Define "gear snob"

[joel hamilton]

How would you define "gear snob"...

I see that term kicked around here a bunch.

Is it someone who uses good equipment?

someone who has better gear than you?

Someone you think relies too heavily(whatever that means) on "name brand" gear to get results?

I just cant seem to figure it out.

[@?,*???&?]

Joel, I think the kids were talking about me when I plopped the word 'always' at the end of my post about which drum heads I'd recommend for a session. What they didn't factor in is that I offered a quick, no-brainer approach to making drum heads a total non-issue at a session. Lol.

[dgochenour]

Ah, the gear snob. I'd say it's someone who believes that a certain task can be ONLY be done by a specific piece (or brand) of gear. It's usually an expensive or rare piece, but I guess it wouldn't have to be.

That's my two cents.

I'm guilty. When I was growing up, I worked for a pretty respectable live sound company. We would often "urge" our friends/clients into upgrading to good gear. "Why are you trying to get *sound A* out of *amp B*? You really have to use *amp C*." I've learned a lot since those days.

But I think in general, we all make up a pretty opinionated bunch. Often, that's what we get paid for. The line between snob and strong preferences is blurry.

[JES]

I'll take a shot:

Someone who says you can't make a decent recording unless you have "x" gear.

Examples:

Person:

"We recorded this awesome CD with a Mackie and an ADAT"

Gear snob:

"Your album must suck. You didn't use tape and an API board."

OR:

Person:

"I've got $500 to spend on a mic preamp. What's my best option?"

Gear Snob:

"You can't get a decent mic preamp for that price. Everything in that range sucks."

That and slavish devotion to name brands or expensive formats regardless of context.

People who have nice gear either have lots of disposable income or record for a living. There's nothing wrong with either.

Best,
--JES

[joel hamilton]

Interesting...

I think the best description so far is JES.

I wonder if that actually exists on this board (other than jeff, of course ;))

My and my pals that record people for a living call these guys "sesh pro" people.

Like the guitarist that cant understand that the shure 57 is a better choice for his "sound" even though it costs thousands less than some of the mics I used on the drums or whatever..

I always use " I would rather put a nail in the wall with a 6 dollar hammer than a 3,000 dollar drill." (wrong tool for the job at any price type concept...)

[wing]

someone who acts like good recordings can't be achieved without lots of high end hi-fi expensive gear. we're talkin the same people who buy $10,000 cables and $20,000 cd players, baby!

[Shawn Simmons]

I am a gear snob and proud of it. I always try to use the best gear available to make records. I hear the difference between a Mackie and an API. I hear the difference between a Mix system and ProTools HD. I hear the difference between a 1176 and a Composer.

I didn't get into this business to make lo-fi basement tapes. I got into this business to make amazing, audiofile recordings. And you don't get audiofile from mediocre gear (I've tried). I want every record I make to sound better than the one before it. I will pay (out of my own pocket) to rent gear for a project if I think it will make a difference (if the client can't afford it, I pay) I will persuade the client to go the extra mile because I think it's worth it. I will spend an extra 10 minutes to tweak the kick drum if I know it will make a difference. I will work overtime (for free) if I think the end result will be better.

I've made records on mediocre gear and I've made records on great, classic gear. I've made great sounding records on both. Give me the classic shit every time. To be perfectly honest, great gear allows me to work faster and I have to tweak less. Drum tracks come together quicker with great mics and great pres. Vocals sound bigger and more natural with great mics. Guitars sound fuller and have more sparkle with great gear. Mixes come together quicker and tracks sit in the mix better when I use great gear. It's true. I've used all kinds of gear on all kinds of music. Great gear wins every time.

Sorry if this is an unpopular opinion on this forum. But hey, if we all made the same records the same way with the same gear, there wouldn't be a TapeOp.

Bring it on!
Shawn

[rainsinvelvet]

Hmm, Well I do believe that using the NEVE and API and TELEFUNKEN pre's help me get the sound I want faster, BUT I feel I could probably get close to what I want on just about anything.. Conceited? nah, just experience I think...I've done it with Mackie just the same.....
BTW, get my *irony* in the first few lines.. THAT is gear snob-ish:
To drop names of vintage hard to find shit in your conversations.
I have been guily of this a few times myself
hey, what can I say, I saved hard for the stuff!
eRIC
:quote:
People who have nice gear either have lots of disposable income or record for a living. There's nothing wrong with either.


and for the record. I don't have loads of cash.I freelance engineer at a "pro" studio.whatever that means..

[joel hamilton]

"I've made records on mediocre gear and I've made records on great, classic gear. I've made great sounding records on both. Give me the classic shit every time. To be perfectly honest, great gear allows me to work faster and I have to tweak less. Drum tracks come together quicker with great mics and great pres. Vocals sound bigger and more natural with great mics. Guitars sound fuller and have more sparkle with great gear. Mixes come together quicker and tracks sit in the mix better when I use great gear. It's true. I've used all kinds of gear on all kinds of music. Great gear wins every time. "


I agree! It is even called "great gear" so you know it is great!

Why would that be snobbery? I own a shitload of the "great gear" and I have begged, borrowed, and.. um other ways of getting stuff when you first start out...

Wow! passionate response.

I use the stuff every day that I see people get accused of "snobbery" for even suggesting. Like if someone says "best female vocal mic??" and I say: "I like the Neumann U67 or a CMV563 with the M7...blah blah.." does that make me a snob?

Its like people are afraid to like the good stuff!!

I am certainly not "afraid" to like the cheap stuff, I just shy away from the "crap."

I guess is comes down to knowing what thing is good for what job, and not getting hung up on the price tag...

[housepig]

I've made records on mediocre gear and I've made records on great, classic gear. I've made great sounding records on both.

to me, that statement is the reason you are *not* a gear snob.

an afficionado, to be sure. a man who knows what he likes, definitely.

but you actually admit (or more to the point, allow) that you can make a great sounding record with lesser gear - gear snobs won't.

I agree - I'd much rather work with nicer gear - but lesser gear means you have to work harder to achieve what you want... not that you will never acheive it.

[@?,*???&?]

Yes, but Taylor Made driver or Persimmon?

And would you hit a Titleist Pro V1 ball because of it's 'classic' moniker or a Pinnacle Titanium core?

[Professor]

Titleist Pro V1??? Is that some sleeper of a vintage compressor I've been missing out on? Oh shit, I have to own one - forget the new fangled titanium core crap, give me the vintage!

I would like to propose a broader definition of the 'gear snob'. It is not simply someone who appreciates the 'best' of our tools, because that individual is usually quite broad minded about using 'lesser' equipment for artistic reasons.

I propose that a gear snob is anyone who clings to particular piece or genre of gear because it happens to be what he either owns, uses at work, or just all that he knows to operate.

Jeff, I'm sorry to pick on you buddy, but ending every recommendation with "...1/2 inch analog." kind of puts you firmly in the category.
But I would offer that the newby guitarist that says "A good engineer can record anything with just an SM57".
Likewise, the person who says, "Why spend $2000 for a preamp when my RNP only cost like $150 on eBay?!"
Or that post that floated around about marking any CD that uses pitch corrected vocals with a scarlet letter - more gear snobbery, though in an inverted sort of way.

I try very hard to avoid being a gear snob as I always try to advise people within their means, budget, and style. But I acknowledge that I do fall into snobbery at times, and I even defend it. I always recommend Canare cable, Neutrik XLRs and Canare TRS connectors everytime someone asks about cables. I happen to own not one, but two $5000 power amps, one of which is in a system with an $8000 preamp, and yes I connect them with $1500 interconnect cables, and if you nit wits think an expensive mic matters but an expensive power amp doesn't then please consider your contradictions.

But I digress.

Gear snobbery exists at every dollar value, and really is much more of a reflection of a persons knowledge, bias, or most often ownership. In the 1980s the engineers that didn't want to shift to digital had a good reason with the state of the technology at the time. Today it is foolish to pledge allegiance one way or the other, and most of those who do, do so because they either only one or know how to use one format. It's no different than the band who records their home demo with their live sound worn 57s & 58s through a Behringer 'mixer' into a Sound Blaster card and some free web download software and then stands there with jaws on the floor unable to comprehend why their demo doesn't sound as good as their favorite Green Day album. Didn't they use like the best gear out there?

-Jeremy

[brian beattie]

good post, prof.
I'd say many times a "gear snob" is simply someone who doesn't have to use cheap gear, so they don't have experience with it. Very often, they don't actually have much of a recording aesthetic or style, and they base their opinions on heresay from folks who do. (that's the WORST kind of gear snob...) I came to home recording because I didn't have the $$$$$$$$ to learn the art while paying a well equipped studio $500 a day plus $30 an hour for the engineer. BUT, there were records to be made. I got my cheapass gear and got to work. I was fortunate enough to have had substantial experience with the DOPE SHIT before I started doing it on my own, and then to have better geared friends lend me stuff while I started learning to engineer. So I got a real dose of "neve vs mackie" and bla bla bla in "real" studios and at home, for years and years. It all boils down to "if it sound cool, it cool"
besides, what's so bad about being a snob, anyway? I'm a TOTAL music snob. Brittney SUCKS and Pink is AWESOME!! Philip Glass stinks like dookie, and George Anthiel ROCKS!! FUCK KRAFT SINGLES!!! HEINEKIN??? FUCK THAT SHIT!!! PABST BLUE RIBBON!!!
brian

[Professor]

Hey now - we'll have no such denigration of Philip Glass while I'm in the room.

Koyaanisqatsi!

-J

[Al]

What size is the gear snobs house?...what kind of car does the gear snob drive?....

Errr!....let's face it,even when you do gather up some really top notch studio gear,how many of us will still go back to a real cheap peice of equipment,because it does something that the expensive piece just cant do at all!!.

I think if you still have and use budget equipment creativley without a fuss then your safe.
But if your staring at it while your tinkering with your Amek console or whatever! thinking... yeah "These were the day's"....then....gear snob!!