5 Things To Avoid When Buying Audio Equipment

I just wanted to share 5 mistakes that I see a lot of people making when purchasing audio equipment that should be avoided. I know this channel could be used to justify over consumption of audio equipment so I wanted to take a week to advocate for fiscal responsibility. Also, these tips could apply to pretty much any good you're considering purchasing.

00:00 - Intro
00:30 - Tip #1 - Avoid Following Trends
01:39 - Tip #2 - Avoid Impulse Purchases
02:31 - Tip #3 - Avoid Buying The Dream
03:40 - Tip #4 - Avoid Going Into Debt
04:56 - Tip #5 - Avoid Paying Scalpers/Flippers
06:11 - Outro

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[tombuck]

This is an absolutely awesome list of advice. I’ve definitely been guilty of buying “dreams” that really weren’t what I needed at all. 🤦🏻‍♂️

[BarkandJack]

SPOT ON! I do this with everything - audio gear, cameras, guitars, computers.... thinking it's going to improve my work.

[RafaelCruzPodcast]

I’m slowly building my podcast studio. I’ve been at it since 2019. I can’t thank you enough for your channel and all you do. Thank you

[Kragatar]

3:32 Is the most important thing. It can actually be beneficial to build your skills on crummy equipment... If you've only every practiced with premium gear, you'll be in a bind whenever you find yourself with nothing but cheap junk to work with. If you built your skills on cheap junk, you'll be just fine even when there's nothing high-quality on hand, and when you do have the good stuff, you'll be way ahead of the game.

[Graysoninman]

I just financed a Nord keyboard and it's the first time I've ever financed music gear. HOWEVER, it was a terrific deal and it will be paid off at no interest using money made from gigging with the keyboard. I completely agree on this list! Great info and great principles to keep in mind!

[jrkern]

I'm a huge fan of this video. Sharing general tips and advices is super helpful for newer podcasters, and just in general, audio engineers. Please make more!

[PowPresents]

Great advice. It can be really hard sometimes to hold back on gear purchases, and this serves as a nice reminder to at least be sensible about the gear you do buy.

[nickkester]

On "Buying the Dream": I'm glad I dodged this bullet earlier. As tempting as it was to buy a Focusrite 2i2 and an SM7b and call it an 'investment'. I gave it a bit of distance, and found a gently used Shure Beta 58a and a Barringer UMC 202HD for a quarter of the price. Met functionally all of my needs.

[artcamp]

That's great advice from someone with their heart in the right place

[lindsaywebb]

Good tips. I would add buy quality. 10 plus years ago when I was trying to make records I bought a bunch of studio gear for my home studio - compressors, EQs, preamps; most of it second hand. When I came to sell it recently, I got my money back and in some cases made a tidy profit. Also, the paint of the extra cost of buying quality upfront reduces the risk of making a rushed ultimately unnecessary decision

[IvelinaDobreva]

I totally agree with you. Sometimes we want the most expensive gear but we don't need it or we don't even know how to use it. It is better to do a research and buy what you need based on your specific needs.

[jTempVids]

Great Video with advice that works for most all purchases. Except for motorcycles, aquariums, and a few other items.

Some advice. Just buy the motorcycle you want first. Don't work your way up to the bike you really want. Don't buy a 125cc, then a 250cc, then a 500cc, then finally buy a 750cc. Buy the bike you wanted in the beginning. You'll save money and time by just buying the bike you wanted in the beginning.

Salt water aquariums are the same way. Just buy the big aquarium that you wanted in the beginning. Don't waste your time starting with a 10 gallon, then upgrading to a 50, then a 100, then a 200, etc. Buy the 200 gallon right off the bat. You'll actually save money by not buying 5 tanks in-between. This may sound strange but larger aquariums are actually easier to maintain than tiny ones. The larger volume of water makes changes to the water take longer. The tank won't crash overnight like a small 10 gallon tank could.

[kevinb]

Thanks for speaking truth! You're encouraging all of us to take a breath and reconsider what we want or need and weigh it out on a cost/benefit scale. That's all good!!! Encouraging patience is a virtue. Will you still be using this and liking it 2 months from now! Most of us get wrapped up in dreams, but practice, research, refine and improve Ourselves... the Human is a very important part of the quality equation.

[konvicism]

Always a pleasure to see a general video from Bandrew

[dogrecordingstudio]

I buy 90% of my studio gear through Sweetwater. I have developed a great report with my sale's engineer Perry. I tell what I'm looking for and he places a tag for demos. It's been a great experience working him Perry. Great topic btw. Good news for me is I've hit my maximum I/O for my studio. So for now I can't buy any outboard gear 😂. But microphone's there's no limit on those suckers 😂. Please continue doing what you do here. Thanks again

[jasonthompson]

I struggle with content creator reviews and the hype lol, I appreciate this perspective and if it's coming from maybe a place of guilt at all then just know you're putting out a lot of good quality content thats quantitative and valuable as people research their mics. Yes, I imagine you sell a lot of mics, but those were going to be bought either way and you're helping people make an informed decision. To all the buyers out there, my personal advice is if you're looking at a mic, try to seek out at least one negative review and see what they say about it. After a good bandrew review I'm stoked to buy, but take his good advice of waiting and letting that thought simmer a bit.. I'll say though that I recently got an Nt2-a and it was podcastage that helped me get through the analysis paralysis. Wasn't even a glowing review really, but together with my other 'research' it was what put me over. So many good mics out there, another good point is that once you buy, stop looking for awhile! Get to know what you have and what if any limitations are, then fill any gaps as needed. I myself have a home recording space (guitar, keyboard, vocals) and do voiceovers and interviews for work, I have the nt2a, sm57 beta, ev76, xm8500, videomic pro, ntg2+, and a yeti.. Once I get a re20 and a set of pencil condenser, I'm done with mics (at least for a few years :p)

[SoundSpeeds]

Ok, yeah... bla bla bla but what mic can I use to sound like Mike DelGaudio?

[perlichtman]

Great advice - I completely co-sign on it. Makes me think back to when I met an artist right after they bought the gear for their first album. They had spent over $2, 400 on their first set of sample libraries right off the bat and later were disappointed with them that they literally gave them away.

[John.Cotton]

I recommend buying used 9 times out of 10. Don’t pay the brand new “tax” when you don’t need to.

[ezpz]

These are not just audio equipment tips, but rather, tips for any purchase <3