Which pro audio manufacturers' websites suck and which ones do you think really kick ass? (Besides mine.)

And why?

Why are companies being pitted against each other out of curiousity? Personally, I think any website is better than not having one at all. YMMV.

I saw this question asked on a hifi forum and found it quite interesting to see what people like in an audio gear website and what people do not like in an audio gear website. This isn't about the gear or the companies. Just the website design and content.

Nathan . . . that post is a little too "touchy / feely" for me. I have been to your site once before, so . . . . . . . . a little personality may be in order there too!

*smile*

I think EveAnna is just having a little fun. I wouldn't think too much negative will come out of it . . as a matter of fact, maybe some people will make some changes to some sucky sites!

Ditto

API/s website design sucks ass. i offered to redesign it for them but didnt hear back. guess they would rather make nice gear than a nice site.

Personal things I do not like.
Vaporware which says is already out.
No Spec's
No RRP
Out of date info
No distributors, or out of date.

Things I like.
Quick loading, not heavy flash.
Good pics, front and rear
Manuals on line.
Past gear archive..

Now THIS is FUNNY!

I was ready to bust on Nathan's site, but thought I should take a look at it first (LOL!), so I clicked on the link in his signature.

Halfway through loading the site, my browser crashed! I had to do a force-quit, and re-opened Explorer...and got another crash message! I had to reboot and trash the web cache, for the first time since I installed OS 9.2.2 three months ago. Nathan...??? Can you have a word with your webmaster pleez?

Back to the topic...

I don't care what anyone thinks of Digidesign, you can't deny their web presence is pretty fooking impressive, massive, comprehensive. I've got literally a bookshelf full of printed PDFs from the Digi site covering all things Digi. And the last time I posted a thread with a question there, Dave Lebolt responded within 30 minutes with a solution to my problem. High marks.

The Mercenary Audio (a manufacturer, technically speaking) site is like a library of high-end gear and usage, fun, informative, colorful, entertaining. A kind of virtual Playboy magazine for audio gear slutz. High marks.

Atlas "Pro" Audio...low marks. Don't crash my browser, and nobody gets hurt.

SNL is done, and I'm watching "Snatch" now, for the third time this week. Anyone seen this film? Great acting, very cool soundtrack music...

In general,

1. I don't like having to scrounge around for the all important "contact information" link. Some mfgrs have employed creative methods of obscuring this piece of info.

2. If a mfgr has a forum, I think they should provide an (inside or outside) gear head to provide the technical assistance that's bound to be requested, and a "marketing person" to direct issues and topics that are usually resolved off forum.

3. Sites that are too "flashy" get my goat.

...more later...with actual "site" review.

NYC Drew

IMPIRICAL LABS = bad.

Fairlight = also bad

Its a drag when there is no clear URL for every page you access, (what is that? - Flash?) cause you cant email a link to a chum...

In general, I hate all these gotdamn sites that sell "high end" but won't quote a price. Nothing worse than talking tech with another engineer and saying "Hmmm, how much does the Blahblahblah Pro cost?" and looking up on Musician's Friend and seeing "$Call".(sidenote, when you DO call, you play this song and dance about how many you want to buy, and how much gear you have bought from them in the past) I understand we are talking large sums of money, but I know websites that sell cars that still leave you with a ball park figure.

I totally agree, E-cue.
Even real estate is advertised with a price, at least here in Europe. Why anybody expects to get more trade from not posting any prices is a mystery to me, and i suppose that the reason for running a commercial website is to get more trade -or am i missing something?

I don't know if it's a "best" or "worst"... but it certainly had me halfway to tears.... Jack Ortman Audio

I'm not sure it's a 'Pro Audio' site, but Pro Sound Web is absolutely the slowest loading site I've ever seen, with a signal to noise ratio even higher than rec.audio.pro. If it weren't for the Mixerman saga, I wouldn't look at it at all.

Been there recently? It's the fastest site around now (except maybe Gearslutz).

And you should hang in some other forums. There's this cool mastering forum on PSW which I like very much... hehe

Brad, why are you the only one from the mastering webboard who shows at the cool forums like this one?

We're down in the trenches here, fighitng the good fight (hopefully), not hermits in invory towers throwing a last touch of sorcery on dog****.

Jack Ortman - rules!

heh

I don't see any prices there either?grggt

"See? Even horses loved me as a baby!"

Mike Jasper wrote:

Factual correction: We haven't raised any Manley pro gear product prices ever on our website, or even before 1996 when we started the website, or even before since when George Bush Sr. was president, if you really want to know, with the one exception of the preliminary SLAM! price fiasco vs. final design reality earlier this year. Old news... But keep that website open long enough and I probably will raise some prices.

As for your other comment, cowboy, I ain't here to be done by you. Go find something else to be totally wrong about.
tut

that's humor huh? pure class. you give humans a bad name...

Accuracy is important to me. Using phrases such as "If I remember correctly..." or "I'm not sure, but..." or "I heard that..." and then going right on to post inaccurate information only furthers the BS, spreads rumours, and wastes peoples' time.

Novel concept: use the mighty power of the internet to actually check for factual accuracy before you post something that someone else might read as gospel. You know, not everyone gets your "jokes."

For instance, helpful link: The retail price of the SLAM!
Now you don't have to rely on your memory because you can easily look up the info you need, from the source.

Or if you really aren't sure, just ask a question.

Example: "Are you gay?" Although you might want to ask yourself if this sort of shiite belongs in a public forum or not in the first place...

NO, prosoundweb is pretty sucky, and STILL is kind of slow, but it definitely has gotten better.

The thing that annoys me most about prosoundweb is that it's so buggy w/ AOL (yeh, everybody says AOL sucks, whatever) that I can't even post !!! I wrote the webmaster a few times to try diferrent adjustments and what not, but his ultimate answer was "Well, yeah, don;t use AOL, use something different." Sure buddy, right after hell freezes over!!!

The forums are so laden with putdowns and negativity that it's not worth my time. The mixerman forum is totally devoid of purpose at this point.

JHall's, BB's , FLetcher's, and Klett's are still pretty cool though. The thing that sucks about Fletcher's is that he always gets those lame posts like "What's the best pre around$_____"

Those topics should be BANNED!!! madd

You don't have to change your ISP, just your browser! PSW doesn't function well on AOL for me either. That's why I use IE.

sheesh

PSW has gotten way faster.. Fletcher, John and Brads "rooms" over there are great..

Music player sucks lately, way too many posts about.. well, see Jaspers ****head statement above, and then imagine that being more realated to audio than all the actual topics on MP lately.

but wait, it was about manufacturers sites.... Manley is well done, IZ is actually pretty cool, but for the most part you can get way more info from these boards than most manufacturers pages..

I like recording.org but not enough people use it.

Looking forward to it EveAnna . . . All my dealings with you have been great. You took the time and offered some specific solutions and work arounds that I had not considered on technical issues I had / have. I am looking forward to hearing where this goes this month.

I am not interested in anyone's personal stuff. I would HATE to see Fletcher in a dress . . . .

Mmmmm... AOL is one of the most popular internet services- period. I'm not going to change my browser just because they can't get their **** together.

Popular? I could care less what's popular, but that isn't worth arguing.

... All you'd have to do is double click IE once AOL is fired up... pretty simple.

I mention IE because it seemed you might not be aware you can have another browser open while AOL handles only the internet connection, and IE does it all faster and more easily than AOL anyway.

Curious what people see as a good site . . . To me, it seems a site should be informative, entertaining 'of sorts' . . (no flash or audio clips you HAVE to endure or artsy fartsy crap) and it should be interesting.

Easy to get around. Easy to get to the info you seek quickly without going through a bunch of bull****. Prices are important, pictures (front panel and rear connections) . . . . AND . . . easy access to drop an email to the right person.

the Behringer site is very good.