Study Hall

To What End?

Ruminations on "audio gear elitism" and working to get the most out of the gear we have available...

I’ll start by saying that “elitism” is something that I’m as guilty of as many working in pro audio. While blind A/B/X testing is a great tool, I think there’s also something to be said for at least some of the esoteric claims made by audiophiles.

The basis of my reasoning: when we spend a lot of time with particular audio devices (or fine wines or superbly crafted musical instruments), our perception changes. Our threshold shifts either up or down, depending.

For example, if we don’t regularly drink wine costing more than $10 per bottle, we’re probably not qualified to judge the taste of wine costing $100 per bottle. Likewise, if the only microphones we’ve ever used are run-of-the-mill dynamics (not that there’s anything wrong with that), then perhaps we’re not well-qualified to judge a Telefunken ELA M 251 or a Neumann M249.

On the other hand, if we’ve spent countless hours using those types of higher end (some say esoteric) mics on hundreds of vocalists over many years, then perhaps we might know something about which M249s are really good and which ones aren’t. Even then, there may be those among us who are particularly talented (i.e. “golden ears”) to pick out even the most subtle differences, and those who may not be able to identify any differences at all.

Another factor is a “feel” or “comfort factor” that comes with employing gear that we like and/or use a majority of time. Perhaps we came to use said gear early on and just want to keep on keepin’ on with it. Or perhaps it better fits our style and sensibilities (good or bad). Certain mics (or outboard gear or consoles) just sound “right” to us, technical issues be damned.

Appropriate Tools
Another factor is the suitability of particular gear for the job. Over the past 20 years or so, studio-type gear has increasingly encroached on the sound reinforcement realm. Some of this is good and some isn’t.

When it comes to cheaper mixing consoles designed for home studio use making their way into live sound situations, it’s problematic. For one thing, they’re not built to withstand the abuse of the road or even a busy club. Perhaps more importantly, they’re not designed for the specific kinds of workflow and operations required in our world.

Now, let’s flip it around. Some very good things have come out of the studio world and are relatively standard in live sound. Exhibit A: condenser microphones. Now that models are far more rugged, as well as exhibiting uniform pattern control and providing suitable sensitivity, we love them for certain applications. The concept of the “vocal chain” comes from the studio, i.e., deploying a high-end mic, preamp, compressor, etc., ahead of the console. We see numerous tours take this approach for the “money channel.”

There can be a lot of validity in thinking equipment is not up to our personal standards. But I think that sometimes it comes from the wrong place. Just because we’ve never personally used certain gear doesn’t mean it’s not right for the job. To reject something just because we’re unfamiliar or may not know how to make it work right likely says more about us than it does about the equipment.

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