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Post by mcirish on Mar 19, 2024 9:56:13 GMT -6
During my continuous "inner voice" arguings over more gear; I came to wonder about very expensive purchases that just didn't work out. This isn't a bashing contest on "the worst" xyz. I'm just curious if you have run into an occassion where you upgraded to some new expensive piece and came to realize you were happier with the former "lesser" item. I know it's all subjective.
I think what brought this to mind was the discusion on $$$ monitors. I've had this desire to upgrade my LYD48 monitors to Core 59 monitors. Why? Because on paper they are better. And, they are way more expensive, so they must be better. So, I started doing some comparing of sizes and wattage. What a huge difference. BUT... In my smallish studio, is bigger actually better? I'm not so sure. After spending a couple weeks with more room treatment and calibration, the LYD48 sound pretty damn amazing at moderate volume levels. Loud enough? I'd say so. That's what made me think about this question.
Name your big ticket purchase that was an upgrade but just never worked out for you. Write what it was and WHY it didn't work out. I'm truly curious.
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Post by phdamage on Mar 19, 2024 10:04:00 GMT -6
a pair of Sony APR24s. what a horrible sounding machine. I spent a ton trying to get it up and running great and it never even sounded half as good as my Tascam MS16. wish i just bought new heads for the MS16 and called it a day at the time.
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Post by gwlee7 on Mar 19, 2024 10:16:20 GMT -6
I got sucked into the "must have it because people talk about it" vortex early on. So I bought a bunch of stuff that I didn't need for what I wanted to do, but also didn't know how to use. I sold the things I didn't need (mostly to members here  ) and have been much more careful of making sure that my recording gear purchases have an actual purpose now. |
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Post by tkaitkai on Mar 19, 2024 12:46:49 GMT -6
Manley Ref C.
Fantastic microphone, horribly wrong for my voice.
Bought it years ago when I was desperately trying to get vocal recordings I was happy with. I kept it for a year and tried all manner of things to get it to work for me but it just never sounded right.
Turns out my voice just doesn’t play well with K67 caps, but I didn’t know anything about that at the time. It was my first truly high end mic, so I wanted to believe it sounded better than it actually did. In retrospect, I wasted a whole year making no progress with that thing.
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Post by chessparov on Mar 19, 2024 13:34:34 GMT -6
Ref C is too bright on me. But loooovvvvve me a fine 67 Style.  Stoopidest thing? Not big ticket. But having 3 (or 4) mics replace my M88. M88's and 441's oh my! (2 fave Dynamics) Chris |
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Post by thehightenor on Mar 19, 2024 13:54:10 GMT -6
Easy BLUE Bottle mic system with the three vocal caps B0, B6, B7.
I hated it.
Cost me a £1750 loss on selling it for that particular 6 month experiment!
The guy who bought it, loved it (and still uses it) which made me feel a bit better.
I put the money towards a Wunder CM7 and 15 years later I still love the Wunder - it was made for my tenor voice.
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Post by christopher on Mar 19, 2024 14:00:21 GMT -6
Sunn 2000s head. Imagine a 125lb dumb bell, but the handle is some stretched out rubber. Feels like someone stepping on your hand with the heel of their boot when you pick it up.
I had envisioned swapping out bass heads. It’s a 747, it won’t fit on top of their cabs. Also you won’t look like an expert trying to lift it up there anyway. So it lives on the floor. And when you need to dial settings, got to crawl on your belly.
Worst part is, it really is the best tone ever. Had to sell, wish I never knew
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eq
Junior Member
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Post by eq on Mar 21, 2024 17:43:05 GMT -6
AMEK CIB
Too vanilla for my taste It sat collecting dust in my rack for a few years.
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 16,096 
Member is Online
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Post by ericn on Mar 21, 2024 17:53:37 GMT -6
The Otari Status, yes a console with total recall, on board dynamics VCA automation is fun, but sonically when it was sitting next to the DDA FMR / Forum just running iTunes through a 2 track return sound dull, and slow in comparison. So I did what I always do in these situations, called Jim Williams who told me what it would cost me have him breath life into it, and he added it still wouldn’t match the DDA. It sits in storage and some day I’ll start sending DDA modules to Jim.
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Post by Johnkenn on Mar 21, 2024 18:04:08 GMT -6
During my continuous "inner voice" arguings over more gear; I came to wonder about very expensive purchases that just didn't work out. This isn't a bashing contest on "the worst" xyz. I'm just curious if you have run into an occassion where you upgraded to some new expensive piece and came to realize you were happier with the former "lesser" item. I know it's all subjective. I think what brought this to mind was the discusion on $$$ monitors. I've had this desire to upgrade my LYD48 monitors to Core 59 monitors. Why? Because on paper they are better. And, they are way more expensive, so they must be better. So, I started doing some comparing of sizes and wattage. What a huge difference. BUT... In my smallish studio, is bigger actually better? I'm not so sure. After spending a couple weeks with more room treatment and calibration, the LYD48 sound pretty damn amazing at moderate volume levels. Loud enough? I'd say so. That's what made me think about this question. Name your big ticket purchase that was an upgrade but just never worked out for you. Write what it was and WHY it didn't work out. I'm truly curious. I’ve listened to old vocals I did with other chains and thought…what have I done lol. Sometimes I’m scared to listen to old stuff because if you can’t say your new mixes are better, what the hell are you doing? As for the new more expensive thing being disappointing…I dont know if there’s anything I’ve ever bought (I’m sure somewhere along the way) that I thought was WORSE than the more expensive version. I just said to someone today that I thought the “you get what you pay for” thing held true almost all the time…which makes sense. If you’re using higher quality parts because price isn’t the main driver, it’s probably going to end up performing better. I have, though, heard clones I thought sounded every bit as good, for sure. |
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Post by Johnkenn on Mar 21, 2024 18:06:32 GMT -6
I got sucked into the "must have it because people talk about it" vortex early on. So I bought a bunch of stuff that I didn't need for what I wanted to do, but also didn't know how to use. I sold the things I didn't need (mostly to members here ) and have been much more careful of making sure that my recording gear purchases have an actual purpose now. Yeah there was a point that I started really only buying gear if I thought it would make improve my mixing. That’s kind of what everyone does I guess, but I mean it like not having redundant gear. |
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Post by drumsound on Mar 21, 2024 18:07:57 GMT -6
The Otari Status, yes a console with total recall, on board dynamics VCA automation is fun, but sonically when it was sitting next to the DDA FMR / Forum just running iTunes through a 2 track return sound dull, and slow in comparison. So I did what I always do in these situations, called Jim Williams who told me what it would cost me have him breath life into it, and he added it still wouldn’t match the DDA. It sits in storage and some day I’ll start sending DDA modules to Jim. Conceptually those Status are always interesting, but most people I've known (besides a Chicago tech who does a lot of Otari repair) seem to be in line with you, Eric. |
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Post by smashlord on Mar 21, 2024 19:07:55 GMT -6
Chandler RS124- When it works on something, its beyond cool, but I find more often than not, I patch out of it. When I got it, I was between it and a Retro 176 (which I knew well and loved), and I wish I went the other way, because I find the Retro to be more of an everyday piece, where the Chandler is a specialty piece. It's mostly an expensive paperweight at the moment.
AND ::Puts on flamesuit::
.....My Audioscape gear. I have 4 of their products, they're fine..... Solid, but not blown away by any of them and I don't think the build quality is on the level of most of the other gear I have. All 4 units had fit and finish issues when I received them, meters needed re-calibration, etc.. I bought into the hype (they do have fantastic marketing). They're customer service is excellent, though. I dealt with Chris with some issues I was having and he was determined to see things made right and took care of it quickly.
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Post by enlav on Mar 21, 2024 21:04:11 GMT -6
The Otari Status, yes a console with total recall, on board dynamics VCA automation is fun, but sonically when it was sitting next to the DDA FMR / Forum just running iTunes through a 2 track return sound dull, and slow in comparison. So I did what I always do in these situations, called Jim Williams who told me what it would cost me have him breath life into it, and he added it still wouldn’t match the DDA. It sits in storage and some day I’ll start sending DDA modules to Jim. Having compression on all channels was pretty solid for the price and the console was easy to learn too... but yeah, definitely felt more like its value was in task/feature/utility and less about actual sound. All of that control over fader assignment, channel/mix path, man... I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for the 18R, but that console would cook channels on a weekly basis. The one I learned on would always have at least 2 or 3 dead or noisy channels at a time. No matter how many you repaired, it seemed like others would sprout within days.
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Post by sean on Mar 21, 2024 21:16:51 GMT -6
Highland BG-1 and BG-2. Just couldn’t gel with them. But I sold both for significantly more than I paid so not really a regret I guess
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Post by reddirt on Mar 22, 2024 0:43:22 GMT -6
Amphion one 15's and amp here ; after the continued rave reviews I bought on reputation as I live over a K miles from any outlet. Was looking for a mixing speaker but couldn't get past the broad band low mid sound of the box. Tried different rooms / outside , different conversion etc etc etc cause it had to be me right?
Nope, after several months ended up selling back to the importer losing a couple of grand,
Cheers, Ross
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Post by simchaz on Mar 22, 2024 7:29:05 GMT -6
funny enough same with me. the internet is FILLED with rave reviews of amphions but I got a set with an amp and I just don't get it. same thing with a pair of focal twin 6 be.
had 2x antelope interfaces in the past that I loved how they sound but the auto firmware/update process can make these things into paperweights due to no fault of your own. lost way too much money on these to buy a third
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Post by thehightenor on Mar 22, 2024 8:28:04 GMT -6
This thread is making me nervous about future planned purchases  |
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Post by svart on Mar 22, 2024 8:37:42 GMT -6
Man, the biggest regret was the Tascam Mx2424 recorder. Thousands of dollars and months of trouble before I got rid of it.
That thing couldn't stay stable to save its life. Constantly locking up at random times. Sounded great monitoring through it during tracking but a noticeable reduction in quality on playback at any sample rate. Super expensive and rare SCSI3 harddrives. Really hard to do backups because it did it over ethernet and it took HOURS to backup one song and it might lock up during the process.. Tascam stopped replying to me after a few support requests trying to figure out what was wrong.
That thing really was a lemon and taught me to never buy Tascam again..
I should have gone with the Alesis HD24 like I originally wanted but folks on forums kept telling me that the Alesis wasn't PRO enough and to spend the extra money on the Tascam. I should have sent THEM the fucking bill.
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
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Post by ericn on Mar 22, 2024 9:11:02 GMT -6
The Otari Status, yes a console with total recall, on board dynamics VCA automation is fun, but sonically when it was sitting next to the DDA FMR / Forum just running iTunes through a 2 track return sound dull, and slow in comparison. So I did what I always do in these situations, called Jim Williams who told me what it would cost me have him breath life into it, and he added it still wouldn’t match the DDA. It sits in storage and some day I’ll start sending DDA modules to Jim. Conceptually those Status are always interesting, but most people I've known (besides a Chicago tech who does a lot of Otari repair) seem to be in line with you, Eric. The idea behind it was awesome a poor man’s SSL feature wise, and OKAY I didn’t spend that much ($700) to save it from a dumpster, it’s just the space it takes up in storage. I have mixed on VCA based Midas, Soundcraft, SSL and others it’s not the VCA’s it’s the whole architecture. The other thing was when you pulled a module and realized how much of the components were all about the automation. |
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Post by mcirish on Mar 22, 2024 9:44:17 GMT -6
Back in the 80's when I played in a prog rock band, I used a Minimoog a lot and loved it, after changing all the trimmers in it to stabilize the tuning. Due to the complexity of our shows, I bought into the hype of the Moog Source. What could be bad about a programmable Mini? Turns out everything was wrong. Never could get it to stay in tune. Even tried removing the supply from the inside (due to heat issues). After struggling for a year with it, I got rid of it for a fraction of what I paid. I guess it doesn't totally fit with the theme here, as it wasn't a "good" unit that I just didn't like. It was a dog all day long. One of my worst investments.
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Post by smashlord on Mar 22, 2024 9:53:18 GMT -6
funny enough same with me. the internet is FILLED with rave reviews of amphions but I got a set with an amp and I just don't get it. same thing with a pair of focal twin 6 be. had 2x antelope interfaces in the past that I loved how they sound but the auto firmware/update process can make these things into paperweights due to no fault of your own. lost way too much money on these to buy a third I work out of a studio alot that has the 3 ways (2 eighteens?) in one and the 2 Fifteens in another. I like the smaller ones, but both definitely have a low mid thing and it can be hard for me to judge lowend. I have Focal Twins at home and while they are not perfect, I find I can get a sense of things pretty quickly on them. The thing that one has to learn is 3-6Khz is not pretty on them, so its easy to make a soft mix on them... you have to embrace the harshness to a degree, |
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Post by FM77 on Mar 22, 2024 10:41:09 GMT -6
Stereo pair of EL8 Distressors. There was a time many years ago they were really hyped on GS.
One of the worse pieces of gear for my taste.
I could not get along with these comps for any source, any scenario. I really disliked the unmusical, smashing squashing, overly dirty 'character'.
I sold them and bought a Manley ELOP that I used for several year before recently selling.
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Post by Johnkenn on Mar 22, 2024 11:05:55 GMT -6
Amphion one 15's and amp here ; after the continued rave reviews I bought on reputation as I live over a K miles from any outlet. Was looking for a mixing speaker but couldn't get past the broad band low mid sound of the box. Tried different rooms / outside , different conversion etc etc etc cause it had to be me right? Nope, after several months ended up selling back to the importer losing a couple of grand, Cheers, Ross Let me guess…using the Amphion amp? |
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Post by Dan on Mar 22, 2024 11:06:16 GMT -6
A MOTU AVB ethernet audio rig. The AD took a dump over the audio like the Dave Matthews Band in Chicago, the web mixer crashed, aligning the latency of the interfaces was a pita, and the drivers were never stable on Windows. Never again.
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) and have been much more careful of making sure that my recording gear purchases have an actual purpose now. 
