Gear: Hero to Zero

[chrisso]

What piece have you bought at great expense only to find a couple of years later you can't even give it away?
Audio-wise I've been pretty lucky, unless you count Pro Tools and Apple Macs
- how much is an 888/24 worth, or a 'Power Computing' Mac clone?
I think the digital realm is particularly bad for obsolescence.
My studio is basically analogue so most things have held their value.
I've got a Dynacord ADD II drum sampler which I've advertised several times and haven't had any enquiries. I don't even think it's worth $200. Samplers are worth nuttin' these days, likewise DAT machines.
The biggest losers were those who bought $100,000 Fairlight systems.
Anyone got anything - especially audio - which they couldn't sell at any price?

[Dave Martin]

Originally posted by chrisso
What piece have you bought at great expense only to find a couple of years later you can't even give it away?
...
The biggest losers were those who bought $100,000 Fairlight systems.
Anyone got anything - especially audio - which they couldn't sell at any price?

I think that you're looking at it from the wrong perspective - if those Fairlight users made half a million or more with the Fairlight before it quit working, then they're ahead even if they throw it in the trash.

Having said that, there are 2 PC's sitting in the trash pile by the studio, but both of them have more than paid for themselves. It's the same with my PT rig and my DA-88's and 78's - if they all blow up tomorrow, they've made me a ton of money.

Sure, I paid a lot more for them than I could get out of them, but I didn't buy them as investments - I bought them as tools. They've been quite successsful at that.

Merry Christmas!

[Jay Kahrs]

Usually cheap effects. Mostly the Lexicon and Alesis stuff. I bought my Midiverb 4 used for $275 and now I can't get $100 for it. What's the Dynacord drum sample thing like? Can you put in and trigger your own samples?

[chrisso]

Originally posted by Jay Kahrs
Dynacord drum sample thing like? Can you put in and trigger your own samples?

Yep....

Dave, I know what you are saying but not everybody is running a succesful business. I know at least two people who bought expensive Fairlight systems and used them for personal projects only. Many of those projects didn't make any money.
There are lots of lowish level people like me who feel pressured by clients to have a full Pro Tools rig and keep it reasonably up to date. The cost of upgrading PT and throwing out and replacing the Macs to run it on every couple of years is significant.
Didn't want to get too serious anyway. I was just curious as to what once mega expensive kit was lying worthless, cluttering up people's studios these days. I'm just about to decommission a Mac 9600, Philips screen, a CD writer and several Scsii hard drives, all virtually worthless.
(OK, yes they did make me some money over a couple of years)

[e-cue]

The Finalizers and Autotune boxes seem to have dropped in price a lot. My akai 4 track hard disc recorder is worth about as much as a movie ticket.

My 9600 might now be the hottest, newest, bestest, on the block, but it's rock solid. There's a good chance I'll break down and upgrade computers, pro tools rigs, os's, and trackballs this up comming year. I only hope I'll be able to make my money back on the investment as good as my current mix rig.

My Finalizer has made a comeback...

I dragged it out of the mothballs & just spent $250+ upgrading it so that it can do a 96k to 44.1k SRC....

I have been digging its Normalization lately... I use it in combo withe he Sony GML option for mastering.. (I skip using the Finalizers EQ however... too metalic!)

[Jay Kahrs]

I'm gonna PM you about that Dynacord thing... I've been looking for something like that. Since I work in a mostly analog world triggering samples is a total PITA so I usually use an Alesis D4 for kicks and snares. It would be nice to use something from the actual clients kit.

[Dave Martin]

[quote]Originally posted by chrisso

Dave, I know what you are saying but not everybody is running a succesful business. I know at least two people who bought expensive Fairlight systems and used them for personal projects only. Many of those projects didn't make any money.

But just because they're obsolescent, they're not obsolete - they should be able to continue making music with them, right?

There are lots of lowish level people like me who feel pressured by clients to have a full Pro Tools rig and keep it reasonably up to date. The cost of upgrading PT and throwing out and replacing the Macs to run it on every couple of years is significant.

Certainly it is - that's one of the problems with cheap clients, I think... But seriously, go to the web page for any of the rental houses and price a full blown Pro Tools system. Tehn show that page to your clients. Explain how adding $500 or $600 a day to your day rate would get them exactly what they want. See if that eases their pressure on you at all.... [/b]


Didn't want to get too serious anyway. I was just curious as to what once mega expensive kit was lying worthless, cluttering up people's studios these days. I'm just about to decommission a Mac 9600, Philips screen, a CD writer and several Scsii hard drives, all virtually worthless.


Been there and done that - I gave my 9600 away to a friend. Sucks, don't it?

[Albert]

I just gave my 9500 with a G3 accelerator card to my brother, and a few years ago I gave away a computer. A couple years ago friend of mine gave me his "old" G3 laptop (fully maxed out) when he upgraded. It's a nice thing to do or receive. Maybe you know someone that would benefit from your 9600, and will appreciate the gift.

Like you, I've noticed that digital gear loses its value quite dramatically. Analog gear holds up a lot better I've decided after many eBay auctions. Synths often hold up better than outmoded digital signal processing gear, as well.

Gear I could barely give away when I sold it? Yamaha DMP11 digital mixer, Yamaha DEQ7 digital eq, Roland E-660 Digital parametric, to name a few. Old samplers with limited memory also lost tremendous value, like my Roland S-330. But the big losers are digital mixers, signal processors, etc.

Some stuff goes up in value. I've made money on things like RAM cards for synths. I actually made a profit on my Realistic PZM mics as well. Mackie gear holds its value very well in my experience.

[chrisso]

[quote]Originally posted by Dave Martin
[b]

Originally posted by chrisso

Been there and done that - I gave my 9600 away to a friend. Sucks, don't it?

I believe there is a charity that collects old computers and refurbs them for the thirld world - getting small villages on the web.yuktyy

[atticus]

Originally posted by chrisso
I believe there is a charity that collects old computers and refurbs them for the thirld world - getting small villages on the web.yuktyy

Yeah, I do that. Just took in five 7200's today and am refurbishing them for a rural school who can't afford anything. They can all be networked and are really pretty useful. If anyone has any old Power Macs that they want to donate to the cause let me know. So far I have the five 7200's and a beige G3. I'm setting them up with OS 9 and Yellow Dog Linux. Should be a cool project

[Henchman]

I know a post-house that still Uses Synclaviers, because they still rock, according to the peoplewho use them. They've been paid off years ago.

Anybody who spends 100k on anything for a personal vanity project is a fool. You can't use that as a level of success.

I can still do full post-productions on a Fairlight MFX3plus, and do everyday. And it's a system that is more than 6 years old, and has never needed any costly upgrades. I know that I can keep using the MFX3plus systems as long as post for TV remains 48k. Which should eb for awhile, since I can't see the expensive digibeta's being replaced anytime soon.