bright digital cymbals

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Hi_Flyer

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so for awhile now I have been recording to a tascam 688 and dumping the tracks to PC to mix... I just started my first project that was actually recorded from beginning to end, completely in the 24/44.1 digital realm, and needless to say, compared to a cassette format, there is a BIG difference in the way the top end sounds. We've really only tracked the drums so far, and what is most striking to me at this point is the way the cymbals sound. I guess i'm just not used to hearing such an even, full response up there?

I'm trying to decide if I like it or not... The cymbals sound digital. Not necesarily harsh, but they sound kinda fake or something. Does anybody actually roll off some of the high end on overheads to simulate tape? Where does tape start to roll off?

Any ideas or suggestions? Should i just embrace it?
 
Experiment with other sampling rates... try 88.2kHz for example and see if you hear a difference with the cymbals. If they sound "fake" it's possible your converters don't have good anti-aliasing filters and some of the "brightness" may be aliasing artifacts.

Or it is very much possible that they are brighter. I think cassettes roll off above 12-14kHz.
 
Tell me more about aliasing artifacts. Is that what I hear on poorly encoded mp3s, or with mp3s with low bit rates? the cymbals are usually the first thing I notice on a crappy mp3.
 
the difference between analog and digital tracking is not a subtle one. i changed my "go to" mics the first year i started tracking digital...what is right on analog is bright on digital...i think yer just hearing that...

check out a smoother overhead. something like the 012's as opposed to the 603s...in old skool speak - 84s instead of 451's...or whatever the 5 dollar mic equivalent is today. :eek:
 
Hi_Flyer said:
Tell me more about aliasing artifacts. Is that what I hear on poorly encoded mp3s, or with mp3s with low bit rates? the cymbals are usually the first thing I notice on a crappy mp3.
Click to expand...

mp3's roll off the high end. What you are hearing is phase distortion, as well as no "air" frequencies. For instance nothing on myspace contains any frequencies above 11k.
 
BRIEFCASEMANX said:
doesn't aliasing happen in the low end?
Click to expand...
No, aliasing happens when you have frequencies above half the sampling frequency. Aliasing does produce sub-inharmonics though, which is why it is a good idea to high-pass sources such as digital synths.
 
There was built in censoring when the signal path had analog tape and vinyl records. Digital has no such restrictions of high levels at high frequencies :eek:

A shelving eq filter can work wonders, especially one w/overshoots.
 
This isn't really an analog vs digital issue. You are just finally hearing what the cymbals, mic, preamp and room really sound like. You should probably start with changing one of those factors before cutting all the high end out.
 
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