H
Hi_Flyer
New member
Thats a great reason to go DAW. You think analog is that easy? I wish. I have spent nearly as much time screwing around with my decks as recording with them. You think those menus on that VF16 are hard to figure out with a manual? Try to figure out how to do a full calibration and head alignment BY YOURSELF.
Tape decks require maintenance, troubleshooting and repair. You might get lucky and you find an awesome deck for next to nothing in great shape (which does happen occasionally), but you are far more likely to find something thats gonna (at least) need some TLC.
Alot of the guys on this board that preach the analog gospel like to tinker. So do I, to some extent. But first and foremost I like to make music.
GOOD analog (and I'm not talking cassette tape here) is not cheap, easy, nor is it a magic bullet.
"If you learn to use that machine to it's full potential you can always try other options in the future, best to use what you have instead of spending more cash!"
Thats the most sensible thing I've read so far. I wish somebody would have told me this a long time ago. I prolly wouldn't have listened anyway though...
By the way, what is your monitoring like? what are you mixing on?
jedblue
beep beep beep beep beep
Man, that's where I'm at on this one as well. I love my analogue stuff but it's hard work and expensive to own & operate in comparison to something like a VF-16. I have a Boss BR1600CD 8 track DAW that I use a lot as well. I'm only wedded to analogue for certain things.
The manuals for the Studer's, Revox's and Otari's we have run into hundreds of pages of very technical shite that takes me forever to figure my way through. Buying tape stock, demag every eight hours, meticulous cleaning, care when transporting and all that jazz. Setting up an analogue session for us is hard work. I can just stick the BR1600 in it's box and tuck it under under my arm and off I go if I'm going to do a digital session. I don't even need a computer. Just the Boss machine and a bunch of mikes and di's
All the techniques that I use on tape I use on the DAW except slamming it over 0db and the little Boss machine has a whole raft of filters and processors all available at the push of a button or a scroll of the keys.
I've rarely been unhappy with what has come out of that simple 16 bit 44k Boss DAW.
I reckon you'd be better off spending more time with that VF-16 manual and seeing if you can get something happening in there before leaping off into the analogue world.
None of the learning will be wasted and it'll cost you nothing from where you are at now.
Jed
R
Rickson Gracie
New member
With what I read I would go with a 388 but just plan on having a friend or two help move it around.
- all in one solution for convenience
- a step up in fidelity from cassette
- all in one solution for convenience
- a step up in fidelity from cassette
Erockrazor
I mix in (2x) real-time
Use the digital recorder you have. If that manual is too difficult to really comprehend, knowing a tape deck will might blow your mind.
There is maintenance, repair, and cleaning needed to keep a analog machine in good shape. And with 200 dollars, you could figure out what you need to upgrade with your digital recorder rather than starting from scratch again with an analog machine.
The tape hiss you're talking about very well could just be from a bad cassette machine or equally possible, bad gain staging.
My main suggestion would be, don't know the digital recorder until you have really exceeded it's use and know that it doesn't work for what you do. I mean it's exactly what you want, just digital? Why wouldn't it be an easy answer.
Good luck with whichever you choose. But I dont think you need any persuasion.
There is maintenance, repair, and cleaning needed to keep a analog machine in good shape. And with 200 dollars, you could figure out what you need to upgrade with your digital recorder rather than starting from scratch again with an analog machine.
The tape hiss you're talking about very well could just be from a bad cassette machine or equally possible, bad gain staging.
My main suggestion would be, don't know the digital recorder until you have really exceeded it's use and know that it doesn't work for what you do. I mean it's exactly what you want, just digital? Why wouldn't it be an easy answer.
Good luck with whichever you choose. But I dont think you need any persuasion.
trancedental
New member
analogkid
I Bleed Analog!
Compressors... I recommend learning to record clean tracks before adding a mess of effects to the signal chain. A compressor is a great tool but can easily be overused, and doesn't teach how to set levels properly.
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