A technical point: 0vu in the analog world does not equal 0dbfs in the digital world. Depending on your calibration standard analog "0" will be somewhere between -20 to -12 digital. Constantly hitting digital 0 at all times is often the reason digital sounds less than pleasing because everything after the microphone or electronic instrument in the audio chain is being run on the ragged edge of available headroom. I doubt the best analog deck would sound particularly good if it had to deal with that much extra gain coming in.
Being for the Benifit of Mr. Tape
- Thread starter rene-lemieux
- Start date
A technical point: 0vu in the analog world does not equal 0dbfs in the digital world. Depending on your calibration standard analog "0" will be somewhere between -20 to -12 digital. Constantly hitting digital 0 at all times is often the reason digital sounds less than pleasing because everything after the microphone or electronic instrument in the audio chain is being run on the ragged edge of available headroom. I doubt the best analog deck would sound particularly good if it had to deal with that much extra gain coming in.
Precious...I don't think a better "analogy" could be made.
Digital software graphics = no brush strokes, no texture, no tactile, no applied layering, no mixing of hues, no color saturation, no warmth, no subtleties.
Dr ZEE
Anti-Pro Circles Insider
when recording on "mr tape" you get "Something To Brag About".
as for digital: "Thrill Is Gone" , baby .....
as for digital: "Thrill Is Gone" , baby .....
cjacek
Analogue Enthusiast
Precious...I don't think a better "analogy" could be made.
.....not feeling a paintbrush, nor palette in your hands, not being able to squeeze tubes and mix colors, getting all of your senses involved, smelling, feeling, getting yourself dirty sometimes, nor being able to do stuff on the fly, as inspiration strikes, nor having the ability to show something real and organic as end result etc... I feel that analogue, as with an artist painting a landscape, for instance, there's much to be said about the actual process and not only the end result which is appealing.
The Great Cobb
New member
tape and analog
Everyone already knows this, but i like tape and analog things in general because the harder you push them, the more the character of the unit is heard as the components do their best to deal with what is happening in a very real and physical way. For me, digital is just a capture device. It doesnt really have a bold personality of its own. It only mimics other things or takes snapshots of other things. If you push it it just kind of fails, where as my analog mixer sounds better if its been on for about 40 minutes and the top starts to feel all warm. Not that we are comparing a mixer to a recording medium, but i believe there is some usable truth to the fact that real objects use real parts and the sound is cooked up different every time by those components. Ive owned like 5 different Farfisas and not only did they all sound different from each other, even the oscillators on each board made the different notes sound tonally different from each other. Some were buzzier, some were slightly more harmonic etc. Those are things that someone either loves or hates. I love variables and anomalies and things that feel alive and tape/analog does that so well.
Everyone already knows this, but i like tape and analog things in general because the harder you push them, the more the character of the unit is heard as the components do their best to deal with what is happening in a very real and physical way. For me, digital is just a capture device. It doesnt really have a bold personality of its own. It only mimics other things or takes snapshots of other things. If you push it it just kind of fails, where as my analog mixer sounds better if its been on for about 40 minutes and the top starts to feel all warm. Not that we are comparing a mixer to a recording medium, but i believe there is some usable truth to the fact that real objects use real parts and the sound is cooked up different every time by those components. Ive owned like 5 different Farfisas and not only did they all sound different from each other, even the oscillators on each board made the different notes sound tonally different from each other. Some were buzzier, some were slightly more harmonic etc. Those are things that someone either loves or hates. I love variables and anomalies and things that feel alive and tape/analog does that so well.
Tape:
Generally fewer choices, more thinking, better playing. I would say that as a trend, that is what tape helps keep alive (among other things.)
The most important element in using tape in production:
Tape, much like a human being, has limitations and a certain endurance. That mortality informs my thinking every time I put a reel on, same as it does when I thread up a film projector. It sharpens the senses in ways pressing a PC button never will.
The million-track, thousand-plug-in, fix-in-post project that goes on until the producer dies or the sun blows up is available in ProNoodles, but with tape, you know you are dealing with a finite, organic resource that, much like you, will only be here and be in good shape for a given number of years. There is risk involved.
That risk, that tension needs to stay alive. Because it helps make good music, and because the mindset of that risk is what laid the foundation for so much of our popular music.
C.
Generally fewer choices, more thinking, better playing. I would say that as a trend, that is what tape helps keep alive (among other things.)
The most important element in using tape in production:
Tape, much like a human being, has limitations and a certain endurance. That mortality informs my thinking every time I put a reel on, same as it does when I thread up a film projector. It sharpens the senses in ways pressing a PC button never will.
The million-track, thousand-plug-in, fix-in-post project that goes on until the producer dies or the sun blows up is available in ProNoodles, but with tape, you know you are dealing with a finite, organic resource that, much like you, will only be here and be in good shape for a given number of years. There is risk involved.
That risk, that tension needs to stay alive. Because it helps make good music, and because the mindset of that risk is what laid the foundation for so much of our popular music.
C.
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