Choosing Gear

When Good is Bad…
Primer to choosing audio gear.
 
The most difficult aspect in choosing your gear is choosing what you like instead of liking what you choose.
 
What do we mean by that?
 
Sometimes, the brand name influences us so much that it has to be good… no matter how bad it is.
And sometimes, we spend so much on it and the price tag is so high that it has to be good… no matter how bad it is.
And while we have it, we justify it, we praise it, and we even endorse it. Lying to ourselves as to how much we don’t like it.
 
When people review products against each other, they blind test them… That being that they make sure the judge does not know anything about the product except the result it produces. Because as soon as someone mentions that ‘A’ is a Neumann mic, and ‘B’ is some cheap Chinese mic, you’re going to want the Neumann to sound better. Or you may want the Chinese mic to sound better depending on your character.
The point being that when choosing a style, piece of equipment, wife, or hamburger… choose the end result. Not what other people think, not the price tag, not the brand.
 
Objectivity is the hardest aspect in this industry. The greater your strength is on being totally objective, the better your results will be. Always.
 
So the Neumann U87 may be a great mic, but until you have used it and heard it, it’s just another mic. You decide.
 
Let your ears be your guide.