Saturday, August 18, 2012

Waves Street Team

I am now a part of the Waves Street Team! Check me out as well as the other members at http://waves.com/content.aspx?id=12038
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Thursday, August 9, 2012

Companies That Offer Academic Discounts

Lets be real. Audio school is not cheap, no college is really. So as a student (and even after graduation) you're always looking for a bang for your buck deal. One thing a lot of people forget to take advantage of is academic discounts while in school. This should be listed right up with perks for going to school with hands on experience and networking opportunities. If its one thing I know besides audio it's how to save when making purchases, even if its 10%. (Yes 10% does make a difference). Some academic version purchases I’ve made while I was enrolled at Art Institute of Tennessee Nashville include Sonnox Elite bundle and Digidesign  Avid Pro Tools upgrade. I know I got more but thats what I remember off the top of my head right now. If you're wondering what an academic version is its the full version of a software or plugin offered at lower price to students and teachers.  Below I’m listing some companies I know that offer academic discounts as well as links to find out more information. Normally all a company or dealer needs is a copy of your student ID and your most recent schedule and you're good to go. So if you're a student, next time before you buy a plugin or software, check to see if they offer an academic discount. Be sure to read fine print. Some academic versions out there are only for schools and not students. Of course this isn’t everyone so check with dealers and companies before purchasing to see if they offer academic discounts.

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Thursday, July 19, 2012

Companies and Products I Would Love To See Develop For The 500 Series

After half way filling up my new API lunchbox, I got to thinking of which companies and products I would love to see develop for the 500 series. So here is a wish list of 5 of those companies and products.

  1. Summit Audio - The TLA100 is one of my favorite vocal compressors. And I’ve always wanted to use Summit EQ’s (I recently got the new Softube Summit Grand Channel). If Summit could find a way to shrink their products into the 500 series you can put me down for one of each. Summit is known for their tube gear so this would be quite a challenge.
  2. Tube-tech CL 1B - Oh the classic blue beast. Tubetech opticalness in 500 series. One word. Yes! Tube-tech has their own proprietary modules similar to the 500 series, but sadly its not 500 series.
  3. Empirical Labs 500 series pre - The mike-e is one of my favorite vocal pre’s and channels strips. If Dave Derr where to make a 500 series pre with say the saturation from mike-e I’d be on it like LED’s on all the other Empirical Labs gear.
  4. Dave Hill Designs - Dave Hill gave me the most impressive demo at Gearfest this year at Sweetwater. If Dave was to make anything 500 series no doubt it would be great. For those who don’t know Dave Hill he is more known as the mastermind behind the Cranesong gear.
  5. Solid State Logic - Because SSL makes the X-rack,modules, their own proprietary smaller modules, I doubt we’ll ever see them design for the 500 series. In my opinion the 500 series is way more popular than the X-rack stuff. I think SSL could make a killing with the 500 series format, especially if they did their EQ.

These are of course dreams but the Empirical Labs pre I can see really becoming a reality. What companies or products do you want to see in the 500 series?
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Tuesday, July 10, 2012

API price increase may raise JDK sales

Just a theory here, but if you were trying to decide between the legendary API gear, and their more affordable brand JDK, then the recent API price increase may help you make your decision. I'm in the market for a stereo compressor and been strongly considering the JDK R22, and giving the API 2500 a light consideration. Before yesterday these two compressors where separated by $1,500.  Few days ago some API gear got a price increase. The API 2500 has gone up to $2,800. With more distance between these two brands people who were considering API may now try the JDK, Its hard to pay more for something you've been looking at a certain price for so long. People who really want API will buy API, so I don't think the price increase will hurt  their sales. But for those who were struggling between the two brands may find a pleasant surprise in the lesser known JDK audio gear. I still use my JDK R24 every mix I do. Hopefully the JDK stuff doesn't go up to because I will likely be adding more to my rack. 
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Thursday, July 5, 2012

Sweetwater Gearfest 2012

Gearfest 2012 was another great experience for me, once attended with my friend D. Lyles. This was my third time attending the event and I had just as much fun as the last two years. I got to see a lot of familiar faces, chat with some important people, and drool at sale prices at every tent. I noticed some products weren’t on sale for as low as they were the previous year. Sales were still were still good and you’d have to be a fool to come and not buy anything. I always put together a wishlist of what I want but after seeing other products on sale it makes it hard to make a final decision. Though I’m not in the market for a new mic the Miktek C7 was on sale for $749! Thats $150 off regular price. Another great sale was the Radial Q3 for $529, down from the regular price of $599 (which I actually ordered last night). The workshops last year I think were “ok” but this year they were good. Though I spent most my time in the tents with manufactures, I got to check out seminars from George Massenburg, Fab Dupont, Mike Wells, and one from Mojave showing off their mics in different configurations on acoustic guitars. Gearfest isn’t a place where new products are introduced, but It caught me off guard to see the new Daking Hybird compressor for the 500 series in Geoffe Daking’s lunchbox. Geoffe told me last year he was working on it but I didn’t expect to see until NAMM or maybe AES later this year. He said its called a hybird compressor because its VCA that acts like a FET. He said it was shipping now (though I haven’t seen on it any sites yet, including Daking’s) and he actually offered to sell me the one right out of his lunchbox. Dave HIll gave us a demo of his Europa mic pre and Titan compressor. I was blown away at what the Europa could do. You really could hear a difference with each knob twist. I ended up leaving gearfest with a API 6 slot lunchbox, Chandler Little Devil Pre, and tascam pr-10. People I noticed I didn’t see this year were Waves, Slate audio (and digital), and McDSP. Overall though another successful event for Sweetwater and I look forward to next year. Gearfest, unlike other similar events, is completely free. All you need to do is get there. With events like NAMM in LA and AES in NY out of reach for me, Fort Wayne is a tolerable 6 hour drive for me from Nashville. If you're like me and can get to Indiana faster than NY or LA I highly recommend checking out Gearfest next year. I forgot my digital camera so I had to take pics with my galaxy nexus, but here is a link to some photos I took. https://plus.google.com/b/113269535296910365369/113269535296910365369/posts/FLbNQUfxLGG
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Thursday, June 14, 2012

Sweetwater Gearfest 2012 Wishlist

Sweetwater's Gearfest 2012 is coming up and of course I will be in attendance. Last year picked up the JDK R24 and couldn't be happier with my purchase. Here is whats on my wishlist for this year. Its hard to decide on what to purchase next but I don't feel I really need anything, but also don't want to buy gear that won't see regular use. Depending on deals going on I'll be leaving with an order placed for on the following. 

  1. tonelux V4 roadster w/ little devil pre
  2. tonelux V4 roadster w/ tonelux mp5a
  3. Miktek C7
  4. dangerous bax eq
After researching all the 500 series racks on the market I've decided on the tonelux V4, and the little devil pre has been on my wishlist since it was announced. If the little devil is not on sale and the mp5a is then I'll likely go with that. If Tonelux isn't running any specials thenJDK R22 can fill my want for a new stereo compressor, especially one thats good on vocals. Also haven't ruled out the Miktek C7, I have some projects coming up this summer and Miktek makes some of best mics I've heard. Lastly the Bax eq on sale I would consider it. 
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Saturday, June 9, 2012

You've Just Lost A Sale

I tell people over and over how engineering is more than  just running a recording a session, its also about personal communication. I've met millionaire's in this industry andwhile there are some assholes out there, the majority I've met are humble, down to earth, and the nicest people you will ever meet. Keep being a douche and see how many clients you attract. I bring this up because I had emailing a pro audio sales rep back and forth a while  about 500 series gear. I've been interested in it but not fully committed to it yet, and of course I won't spend my money until I'm 100% sure thats what I want. I have been strongly considering the API 6 slot lunchbox, but after attending Nashville Recording Workshop few months ago I became drawn to the Tonelux brand. So I emailed the rep about his thoughts about the Tonelux gear and this was his reply. 

" Thanks for your email. It's been a bit over a year now that we've been going back and forth over and I've been offering insight and advice to you. Are you nearing readiness to make a purchase with us? "

There are 3 things I took from this. 
  1. He's annoyed with me
  2. I'm wasting his time if I'm not spending any money
  3. He didn't answer my question in the reply therefore he is done answering until I spend some money
Now I understand his point, but back to what I was saying there are ways to talking to people. There are better ways to get his point across. For example he could of said

 "I think Tonelux stuff is great etc, etc. We've been going back and forth about a lot of 500 series gear foe awhile, have you narrowed them down to any? We still have some deals going on."

I think you would agree that sounds better then the "your wasting my time" attitude he gave off. And to answer his question yes I am ready to make to a purchase now, but because of this I won't be making it with him and his company. I'll take my money to Sweetwater, who is my usual dealer who sells the same gear and has never me feel like I was wasting their time. If you help I will gladly spend money with you because I know most of these sales people get commission. I don't blame the company for this but the person, and that's why he will not be getting this sale. I'm curious to know if he would of known I've spent over $10,000 with Sweetwater would he still come at me like that. I understand we are all out to make money, but one thing I realized about being in audio is that people won't spend money until they are ready to. That goes from booking studio time, to mixing fees, to gear. So don't ever treat someone like they are wasting your time. Because most times when that happens, just like in this case, thats the time that person is ready to spend money. Again, personal communication and how you talk to people is huge in this business. And thats why this sales rep has lost a sale. 
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