Hey if anybody is considered a noob, it's me. And as far as dumb same ol' questions being asked, it's my one and only thread going right now. For which I have received good advice.
I don't know how some people get into anything new without asking questions, there is no way. No amount of paperwork, books, videos, tapes, recordings, will get you the knowledge you need without asking some plain old questions to someone who knows the answers.
Sometimes those questions ARE answered in the material, but are perhaps not answered in a way that this one individual can understand.
For those of you who have read my thread about getting started, I hope it does not fall into the super annoying category you all speak of. It gets really hard when you have so much knowledge about things, and can't understand a person asking questions who does not know what you know. So I feel for you.
I can tell you for a fact, I have been studying the subject of home recording for 2 weeks now, have read pages upon pages of articles, how-tos, getting-starteds, and many threads. This is all fine and dandy to learn some good theory, but does NOT cover everything by any means. Nothing in the world can beat just asking a question to someone who has been there, done that. Especially when it comes to PC recording. So what if someone wrote a how-to article on home recording that was the best article around.......5 years ago? PCs have changed dramatically, and so has equipment. PC equipment changes every few months, so it makes it difficult to even use such articles. Or you find yourself buying outdated equipment.
In my own experience, every how-to article I've read, reads more like one individual's experience with a few pieces of equipment he happened to buy himself. And if you buy the same stuff he has, his how-to article is probably the best around. But the fact is, people have different needs, desires, budgets, and expectations. And the range of equipment is enormous. There is "good" equipment in all categories from cheap to expensive. And if somebody comes in here saying he wants to make pro audio at home for $100, he is simply misinformed. Obviously because he's a noob and perhaps just doesn't know what quality is. And if he doesn't like the fact that pro audio equipment is expensive, that's his problem.
On the other hand, if somebody says, I need a mixer and a mic for <$400. You can't just laugh and say HA, you actually need this $800 mixer and that $2000 mic and you have to build a 10' x 10' room off your house with plexiglass walls and soundproofing or else you will sound like crap. That's just crazy talk. If somebody says, I need a mic, you can't always just recommend the most expensive. They don't need a condenser if their just talking. They don't need huge signal to noise ratios for talking. A $50 mic will probably do just as good as a $150 mic.
People on a forum like this need to start acting like consultants instead of salesmen. Find out what a person is doing, what quality they expect, and then tell them realisticaly what they need. You can't always tell people they need a large diaphram gold plated condenser signed by Led Zeplin in order to do the voice overs on his brother's wedding video. Seems to me that is when people just start getting lazy in their advice. A so-so dynamic would work fine.
If there are so many people asking the same questions all the time, and you say there are countless resources that will easily answer their questions, then why don't you just point links to them? If someone is a noob, they aren't going to read a years worth of backlog threads. But if YOU happen to know of a thread that was the same thing about 3 months ago, YOU do the search for it and post a link for him to read. And if he's stupid and can't accept good advice, so be it.
You guys are here to help noobs in "home recording". Not tell them how to sound proof their house and build a studio out of their living rooms. Sometimes it's just overkill. Sometimes a person wants to get started WITHOUT having to read enough paperwork to fill a library. If all they need is some questions answered. It's like saying if a person wants to know what "hifi" means, they have to read the whole dictionary. Are you really so opposed to answering simple, basic, and repetitive questions? Do you honestly want someone to go buy a $50 book and read 1000 pages on how to become a recording artist, when all they have a a few basic questions?
I'm a member of other forums for other subjects like gaming and computers. And the members are a lot less hostile against noobs. Good grief. When we get a new person asking the same questions for the thousandth time, many members have an asenal of links to posts and stickies and articles to refer them to. If you are going to complain about noob questions and say they could find the same info in a hundred places, then why don't YOU get those other places and point them in the right direction? As if a noob is going to know what is a good article and what isn't?
Not only does a noob not know the terminology or have experience with any device. But they also have no idea WHERE to find good advice. They don't know where is a good place to buy, they don't know who is a good mentor. You say they can find the info elseware. But they don't even know WHERE to look. I know this was the case for me. I didn't know what was a good home recording forum, and all my google searching didn't even find this site for me, somebody refered me to this forum, from another forum. I didn't know zzounds might be a good place to buy audio equipment, until multiple people express their opinions about it. I didn't know the
Shure SM58 was a good mic until I got MANY people saying it was. This takes a LOT of research to try and do all on ones own. Without the convenience of a forum to ask questions. Especially when they are brand new to the field and don't even know where to start in the first place.
I'm not speaking to any one person, as my short time here has been great so far. Those who have helped have helped a lot. And have already kept me from buying equipment that wouldn't work for me. The other forum I'm at, also stopped me from buying a digital interface when I was really looking for an analog interface. Why? Because I wasn't 100% in the know about the various plugs the digital had versus the analog. And I was about to buy it just because it had a PC interface. Do the online stores tell you this? No. Do the manufacturers tell you? Kinda. But not in a fasion that a noob understands. I've already been saved hundreds of dollars by the help, NOT from articles and how-tos, but from real people answering noob questions in a forum.
So don't look down on people because they don't know as much as you. And don't make fun of them because they came here to use the forum EXACTLY as it was meant to be used. Don't put them down because they don't feel like spending 200 hours trying to research a subject, when all they need to do is ask somebody who already knows. Why create a forum and then tell people not to use it because the information they need is all over the place on the Internet?
I hope anybody who does, is ashamed of themselves. If somebody asks a question, even if that question was asked in the thread next to there's, if you have the answer, GIVE IT! And if the answer is elseware, POINT THEM TO IT! Why just ignore the thread or make fun of them or tell them RTFM! I hate that to no end. Some people may not even know how to search the Internet. But you do nobody any good by ignoring them or putting them down, or blindly giving them bottled advice that doesn't even fit their needs.
Because you know why? The man who got some bottled advice to go buy $1000 in equipment, only to take it home and not know where to plug it in, is not his fault. He was told to buy it, maybe by a person, maybe through an article, maybe just from the product descriptions, but that doesn't mean he knows how to use it. If he bought it used, maybe he didn't get a manual. You just don't know the complete story, so don't make rash judgements about it. Just help the guy.
If you were on a golfing forum getting advice on what brand golf club set to buy, you would have no idea what anybody is talking about. But if somebody finally gave some advice on a set that was within your budget, and you went out and bought it and took it home, it doesn't mean you can now tour or play like a pro. Nor would the golf club manual teach you everything you need to know about golfing. Nor can someone just go buy a 10 channel mixer and a couple mics, some cable, an 8 track, a limitor/condenser and an effects board, and instantly know how to hook it all up.
I was just reading the umpteenth article last night about home recording, and this dude had like 4 or 5 peices of equipment all hooked up wacky like. Going through each other and into the PC and back out into the same devices circling back around to the monitors and back in the PC again. So that his effects and midi sounds and so forth can be used. Crazy stuff. And giving warnings about never plug this line back into that line and mute or else it'll blow the device. What noob is gunna know any of that?
So anyhoo, that's my take on it. I have no sypathy for experts who sneer at noobs. Nor do I have sypathy for people who can't take advice, or reject it, or have no respect for those more knowledgeable then themselves. There are jerks on both sides of the coin. But I've said enough, and this is only about half of what I could say on the subject.
I was on another audio forum, a place with thousands of members, and 10s online at any given time. I asked my simple question about some product recommendations for my needs, somewhat the same as my thread here. And I've had 1 response in a week. I'm just asking nooby questions here, all I want is to know what is a good PC interface for recording, and nobody has any advice??? Some audio forum that is. Either everybody hates noob questions and is ignoring me, or nobody knows. I would hate to think that 10s of people read my thread, only to skip it over because they think the answer is easy. No it just looks bad on the forum, as its members are unhelpful and can't even answer simple questions or even post some links to good resources. May it never be here! Supposedly the definitive source on the subject at hand.
See ya round!
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