Tips for recording analog...

[Rickson Gracie]

Lets make a thread with helpful recording tips for analog users. i just purchased a TASCAM 388 and Im trying to apply some of the things I learned with Pro Tools.

For one...In Pro Tools I always did a low cut with the WAVS EQ that really helped take the low frequency rumble out of my tracks and it made the mix sit a lot better. Can I do that with the 388 EQs? Do I just turn each one down a notch for this? Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

[doug deeper]

i just turn the low and its associated freq. knob all the way down on everything
except my bass tracks.
(on my 388)

[Rickson Gracie]

Originally Posted by doug deeper

i just turn the low and its associated freq. knob all the way down on everything
except my bass tracks.
(on my 388)

Really? And you dont lose a lot of low end in your mix? What does the outside knob do in the EQ section?

[Rat Lizards]

Where is or was all this low rumble coming from?

What frequency range was it in?

Does the new (old) recording medium have sufficient response at that range for the rumble to be a problem?

My preferred medium (cassette) won't even reproduce the range where most of the flab lives.

[Rat Lizards]

Originally Posted by Rickson Gracie

What does the outside knob do in the EQ section?

Those move (sweep) the peaking or shelving frequency.

[cjacek]

Rickson, all of this (and much, much more) is covered in the 388 manual. It's a must read. You can download it here:
http://marjorie-plastille.com/

------

[Rat Lizards]

Here's a difference between Pro Tools and the 388: in the digital domain, you want to stay the hell away from the ceiling, but on an analog tape machine, you might want to push the levels right up to saturation. Tape can start to break up in a nice musical way, while of course anything digital immediately sounds like utter hell when you cross the line.

Even if you don't push the levels to saturation, analog tape has a lot less SNR and headroom to burn (higher noise floor really), so you'll probably want to run hotter anyway. Not that I've done enough in the digital domain to say a whole lot about it.

[cjacek]

With the 388 (with noise reduction engaged), tape hiss is virtually non-existent and there is no benefit to 'pushing the meters' and may actually cause dbx encode / decode errors. You only want your signal peaks to briefly go into the red.

------

[Rat Lizards]

Yeah, I don't mean you should pin the dang things. It's just that in digital you never want to see red.

[Rickson Gracie]

Originally Posted by cjacek

With the 388 (with noise reduction engaged), tape hiss is virtually non-existent and there is no benefit to 'pushing the meters' and may actually cause dbx encode / decode errors. You only want your signal peaks to briefly go into the red.

------

is it worth it to try to turn off the Dbx in the 388 for that tape saturation? Will it just be too noisy to get an effective recording like this?

[cjacek]

Originally Posted by Rickson Gracie

is it worth it to try to turn off the Dbx in the 388 for that tape saturation? Will it just be too noisy to get an effective recording like this?

Yes, you can turn the dbx off and try pushing the levels but what exactly are you trying to accomplish? IMHO, 'tape saturation' is an oft referred to term but many don't know what it means. To me it means reduced high frequency content and so I always stay around 0db but only for peaks. Some would argue to push the meters when recording low freq instruments such as bass or drums but then you introduce massive amounts of cross talk, the more you push into the red, especially on the narrow track formats. This may or may not bother you though. If I were you, I'd try it with and without dbx and see how you like it, if it sounds better and if you mind the hiss or not. My personal recommendation would be to use dbx and watch your levels on the 388. The dbx noise reduction not only eliminates hiss but increases your headroom dramatically, reduces cross talk and distortion.

--

[Rat Lizards]

Yes, saturation fattens things up and strictly speaking produces noise and distortion, some of which can sound musical. Unlike in the digital domain, it's not an all or nothing proposition. You can push it a very little all the way up to way too much. I'd agree with leaving dbx on though. Tape saturation just occurred to me as one of the differences between analog and digital. And even if that's not what you're shooting for, I'd play a lot closer to the red in analog.