Gear you purchased that were disappointments

  • Thread starter Thread starter sound125
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Alesis ADAT. Damn thing worked for about 5 Months of light use. I still use it (13 years later) for its digital converters though.

VOX pedal board. Has a lot of hiss and it doesn't agre with my Mesa. I can only use it for direct in to recording and even then it ain't all that great.

Audix clip on drum mics. I still use the bass drum mic but the tom clip-ons are useless.

Martin entry level accoustic with fake back and sides. Internal pick up worked for about 3 months. Not worthy of the name. Sounds OK, plays OK, but still a disappointment.
 
Two VSTis that spring to mind - Sonik synth and Trilogy. Sonik synth is in fact really excellent but I already had Sampletank and it seems that Sonik duplicates it. As for Trilogy, what an overrated tool. Maybe I was just too fussy, but it's double bass sounds (which I really bought it for) were, without being savage :mad: :( :mad: :( :mad:, "unimpressive". Both were disappointing.
 
PDP said:
... I had an old QSC power amp that sounded more like a fuzz box, complete garbage.
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That doesn't seem right, I was under the impression that QSC stuff was very good. I would be surprised if the amp sounded like a fuzz box when it was new.
 
It was in the 70s, trust me it was horrendous. QSC was absolute junk then. Yes, I've heard they're much better now.
 
sound125 said:
1. FMR RNP. This dual pre often gets rave reviews, yet, I found it to be lackluster for a walwart based box. In short, there's nothing that the RNP can do that a DMP3 can't do, if not better.
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I felt the EXACT same way going from the DMP3 to the RNP. What I thought was going to be an upgrade turned out to be a somewhat expensive side-step, which isn't necessarily a knock to the RNP so much as it is a big +1 to the surprising quality of the DMP3. Here's to hoping I won't feel the same way after I grab a lunchbox with a pair of 512Cs. :drunk:
 
I wouldn't have enough time to type the list...
 
sound125 said:
4. Joe Meek - Three Q. This box is proof that adding a Burr-Brown component doesn't make it a good preamp. Apart from having no headroom and a sterile sound, the EQ section has set a new standard for noise and harshness. The comp does offer some coloration, though.
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Going to have to disagree with you there. I found the sound to be anything but sterile. I'm hearing some of that vintage sound you mention on the older line and I like it. Perhaps the guts have changed? I consider the EQ and comp sections to be added bonuses that I rarely use. Though I do use the compressor for recording the odd bass track and haven't experienced any issues.
 
I bought a "Line 6 Pod XT Pro" a year ago , you know the 4u Rack version with the fancy Digital display ?? well this piece of gear is the worst sounding piece or shit that has ever been made , uterly awefull sounding piece of crap with not a single good sound in it .... My home built amp gets tones that are WAAAAAYYY better .....

Line 6 sucks ass !!!!
 
Just about everything that says "Behringer" on it -- I suppose those little sammich-sized mixers (I have a... a... UB802?) aren't too bad - for what they are - but as much as I never wanted to be one of those "Behringer Bashers," every time I have to use a piece of that crap, I swear (both literally and figuratively)... I don't understand it.

Presonus - Great ideas, horrible stuff except for a few pieces (the Central Station being a nice piece, although the main potentiometer is a hunk of crap! The most important part of the whole thing - the part that actually controls the level - is crap. Or at least, inconsistent in quality). And that POS Eureka thing... I went through three of those before I found out that it actually sounded like that and it wasn't broken.

Focusrite Penta/Platinum - As if they didn't jump the shark even with most of their "pro" stuff, the "cheap" stuff lives up to its cheapness.

Mackie HR824's - Glad they don't make those boat anchors anymore (although I've not had the pleasure of the new ones - maybe they're even worse).

Almost (almost) anything under a thousand bucks that has a tube ("toob") in it.

Countless LDC's.

Countless "studio monitors" -

I could go on for days.

Admittedly - I've been very fortunate as I've been able to 'test' an awful lot of gear of the years without having to take a financial hit on it.
 
Joe Meek - Three Q. This box is proof that adding a Burr-Brown component doesn't make it a good preamp. Apart from having no headroom and a sterile sound, the EQ section has set a new standard for noise and harshness. The comp does offer some coloration, though.
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I like the Joe Meek 3Q.
Has an "Old" feel to it and I do use the compressor which is really intuitive but I don't use the EQ.
Best answer I can come up with on it... "It's almost what I was hoping for when I bought it".
If I wasn't using ribbons, the 3Q would probably be spot on but I am and it's about 20dB shy.
Beautiful tone though. Dark with a hint of warmth.
 
legionserial said:
Going to have to disagree with you there. I found the sound to be anything but sterile. I'm hearing some of that vintage sound you mention on the older line and I like it.
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If it works for your applications, then that's all that matters. Insofar as the vintage sound goes, it's rather unlikely since the preamp is built around a modern circuit using inexpensive caps. Another weak point on the unit I tested is that the rear jacks are mounted directly to the PCB and aren't even fastened to the chassis. Not something I would feel confident plugging in and out of. Hopefully they added some fasteners to the newer units.
 
Whistlin' Pete said:
I felt the EXACT same way going from the DMP3 to the RNP. What I thought was going to be an upgrade turned out to be a somewhat expensive side-step, which isn't necessarily a knock to the RNP so much as it is a big +1 to the surprising quality of the DMP3. Here's to hoping I won't feel the same way after I grab a lunchbox with a pair of 512Cs. :drunk:
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I couldn't have said it better. I think they are both good sounding pres with the edge going to the DMP3.
 
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