Short list of gear to avoid at all costs.

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cominginsecond

cominginsecond

Decentralized Media Mogul
Newbies, mark my words. You will rue the day you ever buy any of the following pieces of equipment. Don't make the same mistakes I did!

1. Alesis Monitor Ones - Mixing with these was like painting with the lights off. I learned more about my mix from playing it in the car than I did from these monitors. They made everything, no matter how messed up, sound fairly good. AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL!

2. AKG C1000s Mic - Brittle, harsh, and thin. Good for nothing other than guitar cab.

3. Presonus Blue Tube - Dark, noisy, and ugly. OK as a bass DI, but not worth the price.

4. Any Nady rackgear - You don't want this stuff in your signal path. The compressor pumps and breaths like a mofo and just introduces way too many artifacts. The parametric EQ is harsh, and the graphic eq sucks as well. As cheap as Behringer, but not as good, and that says a lot.

5. Sonic Maximizer - Basically, this thing is a "suck" knob. Unless you're recording to a cassette four-track and need to brighten up a few tracks, this box is more or less useless.
 
Add any gear by Rolls and Bellari to the "avoid" list...
 
cominginsecond said:
Newbies, mark my words. You will rue the day you ever buy any of the following pieces of equipment. Don't make the same mistakes I did!

1. Alesis Monitor Ones - Mixing with these was like painting with the lights off. I learned more about my mix from playing it in the car than I did from these monitors. They made everything, no matter how messed up, sound fairly good. AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL!




i am going to have to disagree with you on that one. i know they are not the best, but i have found that my mixes translate very well with these monitors. i have, of course, added a sub with them. you do, like any monitor, have to get to know them a bit.
 
Re: Re: Short list of gear to avoid at all costs.

foreverain4 said:
you do, like any monitor, have to get to know them a bit.
I spent two years trying to get to know them to no avail. I guess I didn't have a sub, though. Either way, I got some 20/20s and my mixes have never been better.
 
Whew! I'm a newbie and I'm glad I don't have any of the gear your listed. In fact, I've never even heard of any of the gear you listed.

Maybe ignorance is bliss.

J
 
The sonic maximizer I might take a little issue with, not so much in the signal chain, but for guitarists with amps that need a little more snap to them, the little box can do wonders!

This is a good thread.
 
As far as nady rack equipment, I would lump all of nadys equipment in the short list of gear to avoid. Along with any microphone that uses the 3/16" mono jack.
 
60's guy said:

LOL, well actually I am in agreement with Blue Bear and Tex with what they said. I'm just saying that my guitar players *okay* amp was missing some punch and depth before the sound even hit the mic and so he threw one of those on his amp and it made my job a bunch easier. I probably could have EQ'ed to the same or similar effect but it saved me the hassle of having to. He also started using it in live gigs and it gave his rig that extra punch it was missing. I told him replacing his fifteen year old tubes in it would probably help as well but he never had the money for it.

Beer yes, tubes no. :rolleyes:
 
ANY THING FROM RADIO SHACK?

I have been dissappointed with almost every thing I have purchased from Radio Joke, with the possible exception of plugs jacks and adaptors. These are pretty simple devices and hard to screw up!

The trouble is that other electronics stores are hard to find and often closed when you need something right away.

Dom:confused:
 
Hosa Cables
Maybe all cables in this price range aren't great but I've had a couple Hosa cables become crackly and they don't do much moving so there is no good reason they should die. Not sure if it's worth it to solder new connectors to these cables.

Gemini Mixers
(For the DJs.) I've used many different models and very few of them were working 100%. Not useful except for beginners in the bedroom. I think even Numark is better if you're going to gig out occasionally.
 
cominginsecond said:

2. AKG C1000s Mic - Brittle, harsh, and thin. Good for nothing other than guitar cab.
I strongly dissagree on this. It is good on guitar cabs but also this is my favorite tom/ snare mics I own. They do however suck on overheads or acoustic guitar.
 
invisiblemute said:
Hosa Cables
Maybe all cables in this price range aren't great but I've had a couple Hosa cables become crackly and they don't do much moving so there is no good reason they should die.
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.
 
.........AND MOST OF ALL, STAY AWAY FROM ANY AND ALL
BEHRINGER MIXERS !!!!!
 
Actually we have had very good luck with Behringer mixers. We have multiple and our church also has them. All have worked flawlessly.

Ed
 
Re: Re: Short list of gear to avoid at all costs.

Track Rat said:
I strongly dissagree on this. It is good on guitar cabs but also this is my favorite tom/ snare mics I own. They do however suck on overheads or acoustic guitar.
I guess I never tried it on those sources. They did really suck on acoustic guitar, overhead, tamborine, vocals, flute, mandolin, and shaker.
 
Re: Re: Re: Short list of gear to avoid at all costs.

cominginsecond said:
I guess I never tried it on those sources. They did really suck on acoustic guitar, overhead, tamborine, vocals, flute, mandolin, and shaker.

hahaha lol

I used it on a female vocal once :D that was horrid
 
Captain Nuke'em
.........AND MOST OF ALL, STAY AWAY FROM ANY AND ALL
BEHRINGER MIXERS !!!!!
WHY do i always hear bad things about behringer products, on this board? and i'm asking because i'm really interested. i have the UB1204FX, and recently added the small UB802 - and i would buy a new behringer mixer anytime! the only thing i now miss is a phase switch.. :(

but yea, i AM a newbie, and have never tried another mixer, that is why i am asking, what i did wrong with buying those behringers.. lol
 
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