Sweetwater, Do you notice a negative reoccurring theme in here?

The comments that I read in this forum strike me as rather bad publicity. Is this true of all products Sweetwater offers? As a potential customer, it sure takes my confidence away.

Not sure really what you mean. Sweetwater carries pretty much anything you could want in pro audio. The comments don't have anything to do with the retailer, but rather the product being discussed, and I don't think that the majority is negative at all. Take also into consideration if you are shopping for a 100 dollar mic preamp, you won't hear to many great things about it, cause there are alot of pro's hanging out here, who use higher quality gear. As with anything, if you cheap out on something, you won't usually get a superior product. I find most comments helpful, and as with anything, you have to make an opinion for yourself.

What posts are you referring to? I don't seem to remember any ongoing stream of negativity. This being your very first post, I'm not entirely sure how you're in an accurate position to judge such a thing. I've been on this forum in two different usernames for the past 7 years, and I just can't remember any significant percentage of negativity, aside from the odd post here or there.
If you're talking about SetMaker in particular, it's freeware. What were you expecting?
Sweetwater has always had a wide selection, fair prices, and most important and distinctively, stellar customer service and support before, during, and after the sale.
But no company is perfect, and inevitably, things sometimes don't do eactly right. However, I have always found Sweetwater VERY eager to rectify any outstanding issues. Anyone who's complaining about them on an internet forum for whatever reason has probably not picked up the phone and called them to resolve the issue, and that's the individual's fault, not Sweetwater's.
Contacting the source of the issue tends to resolve any reasonable problem very quickly. Posting a complaint on an internet forum does not do a thing to resolve the issue, and sounds a lot more like sour grapes to me than an honest attempt to get things straightened out.

i dont know what your saying by Sweetwater and this forum being negative.. being a Sweetwater customer for many pieces of equipment i believe they are the answer to anyone getting started or upgrading in the pro audio equipment.. read their catalog like a novel and study their site and learn alot of what i know from their expert center.. without them they're nice sales engineers and personality of the entire outfit i would not know near what i know now in the time i learned what i know now.. and this forum has taught me a lot to.. if learning about music and equipment from users themselves is negative then yes this place is full of it

Specifically in regards to SetMaker...
It's FREE software. And as free software, it comes with a minimal amount of technical support. We estabilshed this forum as a way for users of SetMaker to communicate problems with the development team, and with other SetMaker users. So of course, you will find people with problems and technical issues here.
There are thousands of people who have downloaded SetMaker and use it without any problems, but they don't have any reason to post on this support forum.
But in general, I don't see very many negative comments on the Sweetwater forums, and the customer response to the forums has been overwhelmingly positive. I have lots of customers who first discovered Sweetwater through our forums, and they are some of my best clients.
People will always have technical problems or issues with any given piece of hardware or software, and internet forums (not just the Sweetwater forum, but pretty much all online forums) are a natural magnet for people who have problems and are seeking solutions.
One HUGE difference at Sweetwater is that we don't leave our customers to fend for themselves when it comes to these tech support questions. Every item purchased from Sweetwater comes with technical support (from a real, live person on the phone) for as long as you own it. We also have a massive online tech support database if you want to search for a specific solution on your own.
And as always, if you have any specific questions or concerns, feel free to call your Sweetwater sales engineer (or myself, if you don't have one) and we'll help you out.

in regards to sweetwater- they are the best company to work with. i have never had a problem with their service nor a problem with anything i have purchased from them. and come on... its free!