SSL/NEVE VS everything else

[Jamal]

If i record in a studio(track music and do vocals) with an ssl/neve will i really hear a big difference compared to a studio running a digital mackie?

[Gidge]

there should be a big difference....whether you hear it or not is up to your ears

[mixmkr]

so...are you comparing the preamps in a d8b to a Neve?... is that what you are asking?



no... Mackie mixers are just as good as the $300,000 desks..

c'mon silly!!!

[Blue Bear Sound]

Mixmkr's got a point..... are you comparing pres? EQ?? What???

Your question is phrased too generically..... if you're using the SSL/Neve or the Mackie for monitoring while tracking only, while using high-end pres to record, then you're NOT going to hear much difference between the two.

If you're using more of the on-board features (including the pres), then there'd be a difference.... and as Gidge pointed out, whether your ears hear it is another matter altogether!

[Light]

You will absolutely hear the difference. The one thing I miss more than anything else from my days of working in high end studios is the SSL's and the Neve's. It is not only the preamps either, nor even the quality of any of the obvious components. Everything is better. The EQ is better, the dynamics sections (on every channel) are better, but most importantly, the summing is better. I miss the big frame consoles a lot. You will hear the difference.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

[starch]

If everything else is the same (ie. musicians, instruments, mics, engineer etc.) then yes, your music should sound better than with a mackie. There's a reason why companies can sell $500,000 mixing consoles and people keep buying them.

Then again, if your musicians are good and your engineer knows what he is doing, you can get a lot of mileage out of a mackie, or any other budget board for that matter.

[Light]

Originally posted by starch
Then again, if your musicians are good and your engineer knows what he is doing, you can get a lot of mileage out of a mackie, or any other budget board for that matter.

You speek the truth!!!!

Amen Brrother.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

[struberg]

But this also depends on the kind of music!


Red Hot Chili Peppers recorded on an 8-track would be no prob.
Sometimes its even a bonus, like the vocals on so solid crews 21seconds which has been recorded with an sm58.

But imagine Celin Dion with a cheap mic and pre mixed with synthetic Strings samples.
I guess no one would buy her cd...

[rvdsm]

Originally posted by struberg
But imagine Celin Dion with a cheap mic and pre mixed with synthetic Strings samples.
I guess no one would buy her cd...

Have you heard Madonna's new album?
People buy that shit and it's horrible sounding. (songwriting and production)

[starch]

I don't know of a hit album that was recorded through a mackie mixer, not that one doesn't exist, but there is a definite quality difference between Mackie and SSL.

Some bands have worked with every mic available and something about the SM58 worked on their vocals. This is definitely the exception and not the rule but it 'can' work. This doesn't mean that the 58 is a comparable replacement for the U87 in studios.

The thing that sets a mixer apart from other pieces of equip is that typically you are using the mixer for the preamps. While you may not notice a huge difference when listening to a mic through the mackie, after recording 16+ tracks you will definitely hear the difference in quality.

[Recording Engineer]

I typically use ther mixer to mix...

[foreverain4]

there is absolutely NO difference in the quality of those mixers....

















if a chimp is behind the wheel!

[EddieRay]

So this little pearl of wisdom I see thrown around these forums, the one that says "if it sounds good, it IS good", is just plain untrue, yes?

[starch]

No, I think if it sounds 'good' then it is 'good'. But sometimes you could take what sounds 'good' and make it sound 'better' by raising the strength of the weakest link in your recording chain. If that weak link is your mic, talent, mixing board, or instrument, so be it.