POLL: Do you leave your high end tube mics on?

dan alexander · 23rd June 2008, 09:53 PM

The accepted rule is: you turn tube gear off when you are done using it; you leave solid state and digital gear on all the time... the fact is that tubes have a finite life span , and the other gear has less maintenance issues if left on all the time..... by the way , neumann u47s came new with a little slip of paper that read" the warmup time for the vf14 is one minute" ......

tiny333 · 23rd June 2008, 10:15 PM

tsk what do you know about valve mics

TapeOp · 24th June 2008, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dan alexander

The accepted rule is: you leave solid state and digital gear on all the time... has less maintenance issues if left on....

Why is that?

gainreduction · 24th June 2008, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dan alexander

The accepted rule is: you turn tube gear off when you are done using it; you leave solid state and digital gear on all the time...

I would strongly encourage everyone to turn all your gear off when not in use.

Our planet is on the verge of a breakdown because of overconsumption of (fossile) energy and wasting it is plain stupid and irresponsible.

If your gear takes a beating by beeing turned on or off it´s not built well enough.

Please think about the future of our planet, we have nowhere to escape.

Zuewi · 24th June 2008, 10:03 AM

Why should you leave them on if the aren't in use? Do you want to run your gear 24h a day 365days per year?

Don't understand the question.

I mean the quesiton "if you make a 2h break at a session do you leave the tube mikes on" that would make sense to me..

Idiophonic · 24th June 2008, 10:48 AM

From what I understand, the argument for staying powered all the time has to do with temperature changes. Being turned on and off, gear will heat, then cool, over and over. Expansion and contraction (of the silicon, solid-state pathways) will lead to cracking and gear that breaks more quickly.

I'm not qualified to say one way or the other, that's just what I heard...

Fletcher · 24th June 2008, 02:17 PM

With all due respect to the planet it takes my studio a good 4-5 hours before it's warmed up and running properly... there are some units that take a day or two to settle in... my tape machine takes at least 3 hours to become stable, my desk doesn't sound right for the first two hours after power up... we leave things on 24/7/365 [including the air conditioner].

During a "lockout session" all tube mics/equipment are left on for the course of the session... and turned off when not in use. During things like vocal sessions the potential tube mics to be used will be turned on at least an hour before the talent's scheduled arrival. They will be turned off after the vocal session and fired up again before the next vocal session... but that's about the only time we turn things off in our joint [except for the power amp for the main monitors... and that's more to protect the speakers than anything else... though I suppose we could just turn down the volume pots instead of turning the beast off].

We do our best for the planet... we're heavy into recycling [we have a dumpster just for cardboard... every week the kid brings all plastic and paper [shreded] to the reycling center and all cans and bottles are recycled... the computers are shut off at night... in my house we recycle well over 80% of the things we toss [the other 20% being organic material that will biodegrade over time], have moved to more energy efficient bulbs, lower the thermostat in the winter [and sear sweaters/sweatshirts a lot]... I drive a car that gets over 30mpg around town [close to 35 on the highway]... ride my bike most of the time from March/April to October/November [45+mpg] depending on the weather... but there are some places where we do indeed "waste" resources... and the gear in the control room being powered up 24/7/365 is one of them.

Peace.

ThomasWho · 24th June 2008, 02:28 PM

The environmental part of this isn`t as clearcut as MTV would like it to be. (Do they run those ads in the US too? ) If equipment needs to be replaced more often because of damage from the "heat up/cool down" cycle we need to factor that in.

T

Bob Vinsick · 24th June 2008, 02:48 PM

The main reason for leaving gear up is due to the changing of states. If you change states of electronic gear, failure rates go up as compared to when leaving them on as once.

I learned this when I fixed mainframe computers (real big mainframes) for IBM in the 70's and 80's. Field support engineers would dread the thought of doing maintenance on a mainframe because they would have to power them off. They found that changing states would cause failures such as power failures and such. It was always a crap shoot and if up and running, a mainframe had a much better chance of staying up and running if it wasn't turned off.

I'm sure electronics are much better now, so this concept might be a thing of the past, but just the effects of changing states and temprature of components can cause wear and tear.

John Willett · 24th June 2008, 03:05 PM

If you leave gear on all the time, the capacitors dry out - if you then turn it off it is likely not to turn on again.

The rule should always be - turn off after use.

The gear will last longer and be more reliable if you do.

Newcleardaze · 24th June 2008, 04:23 PM

I think you've got your answer for the tube mics, but for solid state???

I can understand the need to leave on such equipment as Fletcher is talking about... a large format console is a whole animal unto its own, but what if you're just running a handfull of outboard compressors and preamps while doing the rest ITB??

Dean Roddey · 24th June 2008, 07:26 PM

It's been pretty well studied that tubes stablize after about 15 minutes. Anyone who says otherwise has the burden of proof as to why they know more about it than people who study the physics of tubes. For solid state gear, how could it be anything less than far shorter than tube warmup time?

Fletcher · 24th June 2008, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Willett

If you leave gear on all the time, the capacitors dry out - if you then turn it off it is likely not to turn on again.

The rule should always be - turn off after use.

The gear will last longer and be more reliable if you do.

That's why the concept of "routine maintenance" was invented... we change caps and/or gear every 5-7 years.

Andrew Kinsey · 25th June 2008, 12:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gainreduction

I would strongly encourage everyone to turn all your gear off when not in use.

Our planet is on the verge of a breakdown because of overconsumption of (fossile) energy and wasting it is plain stupid and irresponsible.

If your gear takes a beating by beeing turned on or off it´s not built well enough.

Please think about the future of our planet, we have nowhere to escape.

Electricity prices are only going to go up, so its also a good way to save money.

DesertDawg · 25th June 2008, 03:13 AM

I have a half-dozen tube mics... there are plenty of people who have two or three (or more!) times that - if you leave them all on all the time, you'd have to leave them set up all the time (who has room for that???); which means you gotta put 'em out of the way somewhere when they're not being used on a particular session... moving a heated-up tube mic has more potential to cause filament damage than shutting it off when you're not using it. Never mind the constantly statically-charged capsule being more likely to attract airborne particles of any kind 24/7, as opposed to it sitting in a nice protective bag with a silica gelpak tucked in there next to it in its case or your mic locker when it's not in use.

And, by "in use", I mean, when in a session in which they're going to see some use that day - I don't mean turn them on & off in between takes or on breaks or anything ridiculous like that.

Plus, if it were me, I'd be constantly paranoid about a lightning strike or power surge strong enough to jump all protection barriers toasting all my tube mics **lol** so there's a peace of mind factor involved, as well.

s0nguy · 25th June 2008, 03:16 AM

Hell no... My Sony c-800G has 3 tubes and costs me about 400 a year to maintain... unless the client pays for it, or its for my own songs... or I deem it necessary, I dont turn the beast on...

-s0nguy

Dean Roddey · 25th June 2008, 04:46 AM

Not to mention that unless you are in a very controlled environment, the repeated condensation and dust accumulation on the diaphagm probably isn't good over years (due to temperature changes.) Though I guess some folks do put those 'mic condom' type things on them even if they leave them on the stands. I put The Royal Microphone back into its case when not used, with the little dessecant thingie. Heck a lot of us have semi-open air studios, so it definitely could be bad.

elambo · 25th June 2008, 05:50 AM

Tube gear off, everything else stays on.

Over the weekend we'll sometimes turn off a few additional things (certain computers).

JMc · 25th June 2008, 06:00 AM

I turn it off when not in use. I think it's dopey to own any gear that takes several hours to a few days to "settle in". Give me a fricken' break, Fletch!

Replacing caps isn't "routine maintenance". That's called "restoration".

When the guy who designed and built it says "turn it off when you're not using it", I tend to heed his advice over someone who sells gear for a living. No offense, but it doesn't take a genius to figure that one out.

Now, if you happen to be running a radio station, then hell yeah! By all means, leave it on 24/7, as your needs require it!

nickynicknick · 25th June 2008, 06:09 AM

I also think that it takes tube gear hours to start sounding the way it should...and no...I don't have proof. I just know what I know.....most definitely will require all gear to be left on when mixing a record...could be 3 days....could be 30...I don't care. Things will change if you turn the gear off every night...for tracking, at least for the duration of beds...i think it's a little different for overdubs.

Nick

sonicdefault · 25th June 2008, 06:12 AM

I've said it before... the world isn't going to perish from global warming- But it does however, suffer from poor bass management;]

I love walking into a control room when all the gear is on. One time though, I had a project which had to be completed in 48 hours and the air conditioning went out. I'm not kidding when I say that the temperature soon rose to 100+ degrees. All the gear was frying us, and in the end it was just me and the vocalist. But we toughed it out and finished. It was misery, and the music didn't sound very good, but to this day we remember back and have a sense of accomplishment.

-SD

Fletcher · 25th June 2008, 12:35 PM

In case I wasn't clear... the mics in my joint get turned off when not in use [except in a situation like drum tracking where it's the same continuous session for several days in a row... they get left on for the course of the session].

I leave everything else [except the mics] on 24/7.

Electrolytic capacitors [the ones that care about heat the most] have a life span of about 5-7 years for 85°C caps and around 7-10 years for 105°C caps. The replacement of those caps is called "maintenance"... kinda like changing the spark plugs and oil in your car isn't "restoration work"... it's "maintenance".

Changing the filter caps in the power supply for a tube mic [especially one with a rare tube like an AC-701/k or VF-14] should be done at least once a decade to help prolong the life of the tube... once those caps begin to dry up and change performance you risk serious damage to the tube. This [again] isn't restoration work... it's just routine maintenance.

Eganmedia · 25th June 2008, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fletcher

In case I wasn't clear... the mics in my joint get turned off when not in use [except in a situation like drum tracking where it's the same continuous session for several days in a row... they get left on for the course of the session].

I leave everything else [except the mics] on 24/7.

Electrolytic capacitors [the ones that care about heat the most] have a life span of about 5-7 years for 85°C caps and around 7-10 years for 105°C caps. The replacement of those caps is called "maintenance"... kinda like changing the spark plugs and oil in your car isn't "restoration work"... it's "maintenance".

Changing the filter caps in the power supply for a tube mic [especially one with a rare tube like an AC-701/k or VF-14] should be done at least once a decade to help prolong the life of the tube... once those caps begin to dry up and change performance you risk serious damage to the tube. This [again] isn't restoration work... it's just routine maintenance.

Why the hell have manufacturers never made sockets for capacitors? My console has sockets for ICs, but if in a 20 year life span I'm expected to swap out hundreds if not thousands of capacitors, it's nuts they aren't made to be swapped easily. I would bet the cost in time of having to recap a half dozen channels once would offset the cost of having sockets installed on every channel during manufacture.

JMc · 25th June 2008, 04:54 PM

Electrolytic capacitors are not like automobile spark plugs, oil filters or even light bulbs. They don't just screw in. I think that our definitions of "routine maintenance" might be a state of mind. If I can prolong the life of those capacitors by shutting down my gear when I'm not using it, then I think that makes more sense than whipping out the soldering iron or sending the gear out for servicing when I otherwise wouldn't have to.

If you use it 24/7, then keep it on 24/7. Otherwise, you're just wasting electricity and shortening the serviceable life of your gear. I think we can agree to disagree on this one, Fletcher.

edvdr76 · 25th June 2008, 05:48 PM

I turn off my gear when I'm done for the day....Although I'm not there everyday. If I'm taking a break for an hour or two then I will leave everything on.

JMc · 25th June 2008, 05:55 PM

That's exactly what I do. Seems to make the most sense.

Fletcher · 25th June 2008, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMc

If you use it 24/7, then keep it on 24/7. Otherwise, you're just wasting electricity and shortening the serviceable life of your gear. I think we can agree to disagree on this one, Fletcher.

We don't run 24/7... but we do run 18-19 sometimes 20/7 [some weekends are indeed 24+ hour days]... which means that shutting it down just isn't practical as it takes a few hours for everything to warm up and settle in [like our tape machine... leave it on and it'll hold an alignment for a week... shut it down and we're going through the alignment from top to bottom instead of just checking it before use]... there are other things that literally take a day or two before they're running 100%.

I guess we should agree to disagree... you do things your way and we'll continue to do things the right way.

Peace.

JMc · 25th June 2008, 08:54 PM

Well, I only work 8:30 - 5pm M-F. So "the right way" for you, isn't going to be the same as "the right way" for me, dig?

But since you've qualified your statement by explaining that you're actually using the gear 20 hours a day, and you're mentioning tape gear, well then, as Frank Morgan once famously said: "That's a horse of a different color." As far as tape machines, hell, I'd leave them running 24/7 also. I know all about capstan motors.

The question was about mics, then morphed into tubes, and now, capstan motors, apparently.

Different strokes, for different folks, and so on and so on and scooby dooby dooby.

krytikal1 · 26th June 2008, 01:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gainreduction

Our planet is on the verge of a breakdown because of overconsumption of (fossile) energy and wasting it is plain stupid and irresponsible.

our planet is no where near the verge of a breakdown. we do over consume for sure and i am all for conservation and not wasting. but doing it because of farce is not the reason i do it. tube gear goes off. so do my converters and computers. solid state gear stays on.

and i know this is a want it all for nothing society, but replacing caps is routine maintenance.

k

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View Poll Results: Do you leave your high end tube mics on?
Yes	7	7.78%
No	83	92.22%
Voters: 90. You may not vote on this poll

23rd June 2008, 07:19 PM	#1
Flymax Lives for gear Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 749	POLL: Do you leave your high end tube mics on? ???

23rd June 2008, 09:53 PM	#2
dan alexander Gear Head Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 53	tube gear The accepted rule is: you turn tube gear off when you are done using it; you leave solid state and digital gear on all the time... the fact is that tubes have a finite life span , and the other gear has less maintenance issues if left on all the time..... by the way , neumann u47s came new with a little slip of paper that read" the warmup time for the vf14 is one minute" ......

24th June 2008, 02:17 PM	#8
Fletcher member no 666 Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Foxboro, MA USA Posts: 5,773	With all due respect to the planet it takes my studio a good 4-5 hours before it's warmed up and running properly... there are some units that take a day or two to settle in... my tape machine takes at least 3 hours to become stable, my desk doesn't sound right for the first two hours after power up... we leave things on 24/7/365 [including the air conditioner]. During a "lockout session" all tube mics/equipment are left on for the course of the session... and turned off when not in use. During things like vocal sessions the potential tube mics to be used will be turned on at least an hour before the talent's scheduled arrival. They will be turned off after the vocal session and fired up again before the next vocal session... but that's about the only time we turn things off in our joint [except for the power amp for the main monitors... and that's more to protect the speakers than anything else... though I suppose we could just turn down the volume pots instead of turning the beast off]. We do our best for the planet... we're heavy into recycling [we have a dumpster just for cardboard... every week the kid brings all plastic and paper [shreded] to the reycling center and all cans and bottles are recycled... the computers are shut off at night... in my house we recycle well over 80% of the things we toss [the other 20% being organic material that will biodegrade over time], have moved to more energy efficient bulbs, lower the thermostat in the winter [and sear sweaters/sweatshirts a lot]... I drive a car that gets over 30mpg around town [close to 35 on the highway]... ride my bike most of the time from March/April to October/November [45+mpg] depending on the weather... but there are some places where we do indeed "waste" resources... and the gear in the control room being powered up 24/7/365 is one of them. Peace. __________________ Fletcher "I'm not really an asshole... I just play one on the internet" [author unknown] R/E/P the Recording Engineer and Producer forums Mercenary Audio the small drinking company with a large audio problem mwagener wrote on Sat, 11 September 2004 14:33 We are selling emotions, there are no emotions in a grid Roscoe Ambel once said: Pro-Tools is to audio what fluorescent is to light

23rd June 2008, 10:15 PM	#3
tiny333 Gear maniac Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 191	tsk what do you know about valve mics

24th June 2008, 10:03 AM	#6
Zuewi Gear maniac Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Austria Posts: 267	Why should you leave them on if the aren't in use? Do you want to run your gear 24h a day 365days per year? Don't understand the question. I mean the quesiton "if you make a 2h break at a session do you leave the tube mikes on" that would make sense to me..

24th June 2008, 10:48 AM	#7
Idiophonic Gear Head Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 40	From what I understand, the argument for staying powered all the time has to do with temperature changes. Being turned on and off, gear will heat, then cool, over and over. Expansion and contraction (of the silicon, solid-state pathways) will lead to cracking and gear that breaks more quickly. I'm not qualified to say one way or the other, that's just what I heard...

24th June 2008, 02:28 PM	#9
ThomasWho Gear maniac Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Oslo , Norway Posts: 229	The environmental part of this isn`t as clearcut as MTV would like it to be. (Do they run those ads in the US too? ) If equipment needs to be replaced more often because of damage from the "heat up/cool down" cycle we need to factor that in. T

24th June 2008, 02:48 PM	#10
Bob Vinsick Gear interested Join Date: May 2008 Location: Upstate NY Posts: 21	The main reason for leaving gear up is due to the changing of states. If you change states of electronic gear, failure rates go up as compared to when leaving them on as once. I learned this when I fixed mainframe computers (real big mainframes) for IBM in the 70's and 80's. Field support engineers would dread the thought of doing maintenance on a mainframe because they would have to power them off. They found that changing states would cause failures such as power failures and such. It was always a crap shoot and if up and running, a mainframe had a much better chance of staying up and running if it wasn't turned off. I'm sure electronics are much better now, so this concept might be a thing of the past, but just the effects of changing states and temprature of components can cause wear and tear.

24th June 2008, 03:05 PM	#11
John Willett Lives for gear Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Oxfordshire, UK Posts: 767	If you leave gear on all the time, the capacitors dry out - if you then turn it off it is likely not to turn on again. The rule should always be - turn off after use. The gear will last longer and be more reliable if you do. __________________ John President - Fédération Internationale des Chasseurs de Sons

24th June 2008, 04:23 PM	#12
Newcleardaze Gear maniac Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Colorado Posts: 154	I think you've got your answer for the tube mics, but for solid state??? I can understand the need to leave on such equipment as Fletcher is talking about... a large format console is a whole animal unto its own, but what if you're just running a handfull of outboard compressors and preamps while doing the rest ITB??

24th June 2008, 07:26 PM	#13
Dean Roddey Lives for gear Join Date: May 2008 Location: Mountain View, CA Posts: 803	It's been pretty well studied that tubes stablize after about 15 minutes. Anyone who says otherwise has the burden of proof as to why they know more about it than people who study the physics of tubes. For solid state gear, how could it be anything less than far shorter than tube warmup time? __________________ Dean Roddey Chairman/CTO Charmed Quark Systems, Ltd www.charmedquark.com RME 9632, Pearlman TM-1, MP500-NV + P-1, Mackie HR824mkII, SONAR PE, Amplitube/Ampeg + BFD/Dim Pro, Waves Platinum + URS, Les Paul Std + Amer. Strat/Jazz, pakKontrol + Oxygen

25th June 2008, 03:13 AM	#16
DesertDawg Gear addict Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: The Desert Posts: 342	I have a half-dozen tube mics... there are plenty of people who have two or three (or more!) times that - if you leave them all on all the time, you'd have to leave them set up all the time (who has room for that???); which means you gotta put 'em out of the way somewhere when they're not being used on a particular session... moving a heated-up tube mic has more potential to cause filament damage than shutting it off when you're not using it. Never mind the constantly statically-charged capsule being more likely to attract airborne particles of any kind 24/7, as opposed to it sitting in a nice protective bag with a silica gelpak tucked in there next to it in its case or your mic locker when it's not in use. And, by "in use", I mean, when in a session in which they're going to see some use that day - I don't mean turn them on & off in between takes or on breaks or anything ridiculous like that. Plus, if it were me, I'd be constantly paranoid about a lightning strike or power surge strong enough to jump all protection barriers toasting all my tube mics lol so there's a peace of mind factor involved, as well. __________________ My ambition is to someday have my signature line quoted as someone else's signature line.

25th June 2008, 03:16 AM	#17
s0nguy Lives for gear Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 664	Hell no... My Sony c-800G has 3 tubes and costs me about 400 a year to maintain... unless the client pays for it, or its for my own songs... or I deem it necessary, I dont turn the beast on... -s0nguy __________________ Louder isn't better. It's just louder (and better!) www.rowtop.com

25th June 2008, 04:46 AM	#18
Dean Roddey Lives for gear Join Date: May 2008 Location: Mountain View, CA Posts: 803	Not to mention that unless you are in a very controlled environment, the repeated condensation and dust accumulation on the diaphagm probably isn't good over years (due to temperature changes.) Though I guess some folks do put those 'mic condom' type things on them even if they leave them on the stands. I put The Royal Microphone back into its case when not used, with the little dessecant thingie. Heck a lot of us have semi-open air studios, so it definitely could be bad. __________________ Dean Roddey Chairman/CTO Charmed Quark Systems, Ltd www.charmedquark.com RME 9632, Pearlman TM-1, MP500-NV + P-1, Mackie HR824mkII, SONAR PE, Amplitube/Ampeg + BFD/Dim Pro, Waves Platinum + URS, Les Paul Std + Amer. Strat/Jazz, pakKontrol + Oxygen

25th June 2008, 05:50 AM	#19
elambo Lives for gear Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Midwest Posts: 1,745	Tube gear off, everything else stays on. Over the weekend we'll sometimes turn off a few additional things (certain computers).

25th June 2008, 06:00 AM	#20
JMc Gear maniac Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Boss Angeles Posts: 191	I turn it off when not in use. I think it's dopey to own any gear that takes several hours to a few days to "settle in". Give me a fricken' break, Fletch! Replacing caps isn't "routine maintenance". That's called "restoration". When the guy who designed and built it says "turn it off when you're not using it", I tend to heed his advice over someone who sells gear for a living. No offense, but it doesn't take a genius to figure that one out. Now, if you happen to be running a radio station, then hell yeah! By all means, leave it on 24/7, as your needs require it! __________________ "This is not some psychotic episode - but a cleansing moment of clarity."

25th June 2008, 06:09 AM	#21
nickynicknick Lives for gear Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Toronto Posts: 807	I also think that it takes tube gear hours to start sounding the way it should...and no...I don't have proof. I just know what I know.....most definitely will require all gear to be left on when mixing a record...could be 3 days....could be 30...I don't care. Things will change if you turn the gear off every night...for tracking, at least for the duration of beds...i think it's a little different for overdubs. Nick

25th June 2008, 06:12 AM	#22
sonicdefault Lives for gear Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: USA Posts: 1,047	I've said it before... the world isn't going to perish from global warming- But it does however, suffer from poor bass management;] I love walking into a control room when all the gear is on. One time though, I had a project which had to be completed in 48 hours and the air conditioning went out. I'm not kidding when I say that the temperature soon rose to 100+ degrees. All the gear was frying us, and in the end it was just me and the vocalist. But we toughed it out and finished. It was misery, and the music didn't sound very good, but to this day we remember back and have a sense of accomplishment. -SD __________________ ...My goal for many, many years was to obtain a beautiful API desk and be buried with it when I die... vin-gear ...My 57 is only a few years old, but I'd like to think that someday my children can pass it down to their children. Killahurts

25th June 2008, 12:35 PM	#23
Fletcher member no 666 Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Foxboro, MA USA Posts: 5,773	In case I wasn't clear... the mics in my joint get turned off when not in use [except in a situation like drum tracking where it's the same continuous session for several days in a row... they get left on for the course of the session]. I leave everything else [except the mics] on 24/7. Electrolytic capacitors [the ones that care about heat the most] have a life span of about 5-7 years for 85°C caps and around 7-10 years for 105°C caps. The replacement of those caps is called "maintenance"... kinda like changing the spark plugs and oil in your car isn't "restoration work"... it's "maintenance". Changing the filter caps in the power supply for a tube mic [especially one with a rare tube like an AC-701/k or VF-14] should be done at least once a decade to help prolong the life of the tube... once those caps begin to dry up and change performance you risk serious damage to the tube. This [again] isn't restoration work... it's just routine maintenance. __________________ Fletcher "I'm not really an asshole... I just play one on the internet" [author unknown] R/E/P the Recording Engineer and Producer forums Mercenary Audio the small drinking company with a large audio problem mwagener wrote on Sat, 11 September 2004 14:33 We are selling emotions, there are no emotions in a grid Roscoe Ambel once said: Pro-Tools is to audio what fluorescent is to light

25th June 2008, 04:54 PM	#25
JMc Gear maniac Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Boss Angeles Posts: 191	Electrolytic capacitors are not like automobile spark plugs, oil filters or even light bulbs. They don't just screw in. I think that our definitions of "routine maintenance" might be a state of mind. If I can prolong the life of those capacitors by shutting down my gear when I'm not using it, then I think that makes more sense than whipping out the soldering iron or sending the gear out for servicing when I otherwise wouldn't have to. If you use it 24/7, then keep it on 24/7. Otherwise, you're just wasting electricity and shortening the serviceable life of your gear. I think we can agree to disagree on this one, Fletcher. __________________ "This is not some psychotic episode - but a cleansing moment of clarity."

25th June 2008, 05:48 PM	#26
edvdr76 Lives for gear Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Downey, CA Posts: 538	I turn off my gear when I'm done for the day....Although I'm not there everyday. If I'm taking a break for an hour or two then I will leave everything on. __________________ myspace.com/esgarsmusic myspace.com/cheesgar "You can NEVER, fix it in the mix"

25th June 2008, 05:55 PM	#27
JMc Gear maniac Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Boss Angeles Posts: 191	That's exactly what I do. Seems to make the most sense. __________________ "This is not some psychotic episode - but a cleansing moment of clarity."

25th June 2008, 08:54 PM	#29
JMc Gear maniac Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Boss Angeles Posts: 191	Well, I only work 8:30 - 5pm M-F. So "the right way" for you, isn't going to be the same as "the right way" for me, dig? But since you've qualified your statement by explaining that you're actually using the gear 20 hours a day, and you're mentioning tape gear, well then, as Frank Morgan once famously said: "That's a horse of a different color." As far as tape machines, hell, I'd leave them running 24/7 also. I know all about capstan motors. The question was about mics, then morphed into tubes, and now, capstan motors, apparently. Different strokes, for different folks, and so on and so on and scooby dooby dooby. __________________ "This is not some psychotic episode - but a cleansing moment of clarity."