Mixing down from analog 8 track....

[Deaaaath]

Hi all,
I'm very curious to see what your opinions are on the subject of mixing down from an analog 8 track machine. What are some good formats you have used, and why do you like them? Onto 2 track tape? DAT? Computer? Hmmmm?

[jedblue]

Everyone's probably got their preferences and for me it now depends on who / what it is and where it's going to end up. Lonely Few stuff is pure analog all the way so it goes tracking tape to master tape to analog final form. After my recent experiment with the Doctor Z tune and having dug out my digital BR1600 recorder after a year or so of inactivity, running that quite hot to 1/4" 2 track and then back to digital definitely improved that over its pure digital form so I'll pretty much do that every time with that little digital box to get some tape compression and saturation happening.

The stuff we recently did where we were tape tracking at the studio for a friends boogie band went both to tape and to digital at mixdown but I don't think the intermediate tape mixdown step really added anything there, especially given that it was going to a digital final form so if there were another one of those type of sessions coming up, I'd go analog source / digital mix (then again it could have just been a crappy piece of mixdown to tape by me of course).

I've got a DAT recorder in my rack but it hasn't been used in ages. I can't really see that being used again with what I do.

So, no real answers for you in that lot, just my recent experiences. There are good cats on this forum who are vastly more experienced in the all analog chain than me. If those guys chime in, listen up .

It's good to have options available .

Geoff

[dodgeaspen]

I'm wanting to buy a mixdown deck for my 8 channel deck. I want as much analog in my music as I can get. Some find a fake analog sound in some kind of software program, but I have the privilege of the real thing. My feeling is, if you want an analog sound then you shut off the computer and buy an analog deck to get the true analog sound.

[vostok88]

I agree, I think mixing down to a 2-track analog mastering deck is the best way to go if you're really wanting to keep as much as possible in the 'analog' world.

However, in the end, you unfortunately still have to get that 'final, final-mix' onto a CD (or god-forbid, the dreadful Mp3) and finish-up in the digital domain at some point.

- So you do kind of have to ask yourself, "how 'truly important' is that final product really worth to you?"

If you're mainly just recording 'demos', low-fi mixes, or just basic recordings of yourself to listen to - I would say to just either use a decent CD mastering unit (such as an Alesis Masterlink) to dump the 2-track analog mix onto & be done with it -or- if you're using a computer to burn the CD onto, try at least running the 2-track analog mix into an 'easy-to-use' mastering program (such as 'T-racks') before burning it onto the CD. (you're usually going to be 'forced' into dumping the final 'analog-mix' onto some type of computer-program anyway, in order to get it burned onto a CD - might as well use a 'mastering software' program just to make sure your levels & EQ come out sounding the way you like or intended it to be.)

But If you're really serious about wanting to get the most 'analog' sound possible to put on a final CD (and you have the extra money for it) - you may want to consider sending the actual 2-track reel of your final mix to a professional analog 'mastering house' somewhere. From what I've been told and heard by others that have done so, they usually use all outboard analog gear (pultec EQ's, compressors, vintage limiters, etc) to do all of the final processing with, and try to make the 'final path' to CD (or better yet, 'Vinyl') with the least amount of 'digital' as possible.

I have listened to a recent mix lately, that was done completely in the analog world - all the way from the first tracking, then finally down to actual 'Vinyl' (no digital-processing anywhere in the signal-chain) - and I must say, probably one of the best, if not 'the best' recordings I've heard in many, many years.

- God, how great would that be if that 'trend' were to actually take-off again, and Mp3's were to become 'a horrible thing of the past'?

(hey, a boy can dream can't he?)

[thunderstation]

I have a tascam 488 (the 1st model not the mkll). After i've finished mixing the sound to my preferance on the 488 I send the signal to a graphic equalizer then i master it to a Tascam cc-222mklll . I like the unit because it gives you a choice of mixing down to either a cassette recorder or a cd burner. I've been pleased with it and the people that have listened to the recordings seem to like them and it is not a complicated mind numbing process[which I really like.]. I do agree with Vostok88 - it really depends on what level of quality you want your final/final to sound like and what your budget is. I'm not sending my music out professionally so I don't need the crystal clear recordings present in todays competitive market.

[Lance Lawson]

Actually with the reassertion of vinyl records there may be a lot more final mixes that go from tape to vinyl without the need for digital. However that does remain to be seen.

I've long had what I consider the best analog emulator in APIL Warm Tone. Its a nice plugin but as nice as it is when I expierence real analog all of the simulators fall short. More and more its back to the old argument that analog is analog and digital is digital and the two will never be indistinguishable to the critical ear.

[Blue Jinn]

Side note. I remember buying an album about xx years ago, (I think it was Nick Drake) and the liner notes indicated it was copied from a pristine vinyl pressing as the label, and apparently nobody else, could find the original master tapes.

[ofajen]

Accept the inevitable, unavoidable truth: tracking analog and mixing analog sounds better and is more pleasing.

I prefer mixing on a good 2-track tape machine. I've been without a working machine for a little while, but my 3M M-23 is just about ready for calibration!

Cheers,

Otto

[ofajen]

Originally Posted by ofajen

I prefer mixing on a good 2-track tape machine. I've been without a working machine for a little while, but my 3M M-23 is just about ready for calibration!

The dark side of this is that I've been avoiding the temptation of buying a certain other machine by focusing on getting the M-23 going first. I've prolonged the distraction by seeing what I can make of my old Teac 4-track. Once that's all done, I won't have anywhere to hide!

Cheers,

Otto