Audio Gear is High Value
/When I say “High Value”, I am referring to an item that delivers on its advertised function, is reliable, and isn’t overpriced (or at least will yield a low cost per use). With that definition, audio gear offers some of the best value out there.
Analog - A lot of audio gear is analog, and this means there are no digital components that will become obsolete quickly. There are no firmware updates or software updates that will brick your device. And there’s no compatibility issues with the new operating system.
Durable - A lot of microphones are built to be used on stage and in broadcast studios where stuff is treated very roughly. Because of this companies design their gear to be very robust. Shure is a great example of this, they still manufacture their microphones to Mil-spec, and their SM57/SM58/SM7b are mics that will last decades.
Cost-Per-Use - There are an abundance of fantastic microphones from $100 - $400, and for most of us it would be the last microphone we ever needed to buy. For this demonstration let’s say we purchased a $400 microphone, we record 100 times per year, and we only get 5 years of use out of that mic. That means $400 / 500 recording sessions = $0.80/session. If we were to have an SM57/SM58/sEV7 that would drop the cost to $100 and over that same time frame the cost per use would be on $0.20! In reality many of us will get significantly more use out of this equipment so the cost per use will drop even lower.
That’s it. I just thought it was interesting and wanted to share it with you.
Clip from BSP-387: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-huKM8r8KA
Originally Aired: 28 APR 2024