Super Duper TapeOpCon Latch Lake Mic Stand Blowout

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Jeff Roberts
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Super Duper TapeOpCon Latch Lake Mic Stand Blowout

Post by Jeff Roberts » Thu Jun 01, 2006 2:23 pm

Don't worry forum police, this is posted with advance permission from Craig.

Latch Lake is blowing out 4 micKing stands, and a bunch of Xtra Booms at TapeOpCon.

These stands and booms are the ones that were used in the PotLuck Studio at TapeOpCon 2005. Talk about low miles, only 3 days use. They've been sitting in Tucson since last year's show. The main difference with these items from current production is that they don't have laser etched graphics. Maybe I can get Ross Hogarth to autograph the stands.

Regular price for a micKing stand is $750. TapeOpCon superduper blowout price is $475.

Regular price for the Xtra Boom is $75. TapeOpCon superduper low price is $45 each. And hey, they'll fit in your suitcase, no packing or shipping!

See you at the show. And thanks Craig.

Get them while the getting is good. As they say, you may never see prices this low again.
Jeff Roberts
Latch Lake Music
Eagan, MN
LatchLakeMusic.com

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fremitus
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Post by fremitus » Tue Jun 06, 2006 5:58 am

they are awfully nice, and hells yeah i want one (read also: three or eight), but i sincerely hope that you guys sell a ton of these and that the price does come down. cuz they're freaking expensive.

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Russian Recording
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Post by Russian Recording » Tue Jun 06, 2006 6:16 am

Ill take a couple xtra booms. do we just come to your booth if we want to purchase one?

thanks
mike

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Sorry to get all defensive but....

Post by Jeff Roberts » Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:15 am

fremitus,

We have a saying in industry: "Better, Faster, Cheaper, pick two".

It should be pretty obvious which two we picked, better and faster. The micKing takes up 1/3 the space of a Starbird, goes taller, weighs less, and holds as much weight. (And it actually costs less than Starbird.)

Comparisons to any lesser stands are pointless. I have the utmost respect for Manley. For decades the Starbird (now manufactured by Manley) was the only high quality studio mic stand in the world. We chose to invent a stand with a different feature set that would fit into today's smaller studios. The Manley Starbird and the Latch Lake micKing, are both made in the U.S.A.

We hired one of the formost invention consultants in the U.S. to help with the design. He is one of the 6 people that invented Numerical Machine Control, the paper tape forerunner of CNC (computer nemerical control). Genius ain't cheap, and neither is quality. The micKing is built to last.

Thus far there haven't been any parts failures in the real world. If you want cheap stuff that is made to a price point and guaranteed to fail in a few years, with no replacement parts available, please look elsewhere. If you want an original patent-pending design that is more capable than any other stand in the world, that's where we come in.

fremitus is right about one thing though, if sales increased drastically, economy of scale would allow the price to come down somewhat. Unfortunately it seems that most people think it's a good idea to have a $6,000 microphone plugged into a $2,000 mic preamp, run into a $3,000 compressor, with the microphone on a $200 mic stand. And don't forget your silver mic cables for several hundred dollars apiece too.

I didn't mean to dump on you fremitus, I apprediate your interest and concern, but those are the facts as I know them. And nobody wishes that the price could be lower than me, but we just can't sell them for any less now.

Russian Recording,

You can see Todd or myself at our booth to score some Xtra Booms. First come, first served.

(Manley Starbird, and Latch Lake micKing and Xtra Boom are both Registered Trademarks held by their respective companies)
Jeff Roberts
Latch Lake Music
Eagan, MN
LatchLakeMusic.com

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Post by jmoose » Tue Jun 06, 2006 11:22 am

If I still had a tracking room I'd throw down for a pair of those MicKing stands!!!! He'd LOVE that too 'cause it help pay off the JH-24 he just bought from me! LOL

Anywhoo...

Those stands are SERIOUSLY overbuilt...a rare thing in this day & age. Super strong & stable...I used one as a deadman drywall lift & tool table when I was building the control room at Mercenary last year.

So imagine this...we've got a 3'x3' sheet of 5/8" sheetrock or a power drill with various handtools & a 5 pound box of drywall screws sitting on top of a 2'x2' piece of 3/4" plywood that I adapted to thread onto the stand.

Jeff's stand...once I had all that shit setup & tightened down...it NEVER budged or sagged once!

Personally, I'm amazed that they're as inexpensive as they are for the quality piece that they are.
J. 'Moose' Kahrs
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www.mooseaudio.net

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Re: Sorry to get all defensive but....

Post by fremitus » Wed Jun 07, 2006 7:06 am

Jeff Roberts wrote:fremitus,

We have a saying in industry: "Better, Faster, Cheaper, pick two".

It should be pretty obvious which two we picked, better and faster. The micKing takes up 1/3 the space of a Starbird, goes taller, weighs less, and holds as much weight. (And it actually costs less than Starbird.)

Comparisons to any lesser stands are pointless. I have the utmost respect for Manley. For decades the Starbird (now manufactured by Manley) was the only high quality studio mic stand in the world. We chose to invent a stand with a different feature set that would fit into today's smaller studios. The Manley Starbird and the Latch Lake micKing, are both made in the U.S.A.

We hired one of the formost invention consultants in the U.S. to help with the design. He is one of the 6 people that invented Numerical Machine Control, the paper tape forerunner of CNC (computer nemerical control). Genius ain't cheap, and neither is quality. The micKing is built to last.

Thus far there haven't been any parts failures in the real world. If you want cheap stuff that is made to a price point and guaranteed to fail in a few years, with no replacement parts available, please look elsewhere. If you want an original patent-pending design that is more capable than any other stand in the world, that's where we come in.

fremitus is right about one thing though, if sales increased drastically, economy of scale would allow the price to come down somewhat. Unfortunately it seems that most people think it's a good idea to have a $6,000 microphone plugged into a $2,000 mic preamp, run into a $3,000 compressor, with the microphone on a $200 mic stand. And don't forget your silver mic cables for several hundred dollars apiece too.

I didn't mean to dump on you fremitus, I apprediate your interest and concern, but those are the facts as I know them. And nobody wishes that the price could be lower than me, but we just can't sell them for any less now.

Russian Recording,

You can see Todd or myself at our booth to score some Xtra Booms. First come, first served.

(Manley Starbird, and Latch Lake micKing and Xtra Boom are both Registered Trademarks held by their respective companies)
sincerely, no insult taken. you're stands are awesome. and worth every penny. i just don't have enough pennies today.

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Post by TapeOpLarry » Wed Jun 07, 2006 11:49 am

Luckily we're all adults here and this conversation went well, but I'd always encourage potential endusers to think about what it would be like to start a small audio gear company. Debt, struggle, distributors that don't pay, etc. it's not like anyone's getting rich off specialty mic stands for studios!
Larry Crane, Editor/Founder Tape Op Magazine
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(do not send private messages via this board!)
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Post by Jeff Roberts » Wed Jun 07, 2006 1:22 pm

TapeOpLarry wrote: Debt, struggle, distributors that don't pay, etc. it's not like anyone's getting rich off specialty mic stands for studios!
In my very wildest of dreams I would break even on this escapade before I drop.....

And Mr J. (Kahrs), thanks for the kind words. I forgot your sheetrock lift story which you told me at AES N.Y. last October.
Jeff Roberts
Latch Lake Music
Eagan, MN
LatchLakeMusic.com

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Post by Coco » Fri Jun 16, 2006 8:51 am

These are awesome mic stands being made and sold by an awesome person. I'm still buying one from you Jeff. Have fun at the Con and knock back a few for me.

Colin Gaucher.
I know enough to know that I don't know what I am doing.

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Post by joel hamilton » Wed Jun 21, 2006 10:27 pm

We have one of the very first (prototype) stands. It totally rocks. Once we get it fully dialed in with some upgrades from Jeff, this thing will be killing. Easily one of my favorite new products for the studio.

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