Should I compress the final mix or not?
I'm sort of torn over this. I basically think that the dynamic range of a (case in point) choral recording should be preserved as accurately as possible... as a result obviously there are some passages which are soft and subtle, and others which are loud and dramatic. All good.
Unfortunately when you're not using world class pres and mics, the quality of your kit really begins to show, especially in the quiet bits where the output of the stereo your listener is using to hear your recording is turned way up. Suddenly the background noise of their stereo system becomes rather present.
There is also the issue of people listening on portable players which generally dont have that loud an output. If someone tried listening to the recording I just made on their ipod on the tube they wouldnt really be able to hear much.
Anyone on this forum experienced in classical recordings? What do you do? I suppose there is some sort of middleground right?
I'm sort of torn over this. I basically think that the dynamic range of a (case in point) choral recording should be preserved as accurately as possible... as a result obviously there are some passages which are soft and subtle, and others which are loud and dramatic. All good.
Unfortunately when you're not using world class pres and mics, the quality of your kit really begins to show, especially in the quiet bits where the output of the stereo your listener is using to hear your recording is turned way up. Suddenly the background noise of their stereo system becomes rather present.
There is also the issue of people listening on portable players which generally dont have that loud an output. If someone tried listening to the recording I just made on their ipod on the tube they wouldnt really be able to hear much.
Anyone on this forum experienced in classical recordings? What do you do? I suppose there is some sort of middleground right?