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Post by bowie on Sept 5, 2018 1:08:31 GMT -6
There's this "expensive vs cheap" war that people seem to take a side on but it's not that simple. You really have to take it on a case by case basis. I've had more cheap gear fail but it's much easier to forget about those than it is the unit you paid $3,000 for.
I've been shocked at some of the things I've found in some high end gear and it's sometimes being made by guys with highly regarded names in this biz. People you'd never think to question. Not just cheap parts here or there or sloppy work, but I've actually found mistakes in wiring where they got one channel correct and miswired something in the other. A $10,000 pair of custom mics where they didn't bother to even use the same brand of capacitors in the audio path of both mics. But, those are exceptions and I generally see not only smarter designs, but much better components used in high end gear.
Most of the Chinese stuff I see is built quickly with the cheapest materials. Some rise above that though. And, others rise above it for a time, then slip in some area. Just like some of the high end builders do.
I haven't noticed enough of a difference in reliability for it to influence my purchase the way that the sound quality will. I'll always buy for the sound, regardless of price, unless there's a serious issue going on with the company.
Side note; a lot of people buy used high end gear (me included) and notice a higher instance of issues. Keep in mind that many people sell their gear rather than get it fixed or even looked at to see if there's a reason it's sounding bad. I unfortunately see this happen a lot. A LOT.
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Post by bowie on Sept 4, 2018 15:42:49 GMT -6
I've not opened one of these myself, nor have I dealt with anything similar, but that mounting design looks like a nightmare if it is in fact glued. I thought perhaps you could work from the other end but I see that's not possible because of how some of the other components are mounted. If you find that it is glued, heat may be the only option to remove the box. If it's glue gun/craft glue it shouldn't be too terribly hard to remove. If you don't feel comfortable though, don't do it.
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Post by bowie on Sept 4, 2018 15:31:49 GMT -6
Didn't want to make a separate thread for this so I'll throw it in here; I haven't been using the site on my phone because of potentially dangerous looking pop ups and rather than ignoring it I thought it best to bring it to attention to help the site. These are the deceptive type ads saying "you won" or "your device is infected" prompting me to click. I have pop ups blocked but they hit me on this site periodically. I know it's not my device or browser as none of the other sites I visit do this.
I'm using Chrome on Android. Hope that into helps!
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Post by bowie on Sept 1, 2018 19:10:10 GMT -6
I was not raised on country music. When I was growing up country was Garth Brooks and Billy Ray Cyrus and I didn't like it. Then, about 15 years ago I discovered outlaw country and it changed my world. It's painful not being able to tell people you like country because of what they associate it with. So, I just say I like Waylon, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, etc.
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Post by bowie on Aug 14, 2018 15:02:56 GMT -6
"No one likes fees but it's not worth throwing away all rights as a buyer just to save 3%.": exactly !! In using f&f the seller and buyer are now incurring risk as they will have no recourse through PP's dispute mechanism, there will be additional costs as there will no included shipping insurance (paid for within the 3-4% PP fee). This btw is automatically paid by the seller. If you ask the buyer to pay you more, PP still takes the 3.99% off the total. Normal transactions always require a tracking number again to support a dispute. Like said above, I will use F&F with people I know but otherwise, not I use the PP receipt system to very accurately describe the product I am selling and the deal as I think this helps PP to side with me in a dispute. Once payment is received , I transfer it out of my PP account asap, also, just so PP can't play games with my money Here's a cautionary tale for sellers. This year, a Youtuber I occasionally watch was receiving significant donations from a fan. I was very suspect but never said anything. One day the broadcaster uploaded a video, appearing distraught and suicidal, explaining that all the donations (PayPal F&F) were disputed and that he now owed PayPal over $10,000. PayPal was unhelpful and the streamer (a guy in his 20's living in his parent's house in the UK) had given much of the money to help his family. Be careful who you accept friends and family payments from.
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Post by bowie on Aug 13, 2018 16:23:39 GMT -6
ONLY use FriendsAndFamily if know/trust the seller. I've heard some real horror stories. I also had it work for me once when someone tried to scam me. After being very difficult to negotiate with, he paid directly with F&F for an E-drum kit before I could even send him a PP invoice. He was hassling me for discounts AFTER the sale, before he even received it. After receiving the kit, he claimed the electronics were all faulty (which they weren't as I tested them all) and tried to get me to send him a partial refund. I told him I would only accept a return. He filed a dispute asking for the partial refund. I spoke to a rep at PP and she said, "If you would have invoiced him he would be entitled to a full refund but since he went outside the rules and violated the F&F agreement, he has no rights in this claim".
Even though it was a bit of a reverse scam, it opened my eyes and now I always pay for items as merchandise, and include as many details about the item as possible in the notes. Some sellers insist on F&F only. I tell them I will pay as merch and add 3% (or whichever) percent to the toal to cover the fees. If they have a problem with that, there's clearly something sketchy going on. No one likes fees but it's not worth throwing away all rights as a buyer just to save 3%.
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Post by bowie on Aug 13, 2018 15:43:05 GMT -6
Just a thought, gamers have low-latency wireless headphones and some of them reportedly have decent sound. Look into the higher end "Astro" brand headsets. I've never used them so I can't attest to anything about them but I've spoken with people who have spent $300+ dollars on them to use for competitive gaming where low latency is critical. My friend walks around the house with hers on so it should be ok for the range of a studio. With the limited options out there, it may be worth looking into. Not sure if any of them would look acceptable though...
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Post by bowie on Aug 11, 2018 18:30:03 GMT -6
I think what we see a lot of on forums today is a push back from years of gear snobs flaunting their prized possessions. People WANT to see something just as good come along. Related problem, not science at all: changing tastes....or inflexible, and not changing. Very much. I've found just about every decently built piece of gear I've used to sound good in one application or another. If not, I surely found that someone else was able to put it to good use in their application (after all, taste is hugely subjective). IMO, we're lucky to be in an industry where you more often than not get what you paid for. I have a hard time reading the "other" forum because everyone casts an exaggerated opinion to wage this war over what the "best" gear is. I've found it to be incredibly unhelpful and has so often steered me into buying gear that didn't suit my needs at all. I wonder if there are food forums where people have the same silly arguments about what tastes better...
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Post by bowie on Aug 11, 2018 14:22:25 GMT -6
Not to be contrarian, but it strikes me as odd that the world’s best microphone manufacturer can’t get it right on their own star product, while somehow there are a few select individuals that really know better, know what’s wrong, and know how to fix it. I can’t help but remain skeptical. I have no horse in the race anyway... I like to think this way. It's logical to think this way anyhow. But, then I'll have a client's mic in my studio (for a re-tube, or a session) and I'm often just floored at how much better I like some of the originals compared to mics that are attempting to clone that sound. Rack gear I feel differently. There's plenty of ways to make rack gear better than before, IMO. But, with mics, my ears tend to favor the classics when they're in good shape. I've not compared the new re-issue but I have A/B'd (using matching tubes) Neumann's 90's reissue with a classic and it wasn't really close for me. The reissue was a great sounding mic. But the classic just translated the emotion of music in a more satisfying way to me by seeming more natural, yet somehow richer, more present and still smoother. Maybe the new reissue is another beast entirely. I don't know. I'm not part of the "exclusive club" so I'm not protecting any investments. I'm not threatened by anyone's opinion on the subject. Just sharing an opinion having had the opportunity to use a lot of great vintage mics and a lot of clones. I think what we see a lot of on forums today is a push back from years of gear snobs flaunting their prized possessions. People WANT to see something just as good come along.
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Post by bowie on Aug 3, 2018 17:02:03 GMT -6
To convert it to a tube EMT? Lol No reverbs for me. I am toying with the idea of switching up some of my Schoeps capsules. But, I should probably just be patient... Patience is so boring though ..
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Post by bowie on Aug 3, 2018 8:37:11 GMT -6
Oh... the temptation...
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Post by bowie on Jul 25, 2018 20:32:17 GMT -6
I won't go too much into this for the possibility that people have worked with could be reading, but these things are rarely ever 50/50. That's ok. But, you must decide if the situation is enough for you to be happy with it, or if the other individual is really going to stay happy with that they are offered (you don't want them changing their mind and creating a complicated mess months in).
Whatever you do, always prepare for a worst-case scenario. It's easy to be casual with people in the music biz and I've mostly been very fortunate. But, I've also spoken to many who have lost tens of thousands of dollars due to partnerships that went south.
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Post by bowie on Jul 25, 2018 20:26:52 GMT -6
Very cool! Let us know how it turns out. I finally gave up on mine. Every time I went to use it, something else had to be adjusted or fixed. Loved the having it around but in the end just couldn't deal with the maintenance. I've had relationships end that same way.
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Post by bowie on May 24, 2018 14:50:09 GMT -6
Good to know. I am still curious if bowie was talking about C8. Hi, if you mean the HF pot, it's R37 I was referring to.
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Post by bowie on May 22, 2018 22:07:19 GMT -6
I've never known anyone who actively adjusted an LA2A's HF emphasis pot in modern recording. Typically, if someone says their LA2A sounds "off", I tell them to check that as someone may have messed with the pot. Not that it's bad to experiment, I've just not known anyone who found it helpful in a musical context on an LA2A. When I make LA2As, I include it because it's part of the original circuit, but use a locking pot to keep it from being accidentally adjusted.
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Post by bowie on May 12, 2018 15:56:37 GMT -6
Does anyone remember Neumann re-issuing this mic in the 90's as well? A friend of mine loaned me one of those along with his original U67. I found the 90's re-issue to sound "brighter" because the upper-mids/lower-highs were stiffer (or "more present", depending how you want to spin it) and it did not have the harmonic content of the original. This seems to be a very common theme I run into nearly every time I compare a piece of gear from decades ago vs a modern clone, which I've done many times. Modern parts tend to be more accurate (save for tubes) giving you less harmonic richness and a more crisp top end. Sometimes it's good, sometimes not, depending what you liked or didn't like about the original.
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Post by bowie on May 4, 2018 19:54:19 GMT -6
Late to the party here but in case it helps, this was a lifesaver; www.soundseat.com/I was having back and sciatic nerve problems while testing tubes, and also when practicing guitar. I'm pretty active so it was frustrating to get pain while sitting. Tried various drum thrones, including the popular rock~something, which I sent back. At my wits end, I decided to make the investment in the soundseat based on a lot of acoustic guitar players telling me I needed one. 2 years later, I can work or practice as long as I want with no pain, and the seat is still as soft as new. The fact that the family behind the company are good people is worth mentioning too. I use a heavy duty Gibraltar tripod base which doesn't squeak at all. However, the stands it comes with are, by all reports I've seen, quiet. Which one did you get? I got the basic "retro replacement" to use with my old drum throne base because I was trying to save money. However, my old throne base was squeaky so I got a Gibraltar base to replace it and it works well. I did not get any back or arm support because I just do better without them. I move around too much. The leather they use is really great stuff as some of my jeans have metal pocket buttons on the back and they haven't harmed the seat one bit. The cushioning is ridiculously good. I don't detect one bit of compression after all this use. Others have reported the same. When it was first recommended to me, I was like "why are these guitarists virtually pressuring me to buy this??" lol. But, now I understand why. The fact that the sciatic pain went away is such a huge deal for me.
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Post by bowie on May 4, 2018 16:29:41 GMT -6
Late to the party here but in case it helps, this was a lifesaver; www.soundseat.com/I was having back and sciatic nerve problems while testing tubes, and also when practicing guitar. I'm pretty active so it was frustrating to get pain while sitting. Tried various drum thrones, including the popular rock~something, which I sent back. At my wits end, I decided to make the investment in the soundseat based on a lot of acoustic guitar players telling me I needed one. 2 years later, I can work or practice as long as I want with no pain, and the seat is still as soft as new. The fact that the family behind the company are good people is worth mentioning too. I use a heavy duty Gibraltar tripod base which doesn't squeak at all. However, the stands it comes with are, by all reports I've seen, quiet.
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Post by bowie on Apr 13, 2018 16:21:17 GMT -6
Glad to see this. I don't know if this was covered in this thread yet, but this started in the auto industry. The courts deemed it was unfair for a manufacturer to void the warranty on, say an A/C system, just because you modified the exhaust. It ensures that you aren't forced to take your car to the dealer to get your oil changed, etc. I was wondering why it hadn't been applied to other industries sooner. If you do something that can specifically be linked to damage of a specific part (for instance; if you change your speakers and it shorts out the electrical system in your car, frying it) the manufacturer is not required to to warranty those damaged parts.
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Post by bowie on Mar 20, 2018 14:58:28 GMT -6
I tried to replicate this yesterday in my home studio/OD/mixroom. I could not with the same setup...output viewed in RX6 was clean as a whistle. The problem tracks were cut in a very remote location, close to a ski resort...and I wonder if the power was super dirty from the lifts running. I am running a Furman Balanced Power unit that weighs like 100lbs (no joke) so that should have cleaned that up I think. I do remember that I had a microphonic/failing tube in my Retro 2A3 EQ that I recently had replaced under warranty by bowie so I wonder if that funky tube could have caused it. Since I do a lot of remotes, maybe I’ll start making a test recording of my crucial channels and inspecting them in RX6 before committing to tracking. I usually don't see anything that uniform and high frequency with tubes but the interesting thing with tube microphonics is the way they interact with the chassis and the vibrations of the power transformer. Tubes can sometimes be dead-quiet in most gear but if they are in a chassis that resonates at the resonant frequency of the tube's glass envelope, you can get awful microphonics. The vibration of the PT can sometimes contribute to this. I can't get that particular tube to exhibit that behavior in any of my gear, but that's not to say there wasn't a "perfect storm" going on that affected it in the Fearn. Is it possible that a client that day/week had an electronic device that could have introduced the noise? With all the high-gain noise testing I do, I sometimes discover problems when I bring in new devices, particularly those running on wi-fi.
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Post by bowie on Mar 2, 2018 19:32:10 GMT -6
Hey Tube Guys!! ragan , johneppstein , winetree , Can you help a guy out??? (disclaimer - I know not much about tubes....) I ordered both the 15W and the little champ version. The 5W champ version came with a broken tube. It's the larger tube. I believe the manual says it's a 6V6GT Power Tube. It seems hardly worthwhile sending the whole amp back - (which is what they will no doubt want). Any ideas or links on what kind of tube to replace it with? Is the "GT" a particular version of 6V6? Again, consider me a #1 Class-A Tube Noob - thanks!! bp I'm afraid I straight up don't know if the 'gt' matters. I'm almost sure it doesn't? Let's see if bowie is around. I didn't follow the convo but "GT" is "glass tube" and in relation to 6V6, you can use the GT, GTA, or GTY. With 6V6s, you usually don't want to go backwards and use a metal 6V6 in a circuit that calls for GT. In amps that punish power tubes (like the old Fenders with high plate voltage) it can sometimes help to have a GTA or GTY for the extra plate dissipation. Edit; and as John said, any modern 6V6 will be compatible.
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Post by bowie on Feb 28, 2018 17:01:38 GMT -6
Your preamp tubes are a big part of the tone of the amp. Some tubes will brighter, darker, quieter, have better low end, etc. I couldn't tell you the technical reasons why but from experience it can definitely make a noticeable difference. I like NOS Jan Philip's or Jan GE 12ax7's a lot for these duties. I get you, but also don't I'm deliberately changing to 12AY7's to get more headroom out of the preamp stage. I was hoping for some specific idea of the tonal change from a 12AX to 12AY, but I'm starting to see it's probably just not that simple. Here's some generalizations (because I believe in keeping it simple). Tone-wise, creating more headroom tends to thin the tone. 12AX7s usually have a low-mid/upper-bass push and subtle compression. Changes in gain and bias as you go lower on the mu chart often lean out the tone. But, then you have brands to consider. A 12AT7 will usually sound thinner than a 12AX7 when used in the same circuit, but something like a vintage Mullard 12AT7 might actually sound thicker because of the nature of those tubes. The construction and materials used give them their own character. All tubes are this way, though modern production pieces tend to have a more similar character to them.
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Post by bowie on Jan 17, 2018 11:33:48 GMT -6
Congrats! I like that emblem BTW. Custom work? What output cap did you go with? I find this is a fun area to experiment with. Look forward to hearing it on your next project.
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Post by bowie on Jan 13, 2018 17:17:20 GMT -6
I’d be interested from bowie with his wealth of tube knowledge, how to best select tubes. I try them all one at a time by ear. It takes a lot of time and I end up with lots of tubes that are less than desirable. There's no easy way. That's why tube dealers who are actually trying to make money don't bother. The deeper you go into testing, the more problems you find and why would they sell only half their tubes when they can sell them all at a set price and just take returns from buyers who notice problems? I started out by doing exactly what you are, by listening to them one by one and picking out the good ones. This only became a business because many friends, and friends of friends, and their friends, also wanted good tubes, to the point that it became full time work 10 years ago and I had to take the screening process to another level (or three). The best advice I can give to audio engineers is not to invest too much into equipment or time because there's aspects that go far beyond anything basic gear can evaluate. Plus, without many samples to compare, you don't really have a good basis for evaluation. Further still, the market is getting more saturated with other people's rejects with every passing year. So, don't invest a lot up front and expect it to be smooth sailing. Knowledge is a huge part of it. Like most types of antiques, it's easy to get burnt. The people who know how to find the good stuff aren't selling it cheap. Most of the "tube collections" people try to sell me are just low quality tubes they picked up on ebay as "NOS" but, sadly, there's usually very little of value in them. If you do it yourself, get them cheap (if you still can) and have reasonable expectations. When I started, I had several hundred dollars in testers and thought I was ready to go. It didn't take long for me to realize how inaccurate most vintage testers are and how ineffective they are at detecting certain issues. Tubes can behave quite differently in different circuits (for those that don't know, there are many different ways to run a tube and it's not always the same from one piece of gear to another), and there are quirks inherent to all tubes that you won't understand without years of experience. For instance, a Sylvania 12AX7 will often still test "better than new" when it's aged, noisy, and dying. But, a never-used RCA 12AX7 might test "bad" even though it's essentially new with a full life ahead. A tube might scream with microphonics in one type of gear but not another. Etc, etc. There's reasons for all these things but I'd have to write a book to explain it all. And, I'd have to revise it every year with the new things I learn.
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Post by bowie on Nov 11, 2017 12:56:11 GMT -6
Yes and no. I think it's generally more successful with outboard. With mics, they rarely sound just like the originals and I'd love more mic makers to embrace their own signature sounds. Of course, that doesn't sell mics so they need to pander to the crowd that has decided the # "47" is synonymous with quality.
I'm big into DIY because you can tune it to your own sonic expectations are you're not limited to parts that must be sourced in bulk. Pardon my heresy but I think DIY can sometimes be superior to the originals as you can use a blend of the best vintage and modern parts. It's not easy to learn what those are though, and get ahold of all of them. Requires lots of time and money for experimenting.
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