[sdiy] The extreme low cost of audio gear

[Dave Magnuson]

At 05:32 PM 8/31/04, karl dalen wrote:

>You also have the opposite thing aswell, there is many people who buys
>the berhingers due to the low cost and gladly buy a new one when they
>broke down,very much the same sittuation that happened with inc jet
>printers, its baerly no meaning to buy a set of incjet cartridges
>no more, i can simply buy a new printer for almost no extra money.
>(im talking of low cost printers). Still they print wery good and
>works fine, compare that to low cost Beringhers, btw the mixer desks
>i was seeing in the catalog was not of beringher brand!!!
>
>KD


This "throw away" technology bothers me very much.  I guess I'm an 
environmentalist at heart (or hippie, if you prefer); I don't like throwing 
things away.  Hell, I even keep every piece of paper I print in my office, 
and use the back for scribbling down phone messages.  When both sides are 
used I recycle it.

Likewise, my computer is built from some new pieces (new powesupply, 
motherboard, processor), but my CD-ROM is a 40X from 1993.  My floppy drive 
and soundcard are from 1995, my videocard is a hand-me-down from someone 
who had to have the "best".

Lets be nice to the planet!!!

Oh, and to get back into SDIY... I recycle wire, switches, power jacks, 
knobs (even have some knobs on my synth from a 60's era oscilliscope that 
burned out).    I keep everything useful assuming I have room in the 
workshop.

When it comes to buying newer audio gear, I've found that you get what you 
pay for.  Many times a Mackie can be repaired without too much cost, but if 
you return a behringer, they throw it out and send you a new 
one.    Lexicon will repair an MPX-1, but Alesis will throw out your broken 
Midiverb.  So, I refuse to buy "disposable" gear, unless there is no 
substitute... plus the good stuff sounds so much better.  Check out how 
much phase smearing  there is in the EQ of a cheap mixer... I can hear it, 
and don't like it.  Not to mention the hiss, hum, etc of the cheap parts 
and substandard design.

Dave



Resonant Frequency:
resfreq at hoohahrecords.com
http://www.hoohahrecords.com/resfreq/index.html