I apologize to anyone who might currently be using this idea, but I haven't
heard of anyone doing it.

The name of the business would be The Testing Room. The objective would be
to allow people to test out a multitude of high end microphones and preamps.

The idea is to set up a small room filled with an assortment of high end
microphones and preamps that are capable of being quickly mixed and matched
through some sort of patch bay and then recorded into a variety of
(probably) digital recording machines with software like protools, cakewalk,
nuendo whatever the flavors of the day are at that point.

The price for being able to do this would be in the $200/day range which
would be reimbursed if the person bought some gear.

The recording devices would have preloaded wav files so the person could
hear how a vocal or guitar part would blend into a mix. Also the person
would have the option of bringing their own 2 track wavs to mix with.

The idea is to give a person an opportunity to try a ton of mic/preamp
combos. This seems to be a huge problem for most and people tire of relying
on word of mouth especially since these products can be pricy.

The biggest problem, of course, is location. Are people going to be willing
to travel to a far off destination for such an opportunity. Obviously, the
specifics are not well thought out. But, I wouldn't mind some feedback on
the general concept.

It's a great idea IMHO. A friend of mine and myself had a similar idea years
ago based on how high end audio stores used to do business (I suppose some
still do but the Fry's and Best buy's have really made that business model
hard to do). If you wanted to test speakers for example, you could mix and
match components to resemble your own and listen to dozens of different
pairs of speakers in an acoustically tuned room. Our concept was to do this
for monitors, mics and preamps similar to your idea - but you take it a few
steps further by offering to let them hear their tracks sit in the mix,
recording on a similar system to their DAW and charging just for the time
spent instead of just hoping for a sale. Great idea. I would say you need
one room in LA, NY and Nashville to start.

Neil R

"Sanbar" wrote in message
...
I apologize to anyone who might currently be using this idea, but I haven't
heard of anyone doing it.

The name of the business would be The Testing Room. The objective would be
to allow people to test out a multitude of high end microphones and
preamps.

The idea is to set up a small room filled with an assortment of high end
microphones and preamps that are capable of being quickly mixed and
matched
through some sort of patch bay and then recorded into a variety of
(probably) digital recording machines with software like protools,
cakewalk,
nuendo whatever the flavors of the day are at that point.

The price for being able to do this would be in the $200/day range which
would be reimbursed if the person bought some gear.

The recording devices would have preloaded wav files so the person could
hear how a vocal or guitar part would blend into a mix. Also the person
would have the option of bringing their own 2 track wavs to mix with.

The idea is to give a person an opportunity to try a ton of mic/preamp
combos. This seems to be a huge problem for most and people tire of
relying
on word of mouth especially since these products can be pricy.

The biggest problem, of course, is location. Are people going to be
willing
to travel to a far off destination for such an opportunity. Obviously, the
specifics are not well thought out. But, I wouldn't mind some feedback on
the general concept.

"Sanbar" wrote in message
...

The price for being able to do this would be in the $200/day range which
would be reimbursed if the person bought some gear.

Reimbursement will suck up your profit margin on the gear pretty quick.
Charge per day for the privelage of not making a $2000 dollar mistake, and
price the gear very competatively so they don'y buy somewhere else. Learn
everything about every piece of gear so you can help them make an informed
choice, or hire someone who can do that.

You will also need to put it in a place where you can have enough bookings
and sales. NY, LA, Chicago are obvious options, but Austin, Atlanta or
Seattle might work.

jb

"Sanbar" wrote in message ...
I apologize to anyone who might currently be using this idea, but I haven't
heard of anyone doing it.

The name of the business would be The Testing Room. The objective would be
to allow people to test out a multitude of high end microphones and preamps.

The idea is to set up a small room filled with an assortment of high end
microphones and preamps that are capable of being quickly mixed and matched
through some sort of patch bay and then recorded into a variety of
(probably) digital recording machines with software like protools, cakewalk,
nuendo whatever the flavors of the day are at that point.

The price for being able to do this would be in the $200/day range which
would be reimbursed if the person bought some gear.

The recording devices would have preloaded wav files so the person could
hear how a vocal or guitar part would blend into a mix. Also the person
would have the option of bringing their own 2 track wavs to mix with.

The idea is to give a person an opportunity to try a ton of mic/preamp
combos. This seems to be a huge problem for most and people tire of relying
on word of mouth especially since these products can be pricy.

The biggest problem, of course, is location. Are people going to be willing
to travel to a far off destination for such an opportunity. Obviously, the
specifics are not well thought out. But, I wouldn't mind some feedback on
the general concept.

That basic idea is in place at B&H in NYC.

Karl Winkler
Lectrosonics, Inc.
http://www.lectrosonics.com

reddred wrote:

You will also need to put it in a place where you can have enough bookings
and sales. NY, LA, Chicago are obvious options, but Austin, Atlanta or
Seattle might work.

Or he could combine it with a bed and breakfast and put it
here in Santa Cruz. :-)


Bob
--

"Things should be described as simply as possible, but no
simpler."

A. Einstein

Karl Winkler wrote:

The name of the business would be The Testing Room. The objective would be
to allow people to test out a multitude of high end microphones and preamps.

That basic idea is in place at B&H in NYC.


They charge for time there? I never knew that.

In article writes:

The name of the business would be The Testing Room. The objective would be
to allow people to test out a multitude of high end microphones and preamps.

The idea is to set up a small room filled with an assortment of high end
microphones and preamps that are capable of being quickly mixed and matched
through some sort of patch bay and then recorded into a variety of
(probably) digital recording machines with software like protools, cakewalk,
nuendo whatever the flavors of the day are at that point.

The price for being able to do this would be in the $200/day range which
would be reimbursed if the person bought some gear.

The biggest problem, of course, is location. Are people going to be willing
to travel to a far off destination for such an opportunity.

I was about to point that out. All too often I read "There's no dealer
near where I live so I can't listen before I buy." Think you could
franchise it so there would be one in every city world wide with a
population of, say, 25,000 or more?

The other problem, and I think it would be the downfall, is that
most people who haven't already developed a resource for trying bear
before they buy won't gamble $200 on the chance that they might end up
buying something costing $200 or more. They're even hesitant to buy
from a shop that has a restocking fee for returns.

No, I don't think it would work.

Something that I've always thought would work but have never been
able to convince any manufacturer of it, is to set up people like me
with free cool gear and send customers to us for a demo. We charge
the company for our time (though they'd probably figure we're getting
paid enough from the use of the cool gear). I keep telling Mackie that
they should give me a dxb and anyone who wants to come over to play
with it is welcome, but they haven't bitten yet.

--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

Another drawback: what will be the sound sources for microphone tests? Are
you expecting people to bring their own instruments? Sing into the
microphones? Will there be a Steinberg Grand in the studio? Some vintage
Fender amps perhaps?

Peace,
Paul

Don Cooper wrote in message ...
Karl Winkler wrote:

The name of the business would be The Testing Room. The objective would be
to allow people to test out a multitude of high end microphones and preamps.

That basic idea is in place at B&H in NYC.


They charge for time there? I never knew that.

No, they don't. That's my point - it exists today for free, at least
in NYC.

A place where it DOES exist and costs money is in any good studio. As
has been suggested often on RAP: rent a couple of hours in a studio
and try out the different mics. Certainly better than taking a gamble
on something you've never heard and then regretting spending $3000 on
a mic you can't use.

Karl Winkler
Lectrosonics, Inc.
http://www.lectrosonics.com

In article writes:

Another drawback: what will be the sound sources for microphone tests? Are
you expecting people to bring their own instruments? Sing into the
microphones? Will there be a Steinberg Grand in the studio? Some vintage
Fender amps perhaps?

A few bands hanging around waiting to record demos perhaps? Or for
$150 per hour, plus $25 per hour for a second engineer, you can bring
your own band.


Oh, that's what you do at a studio, isn't it?

--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

Mike Rivers wrote:

I was about to point that out. All too often I read "There's no dealer
near where I live so I can't listen before I buy." Think you could
franchise it so there would be one in every city world wide with a
population of, say, 25,000 or more?

I think it could work as a traveling show rather than a come to me situation. 1
guy/gal, 30 preamps, 10 mics. Then book a studio room in various locations. and let
the people stop by to listen and learn. Throw in some apps and drinks and you have a
hot item for a year or two. From what I gather Single Malts would cause impulse buying
(and endless debates) like no tomorrow.

Of course at $100 (I doubt $200 would fly anywhere) a pop you would have to have
minimums to make it work. Or offset the cost of a Nowhere Minnesota stop by making it
up on the back end in the LA and SF stops. And all sales could be drop shipped to the
end clients.


--
Nathan

"Imagine if there were no Hypothetical Situations"

A place where it DOES exist and costs money is in any good studio. As
has been suggested often on RAP: rent a couple of hours in a studio
and try out the different mics. Certainly better than taking a gamble
on something you've never heard and then regretting spending $3000 on
a mic you can't use.

This is exactly what I've done in a couple of local studios. I have
recordings of myself singing through a VoxBox/TLM-103 set up and a
U87/Neve Channel Strip.
Didn't take long for me to understand the difference between my gear
at home and the above hardware. :) Rates were less than $50.00 an
hour.

DaveT

Mike Rivers wrote:

Something that I've always thought would work but have never been
able to convince any manufacturer of it, is to set up people like me
with free cool gear and send customers to us for a demo. We charge
the company for our time (though they'd probably figure we're getting
paid enough from the use of the cool gear). I keep telling Mackie that
they should give me a dxb and anyone who wants to come over to play
with it is welcome, but they haven't bitten yet.

The Soundscape guys must have been listening to you while they were at
Mackie because that's something like how they're selling their
workstations now in Europe. Rather than giving the gear away they are
using existing customers as demo studios and giving them commision on
each sale.

Cheers.

James.

In article writes:

The Soundscape guys must have been listening to you while they were at
Mackie because that's something like how they're selling their
workstations now in Europe. Rather than giving the gear away they are
using existing customers as demo studios and giving them commision on
each sale.

That's not a bad idea, but hard to track unless the studios with the
gear actually make the sales.

It wouldn't work for me though. I dont' need a $20,000 console enough
to buy one, and even at $3,000 (15%, rather generous) commission on
each one, I doubt that the market is large enough to pay for the
console. And if I had enough billable hours on the console to pay for
it, I wouldn't have time to demo it to all the tire kickers who
wouldn't buy one but would really like to see it.



--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

Nathan West wrote in message ...
Mike Rivers wrote:

I was about to point that out. All too often I read "There's no dealer
near where I live so I can't listen before I buy." Think you could
franchise it so there would be one in every city world wide with a
population of, say, 25,000 or more?

I think it could work as a traveling show rather than a come to me situation. 1
guy/gal, 30 preamps, 10 mics. Then book a studio room in various locations. and let
the people stop by to listen and learn. Throw in some apps and drinks and you have a
hot item for a year or two. From what I gather Single Malts would cause impulse buying
(and endless debates) like no tomorrow.

Of course at $100 (I doubt $200 would fly anywhere) a pop you would have to have
minimums to make it work. Or offset the cost of a Nowhere Minnesota stop by making it
up on the back end in the LA and SF stops. And all sales could be drop shipped to the
end clients.

I think the initial idea is a good one, but the real estate costs are
too high in a market that's going ot have enough people to support it.
I don't think people will pay and there are already dealers who will
let you demo gear.

I htink the traveling show idea is better. I'd do it like a trunk sale
for the fashion industry. It's probably a good idea for Swee****er (as
much as I don't like them). They could load up a van with half a dozen
racks of gear and spend a couple of days in various areas that don't
have stores with pro gear. People could decided what they want and
then do regular Swee****er mail order.

Or maybe Fletcher with hit the road on a Harley with a trailer...