Warm Analog Sound

A

AlinMV

New member
Here's one that I am sure has been debated ad infinitum! But I'll ask anyway!

Is there a way/secret to making stark digital recordings get that warmth that analog tape naturally provides? I have read many articles about how that's just the way it is with DAW's. Tough noogies kind of response!!

But, it seems that with digital you could match the analog process that gives it warmth, whatever it is, and get the same general result? What gives?

Albert
 
I have always had trouble when people describe digital recording as "stark" or sterile. I'd like to know what people are trying to get across because I for one, don't hear it.

With digital you (arguably) get what you put into it, so if you don't have a warm sound going in, you sure ain't going to get one coming out... if you feel the need to "warm up" the sound, run it thru a tube pre before going to "tape"!

I don't know - I record with digital all the time, and I never hear "sterile" - I hear clean, precise, but never "stark"!

Bruce
 
Bruce is right. The quality of recent digital products is very good. Maybe too good. I think analog techniques would cover up some of the bad things for you. Digital products don't. They give it back the way they got it...

And about warmth etc... The 'charm' of analog equipement is actually in the irregulaties. Eg. analog synths will sound warmer and fatter because their waveforms are NOT perfect. These imperfections will add to the freq spectrum of the sound...

The tube story is a different one. Tubes will distort your signals, and thus add harmonics. The way they do it differs from transistors, they will add different harmonics, which is the reason why tube amps REALLY sound better than transistor amps. As for PODs etc. These things are perfect. So the real thing WILL sound better. :D (Actually, some modern analog synth/amp models will take into account the irregularities...)
 
When I first started buying CD's that I know were recorded completely digital and not on analog tape, I found the sound too clean, sterile, whatever you want to call it. It WAS a different sound. I went through the same thing when digital synths first came out in a big way.

Little by little my ears have adjusted to it and now I even prefer it. I still use different methods to make synths and drum machines sound less "digital". I like to mic my PA cabinet and it's amazing how different that sounds than just going DI... I would describe it as "warmer and fuller". I have an old Keyboard magazine from the 80's where many of the top producers discussed doing that all the time. Highly recommended.

The harmonic distortion that takes place when a signal is put on analog tape is measurable. I've seen it illustrated in a book I have. I don't know of a device that can actually create that but there are some "saturation effect" devices on the market but I've never heard them. I run my mixes through a tube compressor(ART 212 Pro VLA) and that adds a little tube distortion and sounds great to me. It's one of the best investments I've made in my studio, and it's great with bass and guitar too. It's not the same as a tube preamp though. Much more transparent and subtle.

I've read about sending whole mixes through high-end tube preamps. I'd like to hear that. There are also some software plug-ins that simulate tape effects. Anyone here use those ?

[Edited by Wide Awake on 02-15-2001 at 17:56]
 
So I don't have to be the bearer of bad news now!

Glad to see some sensiblity among a few people here concerning the whole "analog is warm, digital is harsh" hogwash.

I was utterly surprised the first time I used digital multi-track recorders at just how much "warmer" they were then all but the highest end analog counterparts.

The realism of digital is scary. I was just talking about this very topic today at a ProTools studio I was doing a little producing in. Being my first day there, and picking up on the project at the end, me and the engineer didn't have much reference to each other in the beginning of the session. I grew on him as it went along thank god because the poor guy had 4 rather "tech challenged" band members telling him what to do. I was able to pull in the reign's a bit and get this demo mix on track again. After the session, me and the engineer were talking about all this digital misconception stuff that floats around and had a great laugh about it all.

Digital can sometimes sound TOO WARM! I find myself fighting for a crispier sound in most cases. With analog, it seems I am always trying to get a big low end. With dolby SR things are better. But at over $1K per channel, not a lot of studios want to afford it nowadays. So, they all jump to 30 ips, and that makes getting a fat warm bottom nearly impossible. Great highs? Yes!

Work on your micing techniques while tracking. Also, watch your control room. Digital's accurate reproduction means that frequencies that might be phase shifted on analog are creating bad phasing problems in your room if it is not tuned correctly. I was checking out the Studio Display forum, and ran across several references to one of the members here who designs studios, and appearently has an online manual that discusses acoustics. Haven't checked it out, but judging from this members input into that forum on very complex acoustic issues, it is probably worth a read.

Good luck.
 
Part of the problem with discussing sound is the terms that are thrown around. Warm, clear, digital, fat, sterile, etc. How do you describe the sound of a Prophet 5 or an 18" crash cymbal ?

I still think analog is capable of a great bottom end. Just listen to Fragile by Yes on vinyl. The low end on that one is huge and I don't think I own one CD that can match that. Eddie Offord was an amazing producer.
 
AlinMV said:


Is there a way/secret to making stark digital recordings get that warmth that analog tape naturally provides?.....
Click to expand...

I picked this up in an article by Craig Anderton i think. Basically if you have an old 2trk reel to reel tape recorder which can record and monitor the tape at the same time you just use it as a 'plugin'. Record digitally, send the recorded signal through the tape machine hitting the tape as hard as you want and record the signal monitored off the tape back into your digital recorder.
 
Never having done this, wouldn't just running the mix through a tube compressor work? With the right settings you then get an warm sound, some extra analog compression (not tape saturation compression, but still) and just a teeny little bit of tube distortion (assuming you feed it high enough levels).

Or?
 
Hey vox!

Quit sharing secrets damnit! :)

Sorry regebro, tape saturation and tube compression, while creating somewhat of a similar effect, DO sound quite a bit different really. Tape compression doesn't suffer from pumping and breathing like a compressor does, and it is really hard to "suck in" the sound like a compressor does.

Plenty who can afford a decent reel to reel are doing what vox suggests and reporting some pretty nice results with it.

Good day!
 
A friend of mine who records on the PC records his mixes onto a hi-fi vcr, then exports them back. Any idea how this would compare?

His stuff always sounds good, and I've never tried it. Just cuirous.
 
As much as recording to VHS Hi-Fi easily beats out cassette...

...it is not without problems.

First - there are modulation noise artifacts that will occur randomly, depending on the signal due to the FM-encoding of the signal.

Second -- you need to leave a good minute of space between cuts, 'cos the editing is pretty imprecise (unless you're in pause mode) - but you can't stay in "pause" while setting up for another mix after a previous mixdown - would take too long!

Third --- some machines automatically incorporate harsh audio compression at the inputs, and I guarantee you wouldn't like the pre-set parameters it uses!

...but it's still WAY better than cassette (except for editing!)

Bruce
 
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