No audible distortion.....

  • Thread starter Thread starter TASCAM MAN
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Rod Norman said:
I would be interested in more information concerning your recordings. What instruments were involved, what kind of mics and what were the mic placements? What was your mixing board? Were there any effects involved? What speakers were you using to monitor your signals? Did you use calibration tapes? Did you use an oscillator? What sort of tones were you running for your calibrations or were you just winging it with good recording habits? Most of the music today has distortion because the guitar is running through a pedal, the cymbals are being hit far too hard with the mics too close for that sort of impact, and the bass is synthesized. I had one of the first home recording studios in NYC and would try out my mixes at Power Station or one of the other pro studios I was recording in. The engineers were amazed that I was getting such good recordings at home. Can you keep us updated? I was using a Teac four track, dBX noise reduction, Shure SM57 mics and the Teac four track mixer and meter bridge available at the time. Everything was mixed down to a Teac cassette recorder. Later I upgraded to an Teac eight track one half inch machine, a 15 ips mastering machine and no noise reduction.
Rod Norman
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Yes Im gonna get some older analog recordings up that I think are excellent quality for the semi=pro equipment that I always used and still have but not all setup at the moment(went thru a divorce)all my stuff was in storage for about 4 yrs. But I have a pretty big compilation of demos Id love to get feedback on the better ones. But not just put them up without trying my best to remember and explain: (Your quote) " What instruments were involved, what kind of mics and what were the mic placements? What was your mixing board? Were there any effects involved? What speakers were you using to monitor your signals? Did you use calibration tapes? Did you use an oscillator? What sort of tones were you running for your calibrations or were you just winging it with good recording habits". Im still new at even getting turning analog recording into Mp3s to post on-line !! So yes ASAP I will get one good recording at a time and halfway explain what/how it was recorded ok!?!?! Oh and by the way,15IPS half track machine was what most of my recordings were mixed to also !!:thumbs up:
 
Al618 said:
So, if you listen to digital at 44,100 times/second sampling rate, your ears perceive 20 'stairs' or separate sound blocks of info per second.
Our brain lets us hear great sound because the stairs are so close that the data omitted is negligible. Still, we are not fooled, and have a number of terms to try to describe the digital sound, clean, accurate, dry -- and of course: 'distortionless'.
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WHAT??? That is just too funny. Thanks for a good laugh this morning. D/A converters have smoothing filters, you hear an analog output.

Now back to our regularly scheduled thread on Analog Distortion and Do You Suffer from It.
 
Reading some of the recent posts, I'm convinced this thread has yet to hit the "idiocy" high-point.....it's been just a warm-up so far, so let's see how far it will go. :D

And mind you....as I've stated already a few times....I'm probably more into analog gear/tape and have been for a long time, than many of the guys posting their love for it these days, so I ain't just someone looking to knock analog/tape...
....but there's a line of reality and fantasy that some folks here have difficulty distinguishing when they're crossing over it...back-n-forth....
....and just repeatedly saying things like "to me it sounds_______therefore______" ...or... "I love tape (therefore it must be better)" ...or... "I'm am an old guy, so excuse me if I'm confused by current terminology and technology".....doesn't remove the burden of knowing what side of the reality/fantasy fence you are on at any given point.
I mean....when I see guys STILL tossing out silly myths/beliefs and using them as the basis of some "proof"....... :facepalm:
 
CrowsofFritz said:
Digital isn't "stairs"; it's only displayed to be that because that's how it was chosen to be drawn!

This is a VERY good video that explains digital is not a stairstep.

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Now that is something I wanted to see. Thanks Crow!!!
 
I walked on some stairs once that were so close together that I tripped and sprained my ankle... if that counts...


miroslav said:
....but there's a line of reality and fantasy that some folks here have difficulty distinguishing when they're crossing over it...back-n-forth....
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Yep, this thread and this forum and every other forum anywhere, 'cuz remember this is the World Wide Web after all. ;)
 
I think I've spotted the the fundamental error.

It's not digital recording that's full of stair steps and distortion. It's threads DEBATING about digital.

Easy mistake to make!
 
I trip on analog steps more than the digital ones. Or maybe it was the mushrooms that made me trip? Ugh. I'll never know...
 
"No audible distortion......but I hear footsteps on the stairs".
 
You must walk softly .................................
 
My local shopping mall must be analogue because it has "travelators" rather than "escalators".

Very useful if I want to push a shopping trolley into my mix.
 
I am with Tascam Man all the way. You guys are being very pushy and disrespectful towards him. Perhaps an old beef? Or maybe my English is no good enough to catch all the little perks an details in this thread? Maybe. I know this, all recording mediums have some distortion and some noise..
IMHO, I'll be hard to tell the difference between two sound files, recorded with equal part analog and digital devices, meaning top of the line Analog, and top of the line Digital, sound a lot a like, me thinks..
 
LToro said:
I am with Tascam Man all the way. You guys are being very pushy and disrespectful towards him. Perhaps an old beef? Or maybe my English is no good enough to catch all the little perks an details in this thread? Maybe. I know this, all recording mediums have some distortion and some noise..
IMHO, I'll be hard to tell the difference between two sound files, recorded with equal part analog and digital devices, meaning top of the line Analog, and top of the line Digital, sound a lot a like, me thinks..
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Thanks LToro I appreciate you coming to my defense, you made my nite !!! :):thumbs up::eatpopcorn:
 
Bobbsy said:
My local shopping mall must be analogue because it has "travelators" rather than "escalators".

Very useful if I want to push a shopping trolley into my mix.
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Is the process, at the very end of the escalator when the steps form a flat surface briefly before you step off, called "dithering"?

Or is that what people who stop immediately they get off an escalator and have everyone crashing into them from behind are doing...?
:D



I'm here all week. Try the veal...
 
TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT FACE VALUE WHAT MY OPENING THREAD SAID:

Just wanted to start a thread in hopes that other guys besides myself think like I do about analog (open reel/cassette based) recordings. Ive always purposely gotten "clean" sounding recordings (with no audible distortion) out of my recorders. Maybe its just cause Im a perfectionist and had new machines back then and always used the best tape for the machine, kept the heads cleaned etc etc during recording. Ive never had audible distortion on my analog recordings unless I really really kept the needles buried in the red.
I hope to hear from some of you that have had the wonderful experiences with tape as I have and still do....:)

I NEVER INTENDED TO MAKE THIS A TECHNICAL DIGITAL VERSES ANALOG THREAD :eatpopcorn:
 
Chili said:
Damn nearly every thread morphs into this topic. It's like throwing a gutter ball, ain't gonna come out once it's in. :laughings:
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Please rephrase that?? I don't understand what you are saying:confused:
 
Armistice said:
Is the process, at the very end of the escalator when the steps form a flat surface briefly before you step off, called "dithering"?

Or is that what people who stop immediately they get off an escalator and have everyone crashing into them from behind are doing...?
:D



I'm here all week. Try the veal...
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Or when the handrails moves just a little bit faster than the stairs is the resemblance of tape lag.

The all you can eat shrimp isn't bad either.
 
moresound said:
Or when the handrails moves just a little bit faster than the stairs is the resemblance of tape lag.

The all you can eat shrimp isn't bad either.
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You and I are one in our sincere efforts to save this thread from itself henry.... but it may not be possible.... :D
 
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