Digital to Analogue Recording

LaurenceConway

New member
Hi, i am recording a band in December and had initially set out to record the project using solely analogue equipment.
However i have been far from frugal with my student loan and as a result i have exhausted the funds that would have been put to use on buying a 8-16 track analogue recorder. All is not lost though as i have the means to record the group digitally with a fairly high spec sound card. and access to a Revox reel to reel recorder. My inquiry on this matter is, what you kind people think recording in digital then sending the mixed version through the Revox will result in?
Any input will be appreciated.
 
Do you mean sending the digital stereo mix to the Revox just to "hit some tape"...?
Hey...try it, let us know how it comes out. :)


I take my digital tracks (which often were originally recorded to tape), and then after editing/comping, bring them out of the DAW individually and I mix through an analogue console, and take the console's stereo output to a stereo tape deck for my final stereo mix, and then bring that mix right back into the DAW, so I can then master digitally...
...but that's more complicated and requires many A/D/A outputs (I have 24), plus you need the additional analogue gear, which your student loan can't cover. :D

But major props for finding a good purpose for that student loan! :drunk:
 
certainly would not be the same as recording analog but many people do this ... it will add tape as an "effect" but i think this is kind of an unnatural process.
 
Maybe, but it does get done a lot. I would reccomend, if you're going to do this, mix it through an analog board then to the Revox. Get analog summing and then hit the tape. Just my thoughts.
 
Hi, i am recording a band in December and had initially set out to record the project using solely analogue equipment.
However i have been far from frugal with my student loan and as a result i have exhausted the funds that would have been put to use on buying a 8-16 track analogue recorder. All is not lost though as i have the means to record the group digitally with a fairly high spec sound card. and access to a Revox reel to reel recorder. My inquiry on this matter is, what you kind people think recording in digital then sending the mixed version through the Revox will result in?
Any input will be appreciated.

You need to be way more specific here. "high spec sound card" as in what? If you're talking a multi channel RME or something? a decent stereo card? a delta 44????? and which revox?

What are you tracking through? Going striaight to the interface, or through a board? If so, what board.

How much gear are you expected to bring to this project?
 
My inquiry on this matter is, what you kind people think recording in digital then sending the mixed version through the Revox will result in?
Any input will be appreciated.

Generally speaking it’s a good practice. What you're talking about is basically analog mixdown and/or mastering. As has been mentioned, mixing through an analog board will make this more worth your while.
 
What you're talking about is basically analog mixdown and/or mastering.

I think he means to just send the already mixed stereo tracks out to the Revox...which is just adding tape as an effect to an already finished mix that was actually a digital mixdown, not analog.
 
Record the entire project in digital at at least 96/24. Mix it and master it all in digital. Then run your high res digital master through a good RTR tape machine then back into digital assuming you need digital for presentation etc. You'll end up with a pretty decent analog glow. The band Sonic Youth has been recording this way since the beginning.
 
I think he means to just send the already mixed stereo tracks out to the Revox...which is just adding tape as an effect to an already finished mix that was actually a digital mixdown, not analog.

Ah, sure that'll work too. Layback of the digital mix to analog can have some benefit. I do that with many commercial CDs so I can stand to listen to them. It can take a certain edge off. In that case I record to half-track at 7-1/2 IPS rather than 15 IPS. Seems to add some fuzz that masks or blurs annoying upper-mid and high frequencies. Then I burn that analog tape back to CD and keep the original CDs in storage. I definitely like those CDs better afterwards. I can listen longer without fatigue. It's not always needed and some CDs are too bad for anything to help much. Anyway it’s the same basic concept as layback to analog during production. It won’t replace a good analog mixdown, but could help a bit. :)
 
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