Great Article on Recording Equipment Worth

[AcousticDreams]

This just popped up in my email, an article from Sweetwater: "Why Do Boutique Pramps Cost So Much?"

On a tight budget like many others, I keep hoping for those miracle pieces of equipment that cost less but perform like champions.

However, there is no denying Great River's clear response:

" I was moderating a preamp designer’s panel in Portland a few years ago when someone in the audience asked the designers if they could build a preamp that costs $200 instead of $2,000. Dan’s reply was classic, and I’ve never forgotten it.

Dan: “Well… there’s more than $200 worth of transformers in an MP-2NV — that’s my cost when I purchase in quantity! So, for $200, I can’t even sell you the transformers, much less the gain switches, pots, connectors, power supply, and everything else in the box. All those passive components are high-quality, expensive parts. And then there’s the design work and the construction. It all adds up to a product that sounds great and will last a long time. But you simply can’t build that for $200.”

https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/wh...gn=20200710-t1

[DukeX]

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

[INDENT]

On a tight budget like many others, I keep hoping for those miracle pieces of equipment that cost less but perform like champions.

Agreed, and they certainly do exist.

For example, there's a new pair of Beyer MC930s on Reverb for $710 shipped, and the seller accepts offers. These go retail for $1,000 pair.

And the used market can be especially fruitful. I have some very nice equipment purchased used, including a Great River MP2 that Dan serviced for me for free. He wouldn't even let me pay for return shipping! Super nice guy.

[rick-slo]

NPNG preamp and power supply:








Inside of my NPNG preamp. The cost of good components and circuitry does add up.

[Bob Womack]

Here's a custom-built Rupert Neve 10x1 audience mixer from about 1976. Just the bespoke transformer and push-push pot and on/off switch for each channel are worth about $400. Note no phantom power.

Bob

[ChuckS]

Inside the Gordon Model 5 two channel preamp. No input or output transformers, but a costly design in it’s own approach.

The controls for gain, mute, etc are in a separate box.

[jim1960]

Born of learning the hard way too many times, my philosophy is to buy quality once rather than inch my way up to it. I find that buying quality costs me less in the long run. I no longer own any of the many pieces of cheap gear I purchased during the first decade I got into recording.

I have four two-channel preamps now. It's more than enough to meet my needs.

My first venture into higher end preamps happened about 10 years ago when I purchased the Hardy M1 from Mercenary (there's a blast from the past that I was sorry to see disappear). The M1 is colorless, very clean, and very detailed.

A short time later, I bought a Demeter VTMP-2c. I bought this before there was a YouTube where you could see and hear gear in action. I did quite a bit of research into the various tube pre offerings back then, and this was the one I though would work best for me. It was a home run. My vocal mic at the time was a Blue Kiwi. The Demeter made that mic sound fantastic. And that's where this pre really excels... run an LDC FET through it and you can't help but be happy.

The Kiwi is a great mic but I was always looking for something better and at some point I bought a Flea 47. I wasn't sold on the Demeter/Flea combo so I set out to find another tube pre that would better compliment the Flea. I narrowed it down to either a Hendy Rembrandt or a Sebatron Axis 200VU. I decided to roll the dice on the Hendy and put in an order for the Rembrandt. I was told there would be about a four month wait before the build would start. I contacted Chris Hendy when the four months passed to see if my pre was still on schedule and Chris gave me a bad news/good news offer. He said the chassis for the Rembrandts still hadn't arrived and he had no idea when they'd show up. But rather than ask me to wait, Chris offered to build me a Da Vinci for the same price. The Rembrandt was a just a two channel tube pre. The Da Vinci has the same tube pre but with an opto compressor and some sound shaping ability. Getting the channel strip unit for the same price as the pre amp unit was a very lucky break and it paired beautifully with my Flea.

I thought I was done but some months later while looking around on Reverb, I came across the Sebatron Axis 200VU I almost bought. The seller was taking offers, I made one and it was accepted. I didn't really need that pre but I was very curious about it and now I know why people speak so highly of Sebatron products. The coloration is different from the Hendy but no less pleasant and no less musical. Either could be my go-to for vocals and I can't say I favor one over the other. I'll usually do a quick take with each and go with whatever strikes me as best at the time.

My bases are pretty well covered and the only pre I'm interested in these days is the Hairball Lola. It's a DIY kit pre but every time I hear it on acoustic guitar I'm blown away by it. I've been resisting for some time now but I suspect one day I'll wear myself down.

[KevWind]

I think the conundrum is two fold
#1 that in electronics there has been a steady trend towards better quality at lowering prices, do to improvements in efficiency etc., of manufacturing of both raw materials and finished products .

#2 probably since the advent of the cassette tape, there has also been a steady trend of broad acceptance of a shift towards "Portable and Convenient" with perhaps the unintended consequence of less dynamics and fidelity becoming more acceptable. Or a tend towards a "good enough" perspective.

However neither of those two things can ultimately erase the immutable laws of manufacturing --- "quality in quality out" -- and in general and with rare exception -- "quality costs" or simply put the old adage "you get what you pay for " in general, still applies .

[ChuckS]

Originally Posted by KevWind

...[snip]...
#2 probably since the advent of the cassette tape, there has also been a steady trend of broad acceptance of a shift towards "Portable and Convenient" with perhaps the unintended consequence of less dynamics and fidelity becoming more acceptable. Or a tend towards a "good enough" perspective.
...[snip]...

Younger folks are so connected, with audio and video being so easy to use and inexpensive to acquire. But many are missing what music can really sound like, both live and recorded. I think back to days of my youth when building up a great home stereo system was so important, and sounded so good. Going to 'parties' at friends homes to mainly listen to music on their stereo or quad system. There's a price for convenience just as there is a price for best in class.