Since we all seem to agree that newegg and mwave are the desireable places to buy computer parts online, what about places to buy audio and music gear online?

Any favorite places (musiciansfriend, sweetwater, samash, etc) that are as recommendable for buying music and studio hardware online as newegg and mwave are for buying computer hardware online?

Hi Guys,

Care to discuss?

I have some TLA gear that likes to be 'driven' I have the option on some Neve channels but haven't learned the pro's and con's of it yet.

Who drives their mic preamp's or any other gear for that matter (& reduces the ouput level elsewhere) to get the sound they like?

Helios channels DONT like it at all!

Your thoughts?

Jay Kahrs mentions below he uses his TC M2000 multi FX unit as a converter (24 bit! Nice!) We use our digital FX boxes as converters often too (when our best converter is out on hire for example)

Fletcher I think has a compressor on his TV set at home...

I know Dave Martin in Nashville likes to keep his coffee warm on a favorite piece of valve gear!

What's the current best thinking on this from the perspective of equipment longevity? The topic has been much argued for computer equipment, and I'm not sure there's a consensus.

I'm almost certain it depends on the type and build of equipment (e.g. tube vs solid state), environment (avg. temperature & control, power quality), power costs, etc.

So, what do you guys do?

for those who freelance, we all build our own stashes of gear - choice investements since facilites have the main tools to work with, yet could one be comfortable enough to go in and use all the tools given to you to get the sounds in your head?

I heard about an application that can "learn" your outboard gear, and then you can control the parameters, switch programs, settings, etc. using this application to control your gear thru MIDI... does anyone knows what I'm talking about? I could be wrong...

Hello all,

I must say that this forum is certainly easier to navigate than the Paris users forum (I can't seem to access the newsgroup or search functions!) and I certainly appreciate much of the information that has been given thus far.

Hey, I thought I'd bug you guys with my usual sillyness since this forum is open to anybody.
So, here we go:
Why is tube gear(the real thing, not the hybrid crap) so expensive? Building a tube comp costs as much as a FET or VCA comp.
Time invested in research and developpement?