Growing this Forum

This is a very huge thing imo, i try very hard to be helpful, and never belittle anyone(i think most everyone here does the same), there are no dumb questions, anyone can surprise you with a gem out of nowhere!, we all started somewhere, we're all at different distances down our paths of our own experience, we all know more in some areas and less in others, i cannot believe how much stuff i've picked up from you guys over the last year or so, it's been great, and i am totally grateful for it!

I don't like sub forums , I'm lazy , I rather click on one section and read everything new that was posted .

you could always push the "new participated" button at the top right of the main page scum. Did you see Steigers "hypothetical" compressor? s s ss ss s ssick!!!

in the spirit of helping your bro's for sure

I look at modding as a great payment plan, for instance I am currently looking at a couple of some of Jim Williams favorite platforms to mod a trio ( hey I like having enough of a pre to do a kit) of Studio Technologies Mic Preeminience's ! For around $250 ea used I get a useable pre, for another $275 I have 2 ch of dead ringers for Millenia ! Not bad,.

I haven't seen his compressor yet . I have to check that out .  Thanks for the lazy man new participated button tip . 



Hey what about putting an AD in Tape Op magazine ? Is it expensive ? You'll get a ton of exposure that way . 

see what i'm saying Johnkenn ? here ya go odyssey   realgearonline.com/post/37461/thread

Hmm this is a good point. I sometimes miss hot threads in the DIY forum because I only check it once every couple of weeks. Maybe a frontpage or small subforum which lists the hottest/most active threads per day/week in the whole site would be handy?

Also, as an amateur on the audio side (if you need advice on film/CG/visual media I'm your guy), I've found this place incredibly helpful and supportive. It's got a great mix of players, writers, recording engineers, DIY heroes, and incredible technicians all chipping in to the whole forum, unlike other places where people tend to stay in one subforum and only comment on what they know best.

I like the fact that it's a smaller, intimate group. Feels like a group of friends hanging out.

I agree that the smaller size of RGO seems to lead to more civil discussions--this is definitely a friendlier place than GS.  I also feel that this site is a little more focused on where most recording is headed -- small but powerful studios that put the means of production in the hands of musicians. 

It's easy to sit back and say try this or try that.  But I'd like to see more interaction with gear companies (large and small) and invite them to be a guest on a specific thread.  Is it difficult to invite them to do that?  For instance, a larger company (Apogee) just released a new Ensemble, and a smaller company (Louder than Liftoff) just released their new Silver Bullet.  Yet I had to go to GS to ask hear what the manufacturers were saying and I think the conversation would have been more enlightening and intelligent if it took place here.  Would it make sense to invite a company rep to be involved with a "troll-free" thread for a week?  And maybe make it worth their while with some free advertising?  Maybe this has been tried already.

nahhh.... we were talking about turning the "what i'm working on" and "song writing" subs into one, they seem pretty close in description...or not? i'm not sure you should change anything.

I have a few thoughts:

1. First of all, I love this place! Like most members, I've been slapped around a couple of times when some people just misunderstood what I was saying. But overall the experience is very pleasant. However, because of the limited number of members, and therefore the limited number of topics, I find myself still going to Gearslutz after I've read everything new on RGO. It's weird, I almost feel guilty, but there still is a lot of useful info there at the beginning of new threads, until two or three members try to out-asshole each other with their opinions presented as obvious facts that only an idiot would disagree with. I hope this place can be grown with lots more topics without growing the animosity.

2. I think eventually advertisers will discover this place. Many of my purchases over the last couple of years have been heavily influenced by you guys. For example, a Heritage DMA-73, a Burl B2 AD, and 2 Warm Audio TB12's. Just today I picked up a Warm Audio WA76, so far the radio buttons are working on this one, so far I'm happy!

3. I value the participation of vendors, ALL vendors. For example, I really dislike the way some RGO members wished to chase Steven Slate away, that's the closest we've gotten to a Gearslutz mentality. If you think he's too self-promoting and don't want to see his opinions, it's really simple, just don't read the threads he participates in. Don't try to protect us from ourselves, we're all adults, we all know vendors will promote their products, their information is still invaluable even if much of it is hype. I like the way MJB handles it, he concisely states the aspects of Slate's products that have disappointed him, but he doesn't extend that to personal attacks. I think this is called maturity and class, we have a lot more of both than Gearslutz, let's keep it that way.

4. Subforums are irrelevant to me. I always just go to "New Topics", and every thread that's been created or updated in the last few days is shown on the first page. Wonderful! This way I see topics that are interesting to me from subforums that I wouldn't otherwise go into.

5. Having said that subforums are irrevelant to me, I will now contradict myself. I would like to see a "Recording/Mixing/Mastering Techniques" subforum, covering beginner to advanced topics. I think all of us have used certain techniques to an extent that they become second nature. We wouldn't even think of posting about them, even though to other members they may be new, or forgotten, or present a different way of thinking about things. For example, I just got the WA76 and the closest I've ever been to using an 1176 before was the UAD plugins. I would like to start a thread about favorite 1176 settings for various purposes, and will probably do so, but right now it would have to go into "Pro Audio". Some of you pros would probably consider that topic too trivial to be in that subforum.

6. I love Tony's idea of having in-depth reviews of equipment lent by vendors, done by the more experienced members, such as JK and Cowboy. The vendors would need to agree that the truth will be told, both positive and negative, and advertising dollars will not be influential. Hopefully this would mean that they will only allow reviews of products that they truly believe in.