When you mix down to your 2trk reel to reel does anyone use noise reduction with that? Anyone want to share their tricks or tips on doing this? Lately I have been doing alot of digital recording and mixing, but what I plan to do in the near future is use an analog console to mix and record the stereo master on a 1/4 or 1/2 inch 2trk analog reel to reel. Just looking for and hints to do this proper.
Who mixes down to a 2trk master deck?
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The Ghost of FM
Banned
I don't personally use an open reel deck for mix-down currently as I have been happy with the results I am obtaining using a stand alone CD recorder deck from Pioneer.
I choose this method because I don't have specific plans of taking my stereo masters to a mastering facility for preparation of a professionally mastered tape, specifically prepared for CD mass production or vinyl stamping.This is one of the key tasks that a mastering facility would perform for you by tweaking levels, eq, compression, track order and track spacing or cross mixing for songs that flow into one another.
Mastering facilities are looking for a 1/2 track open reel stereo tape from you that is running at 15 or 30 ips with no noise reduction and printed at a fairly healthy level where peak signals are around +3 to +8 db on the meters to gain as good a signal to noise ratio as possible without inducing audible distortion.
They also prefer that you don't overly compress your recording to give them something to work with dynamically.
The tape should be prepared with a minute of blank tape at the head of the reel followed by a series of test tones at low, middle and high frequencies so that they can align their deck to yours for azimuth, eq and level, thus assuring no phase issues or gain mis-matching.
Following this regiment, you will deliver a usable stereo master to a mastering facility.
Cheers!
I choose this method because I don't have specific plans of taking my stereo masters to a mastering facility for preparation of a professionally mastered tape, specifically prepared for CD mass production or vinyl stamping.This is one of the key tasks that a mastering facility would perform for you by tweaking levels, eq, compression, track order and track spacing or cross mixing for songs that flow into one another.
Mastering facilities are looking for a 1/2 track open reel stereo tape from you that is running at 15 or 30 ips with no noise reduction and printed at a fairly healthy level where peak signals are around +3 to +8 db on the meters to gain as good a signal to noise ratio as possible without inducing audible distortion.
They also prefer that you don't overly compress your recording to give them something to work with dynamically.
The tape should be prepared with a minute of blank tape at the head of the reel followed by a series of test tones at low, middle and high frequencies so that they can align their deck to yours for azimuth, eq and level, thus assuring no phase issues or gain mis-matching.
Following this regiment, you will deliver a usable stereo master to a mastering facility.
Cheers!
B
Beck
Guest
I have several options on hand for mastering – Tascam 22-2 ¼“ half-track open-reel, Tascam 102 MKII pro cassette deck, Sony Super beta Hi-Fi, and a Fostex CR300 stand-alone CD recorder (same as HHB 850 and made by pioneer).
Like FM, I don’t need to make a master for an outside facility. However, I have a lot of sequenced MIDI keyboards and drum parts that I want to benefit from what I consider to be positive effects of analog tape. Therefore I master to analog before I go to CD.
I have outboard dbx that I can use with the Tascam reel-to-reel. Since I don’t work with outside facilities I don’t worry about compatibility with industry standards. It works very nicely. You could use outboard Dolby C or a Rocktron unit as well.
If you want to send your work on to another facility then I concur with what FM said – you should stick to an industry standard format with strong levels and no noise reduction.
Like FM, I don’t need to make a master for an outside facility. However, I have a lot of sequenced MIDI keyboards and drum parts that I want to benefit from what I consider to be positive effects of analog tape. Therefore I master to analog before I go to CD.
I have outboard dbx that I can use with the Tascam reel-to-reel. Since I don’t work with outside facilities I don’t worry about compatibility with industry standards. It works very nicely. You could use outboard Dolby C or a Rocktron unit as well.
If you want to send your work on to another facility then I concur with what FM said – you should stick to an industry standard format with strong levels and no noise reduction.
Thanks for the suggestions. Basicaly what I plan on doing is to record to the computer at 24/96 (because I don't have an analog multi-track yet, just those two mono Ampex AG-440's I picked up awhile ago) do all the edits, sequencing, and some automation, then proceed to output all the tracks to the console for mixing (there is no alternative to hands on analog mixing in my books) and record the stereo mix to analog 2trk to at least get some analog tape in there. Then record back to the computer if I am doing the mastering myself, or send off the reel to the mastering house. Thats the plan for the time being, until I get my hands on a 16 or 24 track machine.
tf5_bassist
The LouDogg
this makes me think... I've been doing all my mixdowns from the otari to a Panasonic pro dat deck. Anyone else here mix down to dat? Since I have no basis for comparison, what's the usual characteristic differences between mixing to dat and mixing to say a 1/2" or 1/4" two-track?
The Ghost of FM
Banned
I used to mix-down to DAT on a high end Sony machine with "super bit mapping" and while the sound quality was good, I was experiencing pre-mature tape burn out if I played the masters too much, I would get serious drop-out problems and have since switched to a nice Pioneer stand alone CD recorder to master onto.
There's no doubt that mastering onto a 1/2 track well calibrated open reel would be a superior method to master onto and give you more options for having that further refined by a professional mastering engineer/facility. You would gain the benefits of more headroom and a thicker, warmer, more detailed sound. The drawbacks would be higher tape costs and more real-estate being required in your studio to accommodate it.
Cheers!
There's no doubt that mastering onto a 1/2 track well calibrated open reel would be a superior method to master onto and give you more options for having that further refined by a professional mastering engineer/facility. You would gain the benefits of more headroom and a thicker, warmer, more detailed sound. The drawbacks would be higher tape costs and more real-estate being required in your studio to accommodate it.
Cheers!
tf5_bassist
The LouDogg
good points there (as always, Ghost!). Seeing as no one who ever records in this studio really has a need (or the cash lol) to have a pro master, I guess that it's not much of a drawback to mix down to a dat. thanks.
The Ghost of FM
Banned
Is it April 1st already?acorec said:
tf5_bassist
The LouDogg
The Ghost of FM said:Is it April 1st already?
lmao....
