GoodBuyGuys Blog

For the last couple of weeks we’ve seen a huge spike in microphone stand sales at buymicstand.com and our ebay store “buy mic stand“. We had no idea why. I should have asked my kids!

It seems the must-have item for this year’s Christmas is an XBox 360 game called Rock Band. Growing on the popularity of Guitar Hero, Harmonix has released a game that includes not only a guitar, but a drum set and a microphone as well. What it doesn’t include is a microphone stand.

Suddenly, every gadget and gift giving blog I come across talks about Rock Band and about the accessories you’ll need to play the game correctly. A mic stand is one of the accessories that the game maker doesn’t offer.

I hadn’t checked our Google search ratings lately, but currently we are number 1 for the search term “microphone stand” and number 2 for the term “mic stand“.

Maybe we’ll sell enough stands for me to be able to put Rock Band under our Christmas Tree.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. Count on us to meet your mic stand needs.

My experience with using personal computers goes back to the early 1980’s, so I’ve had more than my share of opportunities to set up, take down, reconfigure, and generally wander around computer peripheral cabling. The more I handle this stuff, the more mystified I get.

I began my career as a an audio techncian, and spent many years building, setting up, configuring, and repairing concert sound systems. People who design computer peripheral wiring could learn a lot from the audio industry.

While the performance and compatibility of computer peripherals continues to improve, the interconnections between these devices never catches up. I can’t think of a single data-type connector that comes close to matching the performance of the lowly audio XLR connector, a design that is well into its second half-century of use.

I just spent 15 frustrating minutes trying to replace a computer monitor in the office, only to be reminded that there are at least three (if not more) different pin configurations for a D-sub connector, even though they all have the same physical shell. Maybe, it’s just me, but I almost always have to try to plug in a USB connector at least two times, as there is nothing visible on the outside of the connector to indicate which end is up. I guess there are savings involved in making ethernet connectors with with almost useless plastic locking pins, but the savings quickly evaporate when you spend a half-hour trying to pry one out of a computer port after the release tab snaps off. The list goes on and on.

Audio connectors, on the other hand, are designed to be patched in the dark, repaired (when necessary) in the field, and to be common to hundreds and hundreds of different manufacturers equipment. The Shure SM57 microphone ( probably the most popular and common in the world) uses the same connector now as when it came to market in 1965. A 40 year old SM57 works with a brand new Chinese-made microphone cable right out of the box.

We’re depending more and more on computer-based devices all the time, and the portability designed into these items means that they are constantly having to be cabled and uncabled. Hopefully, manufacturers will consider adopting some connector standards that are up to the task.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. Count on us to meet your cable needs.

As the raw material in batteries continues to increase in price, we feel real pressure to try and save customers some money. We’ve steadily watched the cost of alkaline batteries increase, so I like to test non-name brand competition whenever I can.

I’m sitting and staring at two glowing flashlights on my desk as I write this blog-one flashlight is using a couple of Duracell Procell AA batteries and an identical light contains a fresh pair of AA from a company called Permalife.

Unfortunately,it looks like the “Permalife” is going to be considerably less than “Permanent”. It’s already starting to dim.

We were excited when we got pricing information about the Permalife brand, as these batteries had real potential to save our customers some money. The savings evaporate in a hurry if it takes three or four batteries to match the performance of one ProCell.

It’s bad when a flashlight fails in use, but you usually get some warning. It gradually fades out rather than failing all at once. A wireless microphone is very different. Once its voltage in the transmitter falls below a certain point, the receiver becomes vulnerable to all sorts of outside interference. This can be disasterous or funny. Usually the former. Rarely the latter.

As the sun sets on this blog, the Permalife-equpped flashlight fades to black and our quest for a good no name battery continues. If we ever find one, I’ll let you know.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. We’re your source for honest battery information.

When whoever invented the USB interface (Universal Serial Buss) they probably had no idea how universal this connection protocol could become. The USB connector is starting to show up on all sorts of devices to serve a function that is no longer limited to data transfer.

We spend a lot of time watching trends in rechargeable batteries, and the use of the USB interface as a port for charging a battery powered device is really starting to become common. IPODs and other MP3 players, cameras, recorders and lots of other devices with onboard rechargables now use the USB connection for battery charging. You can use the battery charger supplied with the device is you want to, but the real value in this set up is that it gives your computer (laptop or otherwise) the dual purpose of being a universal battery charger. Best of all, the battery can be charged while you use the computer for its intened purpose with no slowdown in its performance.

Travelers who are tired of having to carry a battery charger for every device in their bag (think Martha Stewart facing down the CEO of Sony) can now look forward to having one powerful multipurpose device charge batteries in the background. You can forget about which computer platform you use as well. A device that charges off a USB port doesn’t care if you are a PC or Mac user. “Universal” really does mean “universal”.

Anybody considering a battery powered gadet purchase for a Christmas present (particulary for a road warrior) ought to be sure that the device is equipped with a USB connector that serves the dual purpose of charging the battery.

Perhaps this really is the beginning of the end for a different charger for every device.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.
Look to us for all your battery needs.

I try spend part of every day visiting forums where there are discussions among hands-on users of the products we sell. You can get a lot of good information about how people use what we sell to solve problems and its possible to develop good theories about how trends will develop over the coming months and years.

Unfortunately, those who moderate these forums (a thankless task, I know) have become so concerned about members using their forums to sell products that they are denying their membership the chance to take advantage of some of the most expert opinions available in the marketplace.

We have a very large product user base of stagehands and theatre techs, and almost every problem they face is going to cost them something to solve. Why deny these hard working technicians access to information from those who know these problem solving products the best.

I tried for a while to post solutions and start legitimate discussion on some of these forums, but I was constantly being threatened with banishment because the moderators did not want any links in their forums to any commercial sites.

Here’s a couple of quick examples.:

A number of theatre techs were discussing how to best remove adhesive residue from cables. I’ve done a lot of this and we sell a product that does the job really well. A link to this product on one of our web sites might have saved somebody a lot of time. Not Allowed!

I came across a post from a church sound technician who was concerned about poor battery life in her wireless microphones. It turns out that the church was using old-style carbon batteries in an attempt to save money. A simple link to buybattery.com where we sell the most highly regarded wireless mic battery around at very competitive prices might have been of real use to this person. Not allowed!

I understand the need to control spam and prevent postings from people who are selling something completely irrelevant to the discussion, but as long as these forum moderators attempt to block information from those who have the most to offer, they are not serving their members the best they could.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.

Proctor and Gamble has made a major move towards confirming rumors about the sale of its Duracell division with the announcement that The Blackstone Group has been retained to advise it on finding a buyer. The Duracell brand generates  over $2 billion in annual battery sales, so this is a very big deal. The sale price may reach as high as $7 billion dollars.

While Duracell remains healthy, it apparently is not generating the sort of growth numbers that P&G expects to see. It has been clear from the point of view of distributors that P&G did not meet the same standards for dealer support that had been provided by Gillette when they owned the brand. It will be interesting to see if a new owner can improve product delivery.

P&G has owned the ProCell brand for well over a year, yet there is still no reference to the product on their own web site. Not even a link directly to the duracell.com/procell web site. A “brand” search at the P&G website doesn’t even acknowledge the Procell brand.

The Blackstone Group is an international leader in the area of mergers and acquisitions, so the public announcement that they are involved in this project means that a change is inevitable. Check back here regularly for updates.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. We’re a great source for entertainment industry news too!

Having been a sound man for many years, I got used to dragging around lots of specialized tools necessary to get a complicated audio job done. If I had to give up all but one, here’s what I would keep.

The Nady CT6 Cable Tester is a wonderful tool and a really great value. Its a quick way to take the guesswork out of cable testing and a “must have” for on-the-go trouble shooting. This pocket-sized device has ports to test cables with all the major audio connectors, inclucing XLR, Speakon, 1/4 inch (both 2 and 3 conductor) RCA, banana plug and 5 pin Mini-DIN. It also has connectors for test leads so you can test a cable that can’t be plugged directly into the tester.

Finally, it has a test tone that will let you determine continutity without even looking at the tester’s LED display.

This rugged device packaged in a tough metal case with good quality screened labeling will work for months on a single 9v battery.

We keep one in our rental department to make sure that every cable with an outgoing rental gets checked.

Got an audio tool you can’t live without? Share it with us!

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. Count on us to meed your audio needs.

My son and I have been involved in recording my wife playing the piano so she can make some CD’s for her Mother. It has been a fun project, but a lot more complicated than it ought to be.

I was able to provide a couple of professional quality microphones and a mixer, and we run the mixer output into my son’s MacBook Pro, record and edit, and then burn a CD with the Mac. This works very well, but requires a lot of equipment that most people don’t have. It doesn’t matter how great the software for recording and editing on the computer might be, as long as you have to use the microphone that is installed in the computer, your chances of getting a quality recording are very limited.

The MicPort from CEntrance makes this job a whole lot easier. The MicPort is a microphone preamp that lets you plug one or more professional grade microphones directly into your computer, no mixer needed.

The MicPort is a simple inline device that accepts a professional low impedance microphone into one end and delivers the ouput to a USB port on the other end. Now any microphone using a standard XLR connector can be hooked up directly to your computer. This handy little preamp even has a volume control and a headphone output so you can monitor the output of the mic without the annoying delay time you encounter when using a mic through the computer headphone jack. The MicPort even has the ability to apply phantom power so that professional grade condenser mics can be plugged into the computer without the use of an outboard power supply. The whole device is powered from the computer’s USB port, so you don’t even need batteries!

The addition of a MicPort from CEntrance will let anyone involved in field recording leave the mixer at home and get professional quality recordings with just a microphone and a computer. Or, it’s a great way to get an instant increase in audio quality for your podcast.

I’m looking forward to trying it out.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. Look to us first to meet your recording supply needs.

It’s always interesting to stumble upon a new type of customer for our products, and I have noticed recently that we are getting more and more orders from lawyers and courts. I had not thought much about it until I stumbled on this blog posting.

More and more lawyers offices and courts are struggling with the technical demands of media coverage and the need for tech savy technicians in the courtroom. Many courthouses date back to the earlier half of the twentieth century and they are woefully behind when it comes to providing the kind of support that is now expected by the legal profession, the media and the public. Its not unusual to enter a courtroom now and find mic cables and extension cords held down with gaffers tape all over the room. If the proceedings are high profile, this tangle of cables may stream out the door, down the stairs and out into the street.

The need for audio visual supplies now often extends back to the attorneys’ offices as well. Many law firms have whole departments that are involved in preparing presentation materials for courtroom work. This now extends far beyond the realm of flip charts to include professionally produced videos, wireless mics, enhanced audio recordings and computer-based presentations.

While it is unfortunate that these technical demands may be overwhelming the courtroom, its a great thing that high tech tools are available to participants in the cases.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. Look to us first to meet your audio visual supply needs.