oscilloscope...

[Ignition.]

How important are they?

From what I've been learning, EVERY studio should have one or just throw in the towel...is this true? I know it used to be true...but with digital age and all...is this still true?

[Farview]

If you work on your own tape machines, you need one. You could set it up as a phase meter. I haven't used mine in forever.
BTW it doesn't do any good to own one if you don't know how to use one.

[Track Rat]

NOTHING will mezmorize a drummer like letting the O scope run.

[Ignition.]

So you're saying it is only needed on analog tape. It is not needed on Hard Disc recording? Wouldn't phase cancilation still be a problem in digital?

What kind of oscilliscope to you have and would you be willing to part with it?

[Farview]

It is also useful in fixing digital tape machines. Most daws have a phase meter plugin of some sort. You really have to know how to fix something (and have something to fix) to bother with a scope.
I use mine mainly for fixing or mod-ing guitar amps.

[Ignition.]

I don't want it to fix the equipment, I was thinking of using it to check for phase issues in the tracks...don't want anything canciling anything out...even if my ears can't hear it, and it does take a 'scope' to find it...I just want the perfect mix...everytime...and I want the instruments that will let me do that.

[Farview]

Wavelabe has a phase meter built in, there are other plug-ins that do it as well. Learning how to use an o-scope would take longer than learning how to hear phase cancelation. A mono switch would be more useful for that.

[Ignition.]

I hear what you are saying about time...time to learn is of no concern to me though...final product is my concern. I'll be doing this stuff till I die, so I've got all the time in my world. If a scope is not needed...well so be it. But I've been reading an old text book on engineering, and it says that a scope is all important cause you can't always here signal cancilation....until you get to the very final stages of the mix when it becomes apparent to the trained ear. I just want kick ass recordings and will do anything to get them. Also, it doesn't matter, but I'll tell you anyway, I used a scope in school in my electronic music class. We used oscilloscopes, big synths that took up the whole wall (I poop you not) with sine waves, saw waves, plug in chords like telephone companies connecting it all....old school stuff....and we learned that right along side pro-tools....way cool. See, I know kinda how to use a scope, but figured with digital, it's not that big a deal, but this book, (though it is from the 80's but then revised in the late 90's) says you need a scope to help get crisp, clean, strong signals, and multiple clean signals recorded. I don't know, maybe I'm being to picky, not many people have responded to this thread which makes me think most people don't use them...and therefore possibly they are not neccasary...

[Farview]

That book is talking about old school engineers that actually took apart the equipment and tweaked it to make sure everything was as wonderful as possible. Big studios still have these guys. Guys that were capable of designing and building custom equipment and repairing everything from the LA-2A to the fried channel strip on the Neve console to the crossover nework in the Urei 813's. Wavelab would be a much more useful tool for someone without an electrical engineering degree.

[punkin]

I keep my dual trace tektronix around just so I can keep a Lissajou pattern running...slightly off center so it wobbles a little. Hell it's better than anything on TV right now.

[Ignition.]

Cool, thanks ya'll.