). But a good amount of it was direct with the customer. These were typically people who were absolutely nuts about their cars. Some of them didn't want you to touch anything except what you were being paid to touch. Others would hand you the keys and insist you "experience" the car. And "experience" I did. Porsche, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Corvette, Camaro, old muscle, new turbo Shelby (well, new in the late 80's). One guy had me drive his Lamborghini Countach -- "Not too fast" he says "Once you hit 110, 120, just slow 'er down and bring 'er back, okay?"

Wow. That thing was fast. It was insane. It was exhilarating in ways I'd never experienced before. But it was cramped, it was uncomfortable, it was too low (I drive SUV's and mini-vans and I like it). It wasn't worth anything to me because I just wouldn't want it. I mean, it was cool to look at - obviously a machine that was crafted by people who lived and breathed their work. But yeah, no. I respect the hell out of it, but I don't want it (BUT - I respect the hell out of it).

Now the Rolls Royce Silver Spur on the other hand... I actually had to drive that around (had to... heh...) going to several leather experts to get the right kind of dye for the leather. That thing was like driving - I mean, if God had to drive a car in 1989 or whatever it was, it'd probably be a Silver Spur. All of a sudden, I didn't feel jealous of the people who got to be driven around in one of those beasts. I felt jealous of the guy who had to drive that guy around because he got to drive that car all the time.

I had a point (I also had a few drinks tonight).

Oh - Expensive stuff can be *really* nice. But not necessarily right for any one person. Same point as before, I guess.

[EDIT] And now I read all the stuff that was posted while I was typing. He doesn't get it. He never will. His loss.

 

[RFR]

Ya know, in the ninteys I had a project studio. Tascam mixer, Tascsm 16 track, decent, midpriced outboard gear, some decent mics. A decent live room and decent control room. Did lots of band demos there, EPs and even some commercial CD releases. Studio was booked 7 days a week. Stuff sounded great, we had great players, some great guest engineers and mixers. We did some quality stuff considering it was basically all prosumer gear. And then out came Tom Petty's wildflowers. Shit, I could never get anything in my studio to sound like that.......even with guys that knew what they were doing.
Having the expensive gear that Sound City had was the difference between it sounding like a record vs a demo.

Hate to say it, but we all bullshit ourselves when we come up with this crap, that our budget gear is 'just as good' as the expensive stuff.

Now that being said, someone who is lacking in talent, experience, ears etc....
Great gear isn't gonna do squat for them

But the seemingly 'natural' evolution is as the talent gets increased, the ears get better, the desire for better gear increases, as well as the means to get it.

Great gear is wasted on someone not skilled to use it. (Yet)

I had a buddy who jumped from a cassette 4 track to an SSL G series console almost overnight. He did a weekend SSL seminar and off of that got a gig as a second engineer at one of Mowtown's studios
He got to play around after hours, and did a 4 song demo with my band. It sounded like crap. We had the best gear but he didn't know what he was doing yet. We ended up getting a better demo with my cassette 8 track.

So knowing how to use the good gear IS important

The whole end result is a combination of EVERYTHING.

Just like food. You can eat at McDonalds or a 5 star restaurant. Both will fill your belly, but one's shit and the other is fine dining.

Just don't poo poo on the fine restaurant because all you can afford is Micky D.

 

[miroslav]

more BS from someone who has a poor self image and needs to put others down based on what gear they waste money on

i can read specs. they are all essentially just as good after you leave the drug store and go to best buy.
i dont need to go to the audio emporium to hear anything better.

i know what the gear can do and what is just fluff to charge more
and i do listen to them in showrooms to see for myself

not based on what i can afford but based on what i need
and i dont have the veblen problem nor GAS

You must really have some kind of inferiority complex...because I don't know where or who is putting you or anyone down...?
Please....besides just repeating the same nonsense over and over...point to the post where I or anyone is putting you or anyone down because of your gear choices...???

OK...so then you really don't have any hands on experience with the higher-end gear that YOU are putting down.
You basically look at the specs, pictures and prices...and that's how you come to your blanket conclusions.
Just what I thought.

 

[miroslav]

Back when I was a wee bit younger, I used to have a job doing interior repairs on various vehicles. Mostly cars, some boats and private aircraft. Upholstery, leather repair, cracks in dashboards - you get the idea.

......


[EDIT] And now I read all the stuff that was posted while I was typing. He doesn't get it. He never will. His loss.

That's interesting about the cars and the upholstery.
When I was in my last couple of years in high-school, I worked during the summers at a car dealership, doing minor repairs, mostly installing radios, and also a lot of driving...they would always send me to go swap cars with other dealerships, sometimes a couple of hundred miles away.
We didn't have too many exotic sports cars like you had access to, unless one came on trade, but they had a lot of American muscle cars back then.

One of my other summer jobs after high school was working for a high-end upholstery shop. These guys were master craftsman, only working on some really top-quality furniture...all solid wood and the best cloth materials. I was mostly doing the stripping down of the furniture when it came in to be reupholstered, and I would also go with one of the craftsmen when it was finished to deliver it...all very upscale homes (talk about money).
They thought I would maybe apprentice with them (they were a couple of pretty old guys, doing that work probably all their lives)...but I lost interest after the summer, and moved on. This was during my post high-school and various college attempts.

AFA the OP...I don't think it's just not getting it...I think much of it is just intentionally rejecting reality simply because everyone else here is in opposition.
You know...dug in like a tick on a dog's ass, and refusing to let go his views just to be contrary.

Oh...I know you've told me once before, but when you mentioned your $10k monitor system, tell me again what it's made up of?
I know your system is specific for mastering...which I'm not really going to be doing (other than in my own mind )...but I'm sure you also know which high-end systems are great for mixing.
I picked up the Focal Twin6 be monitors a couple of years back now, and I've loved them without any reservation...but now that I'm going to build out a substantially larger studio this summer if all goes as planned...I don't know if the Twin6 will still cut it. Oh, they will still be great in the nearfield...but I may want to either add to them something that will also be good mid-field and fill out the room better without any concerns about them overloading the room...or maybe just swap out the Twins for another pair.

 

[RFR]

..dug in like a tick on a dog's ass, and refusing to let go his views just to be contrary.

Too much Elvis will do that to a man.

 

[ecc83]

"When I was in my last couple of years in high-school, I worked during the summers at a car dealership, doing minor repairs, mostly installing radios, and also a lot of driving...they would always send me to go swap cars with other dealerships, sometimes a couple of hundred miles away.
We didn't have too many exotic sports cars like you had access to, unless one came on trade, but they had a lot of American muscle cars back then."

Couldn't do that here Mir' the dealer would never get insurance for anyone under 25 years of age to drive 400cu inch and bigger motors!

Re top names and their studios? The current edition of Sound on Sound covers the Queen story of the Bohemian Rhapsody DVD.

Dave.

 

[Massive Master]

Having the expensive gear that Sound City had was the difference between it sounding like a record vs a demo.

I sold them one of my Massenburg 8200's! Got rid of them because they wouldn't match up as well as I liked. GML told me they (I had 2) were "in spec" and I told them that their "spec" was unacceptable for a $5k EQ. As a sidenote, I *did* tell Sound City why I was selling and they didn't care because they weren't using it on stereo sources.

I know you've told me once before, but when you mentioned your $10k monitor system, tell me again what it's made up of?
I know your system is specific for mastering...which I'm not really going to be doing (other than in my own mind )...but I'm sure you also know which high-end systems are great for mixing.

It used to be $20k. Now, it's (still) Tyler Acoustics Decade series D1's fed by a (series 1) Emotiva XPA2 (used to be a Pass Labs X250 - long story - very sad) fed by a Weiss interface controlled by a Crane Song Avocet controller / DA.

Not specific for mastering - Just for listening. If I ever give this up, that chain goes to my living room. And my (also Tyler Decade) D4M's go into the surround position with the Bryston 2BLP. Another sidenote: One studio I do a couple projects for every year or so bought a pair of DX1's. His mixes immediately went from "pretty darn good" to "I don't even know why I'm charging him for this" in a year. Total audiophile stuff. Which is why I always push monitoring. And I applaud you for investing in the stuff that matters. And I hope the other guy doesn't try to convince you that it doesn't.

 

[ecc83]

That a great deal of money needs to be spent in the pursuit of the last 1% of sonic performance can be seen if we look at power amplifier design*

It is possible to produce amplifiers now with distortion residuals close to the best test equipment limits (AP) with THD hovering at 0.0001% up to 2KhZ at least but such a circuit will require some 25 transistors PER channel and that does not include DC offset protection and power supply costs.

The remaining distortion is almost all crossover artifacts (pure class A is deeply impractical for more than say 25WPCH) but even this can be removed at extra cost of components and some loss of efficiency (therefore bigger, more expensive PSU).

SO costly will be such designs that they will only be found in THE most advanced equipment. "Bryston" were mentioned and they are not cheap and part of that cost is incurred because the design requires selected components, i.e. transistors.

But, the vast majority of monitors "make do" with lesser amps and since speaker motors cannot get close to 0.0001% THD it could be argued there is no point. Then, few studios have low enough noise floors to allow such faint artifacts to be heard. No point at all of course for a tape source.

*Audio Power Amplifier Design" D Self.

Dave.

 

[Gtoboy]

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.

I've been working since I was 14 and it's taken a lot of years and hard work to get where i am(still does) including working multiple jobs, putting in 100 hour work weeks , even living in my car. So bag on me all you want but nobody ever handed me anything and i'll bet most of the people on this forum worked just as hard. I grew up poor and I aint rich now . I get just as envious of others "stuff" but i dont dis them because of it- I just work harder. I also don't run people down because they dont have some high dollar piece of kit. I am on this forum to help and be helped in turn, if you have only a four track tape deck and an inexepensive mic i can help because that's where i started- I am not going to tell you to get better stuff. There are folks on this forum that are smarter, more talented, better at recording and mixing and better equipped than I am but i would consider it a waste of my time to tell them that what they are doing is just as good as what i am doing with "less" in some vain effort to make me feel better about my personal difficulties . That's my perspective.

 

[mr average]

You must really have some kind of inferiority complex...because I don't know where or who is putting you or anyone down...?
Please....besides just repeating the same nonsense over and over...point to the post where I or anyone is putting you or anyone down because of your gear choices...???

OK...so then you really don't have any hands on experience with the higher-end gear that YOU are putting down.
You basically look at the specs, pictures and prices...and that's how you come to your blanket conclusions.
Just what I thought.

One thing I do not have is an inferiority complex.
Why does repeating facts upset you so much.

By your thinking everybody who does not use the most expensive device is a fool.

I do not need hands on when I have ears on.

And the specs speak for themselves.

Just how much bandwidth do you need to be good enough and not need more?

 

[mr average]

I've been working since I was 14 and it's taken a lot of years and hard work to get where i am(still does) including working multiple jobs, putting in 100 hour work weeks , even living in my car. So bag on me all you want but nobody ever handed me anything and i'll bet most of the people on this forum worked just as hard. I grew up poor and I aint rich now . I get just as envious of others "stuff" but i dont dis them because of it- I just work harder. I also don't run people down because they dont have some high dollar piece of kit. I am on this forum to help and be helped in turn, if you have only a four track tape deck and an inexepensive mic i can help because that's where i started- I am not going to tell you to get better stuff. There are folks on this forum that are smarter, more talented, better at recording and mixing and better equipped than I am but i would consider it a waste of my time to tell them that what they are doing is just as good as what i am doing with "less" in some vain effort to make me feel better about my personal difficulties . That's my perspective.

I am glad you were successful and have a 3 car garage for a studio.

Is that any reason to denigrate those with smaller abodes and a home studio like some are doing here?
Although some have inferiority complexes and need to put down other folks and their gear so as to feel good about themselves.

What it comes down to, more than gear, is experience and education to get the most out of what you have.

 

[miroslav]

One thing I do not have is an inferiority complex.
Why does repeating facts upset you so much.

By your thinking everybody who does not use the most expensive device is a fool.

You don't repeat "facts"...you just think that's what they are.
I've asked you to be specific both about the gear...and also to point to the posts where you (or anyone) was being put down as a "fool" for not using the most expensive gear, but you can't, because they don't exist.
I've got a good amount of inexpensive gear, because it works...but I also know when the higher-end gear works better...so I have some of both.

I don't think you've ever even been in the same room with any high-end gear...you're just coming to conclusions that suit your way of thinking.
So I'm not sure what you have your "ears on" (the specs in the magazines?)...when you've apparently never used any high-end gear to compare to whatever you're using.

It's all just a bitter argument on your part simply because you're bothered that some people can afford things that you can't.
You don't have any facts...you are just trolling. This thread was just about the money...or lack of.
Not my fault or my problem.