Dave Dermont wrote on Sat, 22 January 2011 16:08 |
It's not the age, the design, or the manufacturer of the console you have to worry about, it's the condition of the particular console you are looking at buying that's important.
Not only can a well cared for older console often be obtained for a really good price, you can often get something that has more features and/or channels than you really need, thereby delaying the need for an upgrade down the road.
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Not to quibble, yes the care and treatment matters, but crap design, built with crap components can deteriorate with age even from sitting in a dark closet, untouched by human hands.
Flat vs, vertical channel boards is a matter of "pay me now" or "pay me later" philosophy. A compelling number of customers, voted with their own money, to pay for more difficult repairs later, thus the preponderance of that construction style.
Professional, "show must go on" customers will prefer the fault tolerance and ability to still operate with channels removed for service capability of the more expensive vertical channel construction, but they pay dearly for this feature.
The customer gets no more than he is willing to pay for and is always right, by definition.
Mixers that were consumable, throw away's when new, aren't expected to be robust performers after years out in the real world. And don't confuse the intensity of the marketing message for what's actually under the hood.
If on a very tight budget used mixers will get you more bang for the buck, just like used cars.
Exactly like used cars.. caveat emptor.
JR