Recommendations for Tracking/Mixing with New Gear.

[scarboro78]

Hey Guys,

So I finally gave in and scored a used Avalon 737sm (the cool lookin mercenary edition) for a great price I just couldn't pass up.. just a few weaks after I scored the Focusrite Voicemaster Pro (on sale soon.. lol).
So anyways, till now I've been tracking with light compression and very light EQ and then doing the rest of the mixing inside the box. But now I'm wondering, since the EQ and compression out of the Avalon is obviously better than any plugin I have... do I want to now mix my vocals through the unit? Meaning I would track with light compression and maybe little eq, then run the tracked vocals through the unit into another track compressed and mixed to my liking? I'm thinking the quality of sound out of the Pre will outweigh any D/A conversion loss. By the way I'm using an Aardvark LX6 Soundcard recording at 24/48.

Any suggestions would be highly appreciated.
Thanks.

PS: Would a 3:1 ratio with a medium attack and release be too heavy for tracking? This thing is super transparent, it's kind of hard to tell when it's "over-doing" it.

[scarboro78]

Ummm... anyone... hello?? ::echo::

[tubesrawsom]

audio likes to stay in one place either analog or digital bring it in and out so many time will just degrade it all think about all the resistive electronics your putting your signal thrue give it a break leave it where it is
peace

[mixandmaster]

Originally Posted by scarboro78

PS: Would a 3:1 ratio with a medium attack and release be too heavy for tracking? This thing is super transparent, it's kind of hard to tell when it's "over-doing" it.

No, that ratio is fine. As far as overdoing it, that depends on the style of music/singing and how much you're pushing it (you didn't tell us that part). Don't know anything about your soundcard, so I can't tell you how good/bad an idea going back out of the box is...if you're EQ'ing a lot, you've probably got the wrong mic. Sell the focusrite and upgrade your mic.

[Track Rat]

I wouldn't sweat the conversion loss. You card is likely decent enough and the whole idea is to color the sound.

[scarboro78]

From what I understand the Aardvark A/D converters are supposed to be very good. So as far as degredatioon is concerned I don't think it'll be great. By the way I mostly record Hip-Hop tracks and I push my vocals as hard as necessary. Meaning depending on what kind of song I'm tracking (laid back, aggresive, etc.) I'll adjust my pre accordingly. As far as mic is concerned my mic is fine. I'm VERY happy with my Dragonfly. I don't do alot of eq'ing just usually a low cut and a bit of a boost here or there for presence. My question was about mixing inside the box or through the Avalon. I know it's not good practice to compress heavily during tracking because there's no changing that once it's done. Which is how I've always done it. However I've always done the rest of my mixing including heavier compression and light EQ, etc inside the box since I never had equipment good enough to do it outboard. But now I have this little monster sitting on my desk and I'm thinking I would get the best vocals if I run my tracked vocals through the Avalon and mix it back into my project with heavier compression, etc... instead of using plugins.

I think Trackrat is probably right, I'll be doing some tracking this weekend so I guess I'll find out soon enough. Thanks for your help guys!

PS: Sorry for the long winded response.