Some of us may not like to admit it, but if we are truthful, we know that how we perceive a given console is a mixture, only part of which is an objective assessment.

This is always blended with our instinctive reaction to the desk and unavoidably colored by our personal prejudices from past experiences with a given manufacturer’s products.

What makes a mixing board attractive to us when we first walk up on it?

Looks are part of the whole thing. We want comfortable ergonomics, not a giant plateau that seems designed for an operator as tall as a pro basketball player.

Maybe we take one look at the knobs and wonder if the guy who designed it was color-blind, or whether, just once in his whole life, he had ever really mixed a show in a dark hall with just a few Littlites to help see which aux is which.

Another painful truth is that if a console really sounds good, we can forgive some stupid features. Not to name any names, but everyone probably has their own personal shortlist of them, right?

And what about love the irrational human impulse that can even operate in the realm of gear made of metal and plastic and electrons.

I remember the sentimental attachment I had to an old Soundcraft 500B that I mixed many shows on in San Francisco. It may have been an old warhorse, but I felt like it was my old warhorse.

Karrie Keyes, to the best of my knowledge, still carries around two Ramsa modules in a flight case that looks like it’s made for pool cues or fishing poles, because that’s the tone that Eddie Vedder likes. His vocal and spare are run through that before it hits whatever other monitor board Karrie is using.

Brand loyalty who feels any these days? Is everyone ready to jump ship if a new “mousetrap” suddenly comes on the market? We have seen companies wobble on the cusp of ruin but somehow dig in their heels and fight their way back.

There have been designs that the community greeted with a crushing lack of response, resulting in designers wondering why we didn’t take to their brainchild.

The other side of the coin is the designs that brought superior fidelity for a price that did not break the bank, and suddenly you saw them everywhere you went.

I am a heretic.