Simon.

yep i often go by instinct also.
but i dont think one can be rigorous about cheap gear..
and assume its no good until one tests the product.

cos for example on gearspace there are various hilarious threads blind testing cheap versus expensive gear.
in the process even some very experienced AE's get it wrong.

on sweetwater as another example are various audio examples of very cheap up to very expensive audio interfaces. most people i suggest would have trouble telling the diff.

a neat low end gear forum i like to peruse sometimes is on gearspace. lots of good interesting threads.
im not knocking high end gear...ive made songs with such....
studers/big name audio consoles/outboard etc etc...
but the reality is many of us have family responsibilities so we just do what we can re creating songs.

believe it or not some songs in my sig i used a really oddball mic for my vocs...really really old cheap mic that seems to suit me for reasons i cant fathom and ive had various likes so go figure. conversely some songs in my sig used a very very expensive mic. nobody seems to be able to tell the diff so far. once again like you i run on instinct often. and try test voc tracks with various mics.

happiness.

om

Last edited by justanoldmuso; 04/15/25 05:50 PM.
my songs....mixed for good earbuds...(fyi..my vocs on all songs..)
https://soundcloud.com/alfsongs
(90 songs created useing bb/rb)
(lots of tips of mine in pg tips forum.)