Sweetwater

My two main experiences with Sweetwater were as follows:

I purchased a Digidesign recording system from them, back when 8 tracks cost around $4000 (for just the interfaces and card). I asked them if they carried the required SCSI drive. He said no. I said no problem, I'll find one in Computer Shopper. Which I did, a 2 GB drive for around $1100.

A week later, the guy calls me to tell me his "great news". He found a SCSI drive. I told him I already bought one, but thanks. He then says (after I already just bought over 4 grand worth of gear from him), in a very nasty tone, "Next time don't tell me to buy something I can't sell" and hangs up on me. I was absolutely floored at what an a-hole this guy was. His name was Adam Cohen. I'll never forget.

A few years later, I purchased a Kurzweil K2000 from them, loaded with memory, hard drive, $800 sampling option, software, the works. The total again was around four grand. Shortly after, I called them to order a second one because I wanted more voices for factory presets, but not all the bells and whistles. The "engineer" refused to sell me one. He insisted I load it up again with options I had already just ordered and did not need duplicated. After five minutes of discussion, he tells me "If you won't talk to me then I can't help you", then he hung up.

For me, Sweetwater is a LAST resort, and a painful one at that. I swore I'd never order from them again unless it was for an item I had to have and could not get anywhere else in a timely manner. I wouldn't rely on them for info on Fractal devices, or anything else.
 
Wow - sorry to hear about the bad experiences! Never heard of something that bad with them. Only good experiences here. I tend to buy from them when I can't find good used deals and need something new which gets their 2 year warranty.

Pros for me
-Super fast shipping
-easy returns
-multiple items sent to me to make a decision and send back what I don't want
- price breaks for being a repeat customer
-advice on items I haven't bought through them
-they've contacted their reps for questions I've had on items I didn't buy from them
 
I am needing the name of a salesperson at Sweetwater that is personally familiar with Fractal Audio devices. if you know of any that could answer my questions when ordering . thank you in advance.
P.S. if this is wrong to ask on the forum ,feel free to PM me at Hoosierdaddy .

Mike Soper at x1342. He’s been a Fractal user for a while now. I’ve been working with him for over 5 years. Tell him David Schwartz sent you.
 
My two main experiences with Sweetwater were as follows:

I purchased a Digidesign recording system from them, back when 8 tracks cost around $4000 (for just the interfaces and card). I asked them if they carried the required SCSI drive. He said no. I said no problem, I'll find one in Computer Shopper. Which I did, a 2 GB drive for around $1100.

A week later, the guy calls me to tell me his "great news". He found a SCSI drive. I told him I already bought one, but thanks. He then says (after I already just bought over 4 grand worth of gear from him), in a very nasty tone, "Next time don't tell me to buy something I can't sell" and hangs up on me. I was absolutely floored at what an a-hole this guy was. His name was Adam Cohen. I'll never forget.

A few years later, I purchased a Kurzweil K2000 from them, loaded with memory, hard drive, $800 sampling option, software, the works. The total again was around four grand. Shortly after, I called them to order a second one because I wanted more voices for factory presets, but not all the bells and whistles. The "engineer" refused to sell me one. He insisted I load it up again with options I had already just ordered and did not need duplicated. After five minutes of discussion, he tells me "If you won't talk to me then I can't help you", then he hung up.

For me, Sweetwater is a LAST resort, and a painful one at that. I swore I'd never order from them again unless it was for an item I had to have and could not get anywhere else in a timely manner. I wouldn't rely on them for info on Fractal devices, or anything else.
Interesting...the first negative review of:them I have ever seen.........SCSI....must have been at the start of their business......
 
I have not had an issue with customer service with sweetwater
My problem with them is the price... I'm a cheap bastard-
Musiciansfriend can always beat them

And at times (when their hands aren't tied thanks to Mitt Romney) Guitar Center can blow stuff out rediculous

2007 I saved up all the money in the world to buy a Korg Triton Extreme
Street price was 3299 but it came with the moss board and they just dropped from like 3899

It was coming up to the last week of the free moss board- and it was either buy it from sweetwater and guarentee the free moss board- or wait til my guy at guitar center came through...

I went with my money saved to order it- then my guy orders it- and doesn't take any money down (if i knew that I'd have ordered it 3 weeks before but before he said I needed money) anyway- keyboard comes it special order- and I find out what I will pay for it... 1700- new.

There's a big difference between 1700 and 3300- and an even bigger difference in 2007 when the economy wasn't that great- and i'm 21 and broke.

Guitar Center when they can- takes great care of people

I buy my different salespeople and managers christmas presents

One time I bought a lot of gear- and they sent me a week later $1500 in free gift cards- i bought monitors, an ibanez rg kaoss and gmajor 2 for free. Sam ash did that too- but it was $10.

Sam Ash is pretty cheap with the discounts too- 'hey this new guitar is cool but it's broken in half and has 100 chips and scratches' 'oh we don't have another one in the back- i can order you one or discount this broken one for let me see...oh great! we can do 5% off!'

I dont care about customer service Bizarre Guitar in Phoenix AZ (I think i'm banned from there now anyway) are the worst rat bastards on earth and the worst guitar dealer in the country- BUT they'd give me good deals on pedals and I still bought them. The only exception was the last time I was there- ran up $800 in gear- and i asked the manager trying to get rid of the old inventory he couldn't say 'is there anything else old you wanna get rid of and never see in your store again?' his reply was 'yeah you' which is stupid because he spent 2 hours working the deal and writing up the ticket- but before I gave him the cash. Also that guy is twice my age- (if any of you know BADLANDS it's the bass player Greg Chaisson)
BUT i'll usually take the insults if i get a good deal

I understand customer service is important but with smartphones and a global market- everyone is a competitor

A kid on reverb with his old ds-1 for $20 is a competitor of every music store now- and music stores haven't evolved- so

Like the car business- a lot of the customers are more educated than the salespeople

So- really price is what matters.

(I went to guitar center the other day to a store I don't usually go to- it was miserable- none of the sales people cared about trying to sell anything and had no enthusiasm but worst of all they knew nothing about gear)
 
Interesting...the first negative review of:them I have ever seen.........SCSI....must have been at the start of their business......
It was a while back. But Adam Cohen's behavior left a lasting impression. His subsequent promotion to Marketing Director has not inspired me to buy more gear from them. Treat customers like $hit, get a promotion. Not a company I want to do business with.

And their prices can be beat almost anywhere.
 
I always get a discount at Sweetwater. And/or they will match any price that I have found.
They are my go-to dealer.
 
I like Sweetwater, but they bend me over on shipping (Hawaii). :mad:

I wish Crutchfield had a bigger variety of musician-specific gear. They have free shipping to Hawaii, even for huge items. Got my, mixer, P16M, DXRs, and one of my subs from there. FREE shipping. For DXRs alone, Sweetwater wanted over $230 for shipping.
 
I always get a discount at Sweetwater. And/or they will match any price that I have found.
They are my go-to dealer.

I agree - I have always had great service from them. A few years ago I was interested in a PRS Angelus - they were currently out of stock - a few days after I called, I received a call from my guy there, he said " hey we just got one of these returned back to us from an old guy who was a beginner and decided it was too hard for him to play, I just went down and took a look at it - still in perfect condition - and I can send you some pics - are you interested or do you still want to wait for a new one? " I told him to send me the pics and I'll check it out.
He ended up knocking hundreds of dollars off the price pretty much half of original price he quoted, and gave me an extended warranty for free so I got it. I got this thing and I'm pretty sure it was never played and in perfect condition... Still one of my fav guitars...
 
I love Sweetwater, bought at least two guitars from them, but why would you want to talk to them about Fractal? They don't sell Fractal. They carry everything but Fractal, but not the precious.

Edit: Ok I see. Still. We here (not me specifically, but the royal we) are the brain trust when it comes to Fractal, not a sweetwater sales guy. What accessories are you needing?
 
I love Sweetwater, bought at least two guitars from them, but why would you want to talk to them about Fractal? They don't sell Fractal. They carry everything but Fractal, but not the precious.

Edit: Ok I see. Still. We here (not me specifically, but the royal we) are the brain trust when it comes to Fractal, not a sweetwater sales guy. What accessories are you needing?

THE PRECIOUS !!!

 
Sweetwater, can't beat 4 years, same as cash! I always like if when I can get 48 months w/0% interest!
 
I started using Sweetwater again after a long hiatus from shopping there. Around 2001 I was treated fairly rudely when I called to ask about an interface and software. The sales person informed me I was in their system as a PC user, so he didn't understand why I wanted to know about software available only for a Mac. When I told him I had a Mac, he said I didn't buy it from them and hung up.

They seemed to have improved since then. I like them for software, and I have purchased a few guitars I couldn't find anywhere else. The guy that helped me sent high resolution pics before I ordered. However, I wouldn't trust anyone there (or at any retailer) for information. The various music gear forums are far more helpful and accurate.
 
The sales person informed me I was in their system as a PC user, so he didn't understand why I wanted to know about software available only for a Mac. When I told him I had a Mac, he said I didn't buy it from them and hung up.
This is the Sweetwater I know. Too many alternatives exist for me to use them again. Some of these sales "engineers" have moved up in the company and are running things now. Whenever possible, I support my locally owed and run music stores. I don't care if I have to pay more.
 
This is the Sweetwater I know. Too many alternatives exist for me to use them again. Some of these sales "engineers" have moved up in the company and are running things now. Whenever possible, I support my locally owed and run music stores. I don't care if I have to pay more.
Yeah, I would too, but the last time I called the local music store to see if they had a MIDI cable they said they don't stock them. A MIDI cable... I mean if they don't have the most basic stuff around what's the point of even trying to support them. Probably the biggest thing I miss about living in SoCal.
 
I started using Sweetwater again after a long hiatus from shopping there. Around 2001 I was treated fairly rudely when I called to ask about an interface and software. The sales person informed me I was in their system as a PC user, so he didn't understand why I wanted to know about software available only for a Mac. When I told him I had a Mac, he said I didn't buy it from them and hung up.

They seemed to have improved since then. I like them for software, and I have purchased a few guitars I couldn't find anywhere else. The guy that helped me sent high resolution pics before I ordered. However, I wouldn't trust anyone there (or at any retailer) for information. The various music gear forums are far more helpful and accurate.

My experience with them has been very different. The folks I've dealt with there have scored very high on integrity, and have bent over backwards to take care of me. One of their sales guys actually talked me into returning a high end guitar that I bought from them because in his (it turns out, correct) opinion, it was the wrong guitar for me. I'll shop other places, but they get the first shot.
 
to the OP...
Basically you need a mixer to hook those all into, then send the output to your CLR's.
The mixer will let you set input gains from each unit and adjust mixing levels (volume levelling) .
Analog will be cheaper than digital if it's a permanent install.
You probably don't need anything fancy - like all the effects on a digital console - and you are not likely to need to adjust the mix levels on the fly.
Based on that, I'd focus on analog mixers.
This should give you some idea of the price ranges
https://www.sweetwater.com/c264--16-channel_Analog_Mixers
 
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