Best way to get "analog" sound

[Astralography]

Somewhere along the line, recordings started sounding different. I can't really put my finger on it, but my ears tell me that after CD's became the defacto standard for music delivery, slowly but surely, most listeners must have become mesmerized by the hype of "digital", or "trained" by virtue of the new technology of the time, that this was the way music was supposed to sound. Over time, new artists/producers gained access to the digital revolution in home recording gear, and all it had to offer in the way of recording/editing/composing/mixing etc. Hell, there must be a zillion studios by now. All of which are now so accustomed to recording in the digital domain, they haven't really taken the time to listen how music has evolved into a sound that I can only describe as "lacking".

Let me be blunt. In the last year, I really began to notice that most of the music I hear on the radio, and I DON'T mean the artists, actually, the recordings...to my ears....




SUCK


After a half hour or so....I REALLY can't stand it. The digital sonic signature is so pronounced, so dismally thin, so mathamatically sterile, so anti-human, so artistically artificial and the reverbs make me sick. I don't know nor care if this is the result of the Homerecording / digital revolution or lack of understanding by the engineers or a generation or 2 or listeners who grew up listening to this sonic signature..and think..THAT'S WHAT IT'S SUPPOSED TO SOUND LIKE or what...all I know is..my ears actually become fatigued..or my brain somehow get's sonically overtaxed..or something.

So, what do I do? I go slap in one of my old cassettes of someone like John Lee Hooker, or the Ravens, or any number of old recordings of REAL artists..and low and behold. I smile. I enjoy. My ears LIKE IT!! So, as far as the question of this thread is concerned...I don't have an answer. What I DO know is this. I don't give a damn what all the "digitalized" people say about it. I know what I hear. I know something has changed...and if that's what the general populace likes to hear...be my guest. Meanwhile, I'll listen to what I consider BETTER recordings, BETTER artists, BETTER engineering, and BETTER ANALOG RECORDED MUSIC! They can have their digitized Lady GAGA...their rap...their hip hop and all the other crap on the radio these days. Now, where did I put that John Lee vinyl ANALOG record. I want my ANALOG EARS to hear something that was designed for them.

amen, that's spot on my friend.

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

amen, that's spot on my friend.

Thank you.

 

[ausrock]

One of Australias top mastering engineers recently said this..............."There is no "loudness war" no conspiracy, no emerging interest, just a bunch of people making things sound shitty without guidance or merit" Rick O'Neil 2011.

 

[Astralography]

just a bunch of people making things sound shitty without guidance or merit"

Sure, the bar was raised high in the 1970's and digital had everyone thinking that it could raise the bar higher, but it has failed miserably. Most of the younger cats into music grew up in the digital age and never heard vinyl or open reel played properly through an adequate set up. Anyone in their 20's or 30's likely has parents that threw away there vinyl in the 80's or transferred everthing over to CD at that time.
Tube amps burned out, and people didn't want to deal with the basic maintenance of an analog system.
One thing people quickly forget or at this point never even knew.. vinyl was created to be played back through tube amplification and a quality TT and cartridge.

Anyone making a claim that the differences between digital and analog are subtle are making a very uneducated statement due to not having access to a proper playback mechanism.

Most people here that post about vinyl not sounding great are listening to vinyl through a cheap turntable, with a cheap stylus, poorly tracking tonearm, RCA cables into a solid state amp going out to cheap or crap speakers. Any one missing link or combination here can be catastrophic to the sound of an analog recording.

It's often an honest misunderstanding due to the nature of the need for quality analog playback. You can't understand until you really hear things presented properly.

 

[Lance Lawson]

The best surefire way to get analog sound (tape analog) is to use tape. Use all the digital nonesense you have record it on whatever Protools, SONAR Cubase etc. Then when its all done run it onto a good reel to reel tape machine and you will have a genuine analog recording with a genuine analog tape sound. Simulators, emulators, tube mics, tube pres are great but the overwhelming contributor to what we refer to as analog sound is the sound of tape.