Has Inflation Affected Equipment Buying

[Donhughesmusic]

How has the inflation affected you as far as buying the equipment you need?

 

I know in my case (haven't played live in years, exclusively recording and releasing it), I have been playing the same equipment for a number of years (Yamaha Motif 7 controlling a Yamaha Motif Rack XS), and the Motif 7 may be on its last legs.  I have needed (or wanted) to upgrade to the MOXF8 for a number of years, but Covid and now inflation have put that on hold for quite a while now.  At $1699 still, I just haven't been able to do it.  

 

How has it affected everyone here?

[bill5]

Admittedly I've been mostly window shopping lately, but I haven't noticed much as far as serious prices hikes in general (it varies of course....).  And of course Black Friday isn't really over, so   

[ElmerJFudd]

Well, it appears to have quite a few of us excited about software deals (low hanging fruit) compared to hardware.  The current monthly budget situation and uncertainty about when the cost of everyday stuff might return to “normal” certainly makes me nervous about laying out cash that may be needed elsewhere.  Even taking on a 36 or 48 month additional debt. 
 

That said, a lot of us have passed the halfway mark in our lives.  And we’ve seen fat and lean times.  My gut instinct is that, like taxes, I don’t think prices will ever roll back - at least not to where they were prior to the pandemic.  Supply and demand, what the market will bear and all that.  
 

If we need or want more, we’ll have to work more, smarter, etc. same as always.  If you can make it happen, our time is short, pick good stuff! 
 

Side note: stuff doesn’t bring happiness. but making music does.  You don’t need the latest and greatest to play.  

[Michael Wright]

I was somewhat interested in an Electro 6 HP 73-Note HA,  until the price went from 4199.99 to  4799.99 cad for an instrument that was  already on the floor,  at the previous price.  I ordered something else.  

[Adam Burgess]

I'm pleased gigs are coming back, as I had to grab a new laptop in a hurry after a catastrophic accident with my last one (only a year old 😞 ).
It's fixable, but needed one in a hurry for a few jobs. A totally necessary expense which I would rather have not done until things are more stable.

Having said that, my little lobby piano day job gave me an extra day and a slight pay rise recently! The hotel is getting busier, for sure, and there seem to be a lot more people around town. Hope it carries on this way. The plague time was toooo long, and, now not really affecting anything here. 

As said above, if I buy anything 100% music, it will probs be software. I have a Kronos and a few other hardware boards that are a bit tired, but they all work fine. I'd have to spend a lot to get new stuff to do what they do, and that's just not justified. I admit it would be lovely to buy something a bit different and special to cure a bit GAS, but not at the mo!

[Stokely]

No.  I use saved-up gig money for purchases, so as long as those are happening I can fund purchases with no guilt .  I have a couple keyboards I could sell but the thought of it has me dragging my feet....ugh I hate that process.   I have the proverbial day job (wife too) to pay bills but we have tended to live well within our means.

Sounds like covid might be ramping up again with new variants, but I figure I'll get a booster (reminds me, need to do that!) and get on with things.  I don't get the feeling anyone is going to shut anything down soon.

It helps that at home I only use software for sounds, so it's pretty easy to get a ton of sounds and effects for very little money (heck I could "get by" with just the stuff in Logic).

[Outkaster]

Well I am sure it does but I never pay MSRP for anything.  I like to work deals when I can but it's harder to now.  I used to walk into music stores around and offer cash for things.  Korg advertises prices a certain way but I was always able to get a deal. I also deal with the vintage Hammond/Leslie thing but that is market driven now. 

[jeffincltnc]

I’ve been spending this year on PA, mixing, IEM and Apple stuff this year, especially since a lot of what I wanted from Sennheiser, Yamaha, Midas and QSC were backordered for a long time due to supply chain issues.  I also picked up a Yamaha YC88 used for a great price.  So I guess it hasn’t affected me too much.

 

I am a flagship keyboard junkie and other than the new Kurzweil K2700 there haven’t been many new products from Nord, Korg, Roland or Yamaha as a new king of the hill to replace Stage 3, Kronos or Montage.  I think Fantom and Jupiter will stick around for a long while too, so no big new flagship from them any time soon.

[Bill H.]

I've wanted to replace the 18" drivers in my subs with new B&C's, but the recent price increase of $150 per driver has given me pause. 

 

OTOH I just picked up a Google Pixel 7 Pro for a Black Friday sale price $749 - pretty insane for a flagship phone that was just released a few weeks ago. 

 

Just curious... have prices on flagship keyboards (other than Nord) gone up in the last year? Keyboards from Yamaha, Roland, and Korg? I haven't been in the market, so haven't been paying attention. I've heard about Nords loud and clear from the other recent thread. 

[Konnector]

There's nothing I need or want in hardware these days. I took advantage of the recent high prices and sold six synths I decided I could live without. Still have ten left which I'll hang on to. These days I'm pretty much just buying the odd software for my DAW. If I get the urge for a new toy, I'll go the craigslist route.

[Docbop]

I've been tempted to get a CP88 but don't really need it so can't convince myself to pull the trigger.   Only thing I've spent money on recently is a Apple Macbook Air M2.  I wanted a small laptop for my practice area for Zoom lessons, recording, and similar stuff.  I had a iPad and hate the thing, iOS SUCKS!!!   Also being an old computer SysAdmin since the 80's I wanted to check out something with Apple silicon.  I am amazed at how much I like the MB Air and using it way more than I thought I would.   The screen is a bit small for my old eyes and the camera isn't very good but the battery life is great really happy with that purchase.  So I'm all set gear wise

[RABid]

I've been buying low to mid level music hardware, and lately a lot of software. What I am seeing in music is nothing compared to auto dealers and the grocery store. And property values, wow. I've met people from Detroit, Denver, Seattle, New York and California who have moved into the area to get away from the cities. They say property prices have peaked, but they are not coming down. My sister has tried buying a house in my area for months but the day a decent house goes on the market it sales, usually to someone out of state who bought it based on the pictures.

[Mighty Motif Max]

The Kurzweil PC4 (88) is up to $2500 now...used to be 2K. I believe they started off around $1,700? IMO it's not a $2.5K board...neither in build quality nor feel. Electronic drum sets have seen large increases as well.

 

Most of the Black Friday "deals" were really just returning to the old MSRP price from 1.5 years ago. Don't get me started on property tax assessment changes in MN.

[Mark Schmieder]

The weirdest thing is that it has killed CL and eBay says, even at rock bottom prices for boutique stuff. The one exception is guitar pedals, where the cork sniffers come out of the woodwork and bid things up to where they sell for four times the original value. This made up for some of my disappointments. I guess people won't spend even for deals.

[KuruPrionz]

5 minutes ago, Mark Schmieder said:

The weirdest thing is that it has killed CL and eBay says, even at rock bottom prices for boutique stuff. The one exception is guitar pedals, where the cork sniffers come out of the woodwork and bid things up to where they sell for four times the original value. This made up for some of my disappointments. I guess people won't spend even for deals.

eBay and Reveb have both slowly killed themselves. The IRS delivered quite a blow recently. 

If you sell more than $600 worth of anything on eBay or Reverb, you must fill out forms and receive a 1099 for tax purposes. 

Which sent everyone scurrying to craigslist since actual sales are not documented there. But now they are flooded, which takes the market down. 

It's a race to the bottom, except apparently for pedals, as you mentioned. 

[Mighty Motif Max]

Adding another comment to this thread - without the past year’s inflation I may have considered buying a Nord Stage 3 88 instead of some other gear. At the current price, that is not happening.

[Docbop]

I don't know if its inflation of just Common Sense I was going to buy a CP88 and haven't.  I did buy a Nord before the price increase, but when talking about keyboards any brand that are over $3000 that price increase isn't that bad, I'm sure the dealer would make a bundle to ease the pain of a price increase.  Part of my not buying is because keyboard gear is so expensive, if I was still playing guitar I might of picked up a guitar or tried one of the modeling amps.   

[Mighty Motif Max]

55 minutes ago, Docbop said:

I don't know if its inflation of just Common Sense I was going to buy a CP88 and haven't.  I did buy a Nord before the price increase, but when talking about keyboards any brand that are over $3000 that price increase isn't that bad, I'm sure the dealer would make a bundle to ease the pain of a price increase.  Part of my not buying is because keyboard gear is so expensive, if I was still playing guitar I might of picked up a guitar or tried one of the modeling amps.   

I believe the Stage 3 went up almost $800-$1000 IIRC. And sometimes you get to the point of not needing more duplicate accessory gear that might be bundled. Other brands, yes, they had a smaller increase in general.

[ProfD]

10 hours ago, Docbop said:

I don't know if its inflation of just Common Sense I was going to buy a CP88 and haven't.  I did buy a Nord before the price increase...

Inflation cannot be too bad if you considered buying another DP to go along with the 1st one. 🤣😎