What exactly is TransAudio Group and what do we do?

TransAudio Group is a Distributor of professional audio to the
American market for the recording, live sound, broadcast and sound contracting markets.

We are a wholesale business to the "trade" (stores).

In specific, we are a:

For a deeper picture of what the above entails, here's some detail:

1) TransAudio as a Wholesale Supplier.
We import and make available locally unique brands manufactured outside the US.
The manufacturer's products in most cases would not be available to you or stores without us. Our brands, our companies come from all over the world (hence the name TransAudio Group), including Germany, England and of course, the US. Anywhere that something special is going on is an occasion for a personal visit from TransAudio Group.

As part of our responsibility to our customers, we must not get them involved in product that is not built well, not supported well, or isn't all it is purported to be. As a result, an important function of TransAudio Group is the evaluation of whether the prospective manufacturer is for real, ready to support the US market and its products properly. Almost all manufacturers want to sell in America, the largest pro audio market in the world. Some will tell us almost anything to "get a foot in the door of the US". Our job is to be very selective about whom we get involved with. We evaluate the company and the products top to bottom, because there's a raft of trouble for users if the manufacturer is not able to address special problems that occur for owners as a matter of use. If they pass our initial evaluation, we can move on to the next evaluation: whether their products are unique enough to warrant American interest. This is perhaps the most important step, for our products must not only be supported long term by the manufacturer, they must also be a unique and outstanding value for your money. This is a high bar to hit and most can't or don't make it. Many legitimate good quality European companies are not in the US because there are American products just like it, they charge too much, or they can not provide the kind of support expected by American customers. If they do not meet these qualifications, we put them on the "maybe tomorrow" list and keep an eye on them, as it is our obligation to "offer only the best of the best manufacturers."
This function is critical to building long term trust between TransAudio Group, the dealer and you.
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2)TransAudio Group as a Dealer Direct to Public.
Sometimes we run into situations where selling direct to you is the best way to deliver a bargain. Sometimes the exchange rate between the US and England or Germany gets so high that offering it direct is the only practical solution to keep the price within our atmosphere. Sometimes dealers don’t want to sell something that has very limited customers, because carrying inventory on items that sell only occasionally is expensive. Sometimes the product is so specialized as to apply to only a few people with special knowledge. So we created Las Vegas Pro Audio as a place to offer the different and exotic, unusual or limited, gear so unique it is not usually sold by dealers. You will find the gear on Las Vegas Pro Audio is priced at wholesale level, direct to you from the manufacturer. You might even see B Stock up there, or a used piece of gear up there that a friend of ours is selling or we know is well cared for. Demo’s of gear ARE offered, but you need to call us to make special arrangements.
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3) TransAudio Group as a support organization to the public.
If you buy high performance gear, you want support. You might need a general question answered, a technical issue addressed, a problem solved, "when" you can get something or how to get something serviced. We are the "front office" of a manufacturer providing a place to call for its customers. We all know how frustrating it is to get something solved when there's a problem or an issue that you can't solve yourself. You need a friend inside the factory to get it done, and get it done soon. We are that friend. We can make the manufacturer aware of your specific problem, and get someone inside to deal with it.

4) TransAudio Group as a product/market consultant.
In this role, we are in every sense your eyes, ears and voices to the manufacturer. Our opinion is that most of the information needed to make a product better or a company better comes from the customers themselves. In its simplest form, we put information on the manufacturer's doorstep that you would tell them if you could. We take customer feedback to the design engineers. We rewrite literature based on information you want to know. We ask for feature changes when you demand it. We work directly with inner company employees to put the right information in front of them. We are often the source of a product design or idea that eventually makes it to market-sometimes even good enough ideas to win Tec Awards! Beyond product, other issues that impact you must be addressed to have a "complete" product. Who is in charge of shipping, who does QC, who handles repairs and who writes the owner's manual? We have to know because all of the folks impact the product you buy. If something goes wrong out there, we have to solve the problem regardless of who "caused" it. Through consulting, we steer factories to improve their products, their operation and the flow of information so important to you when you are considering spending thousands on a new mic or preamp. We are an interactive customer representative that looks at what is going on, is aware of all the assets and resources of the company, and provides educated assistance in decision making and product strategy. We might be designing a new product one week and then training end users on a product offered for years the next. It's the fun part!
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5) TransAudio Group as a conduit of information.
The information flow becomes more and more important to users and manufacturers as you go up the ladder in price and quality. We are asked for an amazing variety of information, from "how is this different" to "explain this feature please" to "what is this product's best attribute". We must be resident experts on all our products. Someone who purchases an $8500 microphone occasionally needs help without hassle right now, and the manufacturer of such an item wants to know instantly if there is something flawed with it. If a manufacturer is considering building a new high performance product, they better darn well know what the benchmark is and some experts who use the gear daily to evaluate prototypes. A question deserves an answer, advice must be accurate and informed to all three of our customers, manufacturers, stores and you. We are your trusted information source.
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6) TransAudio Group as a support organization to the manufacturer.
The High-End companies we specialize in are usually smaller in sales, smaller in revenue and smaller in staff than the famous name big audio companies. A "labor of love" for their owner/inventor/operators, these high-end companies work on small profits and typically reinvest all the profit they earn to build audio that only a select few will appreciate. These high-end manufacturers would rather have better sounding gear than more employees. They would have to raise prices significantly to provide all the services that would equal a big company. So they come to TransAudio Group, for we provide the services (to you and your local dealers) equivalent to those provided "in-house" by the big US based manufacturers. In grouping several specialty manufacturers together, we can offer them all "big company" services they would otherwise be missing. Services such as literature writing, ad copy, training materials, new product development, warranty repair, PR, trade shows are but some of the things that we provide to our manufacturers. We supply the additional services to the specialty manufacturer that enable them to offer a more complete product.
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The end result of everything we do enables:

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How do we select our product lines?
We get offered new products nearly ever week. Some of the people behind those companies are very nice people, people you want to help. We could carry 20+ lines if we wanted to. Everyone wants to sell in America, for this is the largest pro audio market in the world. We turn down 90% of what is offered, because we must evaluate these new companies on a non-emotional basis, on a business basis. Does it fit with our company philosophy? Taking on a new manufacturer is a very big deal for us. This "who to work with" decision is a combined decision between meeting our business criteria ((listed below) and our responsibility to you to select only those companies that are truly a cut above. That means we have to pass on a company that is just "average", even though they may be very good. Our customers must have quality, innovation and value, superior support and a long term commitment from the manufacturer to their product users.

Our business criteria for selecting a brand to represent is:

When we consider a new line for TransAudio, it's the people behind a prospective company that is the biggest factor. We want to know them, find out what makes them tick, why they are in the business, what they want for themselves out of their work life. I usually try to stay at a prospective manufacturer's home, for there you learn a lot about what kind of people they really are. It is hard to fool someone in your own home! I usually meet two types in business: those in it for the money and those in it for the art.

If they are in it for the money (you can usually tell when they start discussing quotas instead of sound quality), RUN AWAY fast! That is no place for us to be! People usually find products from these types of manufacturers as short term solutions, inexpensive to purchase but too rapidly obsolete.

If they are in it for the art, yet are not motivated, this to is no place for us. Lack of support will kill a product line from these types of people when there is no urgent response from the factory to users who have a problem with a clock running. If they are in it for the art, are organized, motivated, concerned about customers, plus have conservative income expectations, we want to talk. This is the type of people we look for, the type of person who will do something special. Invention is most often found inside companies with driven owners, owners with a goal that has nothing to do with money.

While all these "evaluations" and selection criteria may seem unimportant before you buy, they become extremely important after you buy, especially when the product in question is placed in a critical situation that demands high performance. Many of the values in our products won't be discovered on first listen or first use. Some of the value in what we do won't even be discovered until something goes wrong (God forbid). Clients in make-or-break situations learn the value of selecting their suppliers carefully. TransAudio Group and our manufacturers must add things you value to the products we offer before and after the sale.
We must make them the best buy you ever made.

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What makes TransAudio Group different?
TransAudio is a collective personal statement of our staff that "business" does not have to be selfish to be successful. It can be about serving others. Business in its very best form exists to serve only, to contribute something, way beyond the product it sells. TransAudio is our vehicle to accomplish that "something more". TransAudio Audio must help you in a real way and do so ethically, to achieve its real purpose.

Unfortunately, today's scale of business forces most companies to serve huge numbers of customers. Huge financial rewards are available for those who seek to build and sell "cheaper" things. For working professionals, users who depend on their gear to earn their keep, cheaper is definitely not better. Better sound is their way to maintain their edge, their advantage. These clients want someone who can understand their unique and personal application, to help evaluate possible investments in new gear within their context. These clients realize the "right buy" is the lowest cost "buy" over time. TransAudio has organized its business to serve these few and do it very well. If we do our job and find unique items that are of real value, you will know it when you hear it. Our business is not about twisting the truth, it's about telling it.

Experience also makes us different, for we combine a unique array of work experiences. All our employees are ex-musicians. Most of us have been a dealer and a rep with personal experience in probably a hundred audio companies over 25+ years. From Musician to Tascam Rep, General Manager of a large music store to Government Services, to National Sales Manager [JBL Pro] to Director of Worldwide Sales and Marketing [Aphex]. We've been involved in the complete pro audio industry both big and small. We are in a unique position to evaluate a broad range of values about a product and the company behind it. This inner information is invaluable in selecting the genuine best available for our product mix. This value is then passed on to our clients, who regularly discover that all the experience and selective product/company evaluations have a direct result on the quality of the sound they get.

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Who is TransAudio Group ?

The "we" of TransAudio is, in order of importance,

Janis: My wife and Chief Financial Officer who really runs the damn place. (Can I have $20 please, honey bunch?) She was a bank manager in Illinois and again in California, until we decided to start a family.
Richard: Our Sales Manager and chief miracle worker, Richard solves those pesky problems like: "I need it by Friday" and "where can I demo one?" He ran a big music store in South Dakota, was a Tascam Rep, worked for Guitar Center, and most recently was the Technology Manager at Mars in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He favorite phrase: "We want to amaze you!"
Todd: "Marketing and Communications." This involves keeping the infrastucture going, fixing computers, and communicating with press, webmasters, and other scurrilous individuals. He comes from 10 years experience in the Bay Area music community, including an 8 year stint with Leo's pro Audio and Spitzer Music management.
Julia: My 8 year old daughter who is the resident Graphics Artist. She draws really pretty pictures on the whitboards, plus colors in shipping boxes.
Stephanie: My 5 year daughter who rearranges the files in the cabinets on a regular basis. She is our chief Filing Clerk and Information Manager. .
Brad: Our President and marketing manager. He locks himself in hotel rooms to write "website copy" (in Vegas? Ya, right!) and goes to Trade Shows all the time. Beginning as a gear nut musician, Brad became Vice President of the largest pro audio rep firm in Chicago (EV, Mackie, Crown, dbx), then National Sales Manager of JBL Pro, then Director of Sales and Marketing Worldwide for Aphex, to private consultant for the audio community.
Jackie and Mel: Janis's parents whom watch our kids several days a week so Janis can come to the office. We couldn't do what we do without them.
Ken Giles of Drawmer UK: Our Company Mentor and a lifelong business friend, he serves on our Advisory Board, educating us in the ways of running your own audio business. He is the man behind Drawmer, a company who has made its mark while maintaining extremely high ethical standards. What a great guy!
Laila Jantunen of SoundField UK: The ex-European Sales Manager for Genelec, Laila serves on our Advisory Board to catch the stuff Ken misses. Laila is another European audio veteran, and knows many of the companies and folks that we work with.

Our Company History

In July of 1996, I founded Lunde Consulting, an outsource marketing and sales consultant to the manufacturing community. We did some interesting projects, from market research for Yamaha to product research for Fostex to strategic planning for Electro Voice.

In May of 1997 Julia was born, and suddenly the glamorous world of consulting lost its sheen every time I had to get on an airplane and leave home. I wanted to find a way to stay home and still earn a living.

In July 1997, we started TransAudio out of our home in Thousand Oaks California. It began when Drawmer and SoundField (both UK family run manufacturers) hired Lunde Consulting in May of that year to find them a US distributor. We couldn't find the right one for them. Ken of Drawmer convinced us to become the distributors ourselves. He said he wanted to help create something new instead of just hire some unknown company. He took a big chance on us-all we had was a telephone, a fax machine, a computer and a belief that we "could do it". We owe him our existence and find it a testament to the ideal that there are still great people out there doing great things in business.

In the fall of 1997, we added Brauner from Germany, an owner run, hand manufacturer of studio mics that sound unlike anything else I had ever heard. I traveled to Germany to meet Dirk after Musikmesse and rode back with him back to his "tube farm" (his farmhouse with some acreage) about an hour north of Duesseldorf. It was like finding a long lost brother and we have been close ever since, sharing failures and successes. When I talk to people that own a Brauner, their response is always spoken in reverence, awe for the product. People "put them up" in the most critical applications possible, against the best of the best, swearing the Brauner gave them something brand new. Bruce Swedien was one of the first Brauner supporters, and Bill Schnee's comments helped me understand how the mic fit in world of vintage and new microphones.

In summer of 1998 we hire Marla, a friend of the family, to help us part time. She was going to school and needed a part time income. She helped us tremendously, dealing with paper work and the hard stuff we somehow never had time to do.

In late summer of 1998 API came along, after I got to know Paul Wolf, the guy behind the company. He was our very first US manufacturer. Paul is a very creative outspoken guy, bubbling with ideas, driven to the max. He came to me because he believed we would "do it the right way" instead of take the easy money and screw up his company in the process. One thing about API, people sure are passionate about it! I've never had a product that people universally say "this is the stuff you gotta have to make great recordings". Its wonderful representing API, because everything they make sounds unlike anything else you've ever used.

In early 1998, we hired our first regular employee, Geronimo "G" Cebrero. G helped us through a tough period when we were still losing money but desperately needed help to operate the business. We had to deal with a 2 year old, a pregnant CFO and a business at the same time. Whoa! I'm glad we are past that!

In October of 1999 Stephanie was born and the home office idea went out the window over night. I rented an office the next day.

In September of 2000 we moved to Las Vegas, as grandma and grandpa lived there and Janis and I needed help with the kids to devote sufficient time to the business. Not being daycare types, grandma and grandpa sounded real good to us! We lost G, and moving day was a sad day.

In October of 2000 we hired Richard Bowman as Sales Manager. We moved him up from Miami Florida, where he worked for Mars. Richard and I knew each other through mutual friends, and he came to us through our search for a key person who valued ethics highly. We hired the right guy, and he has been invaluable to our customers, Janis and I. If you call the office, he will most likely answer the phone.

In November of 2003 we hired Todd Peterson to help with the marketing and information flow. We had added several lines: ATC, Daking, GML, Soundelux, etc... and also planned on making a bigger presence for our direct sales lines. Todd added that extra person with experience in music, the music industry, and in streamlining infrastructure to handle the needs of a growing company.

In January 2005 we launched Las Vegas Pro Audio as a high presence conduit directly to the end user. With the addition of Weiss, ADT, and more to come, Las Vegas Pro Audio is fast becoming the first stop for audio professionals.

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Where do I find the products on this site locally?
That's usually a simple issue of calling us so we can direct you to the nearest store that carries our products.
TransAudio Audio, 702-365-5155. Hours 7AM to 4PM West Coast (Pacific) Time.

As much as we screen our product lines, we also screen potential dealers. Our idea of a great dealer is one that adds something valuable to our product, such as knowledge, demos and after sale service. We want the "best of the best" dealer network across the entire US. When we make a recommendation to call "Dealer X" in your area, we want you to be impressed and pleased with the level of service you receive. Its critical in our view to have a dealer.that understands the difference between our gear and the "price point/mass market" gear. Can they explain the difference between a 1066 and a Drawmer DL241? Can they provide an "in studio" demo of a Soundelux microphone? Can a store explain why an $8500 Brauner microphone is a bargain when compared to vintage mics?, We need a store that knows the difference between an ADAT and a Studer, between a Manley Vari-Mu and a Distressor, between a U47 and C12. Without the right level of knowledge on the part of the dealer, products can be misunderstood and sold into the wrong application, leaving the user disappointed and frustrated.

If a local dealer tells you he does not carry a product of ours because "its no good", walk straight out the door. That's not the truth! The real reason they do not have it is usually we won't sell them. We are very selective about who we sell to, choosing only the best store in the area for technical expertise, advice, familiarity with similar brands of gear and a reputation for quality and customer service. No one wants to admit that they can't qualify to be a dealer for us, so they tell you that the product is not up to snuff instead. Its their way of getting you to change your mind. Don't fall for it. Our products are a little harder to find than most things, but they are worth the extra effort.

Call us, let us help you find the right dealer for you. If you want low prices, tell us. If you want information and advise, tell us. We know who does what. There are awesome dealers out there who have a wealth of experience to share, and will do so free of charge to their customers. As we said on the opening page, the right buy is not always the lowest cost item, but the right item for you in your unique situation. Email us directly if you don't know where to go. We will refer you to the nearest dealer authorized to sell our products and tell you about them.

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