SD302 price hike?

P

Petrus

Well-known member
As Sound Devices mixers can not be sold mail order from US to outside the US (to protect importers?) I am planning to get one in Denver while visiting there next week. Now the shop informed me that the price has risen $100.

Is that so everywhere? B&H price is still the same, no mention on SD home pages.
 
Wow, Matt!
Thanks for this info. Have to say, I haven't had the same issues with the MixPre as you are seeing; i.e. can use rechargeables, and it all is still working fine. I've been pretty rough with it too -she's pretty banged up by now- , so I am a little surprised about this report of quality issues.
How old is your MixPre? Does it have a Hirose push-pull power connector or is it the older version with coax connector?

Please keep us updated...
 
dont know if they razed or not , but definitely sd made the cakes cost as good bread cost few years ago .
i dont think anyone in a broadcast market will blink if they would decide go up as the $ went to a toilet by 10-15 % this year .
if you will check what do you have in the same quality range /weight you definitely find nothing , the closest thing are wendt 3 which came 1 year ago and has luck of almost 60% of features the 302 have or sqn 4 mini which have the most idiotic layout ( the preamps are grate)and another input for 3500us$.
the wendt when came to the market was about 1000us and the price razed for 1150 now

by the way the 1200is the minimum allowed advertized price and not anything else .
 
My mixpre was the older one... all the older ones needed a different batt tube for rechargeables... the design change was something like 4 years ago. Rechargeable batts have a smaller bump on the + end of the AA... don't know why, but the gist is that older mixpres have a different spring in the bottom of the tube which prevents rechargeables from making a strong enough contact to be 100% all the time.

Oleg... yeah, I don't think there's too much else to consider in that price range... but as you start pushing $2K you can get a fourth channel with some other brands. All I'm saying is that I'm weighing my options... and maybe I should have given you this backstory to better explain my desire for you to verify that 302 deal we talked about.

Here's a newsflash for everybody shopping Sound Devices on ebay... lots of sellers claim their mixer is only a year old when in fact it could be 6x that old and you couldn't tell by looking at it.

Fortunately the 442 has changed enough to tell... mixpres and 302s look the same new or several years old. It's really hard to tell just by looking at pictures... which is why I go by the rule of scratches. Pro gear does get nicked and scratched up, but it takes time. If somebody keeps their mixer in a bag and they say it's only a year old it should look reasonably close to new... the pots should be tight... and the white parts of the knobs should still be really clean and bright.

The issues I've seen in SD gear aren't particularly disturbing... but at the moment of failure it's disconcerting. All our Lectro gear is sent in for frequent tune-ups also... but when everything's working right it's great.

Maybe I'm just bitching because I'm less then 2 weeks from buying a 302 (or something higher end and used)... and if they go up in price between now and then I'll be irked.
 
by the way , you cant tell about 442 anything , since about ayear after first one left the factory they changed the version which almost similar to these we have today , they also give people in the beginning upgrading deals and these who didn't like the knobs could put anew design , the best you can ask for the serial n and check with sd when it was produced ,
by the way i have one of the first 442 that came to the market ,i got it before many people on ramps , it had only on problem since and it flew to usa for upgrade and fixing , i know allot of others who had much serious failures buying the mixer 2- years later , so you can BUY ANEW ONE AND SEND IT RIGHT AWAY TO THE FACTORY OR 10 YEARS OLD AND HAVE ANOTHER 10 years without any problem ,
scratches - the sd paint is quit **** , my are full of scratches ,especially on the handles , so it really doesnt tell anything .
and if the mixer felt or was in extra wet situation , you will never know , so i suppose only if you know the seller you can say something about what does it worth.
my wendt that now have its 3rd owner looks better then my 442:-), and if it not the psc label on the front no one could tell this is not 2 years one .
as you said ones when you worked with AT 4073 THAT HAS allot of scratches , did it change something in mics behavior , i dont think so .
my 2 shekels
 
I worked with a guy running a 4073a that was beat to sh*t... but I wouldn't be proud to own that mic.

I've got a local buddy who's had a 302 for a year... I borrowed it recently and it appeared brand new... I used it for two weeks in a bunch of locations and circumstances and returned it to him in the exact same condition without so much as a smudge.

Considering the serial number on a mixpre is a sticker... that is often missing or unreadable if the rest of the chassis is scratched... I'd stick with my logic of judging a book by it's cover. If the thing looks used up... or abused... then it probably was.

The 442 that I run doesn't look bad except for the components that need repair (as noted)... otherwise the mixer looks good... and it's the older style 442.
 
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Wow, tough break Matt. The return plug having an issue is pretty usual. The spring on mini-plug always goes bad after a lot of inserts and removes. When plugs get yanked out it shortens the life even more. I have a mini-plug to 1/4" adapter on most of my gear and just leave it plugged in all the time. No issues on any of those plugs...yet.

On the tape out, is the cable maybe at fault?

While SD products are well built they will have problems from time to time. Despite that I still believe them to be the best bargin out there and considering the price has remained unchanged for as far back as I can remember a price hike every now and again seems reasonable. Their employees need to keep their salaries in line with inflation. I certainly have raised my dayrate since five years ago.

On the flip side, I would like to see a next generation 302. In particular, if they could redesign it to use the 442's faders knobs and also use the same metering scheme as the 442 but keep the overall size the same I would buy a new one for a few hundred more today.

My $.02 anyways.
 
Okay... I really like Sound Devices gear... there's a little BTS on this thread that not everyone is privy to.

The gist is that everything I stated in this thread is true... this is my personal experience with SD mixers... and yes, I agree that they are still the best choice at their prospective prices.

It's just that since the design is basically unchanged for 8 years I constantly see them for sale on ebay stating "a year old... I hardly used it"... I bought a mixpre that way and then had to change the battery tube out for rechargeables... which tells me the guy was lying. So I'm giving caution to others based on my own experience.
 
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Thanks for sharing, Matt.
I bought a 302 from Trew back in October, based on your post in the "No more BS" sticky.

It has seen very light use (one short flick) thus far, so it's still in pristine condition. Your recent observations about the build integrity got me concerned, but i now see your focus was on highlighting some shady ebayers.

To that end, after I bought the mixer from Trew, I found I was checking in on auctions for "1yr old" 302's on ebay - only to feel like I had spent too much when I could have picked one up used for a few hundred cheaper. I stopped doing that - and I'm glad you just justified that decision. Who knows what I would have been getting (5y/o?) for those meager savings.

Thanks for your continual input in this forum Matt, Wabbit and Oleg. I've picked up so much from your feedback to other users. Keep it up.

Neal.
 
Just got my monthly email from Gotham Sound and apparently the prices are going up on pretty much all the SD products (442 seems to be holding steady).

If you place an order by 5pm EST Jan 31 (today) you can lock in old price. So, to those considering buying any SD product, you got a couple hours left before you have to pay more.

Good luck :thumbsup:
 
wabbit said:
So, to those considering buying any SD product, you got a couple hours left before you have to pay more.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, wabbit!

And on the flip-side, if you want to sell your one-year old (cough) SD, you should wait a few hours before lising it on eBay!

:) :thumbsup:
 
Well at 5:00pm today I ran down and bought my 302 at the local audio store. The salesman tried to sell it to me at $1295.00 and I reminded him that the web site said 1195.00. He apoligized... realizing I had just fought rush hour traffic to get there before he closed... and sold it to me for 1195.00. He told me he forgot that today was the last day for his store's price!
 
Well, I asked the importer a fresh quote hinting I was going over to Stateside. The price dropped 295€ and I bought this little jevel of a mixer from them.

After I get the Sanken CS-3e and Canon XH-A1 I have ordered I am all set! (got already new tripod & figrig, it has been like christmas of late).

Besides the clients have like the shooting I have done lately and yesterday I sold two 30-minute travel documentaries to the National TV. One happy (amateur) videographer...
 
Im with you guys on the "next generation" Sound Devices mixers thing. I really think that both the 302 and 442 (especially the 442) are overdue for a bit of a redesign.

The thought of SD releasing next-gen mixers makes me tingle. I'd buy a 442 today if that was the case...
 
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