Dude, I love your channel. You're like the recording uncle I never had but always wished for.

SPOT ON! Learn your tools. I own nothing fancy, but it all works. After doing this for 35 years, I feel like I can get solid results from what I have... and I still learn something new EVERY day. The Good Lord is blessing me with plenty of work, and the quality of my work keeps getting better all of the time, incoming and outgoing. Love your channel, Barry!

Amen - This says it all "you need to learn to use the tools that you have Master those tools focus on your skill set forget gear". If you obtain the sills and master your tools, you can create great things. Thanks for the words of wisdom and sanity.

This is so true for lots of people!! I've been there. I'm being very very wise with my gear decisions these days. Much ❤️ BJ!!

Great advice. Fewer options of tools to choose from = more precision and creativity.

Sounds so simple and obvious, yet it is neither. Good video man. Talent doesn't require a certain type of gear or manufacturer.

Very good advice. I have come to my point of saturation on plug-ins. I finally decided what I need and stopped two subscriptions and kept two. They do literally everything I could use. The only place that I am expanding is into 8 500 series units. I am down to 1 16 space rack with the right tools for the job; not just tools. I do appreciate your advice, but I had already reached that answer. Have a great one Barry.

Thank you so much for all your advice. Master what you have first so you know what you need

Best advice in everything not just gear. Thanks!

OMG so many people need to hear this. Master your skills.

😂😂 the "before you buy beer" part just took me out😂 great job on the vid

This is great! I love it. I have some gear from years ago that is all in mint condition. So I am working on location, location location... to be ready to use it. I can't put my old mint condition portable-studio on a cardboard box and synthesizer guitar etc. .. to use working on that! Basics basics basics .. this is why this message is so spot on. I may never need new equipment. I have interface and. Mac etc. but I can't even do that without developing a headache trying to run it ... when I want to play and record my ideas (at least a couple of steps above cell phone voice recorder (:-)). I even another portable multi track recorder, in mint condition and I don't even know where it is ......... thanks for this great video... I still enjoy seeing new stuff... not that I'll ever want one ...

I totally agree, first master your tools and then get the gear. I use to blame my gear but kept it with me because something told me I was doing something wrong. After I upgraded my interface to a better one I finally could appreciate and notice the difference it made to the recordings for my client. Then bought a mastering eq and paired it up the gear I already owned in my master chain and everything made sense. Gear does make a difference but you have to master your tools first in order to hear the differences it makes at a producer level. It's frustrating but worth it when you can clip the input level in analog, is a more pleasant sound that digital can't replicate.

I really really needed to hear this🙌🏼💯

What a great vid this is! talent will always out way any gear hog.

I agree with this message. It's better to wait until you fully understand it before buying things. I talk about that on my channel as well. Don't buy a ton of gear. Learn how things work first. Most already have all they need at their disposal.

Thank you, Barry. I needed to hear this. 🤔

I have a rule where I only make large gear purchases with bonus money once a year. Definitely helps the GAS. At the very least, I’ve got a year between purchases to really think about what the best bang for buck will be.

Thank you Barry. I have had a bad case of GAS lately. What we call an "Empty Love Tank" Sometimes what we really need is something else entirely. I am 63... :-)

Thanks for another great video.

Another gorgeous video, Barry.

I can’t stop , I enjoy researching and buying more than I do using

Love your channel!!! Keep telling it like it is!!!! Perhaps too much coffee at 5:00 am?

Thank you for reminding me Barry, I haven't gotten tracking links for every piece of gear I bought on Reverb this week.

Great video ... Super on point.

the acquisition of equipment cannot be justified solely by the desire to have better sound quality. when I wanted to open my home studio I didn't want to just have a laptop placed on a table with free plugins installed. so I bought an Apollo 8 duo, a compressor and a preamp. a synthesizer and a master keyboard. I knew it wasn't this equipment that was going to give me good sound but I just wanted my studio to look like a studio. it was useful both for my comfort and for the respect of customers.

Barry 💯! I’ve already made a commitment to myself that I will not buy any gear or new shiny plugins in 2024. Truth is I have all the awesome tools I need. Are there better tools to be had!?! Absolutely! But I have more than I need to make quality music. 2024 is about improving me. My skills. Thanks for being you man!

Excellent Advice!

I've been "playing" with my home studio for years and have bought and sold a lot of toys. Only recently did I have this conversation with myself. I now only have what I believe I need without breaking the bank. For the most part I do everything in the box but I have a Cranborne EC1 (great mic pre), an ART Voice Channel and my Motu M4. Between that and a couple of good headphones and mics, I will continue to learn in the box!

After 40+ years of playing the same '62 P bass I have a new Jazz V and I am just having a good time.

I saw this video and I bought some new gear using your link on Thomann ;-)

buying gear is fun, and it also can create an environment that puts you in the “headspace” for great recording and mixing. you gotta be inspired too….

Great video!! 👍🏽

After owning several small studio setups would totally agree with Barry's assessment. This also applies to buying instruments such as guitars etc. If you suck playing a fairly inexpensive guitar you will not be better with a far more expensive instrument. It's the player or the engineer that makes the difference not necessarily the gear. Once you 'master' what you currently own you will be far better able to make a much more knowledgeable decision on purchasing an upgrade if needed. That being said, manufacturers hate this idea and go to great lengths to mitigate through promotional adverts and getting youtube like personalities to show off their gear etc. The one caveat is that technology moves very quickly now and I do think it is important to at least know where the industry is going in terms of formats, connectivity and such. The one piece of gear you cannot go wrong on is microphones. The better ones hold their value, if taken care of, and can produce finer results if used wisely and with some knowledge of miking techniques.

Barry - I love your videos man - i thin 75% of us are in "comfy" clothes with a shirt on - 20% have a a t-shirt or hoodie on and the the 6% would be REALLY embarrassed if the accidentally stood up lol... Im in the hoodie t-shirt baggie gym pants category... Thanks for another awesome video. Guys if you are not gonna listen to logic, and you feel compelled to throw money around... Throw some to Barry or myself we'd appreciate it!! ;)

So truth Mr.Barry

I usually recommend buying the books from the author Bobby Owsinski first.

I have to admit, you are right. Ultimately what you hear is what is important, not the gear.

I agree that many people won’t notice the immediate difference between plugin A and plugin B but just routing your audio through some machines like old reel to reel recorders or good preamps just changes the game. That’s a fact and even crappy engineers will sound 50% better just using some gear. I’d like it to be untrue but it’s a fact 🙃

I have some inexpensive gear, I use a simple Focusrite Scarlet interface, and a Rode NTK mic...I did buy one expensive piece of gear my Universal Audio LA610 MK2, it make a huge difference in my vocal tracks. It was exactly what I was looking for to bring my vocal tracks to the front and warm them up. Its the only expensive piece of gear I got, and really all I need

I accidentally took the approach you’re suggesting here by default, since I grew up without much money haha… couldn’t afford any major gear when I was learning, let alone until years and years into my development as a producer/engineer... Wasn’t until I had around 15-20 years recording experience that I finally started investing in world-class equipment for my own home studio. Sure, I wish I started investing this way long ago, but I do feel grateful knowing that I didn’t just go buy a ton of expensive shit before knowing how to actually use it!

It all comes down to the song period.

FACTS! after doing recording and mixing for 3 years I finally got a good sounding track (the rapper even complimented on how good I made him sound). I have the same gear that I have since the beginning. However, I mixed that song on UA plugins that I recently purchased. Mainly those plugins made me to take decisions by listening and not by looking. I guess it works both ways. Skills and gear should go hand in hand sometimes. Sorry for rambling. Thank-you Barry for the advice.

Love this channel

Solid advice. As a matter of fact, it should be the theme in 2024

I think there's many factors involved with buying gear that need to be considered. First and foremost is, will that piece of gear accomplish something you can't already? Secondly, is it priced within your ability? That second question is something only you can answer? Can you afford it? And is it something your even capable of using? Many times when more than one of these questions can't be answered honestly, you should probably hold off on the purchase.

When I find myself in times of trouble, Brother Barry comes to KZfaq, yelling words of Wisdom, Don’t buy gear, Don’t buy gear :)

Those black glasses look good on you, Barry.

Great channel!!!!!!

In today's recording environment you can make professional sounding albums on a cellphone with garageband. I have seen it and heard it done.

I'm so glad I watched this video after I bought a new RME Fireface UFX III a few weeks ago! Didn't really need it, but boy am I happy with it. Got it for a great price ($2595 US new) and it'll be something I keep for years to come and could probably sell it for not much loss. Now i'm going to stop! ha ha

Better than stop buying gear was what followed i.e “Stop analyzing your situation” @1:20 😅

i’m somewhere between wanting to sell all of my gear and buying a buss compressor to finish my setup 😂 i have a Cranborne EC2, WesAudio NG76 and an Audioscape Opto. i think an Audioscape Buss Comp would cover my essentials for vocals and mix buss. Barry, what do you think?

Great video. Mixing skills > gear

on point, 100%

Dude said he would never do that, stood up to correct the camera focus whilest wearing a pejama😂

to be honest, I still need a Neve 1073, for sure

Well, it's hard not to get hooked on the whole gear aquisition thing. I've been working on recordings and mixing for around 13 years now. And I started by working in the box of course. Bought a lot of plugins that I didn't use a lot. Then switched to some hardware gear, and I do prefer that. I was trying to get like one super awesome channel strip, and then a second one and then some stereo bus stuff. I do like the workflow with analog stuff. It's not really so much about the (better?) sound, but also the breaks I have to take during printing tracks and the fact that I have to make decisions and working with hardware knobs instead of looking at a screen. Luckily my place is quite limited and I cannot fit any more gear in here.

Great Freudian slip at 6:42…” If you want to Nive Deep” ie “if you want a Neve “

Barry..part of the hobby is GEAR!!

Plugins and gear never helped my mixes. Listening and learning did though. room treatment before gear. Once you can actually hear what is going on gear may make a difference but it’s not the difference between a pro mix and a beginner mix.

He right STOP BUYING GEAR, however Gear makes the world of difference.

Spitting Facts !!!!!

Totally agree

I'm an old guy also, The gear I buy now is to make what I do better, and what I mean as better is faster. The faster I mix the better my end product is. There is some that I buy for a certain sound. But I started all this on tape. I know what sound I want, and how to get it. Just buying something because someone says it is great doesn't help you put out better music.

Bravo!

That why I do everything in the box. No outboard gear other than an interface.

guys a legend

Well said👏👏👏👏👏

But i keep clicking on your Sweetwater links! 😂

I have always bought gear. Sold on EBay what didn’t work out, kept what did. Good gear holds its value. Vintage gear goes up in value.

Very True

Say it again for the ones in the back! I did this for 4-5 years with a scarlett, sm7b, and not a single piece of hardware. Gear is for tracking and after that, it's really just a workflow tool and a studio aesthetic. It gets you to a place YOU ALREADY KNOW HOW TO GET TO, with ease. It will not make you a better engineer, producer, or artist. Don't get me wrong, I learned a lot from owning different hardware, and it's an eventual, inevitable step of the journey, but it took a long time to even understand why I would use it versus using the tools I had in the box.

Barry, Love your channel. What are your favorite monitors?

I’m running off an old 828 mkII with the firewire 400 and two cable adapters since Mac doesn’t officially support it anymore, and I don’t think I can update my computer. Can I buy some gear? 😂

Thanks now I realize I can't afford it anymore LOL

The video I needed to watch lmao

I've had some bad luck with audio interfaces. Just bought an RME PCIe interface for the latency. I struggled for a long time with latency on cheap interfaces, firewire, usb and then the drivers not working with newer OSs. It should be considered good ethical business practice to support drivers up to the latest operating system that computer can take. I feel bad for the guys with the TDM hardware PCIe cards that *should* easily work in a 2019 Mac Pro, but lost support in 2012. M-Audio also abandoned their customers. Never again.

Gear must be earned

Hi Barry, curious if you’ve observed anything extra peculiar around UAD support lately? Tickets being left open for weeks, dismissive reps, lots of issues left unresolved? I ask because it would be great to have someone with your reach look into it.

Barry I'm and old fart to. This same principle applies to plugins also. Over the years I have purchased tons of plugins. I just built me a new pc, and went to reinstall my plugins. Man I realized how much excess I had. To all out there Barry is seeking to help you. LISTEN!!!!!!!!

Excelent

What piece of gear shall I buy this weekend?

Dude, where was this advice 25 snare drums ago? 😂

can i buy a table for my studio? :')

I hear you, and I get it, but hear me out - no. lol I'm not the most advanced mixing and recording guy, but I enjoy gear and some of it is a lot of fun. I just recently got the Crandborne Carnaby. The thing isn't life changing, but for $500 it makes certain things sound awesome with minimal effort. I didn't miss the point though... honest. It is good advice.

Question, what is that controller that is just below the patch bay ..???

TO ALL MY FELLOW GEN Z AND MILLENIAL ENGINEERS ..... keep/START buying gear . gear isnt a cheat code. but having physical audio gear will build your appreciation for what we do . and encourage learning audio from the fundamentals to the top. you will make this process faster if you have some physical gear you will be incentivized to learn what ever machine u bought . it will bring concepts and things you see in the box full circle. start with a solid mixer 8-12 track make sure its usb so it can be used as your interface as well also an outboard compressor . buy gear to LEARN and develop a genuine love for this art form . LEARN THE FREQUENCY SPECTRUM . UNDERSTAND HOW HUMAN EARS PROCESS IT AND ALWAYS HAVE SOME GEAR TO MANIPULATE IT MANUALLY WITH YOUR HANDS . REPLICA AND EMULATION GEAR MIXED WITH TOP LEVEL PLUGINS CAN GET YOU AN INDUSTRY STANDARD SOUND, BUT YOU MUST LEARN BASICS OF AUDIO OR YOU WONT ACHIEVE TOP QUALITY PRODUCT . if you ever find yourself in an industry tier studio to work, you dont want to be they guy that doesnt know how the patch bay works....

Shoe choice might matter for Usain Bolt, but for me heavy boots vs running shoes is all the quality difference I can convert into a useful upgrade.

The same applies to learning CNC. You know what I mean? Good advise by the way! 😅

He is not wrong!

I have not been able to figure out how to say the things you've just said I can't figure out how to make any money in this business because I have been doing it so long that I've come all the way back to hardly nothing and if I tell people that who's going to buy nothing the musical industry is having a field day with back and forth between analog and digital and it's going to stay that way for a while

Yes it does Barry ,no no no no I can’t help it ,can’t help it ,it’s all JOHN,PAUL,GEORGE,AND RINGO,FAULT,ON ED SULLIVAN FEB 18 th 1964

Honestly this video is exemplary of why I don't trust gear youtube...you look at the title of the video, and then look down at the video's description field and it's FILLED with sweetwater links.

"If I just had that X compressor, or y pre-amp, my recordings might sound good." Man I have fallen into that trap so much. Sometimes it gives you analysis paralysis where you don't finish anything, and/or you don't bother digging in and learning the gear you have, or the process of how to get the best recording your gear and space (and playing) can provide.

Do high-quality instruments and microphones count as gear? I know you can make a cheap guitar recorded with a SM57 into a cheap interface mixed with stock plugins sound good, but you can't necessarily make it sound like your favorite record. (Or can you?) If all I own is a nice pair of jeans and a white shirt, I can always look good, but I can't ever look like I'm wearing a suit. Is that not an apt analogy?

1:11 i can see that mixer better here, nice thing ....i need a peace of gear bcs i have nothing for a while ....hade to concentrate on playing instrument i lost it from all looking into screens and equipmnets and programing long ago ....but i need to record stuff now and .....every pece of gear is missing something mpc's x's lack memory other lack quality of preamps and conversion of digital signal and some lack big screen ...or is not standalones that you can put intosome daw later ......why dont someone just make one peace of gear that man dont need anything beside so that he can stop thinking about gear at least for a decade ....like i hade pause ....and still they have made not one unit that is complete ...good ting i didnt waste my money (i dont have 😅) on many ...like many i see done and is pissed offbcs still have to waitfor new version of it to pay it much and get same notcomplete workstation that lack memory has limited plugins or something else ....thy just dont want to make it but to ontinue make us buying ....well i havent bought nothin over 10 years that is result of it ....and maybe i'll skip it on ....everygear i found to like has some flaw ....why should i buy it when it will not keep me satysfyed but thinkin of new gear? .....hmm and all computer Daws are online update kind off ....me want to buy it on fkcn CD or memory stick and work my work OFFLINE so that spywear would not be stealing my studio work .....or melodys or ideas ........i shit on online them want to keep us on it ........and in WI-FI that distract human conchsness .....why im writing this .......sorry frustration 😅 after miths of studing what to buy and dont neeed any later updates but is full and complete ....music sound reached top 20-30 years ago before digital atrfofy we is getting out of in last years

Truth

I feel like this applies to converters. Sweet baby Jesus the rabbit hole of spending $10,000 for a converter with .0000127% audio increase is real.

youre glasses are cool man not stupid bro. Love you videos.