d8b Forum

Before the forum finally closes (or is not working any more) I figured to create this account and ask you - the lovers of the d8b - for some insight.

I got the board from a friend that did not use it for 10 years. I thought it would be nice to have in my rehearsal room, but I prefer my "stupid"/old Mackie with more physical filters, as I'm switching bands/musicians/instruments ALL the time...

Now I'm trying to sell the mixer for my friend. Can you give me any idea/hint IF the mixer is still of interest in the market and how much one would pay for it?

Side-question: Do you think it's worth the risk to update the software to the final version ( https://reverb.com/de/item/33703909-mac ... disks-v5-1 ), as currently the mixer has "D8B 3.00 Build 224 " installed? Would this increase the chance of selling, or is it a bad idea to begin with?

edit.: this is the mixer by the way: https://www.kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/ ... 68-74-4447

No one...? Any hints are highly p
appreciated!

Hi,
You can see them on Reverb or Ebay advertised for anywhere from $500 to $2500, depending on their condition and what cards are included (clock, effects and optical or analog in and out). Your problem is going to be that shipping will run anywhere from $650 to $1100 depending on what carrier you use (basing this on recently having one shipped to North Carolina from Arizona).

Have a blessed day,
Mike

Awesome! Thanks!! That helps a lot.

That makes sens. However I just marked it as "pick up only" (which is quite common in Germany),so shipping is only a theoretical problem.

IMO, how much anything is worth, always depends on the supply and the demand for something. (Sorry about that tired phrase).
And for an item that is difficult to ship, it's essentially how much "LOCAL" supply and demand there is for something like that in your area.

As an example, I live in the greater Los Angeles area, which means that there are literally thousands of home- and project studios across the city. When the D8B was new, there didn't use to be as many home/project studios, but proportionally more "professional" studios - or rather, studios that charge people money to record there (if the results were always "professional" is another question). So, the level of studio that would spend the $10,000 on a D8B, when it was new.

What that means is, that A LOT of old D8B units exist in this area (high supply situation). And that will have an impact on price.

There's not a whole lot of demand for a 20+ year old mixer, that was unreliable when new (at least a high percentage of those units), and has become near-impossible to keep running, for anybody who isn't very technically inclined. It's usually just the "no budget" crowd, that is willing to put up with the to-be-expected problems, since they want to do the "Pro thing" but can't afford to pay pro-prices.

So, as a result, lots of non-working or half-working D8B units exist in this area... but not a whole lot of people want to buy them for "real money," because those who know what that is, usually also know what to expect (i.e. "trouble").

I think that's why I bought my first two D8B units together, for $200 (both had Error 43 - but I didn't care much, since my original intention was to use at least one of them with a ProBox as a controller... but I managed to get both working, thanks to all the great people on this forum).
Then I picked up another unit for parts, for $125 in Santa Barbara (close to Los Angeles). Also got that one working.
Then I picked up another rack unit for, I think it was $80 - that's the rack unit I use now.

So, that's all for the Los Angeles area. There's a relatively high supply of these desks (but you still have to monitor Craigslist or similar for weeks, until one pops up for sale), but a relatively low demand.
I think that explains the low LOCAL prices, here.

Then, after all of that, two different people (one from this forum) replaced their D8Bs with different hardware, and sent me their taken apart D8Bs for the cost of shipping. So, that made it a smaller box and thus cheaper to ship... and if used as parts, shipping doesn't usually add any new issues, since that mostly affects how the parts work TOGETHER in an assembled unit (e.g. ribbon cables getting loose), but the individual parts will not usually be impacted.

So, I paid for the shipping of two relatively small "parts boxes" but essentially got the desks (and disassembly) for free.

I really think that those two guys being willing to do this, was the result of an evaluation of what to expect from the results of a sale: Relatively little money, hassle with shipping the "working" units, and then likely complaints about the desk not working when it arrives (e.g. loose cables on the inside, most likely), and looking like you screwed over the buyer - even if your intentions were perfectly good and honest.

Those two units I got in parts, came from Oregon and Massachusetts.

I don't know the prices and the markets in those areas... but my expectation would be, that fewer people are even AWARE of these desks around there (fewer pro studios). So, I think there'll be relatively little demand for them there, either.
...and before trying to spend weeks or even months to find someone to come and pick up the desk (...and then likely still complain if something doesn't work after putting it back together at their place), I think it was just a "less hassle" decision to give those desks away for free... and since those two guys are both awesome and wanted to have their desks at least help keep other D8Bs alive (mine in this case), I benefitted from their good will. (Thanks again, if you're reading this!)

I even have yet another offer from a studio closeby to come and get their D8B, just to free up the space. I think he's remodeling or something, and said he'll reach out again when done... but it's not that I'm BURNING to get yet another D8B myself, either. They take up a lot of space.

Now, in Australia, where David lives, I think this kind of hardware is a lot harder to come by. I think that explains why the prices tend to be higher, there. Although the great distances between major cities will turn the shipping of those units into a real problem, IMO.

I'm originally from Germany (Augsburg), but had never even heard of the D8B, when I still lived there in 1999 and before.
An old studio partner from over there saw a social media profile picture of mine that has a D8B in it... and the first question he asked after many years of not having been in contact, was "you got a D8B - is it fully working? Or just as a controller"?
So, this suggests to me that those who DO know what a D8B is, in Germany, also know that they're problematic.

I had similar conversations with a few work-related contacts from Germany, when mentioning that I'm using the D8B. At least in two cases, they told me very similar things along the lines of "I used to have one of those... it was great when it worked, but from memory, it was down more than it actually worked - is your still working?!?!).

So, my assessment of this would be that, while the local supply/demand situation will have a strong impact on pricing, since shipping is a problem for "working" D8B units, I think that the overall reputation that these mixers are unreliable, is known more or less everywhere - at least by those who already know what a D8B is, and aren't just learning about it now (b/c the specs on paper for the D8B still look impressive, today, IMO).

Long story short, personally, I would pay no more than $200 for a D8B unit and wouldn't care if it has an Error 43 or not - but that's for Los Angeles.
For anywhere else, it depends on the balance between the supply of OTHER more reliable solutions being available, and how many people who'd LIKE to go pro and have some of the necessary knowledge for that, but don't have the budget to match, exist in your area.

If I REALLY needed a desk like that, was aware of the potential trouble with those but wouldn't have the knowledge myself to keep it working, the only scenario where I could imagine paying "real" prices for what the D8B actually "tries" to be, would be if the seller is local, and willing to provide tech support and simple repairs for the unit for at least a year... better 2 or more.
Then, I'd maybe pay up to $800 or so for such a unit. But without Tech Support/Repair Services when just starting out, I think it's too much of a gamble, and I'd feel bad for selling someone "a problem" if they don't know what they're in for.

Sorry, I'm sure this isn't what you wanted to hear. But again, IMO, the D8B is only the answer if you need/want the specs but don't have the budget... and are willing to deal with the problems most D8Bs come with, nowadays.
...and then the price will still vary on top, depending on local supply and demand.

At least that's my $0.37 (...too much text for it being just $0.02, haha).

Highly appreciated! I'm currently in vacation and will let it "sink in".
also gonna post a "stupid" question over in the probox forum!