Question About How to Ask Questions

[~flipper]

I have some questions that are all related (but probably only to me), and I'm curious how I should go about this, so that I can get some help, and so that the various issues, if and when divided up, might be of use to others with the same/similar questions.

 

Should I list the main gear I'm actually using in my profile? Is that normal procedure, or should each question or group of questions reiterate that info?

 

My questions are mainly about "how-to", but equally important concerns, as far as I'm concerned, are about 'tolerances' and equipment safety when used together in a chain for recording.

 

Okay, that's it, end of Part One. Part Two [the actual messy question(s)] is on tap, so I'll await some guidance before just dumping the whole issue into one big, convoluted 'question' with some ungainly "Title."

 

Thanks in advance.

 

P.S. I'm also ready with a review of the Robot, the lack of QA at Gibson, the lackadaisical attitude towards the long-promised Tronical/Gibson updating procedure, ha ha, etc.

 

Cheers.

[Bookumdano2]

If it's a question about stuff with motors like cars, tape recorders that don't work, analog unicorns and velvet Elvis paintings, Beck answers those.

 

For computers that just stop working for no reason, that's techchristian.

 

For green screen, photography, do it yourself publicity and nuclear reactor repair, thats Jeff da weasel da da

 

For life philosophy questions, blue answers.

 

I contribute nothing of use and should be set to ignore.

 

If you want Ernest Buckley's opinion, forward an email to ... I'm not sure to who. So forget him for a minute.

 

Craig will answer if you say "Hey Craig, and "beer" in the same sentence or start off your topic with mod converters or shoes .

 

Bruce likes cardioids.

 

Everyone else that I can think of will reply at will if the topic is pc vs mac, 44.1 vs 96, why men should not be allowed in the recording industry, or porch couch fires.

[Jeff da Weasel]

I say just throw it out there. Someone will probably respond.

 

And try not to be too specific in your first pass. If I see something like, "I'm trying to maximize the bass response of my SuperGizmo-8000 but it has Neutrik connectors and my Whazzit-7 has an 1/8-inch mini plug and the crossover is at 140Hz..." my eyes have glazed over before I get to the end and I don't bother responding.

[the stranger]

 

I couldn't bring myself to read any of that. I think my subconscious already did and was blocking it, so I'll stay tuned for more info in case any other developments arise.

[Coaster]

i want buy shoes.

[UstadKhanAli]

I'd say post a question, possibly while gratuitously kissing someone's ass. However, if someone offers a view that you disagree with, go after them with both barrels, immediately resorting to name-calling.

 

Ooops.

 

Disregard that.

 

Seriously, one thing I noticed is that if you have TOO long of an original post, people will miss a lot of aspects of what you are asking. So I'd say go ahead and ask away, and group 2-3 similar things together and just go for it and have fun.

[Ernest Buckley]

Welcome to HC. Just ask the question mate. To answer your first question: you can include whatever you want on your signature. Check out Kens awesome links for example or Jeffs most excellent website or mine too but granted, I don`t look as good as my avatar which leads me to my main point: Please refer to the "Unofficial HC Avatar Rules" thread before uploading an avatar. I would link to it but I can`t find the damn search button on here.

 

Thanks!

[frankie_s]

Hi there! It is always good to ask these questions. I am new to the forum and was wondering how serious the

[Ernest Buckley]

I am new to the forum and was wondering how serious the

[LeonardScaper]

velvet Elvis paintings.........porch couch fires.

 

I'm stealing these for lyrics.

[MikeRivers]

Actually, this is a good question, but how you ask it depends on the question. If you start out with "What's the best . . . ?" you can expect some specific recommendations, all different, and a bunch of people telling you that there's no way to tell you what's best without actually doing exactly what you're doing.,

 

If it's a technical question, try to provide as much information as you can. Don't quote specifications that you don't understand unless you have a question about a specification like "What does equivalent input noise mean when it's the same for just about everything where it's specified?" However, if you're asking about specifications or characteristics about a specific piece of equipment, it's helpful to post a link to a web page so we can see what you're talking about. I don't see much value in listing your equipment in your profile, or, worse, as the tag line to all of your posts. There's bound to be more there than is relevant to a question that can be answered on a forum.

 

Try to find FAQ or Wikipedia pages or use the keyword search of this forum (if it happens to be working) to try to find the answer to a general questions like "what's impedance?" or "How do I connect the balanced output of my veeblefetzer to the unbalanced input of my gyfuserator? Do I need an adapter?"

 

I think it's OK to give as much detail as you can, but when we read that, we think that you understand at least that much, so you may get an answer that assumes some knowledge that you don't have. Following up with another question is fine. Don't go away thinking that the answer is over your head. It might be, but give it another shot.

 

Don't expect someone to design a system for you, at least not here on the board. Used to be that a face-to-face chat with your dealer was the best way to get help with that, but now that nobody buys from real dealers any more, often the most helpful thing is to find someone local who can help you on site. Don't be afraid to post your city (or nearest recognizable city if it's a small town). You might find someone in town willing to trade a visit for a pizza and get you on the right track.

[Jeff da Weasel]

 

If it's a technical question, try to provide as much information as you can.

 

 

See, I completely disagree with this. I like general questions that are asked conceptually, not specifically. The more specific the question, the more it assumes the answerer will have direct experience with the gear to which you're referring.

 

On a side note, I'd shoot myself in the head if I worked in tech support. Maybe it's just me.

[MikeRivers]

 

See, I completely disagree with this. I like general questions that are asked conceptually, not specifically. The more specific the question, the more it assumes the answerer will have direct experience with the gear to which you're referring.

 

Part of me agrees with you, but not the part that tells me that the one with the question might not understand that there's a concept behind it. Or, another way of looking at it is that to answer a conceptual question almost always has an answer that's longer than most of us want to type or read.

 

One of the reasons why I put my technical articles on a web site is so that if someone needs to understand a concept before he can ask (or, better, figure out the answer for himself) a question about his particular situation, I can point him to an article.

 

But then, maybe we don't have the same concept of "concept."

 

On a side note, I'd shoot myself in the head if I worked in tech support. Maybe it's just me.

 

There are times when I think it might be fun, but I've heard some stories that would probably make me say something to the caller that would get me fired. Just this weekend Alan Hyatt told me that he once took a call from someone with a JoeMeek compressor or something who said that on page 17 of the manual it described how the meter should be reading and he didn't have any lights at all on his meter. After running through the input and output connections and finding that none of the LEDs were illuminated he asked "are you sure it has power?" the caller said "Oh, does it plug in??"

 

Hard to believe since Alan is a good storyteller, but I'll bet it happens.

[blue2blue]

Hi there! It is always good to ask these questions. I am new to the forum and was wondering how serious the

[Jeff da Weasel]

Part of me agrees with you, but not the part that tells me that the one with the question might not understand that there's a concept behind it.

 

Agreed. But the process of realizing that there are commonalities between all microphones, all preamps, all recording devices (yes, all) and formulating your question that way is probably good for people as well. I know, I'm expecting too much.

 

When I tell people to try and move a mic away from a source by a couple of inches to ease up on the bass response, I don't ask if it's an SM-57 or a TLM 170, and until we get into the nitty-gritty, I don't care.

[blue2blue]

When I tell people to try and move a mic away from a source by a couple of inches to ease up on the bass response, I don't ask if it's an SM-57 or a TLM 170, and until we get into the nitty-gritty, I don't care.

But it might good to know whether or not the mic in question is cardioid, hyper-cardioid, or omni, since the latter will have little proximity effect, and should provide a relatively consistent tonal balance a varying distances, unlike the directional.

 

But I'm being pedantic, ain't I?

 

[Lee Knight]

I have a question about questions like this...

[UstadKhanAli]

I believe the point is that a lot of info is unwanted if it is superfluous; if it's relevant to a topic, then of course one should include it.

 

You don't want to not put enough information either, or else you get the "Hey, my bass sound is really tubby. What am I doing wrong?" sort of questions, which are so vague that they are virtually unanswerable.

[MikeRivers]

 

I believe the point is that a lot of info is unwanted if it is superfluous;

 

This goes for both the question and the answer. I tend to try to give as complete an answer as I can just in case I didn't get the significant part of the question. After a 500 word reply about levels and not worrying about impedance the reply comes "I just wanted to know if I can plug my turntable into the Tape In because it has the same kind of jack." (of course he said nothing originallly about wanting to connect a turntable - because he didn't know it was any different from a CD player)

[Jeff da Weasel]

Well, the classic clich

[Gus Lozada]

It is way easier if you ask a specific question, sort of "how do I quantize audio in Pro Tools" instead of something way more general like "Can someone teach me Pro Tools?"

 

 

... If you say "PLEASE" that may work, too.

 

Please + Push and Pull are words which can open a lot of doors.

 

[Anderton]

So....where's the question?!?

[Jeff da Weasel]

I think that was the question.

[~flipper]

I think that was the question.

 

Ah Hah! Well, I came back today, saw a lot of responses, and read them all and thought about most of them. I'm never in a hurry.

 

I had a "Part 2" that was the question, and after realizing it was some 'background', at least 4 questions, a short list of the software/gear involved, and some 'explaining of gear, and I decided: "That's too much monkey business!"

 

I'm editing the query and will post it as "Mesa Boogie/GiO/Logic signal path Question(s)"

 

Meanwhile, thanks to everyone for advice + opinions and 'other ways of looking at it' in general.

[Anderton]

Just remember that GIO is VERY particularly about which software revs it wants to work with. If you have an older version of GarageBand or Logic, you may be out of luck.