Short list of gear to avoid at all costs.

  • Thread starter Thread starter cominginsecond
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I use a MX602A...........


it has a nice quiet and warm Pre...........



I guess it is about luck and a lack of quality control on Behringer's part.....

same deal with my Rode NT1....
nice mic......captures the acoustic guit beautifully....
not considered a high quality mic though......


perhaps it has to do with the combination of gear within you signal chain all together....seems reasonable to me that you could possibly get a good signal chain with what is considered inferior products if the mix of products is right....if they compliment one another....ya know?



Joe
 
Stay Away List:
this is a good thread.....

Behringer- I tried the stereo compressor and an effects-Multi Pro unit both super thin sounding...
i felt the knobs on the mixers were flimsy to the touch also.

Pawn Shops::::I've been burnt numerous times with used stuff...it worked fine in the Pawn SHop...but as it heated...ZZZBBZZZZQQQQ(*&$(*&#ZZZBZZZBBBZZZZ, broken jacks that were glued together........


over the years, I've wasted alot of time swapping out equipment.
hindsight at 20/20, many of us probably could have used a thread like this...and we'd all have Nuemanns and Tube Pre's and Compressors by now!!!
 
Blue Bear Sound said:
Yes there is a reason --- wire ages and oxidizes over time, degrading the ability to conduct signal.... that is one of the biggest differences between the expensive and cheap cable - expensive stuff is as oxygen-free as possible, while the cheap stuff isn't and tends to breakdown more quickly over time.
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Blue Bear - can you offer any cable brands to stay away from? I've used a few 1/4"-to-1/4" Hosa's in the past and also Radio Shack gold-tipped Dual RCA stereo cables.

The Radio Shack cables seemed to be okay. However, I'm a noob when it comes to knowing good cables vs. bad cables.

Phree
 
Avoid any cables with moulded ends -- Hosa is a good example. Radio Shack cable is pretty much garbage....

Some of the good brands include Mogami, Canare, Belden, Gepco, Zaolla....
 
Crap Cables:
Good point about metal oxidization. But I'm not talking about degradation over several years -- more like one or two. Hosa really sucks! I'm guessing other cheap wiring is also made under similar low quality conditions but I wonder why I have cheap phone wires that work after several years, cheap headphones, and other cheap crap that still works. Eh... caveat emptor right. Kids definitely go out and get decent cable, not necessarily that $1k a foot stuff but decent stuff.

Alesis Monitor Ones:
I have Alesis Monitor Ones and while they definitely aren't even close to performing like real studio monitors they are a huge improvement over computer speakers and boomboxes that some bedroom musicians are using to monitor their mixes. I think the Ones serve decently for what they cost and if you use them for what they are. They're solid entry level bedroom monitors and they're priced that way. A little tip for the geeks. A friend gave me a pair of 360 ribbon tweeters that when used with the Ones make a huge difference. I'm sure the curve gets a bit out of wack and wavy but the upper and mid clarity and spacial field are hugely improved. I've tried to do research on the tweeters but there are no markings I can find and I couldn't find it in any catalogs. They aren't constructed particularly well so I don't think they would cost all that much. Places like Part Express sell comparable components.
 
My biggest gripe with the Monitor One's is their lack of low end. I could never hear the problems with the low end in my songs until I took my mix into the car or on my home stereo. No that I have 20/20s I can hear the problems with my mix much, much better. There's no point in spending $200 on Alesis when you can have the Yorkvilles for $240 or the Events for $300 or so.
 
cominginsecond said:
My biggest gripe with the Monitor One's is their lack of low end. I could never hear the problems with the low end in my songs until I took my mix into the car or on my home stereo. No that I have 20/20s I can hear the problems with my mix much, much better. There's no point in spending $200 on Alesis when you can have the Yorkvilles for $240 or the Events for $300 or so.
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Or KRK V4's....

small but effective...$240 a piece...
 
The 20/20s aren't even in the same class as the Ones. You'll definitely get more bass from the 8" woofers in the 20/20 compared to the 6" in the Ones. I have the original Ones and haven't heard the new V2 which have new drivers.

In any case I'm pretty interested in hearing the Yorkvilles. They're getting pretty hyped around here. The Ones definitely lack deep bass and I've used one of those car bass tuning discs to check. The Ones drop off pretty fast under 70Hz. But it's fun to watch them wheeze and move in a pitiful attempt to reproduce material under 20Hz. Even with near fields like the 20/20 or the beastly Mackies I think it's best to have a sub. Sure a sub introduces a whole host of new problems with monitoring but I don't think driver technology is quite at the point where a single 8" driver can cleanly reproduce mids to deep bass.

BTW, Tape Op had a review saying the new Tuned Reference TR8s were a significant improvement over the regular 20/20s.
 
Blue Bear Sound said:
Add any gear by Rolls and Bellari to the "avoid" list...
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I second that on the Bellari. I thought it looked good though. LOL


Maloclm
 
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sae said:
What about Samson headphone amps?
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I dont own one,, never have.

But they just look cheap as hell.

I got a OZ. I love it !!

Well so does other gear that looks cheap but could be real good.
(RNP / RNC) for instance.

Better yet, anything thats not rack mountable looks cheap to me.

1/2 rack spaces that is.


Malcolm
 
-any zoom effects products (zoom 505 zoom 606)
-electric guitar less than $100 (example: drive s101)
-quartz audiomaster software (expensive and crap)
-soundblaster below the model of audigy 2

i hope nobody read this messgae
crap crap crap
 
Jerb is right, zoom pedals suck, at least the models we have played around with. Samson is to be avoided like the plague, crapy designed mics, never used any other gear else by them, but they are right there with the nady's.
 
Well so far I have learned this little fact "You get what you paid for"

As long as you keep that in mind you will always know what is cheap gear!

I'll add any stomp box made by Dan Electro. They are cheap, and break very easily.
 
Definitely stay away from a used TASCAM...

TM-D1000

digital mixer.

It is a bloody piece of shite!
 
New DJ's.................. stay away from these mixers.....

GEMINI

STANTON

NUMARK

save your money, then get a Vestax.
 
Once again, stay away from the Alesis Studio One's.....

Their new powered V2's equate and sound nice, but heed the forementioned warning from our other members and myself.
 
I will even make the statement that you should even think twice, if not three times before buying Event 20/20's.

As a newbie you will experience problems interpreting your mids.

:eek:
 
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