There used to be some SPIRIT on this forum... Pt2

[desol]

I’m not sure if you guys know this but the most difficult part of building these capsules is finding a source of gold coated Mylar. And not just coated Mylar but with a 23mm target!!

Unless of course, you coat it yourself. 

Everybody is in a different boat. I respect that you posted to make your point of view known!

 

[abechap024]

I don't think anyone needs to be defending themselves, especially on a forum where almost every design is "inspired" by vintage circuits. (I mean come on, a bunch of guys cloning a vintage capsule, getting mad that somehow someone else got the same idea)

Pretty soon the one whining and complaining that everyone around is greedy and opportunist, you have to start questioning his motives. Surely there is enough business for everyone? Especially if one is "not making any money". Then why the reason to worry about it in the first place?

I know I should just leave well enough alone, but when someone goes around saying there is no spirit left on this forum, I feel like I must defend it because you only get what you give. Hate it or not this is my opinion. And this forum has taught me a lot and i find there is great spirit to the people that actually give it.

 

[ruffrecords]

I don't think anyone needs to be defending themselves, especially on a forum where almost every design is "inspired" by vintage circuits. (I mean come on, a bunch of guys cloning a vintage capsule, getting mad that somehow someone else got the same idea)

Pretty soon the one whining and complaining that everyone around is greedy and opportunist, you have to start questioning his motives. Surely there is enough business for everyone? Especially if one is "not making any money". Then why the reason to worry about it in the first place?

I know I should just leave well enough alone, but when someone goes around saying there is no spirit left on this forum, I feel like I must defend it because you only get what you give. Hate it or not this is my opinion. And this forum has taught me a lot and i find there is great spirit to the people that actually give it.

I agree with the last statement but I think you miss Chuck's point. This started when Chuck offered some non profit PCBs in the BM and Ethan got complaints that it should be in the WM. This is similar to what happened with the poor man's EQP1A. I posted a design, then people asked if I would do a PCB so I did and there ended up being 200 takers. Still more people wanted it so I did another run in the BM and then a third. As the PCB numbers grew I reduced the PCB price but the good people of this group  said not to as I deserved a little reward for my work. Then someone else started a thread about a possible MID range add-on for the poor man's EQP1A. It was not something I planned. It was not even my idea but I took a look at it and came up with a possible circuit. It could even be made with the same PCBs as the poor man's. Despite that people wanted a specific PCB so I relented and did one.

It was at this point I got a pm from Ethan saying some WM members had complained that this PCB should be in the WM. I told Ethan I am not a trader, the thread that led to the PCB was not even started by me and I had no intention of going into the WM. To give him his credit Ethan agreed with me.

Despite that, when I started the EzTubeMixer project I felt obliged to offer the PCBs on the WM and so now all my PCBs are offered there. I am happy to support he group in this way but I would much rather pay my dues and offer my work in the BM than be branded a 'valuable trader'. The point is that the spirit of the general membership of his group seems to me to be extremely good. The only lack of spirit is with a small number of nameless WM traders who feel their business is threatened by a small number of non profit members.

Cheers

Ian

 

[Phrazemaster]

With such a huge and diverse mix of people on this planet, it's not surprising that there should be some conflicts and hard feelings once in a while. It sounds to me Chuck from your title and post that you feel the spirit of this place is going south. I assume you mean the spirit of cooperation, give/take, and not turning everything into an insane business venture.

I for one am totally grateful for this forum. Right now I'm staring at a Green Pre that I put together because of PeterC and this forum. It took me 5 years. YES you read that right. On/off, life stuff got in the way, and one day I stared at the pile of parts, gritted my teeth and said "I shall VANQUISH you!" And so I did. And it works.

But not without blowing up an oscilloscope, lifting a trace, creating sparks that damaged some components, and a whole lot of head scratching and other adventures. I'm not the brightest electonics bulb (but I'm learning)! Not to mention the huge hit to my bank account as I insisted on buying probably overly expensive parts, and too many parts per build...(I need 2 resistors? I'll buy 10; that way I can match them!).

Point being, I love you guys. I love the spirit of give/take. Everytime a pro deigns to share his knowledge with a newbie, either gruffly or kindly, it's still a terrific place to be. The gruffness pushes us newbies to take more responsibility; the kindness to realize what a great forum this is.

Maybe some have lost the DIY spirit due to money-based motivations. Wherever money changes hands, others will swoop in; it's like a law of nature. Don't mind them. The spirit of DIY lives in the beating hearts of every one of us cool guys and gals that just love to make stuff, and share it. We're fierce, independent, but we need places like this forum to grow.

I don't know the full nature of your experience, Chuck, and I'm sorry it came to unhappy times. But don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. We'll be here when you are ready to come back, and we'll miss your kind posts and commitment to excellence. Thanks for making this forum THAT much better.

In the words of Dr. Seuss,

Those who mind, don't matter
Those who matter, don't mind.

Sage advice.

Peace all.

Mike

 

[jonhunter]

Chuck thanks for your time and your Microphone Parts -
I am fairly new here... I stumbled across this site whilst searching for a DIY monitor controller
My idiologies somewhat limit what I can spend my money on. I don't want to support the ugly side of capitalism that
dumbs the consumer, exploits the worker and wastes precious resources on future landfill.
Unfortunately so much of music/audio technology in recent times has become just this... stumbling upon this site where I could learn how to make a high quality microphone utilizing parts made by people who care and love what they are making... a Microphone that won't be at the bottom of a dusty milk crate or buried in plastic bags & diapers in 10, 20, 30 years time but treasured .... fwar! unheard of in this iCrap era

anyway im rambling

just wanted to say thanks again Chuck
your capsule will be in a mic that is treasured

Jon

 

[ramshackles]

Perspective from a lurker/outsider

I say all this as a total consumer. I dont design, develop, manufacture or sell anything. I come on here, find projects I like, read helpful info, learn and buy stuff. I prefer buying from peoples website rather than the WM, but thats me.

As a consumer...it just seems like someone has shot themselves in the foot. There was a nice product on sale. You all got mad for some reason. Now there is no nice product on sale.
Me, the consumer, is more disappointed in what is generally a nice website and is trudging off to ebay to spend money on something where really it should be going to you, the guys on here who do a wonderful job of developing, sourcing, cloning, manufacturing stuff for DIYers.

IMO, there are 2 ways for the (active) members to use this forum:
- as a forum. Where you share ideas, knowledge etc for free like any forum
- as a sales place. Where you put on your business face and you take stuff like this on the chin. When behringer keep coming out with a cheaper version of some current model, the competing company doesnt rant or rave on a forum. I think you need to seperate the WM stuff from the rest of the forum (at least in your head). Otherwise you just end up shooting yourself in the foot, and the poor, dumb minded consumer, who just wants to happily burn circuit boards and mangle equipment (one day something will work) gets scared, confused or just doesnt plain know wtf happened to the product he saw last week. So he goes and gives his money to behringer instead. Or worse, tries to make something from scratch himself....


I'm building the D-U87 project. I got the circuit boards a  while ago (just finished soldering the large majority of the parts) and at the time I saw some nifty looking mic bodies on sale, from who I now know is Chuck.
Great, I thought, when the time comes I'll nab one of those.
I figured it was about time today. I'm nearing that point and the funds are here.
But wait - did I dream about those bodies? They've all but disappeared. I just spent an hour surfing the site finding out what happened to them. Here is what I understand:

Chuck offered these bodies. He designed them and got a chinese company to manufactuer them, or he was buying them unmarked from the chinese company. It's not clear.
The chinese company also offer ready-made cheap mics in these bodies on their website
Another guy saw this chinese website, apparently didnt know Chuck was selling them already and set up a group buy.
- The timing of all the above I dont know.
Now, it seems the group buy meant that you could get them cheaper, so chuck was undercut or whatever.
So, the bodies are now no longer on sale and the group buy seems done.
I dont know whether anyone has a right to get all pissed about that...but hey, I've seen more than 1 LA-2A type circuit board on offer on this site and noone seems to get pissed about it...
...
All this means no place to source empty mic bodies
......
Crazy!

Guess I'll have to go with a Behringer B2. Hope I can get the frikkin markings off

 

[tomas1808]

I don't get it.

Why the hell do you get so upset at people joining the microphone business when you say you are making "little to no profit"?

Since the "mic body situation" you consistently tried to start witch hunts against different members (Chunger & tskguy). Where is the "Spirit"?

Being a member of tons of different forums I can tell you that GroupDIY is by far the happiest and most peaceful of them all. No egos and BS.

So if the spirit of this forum is so important to you, please stop all the accusations and let everybody DIY FREELY.

 

[tv]

I don't get it.

...

...

  No egos and BS.

You must have mis-spelled that.

I'm sure you meant "No egos and GS"?

 

[Jonte Knif]

The spirit should be: f**k China. DIY is not "Buy all the hard to make things from China....well....lets buy pretty much everything from China, then bolt them together, and presto, we made this."
You don't have time? You don't have resources? You want everything now, cheaply and without labor? May I ask, those of you who buy the Chinese components: Where does the satisfaction in your "DIY" come from? What is it all about?

Most of us come from countries with good sources for tools and material. Most of us come from countries with a high standard of living. Heck, what the f**k makes all crave for Chinese crap? Perhaps outsourcing even the bolting process to Chinese would make things like REALLY perfect. You know, you would kind of be doing something, and not even have to do anything. Like have your personal Chinese DIY contact person, perhaps web cam showing how she uses the screwdriver so skillfully while the sewage from a factory nearby neatly runs into the sea. And in the mean time you could just enjoy the thought of *saving* so much with the hobby, and with so little effort.

Do I have a somewhat distorted point of view? Sure. Am I really mad? No. Just trying to wake up some of you. But surely this has become a boring forum for people who are not into copying old stuff or outsourcing their hobby. O tempora....

 

[tomas1808]

I'm sure you meant "No egos and GS"?

;D

I've heard that the S/N ratio is not the best there.

 

[tv]

...
/* Lots of emotion */
...
Sure. Am I really mad? No. Just trying to wake up some of you. But surely this has become a boring forum for people who are not into copying old stuff or outsourcing their hobby. O tempora....

And when I get excited
My little China girl says
Oh baby just you shut your mouth
She says : sh-sh-shhh

 

[desol]

I'm sure you meant "No egos and GS"?

;D

I've heard that the S/N ratio is not the best there.

Actually, for as much hoopla as there is at GS...there is alot of great information. Particularly in the guest moderator sections.

 

[tomas1808]

Yes I agree. That guest section is particularly awesome.

I am actually a fairly recurrent user (reader). It does have lots of good information, but also loads of not-so-good/hype/circlejerk/etc.

I am starting to believe that the GS "hivemind" is detrimental to my productivity/drive because it makes you feel that all your gear sucks, and you need X gear to record properly, etc.

I did learn good stuff at the beginning, but I think its time to go now.

 

[Kingston]

These kinds of threads start to appear when any forum reaches a certain critical mass. Repeats every few years when in reality nothing changes. The internet social form of old people with their "good old days" complaining about young people "who have no respect".

 

[usekgb]

I'll be sad to see you go Chuck.  You have provided many valuable resources to this forum, and allowed many people the opportunity to build themselves a top notch microphone or two.

Cheers,
Zach

 

[DerEber]

I read here for Years now and am still liking it a lot. There is a awesome amount of knowledge here!
But I´m avoiding the black and white market here and stricktly DIM.

Please stay!!!