Topic: Where do you buy your gear?

[Philthy]

If I decide to start taping, where should I be looking to purchase my gear.  I own a lot of pro audio gear, but none of it is portable...so I would be starting fresh.  Thanks for your help!

[super-phat-al]

http://cascademedia.net/
www.micsupply.com  (dave is a cool guy, but pricey)


im sure other people can fill in

[Brian Skalinder]

Most of my current gear I've bought used from either here or the Oade Bros forum.

I've dealt with all of these retailers at one point or another - all have been positive experiences:

Cascade Media
Mic Supply
Sonic Sense
Oade Bros (new, not used from forum)
Masterpiece AV (Dale Pro Audio)

For media, check out the Retail Space section.  You'll find info on a TS.com discount at Cascade Media.  Sonic Sense posts some discounts there, too.  And various people post links every so often about deals to be had.

[zhianosatch]

I buy used and have bought from Sonic Sense. Good times.

[wbrisette]

Some places I've used with positive results:

Media:

• Terrapin Tapes (usually has some of the best prices -- not always, but usually).
• Cassette House (sale items only. Otherwise can be pricey. Stocks real DAT tape cheaper than others though).
• Oade Brothers (stocks hard to find Maxell from Japan DAT tapes for a lot less than others -- although it looks like Maxell only uses tape from Japan now)

Decks:

• Terrapin Tapes (almost always cheaper than anybody else for new decks).

Other hardware (mics, windscreens, mixers, etc)

• Oade Brothers (very nice and knowledgeable)
• Klay Anderson Audio (Klay does a lot of high end studio stuff, and has been doing audio work himself for 35 years. He knows audio. Like Dave from Mic Supply a really nice guy too. About 80% of my gear comes from Klay. He is a distributor for a lot of stuff, so if you want something give him a call he is probably a distributor. He doesn't stock a lot, but can usually have stuff drop shipped from the factory very quickly.)
• Mic Supply (Dave is a taper himself, and a wonderful guy. But as already mentioned may not have the best pricing in the world).
• Sweetwater Audio (These guys move a lot of gear and thus have a lot of stuff. I always call because the price listed is not always what you can get it for if you talk to them. I tend to use these guys for software and more generic stuff because I really like to support the "little guys")

Anyhow, that's my list. Brian, maybe we could turn this into a FAQ type thing. (just an idea).

Wayne

[iphone]

macmidimusic.com

[DaryanLenz]

This is easy...I find the best price, I e-mail Jamie and Dan at masterpiece (Daleproaudio), and they beat it!  Yes, it is that simple!

Daryan

[Craig T]

My recent purchases have been from these retailers:
Oade
Terrapin Tapes
B&H Photo/Video
Full Compass
Markertek

I've also used Sonic Sense, Sound Professionals, Core-Sound, Masterpiece/Dale with no complaints.

I think all of the "taper friendly" retailers will match competitors' prices, but maybe not the big mail/web-order company prices.  Shop around and tell your favorite retailer what you've found - they will likely come close, if not match it, to keep your business.

[jlykos]

I buy mostly from Sonic Sense, but I have used all the retailers at some point or another.  One thing that I have been doing lately for microphone stuff is to contact the distributors directly and ask for their best price.  Usually none of the retailers can touch it.

[nickgregory]

Sonic Sense has always been great with questions and prices.

Ebay and used forums get quite a bit of business from me....

[John R]

Sonic Sense

jr

[Chuck]

It's also fairly safe to buy from other tapers on this forum or over at Oade Bros.

[Chris K]

got my current rig from sweetwater sound's trading post...i called it the taper starter package...got a d8, stock sbm1, rmr-3d and at822 stereo mic and a huge pelican case for under $600. I used this package for about a year....

i have since bought some new 391 mic off ebay

i am assembling all the things i need to run those mics now: the phantom power, line converters, good shock mounts(8410's) and a shure verticle stereo bar. all these items i have gotten used from people on this taperssection board, or the oade used gear board, or the dat heads list.

i have found that tapers are very friendly, and have a certain integrity to them above the average ebay transaction, possibly because we all know this ain't a cheap hobby

good luck on your quest....you may want to sell/trade some of your studio gear for the portable gear, that's what I did...sold a fostex model 80 analog 8 track 1/4" real-to-real deck, and adat xt(have 2 more though) to feed this habit

chris k

[JAH]

Most of my gear is either from the Oade Bros. or bought used.  Most all will price match.  If you want service then go Oade.  They do it in house and do it right.  They have gotten so busy that they don't work on "much" gear that they haven't sold from their shop...the customer comes first  Good techs, nice people and knowledgeable tapers, let alone a sound engineer.

my 0.02
jah

[wboswell]

I'll recomment buying used gear.  Much more economical.  Most questions can be answered on this forum by users.  If you require something new, call or email around and see who has the best price.  They are going to have similar prices, but service is the going to be the main difference.

[jpschust]

masterpiece av is my first choice for everything studio and field.

[Mic D]

Masterpiece all the way (they can't be touched)!

[Joe w.]

i recommend trey woodruff audio. great deals on neumann and u89 shockmounts.


seriously though, i switched rigs 3 times in a 5 month span.....and found everything short of accessories at the oade.com forum or here.

cascademedia or oade for my media.

[rabhan]

masterpieceav
sonicsense
oade

what we in the industry refer to as "the big three"

[Philthy]

Thank you for all the reccomendations, I just picked up a pair of Neumann U89i mics (er, I wish  ).  But seriously, I will start doing research now.

On a sidenote, dude, rabhan....I enjoy a lot of photography, so seeing the word "Sigma" in your signature immediatly called up a red flag.  I know that Canon lenses are ugly, but its not their fault you bought a Canon body.  Still dude, don't abuse your camera with Sigma.  Buy a Nikon, or at least Canon lenses.  

*sarcasm /off*
Nah, just kidding man.  I'm not personally a fan of Sigma, but saw a fellow photographer and had to say SOMETHING.  I shoot Nikon too, so expect harassment.  *grins*

[zhianosatch]

My pa is very happy with his Sigmas (I think he has two, among several other lenses by other manufacturers) with both his EOS A-2 and 10-D.

[rabhan]

well, i cant afford "L" glass at the moment, and with 2500$ in camera/lenses, "L" glass would have put me double that and for being a guy with a camera at a show or around town, i cant justify that. any canon lense that isnt "L" glass sucks so much ass, there is doodoo dripping from it. as far as nikon goes, well, yer just gealous bc canon has a better cmos chip.

no offense taken.

[rabhan]

and u cant put nikon lenses on canon bodies

[Philthy]

I know you can't put Nikon lenses on a Canon body, I was saying to get a new system. And I do agree with you that Nikon needs to get something new going with their digital SLRs, the D100 and 1Dx both aren't that great (I've used them a few times).  However, I am VERY impressed with the Kodak 14n, which uses the Nikon F Mount.  I also shoot film though, and I love my Nikon.  

L glass is nice, but its overpriced and not as good as Nikon D glass.  And as you said, anything other than L glass is crap.  

btw hook up some shots yo.  http://palios.zazzo.com/portfolio

[jpschust]

jon and i had this discussion- im way more partial to film than digital as digital just isnt there for book publication yet (which is what i shoot for).  It's there for newspaper publication but just not book yet.  I use an older EOS-1 with a tamron 28-70 f2.8 as my main rig and i love it

[MattD]

I keep my first camera around (Minolta 500 SI with a pair of Sigma lenses ... quiet, I know!) because I want to go to digital but the quality just isn't there yet for prints as well. For those of you more in touch with the camera world than I am, at what point do you think digital photo prints will be indistinguishable from traditional prints? And for argument's sake, let's say at a 16x20 print size.

-Matt

[Philthy]

Funny you ask, I just printed three photos off the Kodak 14n as 16x20s on the Epson 9600 (awesome printer) and they look great.  You can't really say film vs. digital because film has many different grains (just as digital has different resolution) but if I compare the 14n at 14 million pixels and some Kodak Portra 400 (pro color print film) on a 16x20 the digital print will look better.

So basically the point where digital looks as good as film has come, the only issue is that your paying $5,000+ for the same quality you can get out of a $1,000 film camera.  Also remember that with most digital photography you can't just take the shot and then print it, I always run it through Photoshop and adjust many aspects of the photo before printing.  With film I can usually do some basic color and density adjustments then crop and print.

[rabhan]

unsharp mask

[smanky]

masteripiece av, and if they don't stock it/ can't get it, then I'll look elsewhere or go used.

[twoodruff]

cascademedia.net

[zhianosatch]

unsharp mask

goddamned cheaters

[mirth]

Unsharp mask?

[zhianosatch]

Photoshop.

[mirth]

Yeah, I gathered that... Is it a filter?

[dyermaker73]

Funny you ask, I just printed three photos off the Kodak 14n as 16x20s on the Epson 9600 (awesome printer) and they look great.  You can't really say film vs. digital because film has many different grains (just as digital has different resolution) but if I compare the 14n at 14 million pixels and some Kodak Portra 400 (pro color print film) on a 16x20 the digital print will look better.

So basically the point where digital looks as good as film has come, the only issue is that your paying $5,000+ for the same quality you can get out of a $1,000 film camera.  Also remember that with most digital photography you can't just take the shot and then print it, I always run it through Photoshop and adjust many aspects of the photo before printing.  With film I can usually do some basic color and density adjustments then crop and print.

i don't think it's as much the equipment as it is the eye of the photographer... i saw an exhibit, this guy was shooting with very expensive digital equipment, beautiful color, but half of it was out of focus, he has very large prints where if you went up close you could see the pixels and selling his prints for $350 on top of that.  another female photographer was shooting 35mm tri-x on an old olympus with a standard 50mm lense and her work was BEAUTIFUL.  of course when you print large the grain becomes an issue but it isn't as ugly as blown up pixels on someones face... i still don't think digital has matched film.  they're trying... but it's still not there...

p.s. nikon fan all the way though

[jkoso]

If anyone is still interested in the original ?, my vote is micsupply.com.
I have given Dave thousands of dollars of my money.
He will not hold you to his true prices.
Get to know him.
He is a taper, and not as arrogant as Nutter.
I will always buy all my gear from Dave.

[jessedscott]

If anyone is still interested in the original ?, my vote is micsupply.com.
I have given Dave thousands of dollars of my money.
He will not hold you to his true prices.
Get to know him.
He is a taper, and not as arrogant as Nutter.
I will always buy all my gear from Dave.

Not that I care to much, but you might want to watch what you say, oh and check to see who is registered on here before you say it....just my 0.02....

[rabhan]

Unsharp mask?

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/digitalphotography/learnmore/fixit/sharpening.asp

[John R]

If anyone is still interested in the original ?, my vote is micsupply.com.
I have given Dave thousands of dollars of my money.
He will not hold you to his true prices.
Get to know him.
He is a taper, and not as arrogant as Nutter.
I will always buy all my gear from Dave.

Not that I care to much, but you might want to watch what you say, oh and check to see who is registered on here before you say it....just my 0.02....

Good call, jesse.  jkoso, guess you must have had a bad one with nutter once.  never been arrogant with me.  

just like manufacturers, we have loyalty to vendors also.

jr

[heath]

Just curious if anyone has had any problems with American-Digital as far as media was concerned.  Didn't see them mentioned in anyone's posts, and I was curious why...I used to work there, so I'm interested.  Dan and Larry are good guys who will do their best to help you--their sony dat prices are nice too!  

Also--Jesse Scott--are you out there?  Need to get you that Little Feat master and just wanted to give a shout out!

Heath

[creekfreak]

I have never had an issue with american digital.

[greenone]

I actually still go with am-dig...their media prices are just a smidge higher than the TS.com deal but I can get the cheapest shipping they offer and it'll still be here the next day...

[Kindguy]

Oade & sonicsense.

[Lee]

Oade & sonicsense.

Yeah, what he said, at least for the big stuff.  Hardware comes from those with the best price (usually BHPhoto and Markertek now)

[onlywaytofly]

Bought stuff from sonicsense, oade and the oade board, masterpieceav, and  of the ever popular ebay (m248), pure luck though. Everybody has their certain vendors they like and that's why they're around to make everybody happy.