This is a thought-provoking thread and not just for the recording end of things. Allow me to throw the psychological angle in a bit more:
Being 50 now, I can't help but analyze a bit what brought me to the gear-overload I am in now.
"Self-deceiving mind" and all, fact remains I have too many hobbies that are financial sump pumps, space-hogs, labor-intensive, and posessed of all the things that make outdated hobbies hell: maintenance and spare parts.
Please keep the following in mind: I live in a 550-square-foot apartment, and I have an average-paying job:
Let's review:
Old Hi-Fi nut from the 70es. Surround receiver, 5.1 Dolby/DTS, SACD playback, 500+ LPs, tons of cassettes, 78s, reel-to-reel pre-records.
Home recordist and player.
Super-8/16mm film buff (collector and shooter.)
Hard-core film nut (Blu-Ray/58-inch Panasonic Plasma.)
Let's break it down:
I am on the eternal Bataan death march that only someone who grew up in Hi-Fi's golden age can be on: better amps, better speakers, better....everything. It will not stop until they write "Now it Sounds Right" on my tombstone.
I have
a Yamaha P-80 piano, my old Casio 6000, three guitars, a bass and the amps to go with them (and all the crap associated therewith.)
I have a Tascam 2488 studio-in-a-box.
I have a Studer 807 reel-to-reel.
The film thing....
I used to shoot Super-8 in the late 70es/early 80es and I never stopped loving it. Also (to get rid of the rest of the money) I collected feature prints and condensations on Super-8.
Now, in 2010, I am shooting Super-8, collecting Super-8 prints of films and also collecting 16mm films. Those hobbies are as bad as expensive recording gear. Top prints fetch crazy money.
I have 6 16mm projectors (one a Xenon), 2 Standard-8 machines and 2 Super-8 machines.
I can run a 16mm copy of a Hollywood feature giving an 8.9 foot Cinemascope presentation if needed, and without interruption up to 2hrs, 50mins as I have a long-play unit that takes 6000-foot 16mm reels.
Did I mention I am still in the same 550 Square Feet?
Did I mention I am divorcing?
Shooting: Try buying 8 rolls of Super-8 stock today (very fine professional Kodak film, admittedly, and about 19 minutes, 20 secs shooting time) and having it processed and transferred to digital format. $500, if you want it right.
Then, in case, once the bills are paid, there are always the Criterion Blu-Ray releases of great films in fabulous transfers; the obscure DVDs one 'must' have, and the new re-invasion of 180-gram LPs (Brian Wilson's two latest just came in.)
Nostalgia is a terribly powerful thing, and so is anger. Some things I know have come out of some ill-defined spite.
The Studer represents my failed attempts to have, first, a Tascam 4-tracker, then, any other reel-to-reel or multi-track cassette I came across during my youth. I finally just went straight to the top and got the 807 2-track Dolby HX 7.5/15/30 model.
I love it, but I don't love the path by which I decided on it. It smacks too much of 'the finger.' I adore the machine for the same reasons I loved the Revoxes then, but something got in between, if that makes sense.
It's the same thing that made me drop a lot of money on a Neumann SM-69 stereo mic about 4 years ago. I saw it as a teen in a catalogue and for some reason that particular "niche" mic stayed with me. I wanted one.
It is incredible, hyper-sensitive, and the last place it was made to be in is my apartment. It has that "larger than life" vibe when I pull it out and contemplate it. And so I use it, imperfectly, loving its presence in my home as much as its incompatability with this environment.
The best scratch demos I have made in a long time have been on my
Zoom H4 plunked down on my coffee table, with its built-in mics.
Oh, did I mention I cook? I also just got a new KitchenAid burr grinder and a Mochamaster coffeemaker. I really could use some Wusthof knives....and maybe a Le Corneau stove if the lottery hits right....
One day, I hope to relax enough to pare it all down....including the CB radio and the two chrome carbon mics.
Until then, I have good coffee, excellent tape sound, great LPs and beautiful films...and most likely someone would look in here and run away screaming
C.