Professional institutions and freelancers are all too familiar with the “use it or lose it” aspect of the end-of-year budget. Oftentimes, purchasing that new upgrade during the holiday season makes more sense for tax reasons. Sweetwater has buying advice for those looking to spend the last of 2023’s budget. Please know that we are the best providers of gear, but we’re not trained in tax or financial advice, so consult a certified professional for those!
- Educational Institutions
- Recording Studios
- Music Venues
- Clubs & Restaurants
- Theaters & Performing Arts Centers
- Houses of Worship
- DJ Services
- Podcasters & Content Creators
Educational Institutions
The end of the year provides excellent opportunities for educational institutions to upgrade their software to ensure their students are learning on the same tools that they will continue using as they transition into their professional careers. Look into the recently released Steinberg Nuendo 13 Academic Version or the Steinberg Cubase Pro 13 Academic Version. PreSonus also offers an incredible deal with this Studio One 6 Professional / Notion 6 bundle for schools and institutions. Of course, every fledgling audio engineer should become intimately familiar with iZotope RX 10 Advanced audio repair software. If your institution already has a 7.1 immersive mixing setup, then transitioning to Atmos and other immersive audio formats is easy, thanks to the Ex Machina Soundworks Titan satellite speaker system. Finally, Sweetwater has a huge assortment of headphones, cables, cable adaptors, and any other equipment to replace those that broke throughout the school year.
Recording Studios
Sweetwater has good news — and even more good news! Firstly, with companies such as Dolby, Apple, and Sony all collectively throwing their hats into the ring, immersive audio for music is here to stay. Secondly, recording studios now have valid business reasons for upgrading to an immersive audio speaker setup (and potentially changing DAWs if your current one doesn’t support immersive audio formats). Sweetwater offers several complete speaker packages, from the home studio–friendly Kali Audio 7.1.4 immersive audio studio monitor system to the professional PMC 9.1.6 immersive audio studio monitor system. With many other offerings at price points between those two, we have an immersive audio speaker package that fits your space, goals, and budget. Lastly, studios always benefit from a computer upgrade, and this Sweetwater Custom Computing CS400 workstation has more than enough horsepower to handle any of your audio processing needs. For Mac users, Sweetwater sells various Apple Computers, as well.
Music Venues
Consoles and monitor speakers are the bread and butter of any music venue, whether you want to bring in national touring artists or simply offer a great place to showcase local talent in your community. To seriously upgrade your live sound mixing capabilities, check out this Avid VENUE S6L-24D control surface. With 24 faders, 64 assignable knobs, a Master touchscreen, and two Channel Touch modules, the Avid VENUE S6L-24D is stacked with features that make even the most demanding live mixing environments perfectly manageable. Smaller music venues can still upgrade in a big way by taking the 72-channel Yamaha DM7C digital mixer out for a spin. Its 16 faders, 7-inch and 12-inch touchscreens, and super-convenient, all-purpose touch-and-turn knob handle small-to-medium-sized productions with ease. Last but not least, if you want the audience to bang their heads (and why wouldn’t you?), then you can’t go wrong with the JBL SRX906LA PA system.
Clubs & Restaurants
The ambience must be right, whether people are out drinking and dancing or wining and dining. Sound is a huge part of what sets the mood, so the waning weeks of the year are a perfect time for clubs and restaurants to consider upgrading their audio systems. If your club or restaurant also features live musicians, then consider adding backline to your stage. An acoustic drum set makes a great choice, and this 5-piece TAMA Starclassic Performer shell pack is an excellent kit that looks and sounds professional without breaking the bank. Stage monitors (also called “foldback monitors” or simply “wedges”) are also vital components of any live show. The Electro-Voice PXM-12MP is a great option. Finally, a handheld wireless microphone system is a super-easy upgrade that instantly adds a professional look and feel to any establishment.
Theaters & Performing Arts Centers
You know what you need? Four words: lavalier wireless microphone systems. Combo packages like the Shure QLXD124/85 system also provide a handy handheld mic for the evening’s emcee or a talkback mic for the audio engineer performing soundchecks before the show. Headset microphones are also necessary for performers, as are intercom headset microphones for backstage staff. If your venue wants to start putting on larger-scale productions such as Hamilton or Wicked, then you’ll need a console that’s up to the task. Fortunately, the 40-channel Midas M32 LIVE digital mixer gives you a large channel count at a very affordable price. Lighting is as essential to a production as sound, so upgrade your lighting capabilities with the ChamSys QuickQ 30 4-universe compact lighting console. Finally, a theater can never have too much board and gaffer tape for cable management and visibility in dimly lit backstage spaces.
Houses of Worship
Modern houses of worship often livestream for congregation members who can’t attend in person. They also livestream to produce videos for announcements or to dramatize stories and teachings of their faith. This makes the holiday season the perfect time to upgrade their video equipment. The Blackmagic Design URSA Broadcast G2 has become a hot-ticket item here at Sweetwater for delivering 4K and even 6K video quality and recording to various formats, including SD, UHS-II, and CFast 2.0 cards plus external USB. To facilitate transitions between different scenes and speakers when livestreaming, we highly recommend the Blackmagic Design ATEM Television Studio 4K8 live production switcher. In addition to having excellent capabilities for broadcast and streaming, the ATEM Television Studio 4K8 has an onboard audio mixer to guarantee balanced audio signals. Finally, its LCD screen makes everything easy to navigate.
DJ Services
If you’re a working DJ, then we’re sure you already know the importance of having an agile controller and speakers that thump. So, how’s your lighting rig doing? If it could use an upgrade, then we’ve got you covered. Many Sweetwater DJs utilize several lights and effects for their shows, including the Chauvet DJ GigBAR Move LED lighting system for an all-in-one solution — get some moving lights, too, to get the crowd moving! We love the Chauvet Pro Rogue R2X Spot for DJs (and theaters!), with the Eliminator Stealth Wash Zoom being a more budget-friendly option. To top it all off, one of our favorite atmospheric effects is the ADJ VF1300 compact fog machine, and we recommend the ADJ WMX1 standalone DMX lighting controller to sync it all together.
Podcasters & Content Creators
Knowing how to make your audio sound as pristine as possible is especially important if you work in multiple places, like content creators and mobile podcasters often do. The Sound Devices MixPre-6 II is both a field recorder and an audio interface that can capture you and your guests no matter where you’re working and then plug straight into your computer for easy file offloading. When you’re ready to step up from the USB mic, this Shure SM7B dynamic mic and CL-1 Cloudlifter kit presents a professional, serious upgrade. Finally, to help visual content creators look their best, the 10-inch Gator Frameworks LED ring light is an easy and surprisingly affordable solution.
Looking Behind While Planning Ahead
As the year ends, it’s always healthy to look back and be thankful for the extra year we’ve been given. That said, it can often be beneficial for professional institutions and freelancers to look ahead and plan for what makes the most financial sense to accomplish their business goals. So, if there’s something that you’ve been eyeballing, and you’re ready to take the plunge before 2023 ends, then don’t hesitate to call your Sweetwater Sales Engineer at (800) 222-4700!
