Pro Gear is good gear ... don't get me wrong, but whenever you shop/read/encounter bona fide pro gear (as compared to, say, stuff that real studios don't use but budget conscious music makers do) you have to keep in mind where the ultimate user is coming from. The gear is usually well made ... okay pro users and you would be on the same page there. But, do you need abuse-tolerant gear? They do. They also pay a great deal of attention to impedance matching of electronics, which often involves matching transformers in the signal path. Just an example, but a typical one. On the other hand, accurately sending transients down the signal path might just lead to expensive or deafening consequences, because this is live music, people step on things and cables become unplugged, not a trimmed and overload-limited mix like the final product will eventually be. Would you buy something where ultimate hifi was compromised in favor of these and other factors? They would. Some of it is true hifi but it's not a given. They also have a different approach to reproduction and overall sound quality than hifi enthusiasts. If your needs and the engineer/producer/label/artists needs were the same, there would be no bad sounding albums, would there? They don't shop the bargain bin at Wall-Mart, so they are willing to open their wallets for the right stuff, so it's probably not junk. If that jives with what you want, then fine. If you want the "best sound for my budget" then check out what you hifi peers prefer. If you find the same products preferred by both, then perhaps you have something worth considering.
