GS Certified MUST HAVE list under $500

[LoFiAudio]

Originally Posted by jrides

If you are not the ebay flower pot guy... then I will contribute a bit. (thought I know he is watching)

That guy cracks me up, I've seen him on here (with the same flower pots in his avatar). But if he gets his hands on this stuff, it will most certainly no longer be "sub $500"!!

[AGordon84]

How does that guy change the price of (new) stuff?

[LoFiAudio]

Originally Posted by AGordon84

How does that guy change the price of (new) stuff?

Well, he can't do this of course, but he sure has a knack for buying up boatloads of cheap spring reverbs / compressors / etc and selling it at 2-3-4 times what it should go for. I'm assuming he actually sells some of the stuff, but who buys it is more the question?
I mean, $355 for a dbx 163?
a Rane DC24 compresor / expander / Gate for $395? I just sold one of these for $120. (quite possibly to the same guy)
and the best yet (on there today) is a crybaby wah pedal for $350!


I'm sure many of other GSers here in the states who have an unhealthy ebay habit like myself run across his auctions and think "what the hell?"... I'm glad I'm not the only one as pointed out by this thread! Not going to "out" him on here but if you search on ebay for "spring reverb" i guarantee you'll see the telltale flowerpots before you reach the bottom of the first page of search results.

<edit> Now, I don't want to slag Mr. 'Pots too bad, he does obviously spend a lot of time researching and digging up some rare finds, and he does has some cool stuff up for sale. Just some of the stuff is not as "rare" or "finds" as the price would have you beleive. It's been said, " never knock someone else making money in the music business ". I guess this is one way to go about it! <edit>

[LoFiAudio]

And , just to add something actually constructive to the thread, here's my picks:

• +1 on MK012s, 421s, 201s, 57's, RE-20s, and the venerable VOG!
  
• AT ATM25, awesome mic! Kick, Toms, Bass, and more!
• Beyer m260, like the 160 but less hi fi, only has 1 ribbon instead of 2, but this makes more creamy ribbon sound! Awesome, and cheaper than the 160. Got my pair for around $400.
• Nice Patchbay setup with cables, boring but well worth the expense and time wiring everything up!
• DBX 160vu / 161 or even 160a, tried and true.

And of course, someone has to say it - room treatment! "That $500 bucks is much better spent treating your room first yada yada yada"... Not for me though, I plan on stacking the gear so high that it acts as it's own diffusors, bass traps and RFZ around my mix position!


(kidding, kidding)...

[kidvybes]

Originally Posted by Ace_TX

didn't know about the monprice phones...what are the clonesof/similar to?

...don't take my word (BTW, model 8323 and 839 are the same headphones)...

Tape Op Magazine > Reviews > Gear > DJ Style Pro Headphones (Item #8323)

“Monoprice MHP-839, budget performer” - MalVeauX’s Review of Monoprice MHP-839

[hymenoptera]

any mention of flower pot guy gives me a laugh. i'm kind of ashamed to even know what that means...

[AGordon84]

Does anybody eff with the Overstayer?

http://overstayer.squarespace.com/stereo-compressor/

[noah330]

Originally Posted by ShadowAMD

Can we stretch the budget a little for one thing?

Mojave FET 201, it is awesome (Second hand it would come in sub $500)..

+1 the 201 sounds great on tons of things!

[poiesznbeats]

I absolutely eff with the Overstayer!!! I have the fet comp and its just awesome... everyone who has used it wants to buy one. Their new gear is just out of this price range but it is a hands down winner regardless.

Another +2 on the Mojave 201's.... I picked up a pair for drum overheads and they hit way above their pay grade!!

In my experience, going the DIY route opens the most doors at this price. I learned to solder specifically so I could build Classic API kits, and now I have 6 VP312s for the equivalent cost of 2 new API 512s. On top of that, they sound better for my applications!!! Unless you truly have no spare time to invest a little sweat equity, I don't see any reason to go any other route. I'm a pro musician getting together a studio rig and it would be impossible without these high value deals and DIY. Or I would be using Behringer gear.

[Ragan]

Sennheiser 441. My favorite snare mic. Rejects hi hats like a f***n Boss. I like it on cabs sometimes and I've heard it sound like absolute magic on female vox.

[Ragan]

Also, I got my AKG 414b-ULS for just over $500 and its an absolute workhorse.

[chk23]

- Amost every AT condenser < 500$ (AT2020, AT2035, AT4040, the discontinued AT30XX line...)
- Art Pro MPA II
- T-Bone SCT800 (Thomann house brand, I think it's a slightly modified version of the APEX 460)
- CAD M179
- Funkberater PGH-30, RFT DM622 (vintage eastern german mics, you could get them for 20€ on eBay last year, now due to their growing "secret weapon" reputation it's hard to find one below 100$).

[Maldini]

Originally Posted by Ragan

Sennheiser 441. My favorite snare mic. Rejects hi hats like a f***n Boss. I like it on cabs sometimes and I've heard it sound like absolute magic on female vox.

It always worked for Stevie Nicks!

[digitrax]

Originally Posted by col

SM57
Audix i5
MD421
Beyer M201

+1!!

Someone hit the nail right on the head with this one.
What a ubiquitous collection of dynamics: 57 (for guitars/guitar cabs), i5 (for snare), 421 (for kicks/toms), and 201 (for everything else)!

I was gonna put the M201 on this list anyway ('til I saw someone already had).
It's my all-time favorite dynamic.
To me, it sounds a good as (or better than) SM57, SM7b or MD441 "right-outta-the-box" and takes EQ better than any of them.

[louparte]

JoeMeek VC3 pre-amp compressor
Sennheiser HD280 headphones

Both cheap.

[tribedescribe]

I want to ditto three products that were mention that saved me a ton of money!!!

Line audio cm3 sdc
Bla b12a (i have 2)
equator d5

I sold my km184 sdc pair and neve portico 5012 pre. I also was about to buy a pair of dynaudio bm5a when i found the equators. I am glad i made the switch to those items above they are totally on par with their higher quality counterparts at unheard of prices.

2 line audio cm3, 2 bla b12a, 2 equator d5 = $1300

vs.

2 km184, 2 dynaudio bm5a, neve portico 5012 = $4300

[jrides]

Originally Posted by LoFiAudio

Well, he can't do this of course, but he sure has a knack for buying up boatloads of cheap spring reverbs / compressors / etc and selling it at 2-3-4 times what it should go for. I'm assuming he actually sells some of the stuff, but who buys it is more the question?
I mean, $355 for a dbx 163?
a Rane DC24 compresor / expander / Gate for $395? I just sold one of these for $120. (quite possibly to the same guy)
and the best yet (on there today) is a crybaby wah pedal for $350!


I'm sure many of other GSers here in the states who have an unhealthy ebay habit like myself run across his auctions and think "what the hell?"... I'm glad I'm not the only one as pointed out by this thread! Not going to "out" him on here but if you search on ebay for "spring reverb" i guarantee you'll see the telltale flowerpots before you reach the bottom of the first page of search results.

<edit> Now, I don't want to slag Mr. 'Pots too bad, he does obviously spend a lot of time researching and digging up some rare finds, and he does has some cool stuff up for sale. Just some of the stuff is not as "rare" or "finds" as the price would have you beleive. It's been said, " never knock someone else making money in the music business ". I guess this is one way to go about it! <edit>

I hope no one is actually doing this.

[samth3mancgp]

Originally Posted by cakeshoppe

For what it's worth, my Hakko FX-888 doesn't pass audio but it's saved me literally thousands of dollars, and the $80 price tag is well worth it over the radio shack soldering irons I'd used in the past. In my opinion, if you're trying to put together a low budget studio, you're missing out on a huge opportunity if you don't have a workable soldering kit and know how to use it.

Audio gear:
-if you're counting used gear, I picked up an Overstayer FET comp for a little under $500, and I'm really liking that.

-misterpatchbay.com again, used and not a manufacturer, but this should be the first stop of anyone considering a patchbay install

I could not agree with any of this more!!! Especially the soldering thing. The most under appreciated piece in any studio! ;-)

[tedtan]

A couple of things I haven't seen listed yet are

- Sennheiser e906 (NOT the e609): great on guitar cabs, and with the 3-way filter, could probably be put to use on snare and other other instruments, too; under $200, new.

- Little Labs Red Eye 3D Phantom: great sounding active DI, passive DI, signal splitter and reamp box all in one; under $300 new.

And while I wasn't planning on mentioning anything already listed, I have to second (or third, fourth, or whatever) the Equator D5 monitors. These are the best monitors I have heard anywhere near this price. You can find better, but you will pay a lot more for them.

[tedtan]

Originally Posted by jrides

I hope no one is actually doing this.

Unfortunately, this flower pot guy is doing it, and has been for a while.

[GZsound]

Originally Posted by frans

Cable tester, no kidding.

My wife got me one of those cheap Behringer cable testers and I love it. Makes checking mic cables after assembly a snap.

And by the way..

I just happen to have an FMR RNP for sale plus two AT 4041 small condenser mics, and an Oktava MK012 for sale. All under the budget..

[GZsound]

Originally Posted by LoFiAudio

And , just to add something actually constructive to the thread, here's my picks:

• +1 on MK012s, 421s, 201s, 57's, RE-20s, and the venerable VOG!
  
• AT ATM25, awesome mic! Kick, Toms, Bass, and more!
• Beyer m260, like the 160 but less hi fi, only has 1 ribbon instead of 2, but this makes more creamy ribbon sound! Awesome, and cheaper than the 160. Got my pair for around $400.
• Nice Patchbay setup with cables, boring but well worth the expense and time wiring everything up!
• DBX 160vu / 161 or even 160a, tried and true.

And of course, someone has to say it - room treatment! "That $500 bucks is much better spent treating your room first yada yada yada"... Not for me though, I plan on stacking the gear so high that it acts as it's own diffusors, bass traps and RFZ around my mix position!


(kidding, kidding)...

Last year I sold my Beyer M260 (that I bought new in 1974) after retiring from full time rock and roll sax playing. While researching the mic, I learned that the newer ones have a low frequency filter that cuts off the low end drastically. Mine didn't have that filter and always sounded open and clear..great sax mic and I used to record banjo and even fiddle with great results.

So..it isn't the ribbon that makes the 260 sound worse then the 160, I believe it's that low cut off filter.

[James Lehmann]

Originally Posted by AGordon84

What are the pieces under $500 that come up on here over and over as the must-have, bang for your buck pieces of gear?

A matched pair of 5m Vovox XLR microphone cables comes in around $400.

[chk23]

Originally Posted by James Lehmann

A matched pair of 5m Vovox XLR microphone cables comes in around $400.

[dxavier]

Originally Posted by James Lehmann

A matched pair of 5m Vovox XLR microphone cables comes in around $400.

You are joking right? I really hope you are joking......

[vizcities]

Originally Posted by OldCountryBuffet

GLS ES-57 - The original post mentions that the SM57 is an obvious choice (and I agree) but, in terms of value and low cost, this copy is a winner. I wasn't expecting a lot from a $30 mic but it does a great job on guitar cabinets. Another worth mentioning is the Audix i5, which costs the same as an SM57. There's almost always a place for this breed of mic, regardless of whether it's the genuine Shure or the ultra-affordable GLS knockoff.

+1 The difference between the ES-57 and an SM-57 is negligible, though this is a tad brighter - or maybe just a tad less low-endy. For $100, I got three totally reasonable (and often perfect) utility options for toms, snares, hats, guitar cabs, even certain types of vox. Oh, and they have a surprising amount of heft - perhaps not EV 635a- or SM-57-level in terms of indestructability, but they def gesture towards the "doubles as a hammer" heartiness of their more expensive forefathers. For the price, I can't think of a better no-brainer.

[The Padded Room]

A second on the rft dm622's, love 'em, i wish there was a directional model, but what the heck, I can maybe build a jecklin disc.
Gotta put in the nod for the akg d1000e, the mic that made the sm57 dead to me.

[The Padded Room]

Also a hard-to-find Superlux CM-H8G 9-pattern tube LDC. Nothing but good coming out of that mic. I've had it maybe 10 years, and I don't think you can get them for 300 bux new anymore.