Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1197255
20 W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 C A S Q U A R T E R L Y INTRODUCTION Do you ever wake up on a Tuesday morning, open your email, scroll social media, and then see a product announcement from one of your favorite manufacturers that reads: "Blank, blank model 402 with new blank, blank capabilities $2,395 available soon!" You think, "I know I was late to the party in buying my 401 unit but, damn, the 402 looks pretty great with some indispensable new features! Take my money!" This fictional product name and number is just to illustrate the point; but it creates a realistic feeling, right? Not buying the new generation right away might give you a "Fear of Missing Out." If you're a user of a competing manufacturer's equipment—but you've had wandering eyes—new product announcements might also give you a FOMO. Equipment trends fluctuate with each passing year, giving our small market a lot to talk about as technology changes and manufacturers share time in the spotlight. But what should be the primary reasoning for our equipment-purchasing decisions? GENERATION APPLE Many people are active on social media and, thus, even more impressionable in regard to colleague influence. Intentionally influenced or not, many sound mixers I know tend to be acutely aware of the industry trend directions. Also, within the last 10 years, the advancement in our equipment has been monumental. I spoke to production sound mixer Danny Maurer, as I often do, and he reflected on these dilemmas with me. With regards to sound recorder platforms, do you follow trends of what a majority of your colleagues are using? I believe that following "trends" when purchasing gear can be a relatively important consideration because of the simplicity when filling in for other people. There's a peace of mind with the mixer you're filling in for and the various people who handle your media afterward that nothing is going to change when you come in. Nothing is going to change about how the metadata is encoded, the file types and names, what the sound report looks like, or how the cards themselves have to be processed. With that, do you also base buying decisions on your own personal preference? Personal preference plays a very important role when it comes to buying new gear, but I always have my mind open to change if someone can make a persuading argument to push me another way. But it does have to be something that can be proven to me and I can see/hear it for myself. I never buy just based on brand loyalty alone. One question that always seems to get a broad variety of answers is "Do we have sufficient options in this niche market?" There sometimes seems to be a lack of understanding of how the making of our equipment often "piggy backs" from the supply chain of consumer electronic goods. Production Sound Equipment FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) b y D e v e n d r a C l e a r y C A S w i t h D a n n y M a u r e r