“Why are microphones and audio gear in general expensive?”
Because modern audio gear now revolves around the same 20ish chips.
I’m not joking. I cracked open a bunch of sound cards.
They all rock the same kinds of gear inside. Same with mic preamp and wireless mics.
It’s all the same 20ish chips or so. And those chips can only be cost-cut up to a point.
There’s a floor on how low the price can go on any piece of gear, barring a breakthrough.
Then there’s designing the thing. Holy eff, circuit design is crazy. You can’t have certain components too close. Otherwise, you’ll get weird issues.
After that, there’s figuring out who’s going to manufacture your stuff. Board design is a thing. Sourcing components. Cases cost money to get done. They only get cheap at scale even though they contribute so little to the value of the product.
Then there’s actually making a profit on these devices so you can stay in business. Margins in hardware have to be high to survive.
High margins cover your butt in case of warranty, support, revisions, bug fixes, and recoup your initial R&D costs.
A big reason companies go under in hardware is they don’t charge enough, period.
So that’s why your USB mic interface might seem expensive. It’s because Scarlett or Rode or Presonus want to keep making good things and be there to help you when things go wrong with yours.
Anyway, there are lessons for your business in here, I’m sure. Just wanted to share my foray into hardware so far.
Unrelated: should I launch a Kickstarter for my NDI audio interface?