Solved Gear price question

[MOFO Pro]

I bought my BG-1 because I liked it, not because of it's price.

And I bought mine because I liked it... for the price

I understand your point Albert (and it's well taken)... but honestly... would you have forked over two grand for the BG-1 without giving it a listen... or was the low price tag, the reputation of the designer, and the praise in the various audio forums, enough to get you to spring for it... (as was the case with me)

Personally, for me... price always matters, no matter which end of the financial spectrum you're at...

 

[SonicAlbert]

I did give it a listen, and that was the motivating factor in me buying it. I already owned a fine preamp that cost near $2,000, the Grace 201, and really didn't even need another preamp. It was the sound alone that convinced me to buy it.

As far as price mattering, yes it does to most of us most of the time. But for the purposes of this discussion I think that it is important to bring up points about gear or situations where "price is no object".

It's important because if you can begin to think that way, it trickles down into better buying decisions on even low priced gear. The reason being that you get away from the intellectual game of "what am I getting for the money" and more toward "what do I like, what sounds good, what works for my music". In many if not most cases, extra features don't matter, but sound does.

 

[tdukex]

0-60 & 1/4 mile times, and top speeds of two cars:

2005 Ferrari 612 Scaglietti: 4.6 12.8 196 mph $250,000
2005 Chevrolet Corvette C6: 4.2 12.5 186 mph $50,000

The Corvette is just as fast and has similar handling and breaking characteristics, but the Ferrari costs 5-times as much as the Corvette.

Is the Ferrari worth it?

 

[kojdogg]

0-60 & 1/4 mile times, and top speeds of two cars:

2005 Ferrari 612 Scaglietti: 4.6 12.8 196 mph $250,000
2005 Chevrolet Corvette C6: 4.2 12.5 186 mph $50,000

The Corvette is just as fast and has similar handling and breaking characteristics, but the Ferrari costs 5-times as much as the Corvette.

Is the Ferrari worth it?

That's a great point. A more blatant example from the world of mics/gear comes from the Apex 460/Telefunken M-16 Mk I. Telefunken bought mics from the same factory (Ningbon Alctron) in China as Apex, made some small changes and sold their M-16 Mk I for $1400, where the Apex 460 is virtually the same mic and streets still for about $200-220.
Read all about it here:
http://www.studioreviews.com/m16-460.htm

edit: yeah this story has popped up here before, unearthed by others far more knowledgeable than me, but I do love re-telling it.

 

[MOFO Pro]

I did give it a listen, and that was the motivating factor in me buying it. I already owned a fine preamp that cost near $2,000, the Grace 201, and really didn't even need another preamp. It was the sound alone that convinced me to buy it.

As far as price mattering, yes it does to most of us most of the time. But for the purposes of this discussion I think that it is important to bring up points about gear or situations where "price is no object".

It's important because if you can begin to think that way, it trickles down into better buying decisions on even low priced gear. The reason being that you get away from the intellectual game of "what am I getting for the money" and more toward "what do I like, what sounds good, what works for my music". In many if not most cases, extra features don't matter, but sound does.

Excellent points Albert (as usual)... I guess it would be better to just state my own philosophy, then to contest yours...

I picked up the DAV because of the price... sound unheard... due to what I was hearing about it. Being made in the UK, with no local distributor... I didn't have access to one, or the ability to put it through it's paces.... but for the $600 or so that I dropped on it... it was worth the chance... If it had been $2000 it never would have happened... not without a listen first...

When I purchased a hard disc recorder I could have dropped all the money on a Mackie HDR... but the SDR was being discontinued and was sonically the equal to it's big brother... so I made a common sense financial desicion to go with the cheaper unit...

I could have bought a Roland V Drum set for $3,000 or $4,000 but instead pieced together a very decent kit from the DM-Pro sound module (GC blowout), Pintech Silent Tech trigger pads, hardware and cymbal triggers as I found them on discount (took over a year to find everything)... and wound up spending about a grand total on a set that I feel plays as well as the top of the line Roland.

I picked up a dBX Quantum for $200, and a TC Finalizer Express for $30... I don't do any of my own mastering, so wasn't looking for these particular pieces... but at those prices... I couldn't refuse... (if only for the investment)

Price matters... Quality matters... and my purchasing decisions are based on a balance between both...