How do you know what you're talking about?

S

sessionselect

New member
I hear everyone talking and comparing so many different brands of mics, mixers, pres, ect...... now a lot of these people also say they're on tight budgets(aren't we all).....

So how do you know about all these different products?
I know you can read about them, but how can i get my hands on them and test them out without buying them? (tight budget once again)

thanks

ss
 
Some of us work in audio so we get the chance to play with a lot of stuff. Other than that it's friends or the music store. This is why it's important to establish a relationship with a sales person so they will go the extra mile for you and let you try stuff out.
 
Mostly, they just make it up. :D

Seriously, there are quite a few people on these boards that have had a lot of exposure to a lot of equipment (through work, friends, trying stuff out from the store, etc.), even if they don't own everything.

But you will also see some other folks express an opinion that the Delta 1010 or the Joe Meek pre is the best in its class simply because that's what they own and in spite of the fact that they really haven't tried anything else out. (Not that those opinions aren't correct, but they may not be based on as much experience as folks might suggest. I personally love my Delta 1010, but I really haven't played with much else. :))

If you watch folks' reviews for a couple months, you'll catch on fairly quickly to which folks fall into which category.
 
I try to only recommend something if I've owned it. I will point to a product that has recieved good magazine reviews, or else looks like a tremendous bargain because the price is low and the quality is high.

There has been a big explosion of inexpensive gear on the market recently and most people have only experienced a fraction of it. That's why no one is yet talking about the TC Electronic M300 or the Focusrite Penta for example. There must be hundreds of new mikes on the market just since I started becoming a recording "expert" two years ago.

I don't know how to test gear without buying it first. I just buy something and if it doesn't work out after a few months I put it on Ebay and get almost all of my money back.
 
Mics in particular are tough to try out in a music store. I've been told at GC that there's a law (not sure if it's state or federal) that prohibits people from trying out new mics because of germs & disease. This pisses me off to no end because I can't hear it for myself before I buy it. Mars has a basic selection setup in a mic room that you can try out, but they never seem to have the mics I want to hear. I have the same problem, as I don't work in the recording industry.

Fortunately, we've got this message board to help make these decisions. (okay, everybody go "awwwww").
 
I buy the equipment I review with my own shekels.

That should qualify me as objective.

Or anyone else for that matter, for the most part.
 
Well, I've got a small-ta-middlin' collection of gear, but only because I've been collecting for 15 years and I never get rid of ANY music gear. I limit my comments and reccomendations to things that I have actually used (either owned or borrowed). I also pass on things that I have heard, but I say "I heard that..." so the reader knows.

Amazing, you can pick up a good deal of vicarious gear know how by hanging out in the Mixing Clinic, reading what others use to record their gear, and paying attention to the different results people get with the same gear.

I'm fairly certain that the AT 4033 is a good mic. Why? Listen to VOXVENDER's stuff. In that case, too, I'd mention WHO might be able to give you more info on a particular product. i.e. "VOXVENDER uses a 4033- ask him what he thinks of it. His stuff sounded good to me..."

I'd advise any newbie to do more research than just look at the replies posted on this site, though. Read online mag. reviews, do google searches and see what turns up. This is just one resource, though a damn fine one.

Take care,
Chris
 
All I have is a Fostex x-12 and a couple of Radio Shack mics (with one of their "mic mixers").... but I still seem to have an opinion on everything! :p :eek: ;)


:D :D
 
I only talk about gear I own or have worked with a lot more than one time (walking buy a display in Guitar Center doesn't count).
 
I trust the opinions from members here with lower post counts. I just assume that everyone with high counts is spending all their time online and doesn't have time to test gear or record. :p
 
I mostly learn from people that I trust. Friends with more experience than I have, sometimes the guy at the shop (he hears alot of peoples opinions, but isn't all that experienced with all of it), guys at studios, or dudes that I meet when I have a mixing gig... I never take an opinion serious if they don't provide a reason with it.

I also get the chance to work with alot of gear at mixing gigs. But live mixing doesn't give you the chance to experiment alot. And other than that, occasionally I'll borrow gear for a recording session. Or even hire something. From friends, or from the shop. They know me, and if I'm looking for something and they have it in stock, they'll let me take it home and try it...

But I think I'm more a live mixing guy than a recording guy...
 
hey a coffea can is a musical instrument if you use it right......i've learned to respect djs a lot more because of how difficult it really is.....now they of course have to do their own stuff otherwise.......
 
I have more experience with DJ mixers as I've used quite a few over the years. But, I'm just really getting into recording, basically most of the people out here seem to be sincere in their effort to forward knowledgable info. and one thing is for sure, if you've been around any industry long enough you'll learn the ins and outs of the tools of the trade.

But like "Kelby said:

But you will also see some other folks express an opinion that the Delta 1010 or the Joe Meek pre is the best in its class simply because that's what they own and in spite of the fact that they really haven't tried anything else out. (Not that those opinions aren't correct, but they may not be based on as much experience as folks might suggest.

If you watch folks' reviews for a couple months, you'll catch on fairly quickly to which folks fall into which category.
Click to expand...

Best to put in the time to review the source "Before" accepting the gospel

Lyon
 
I've found that even if someone here recommends equipment as Kelby said, at least I have one more name to look at when I go into the music store.

The greatest handicap that I see is not knowing about an instrument/processor/mic whatever. Once I have an idea, then I try them out. I buy eguipment that sounds good to me with my money so that I can enjoy my hobby.
 
My suggestion:

Listen to as much as you can in the MP3 clinic.

If you hear a vocal sound you really like, ask them what mic and/or preamplification they used. Eventually, you might start noticing a pattern. For instance, I've been noticing an unusual amount of vocal recordings I think sound good that have been done with an AT 3035 over the past three months or so.

Ditto on all the other stuff. I can tell you off the top of my head, for instance that Macle (you can hear a lot of his stuff in the clinic) uses a Rode NTK running to an Averill-racked API to an Empiracle Labs Distressor recorded and mixed on a Paris DAW system.

I make a mental note of those sorts of things.

On the other hand, you will notice a lot of people getting really great sounds using much less expensive and/or hyped gear. So everntually, you will reach the point where you come full-circle and say to yourself: "Compared to good musicianship, knowlege, good instruments, etc., the gear I use to record and play with doesn't make a damn bit of difference in the grand scheme of things."

Then, you will sell all your expensive stuff on ebay, and load up with all Behringer mixers, tewb gear, etc. :) Not really.
 
I try to only post about stuff I have played with, but I'm old....Not Harvey old, but old just the same....

Being old, I remember when Midi came out. I remember going into music stores, and playing with brand new analog synths.

I remember when Kramer Gtrs were the shit, and if a guitar didnt have a floyd rose it sucked.

I remember when Echo units had tape in them, and clear acrylic was an option for drums.

And I got to play with crap between here and there. I got to see a day when you could buy an Arp 2600 or a Mini Moog in a pawn shop for 100 bucks, but no body wanted one. Rhodes were a dime a dozen, the Korg M1 was king for day. A vox Jaguar was a doorstop...I knew a pawn shop that had an Arp Axe, and Memory Moog, and a Moog source, all at the same time, and nobody wanted them because who the hell wants analog synths anyway....I mean People collect gtr's, but who the hell collects old keys....The new ones are so much better....

where was I....Anyway, over time, you change gear, stuff falls out of favor, and you can buy it cheap, then it gets popular again and you wish you hadnt hocked it...but you get to play with a lot of stuff,and you learn....and then when somebody asked you on a message board about some old Moog, or a hammond, or a rhodes, you can dredge of that memory of the time you fixed your prophet with a soldering iron and flashlight, and a paper clip in the drummers garage right before a gig, or how the first rhodes was built out of wrecked B17's, or the hammond was made by a tone-deaf clock maker....or how a real clavinet used a 9 volt and the notes would actually bend of you leaned on it...

YOU KIDS GET OFF MY LAWN.......
 
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